Great Southern Land

"Buying bread from a man in Brussels he was six feet four,full of muscles I said"do you speak a my language?''he just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich and he said
"I come from a land down under where beer does flow and men chunder can't you hear,can't you hear the thunder? you better run,you better take cover"
Down Under- Men At Work
G'day as they like to say in the southern hemisphere and a Happy Australia Day to my Australian friends down under and across the globe.
For the record I'm unaware of any real Australian heritage I often joke about probably having some as I don't doubt some of my Irish ancestors weren't packed off on prison ships back in the day for sheep stealing and cattle rustling and all those good crimes that earned a one way cruise to Australia.
That said the 15th Prime Minister of Australia was Francis { Frank} Forde who's roots were Irish and an area of Canberra was named after him even though he was only PM for 7 days.

The origins of Australia date back to 1788 when the First Fleet of European settlers arrived from England in Botany Bay and just how Thanksgiving in America stirs some emotions w/ the Native Americans the indigenous people of Australia are know to refer to Australia Day as Invasion Day but I don't wish to get all political here,I'll leave that to people w/ more knowledge on the matter to discuss.

My first introduction to Australia was through the tv show "Skippy The Bush Kangaroo" a popular Australian show that ran for three years between 1967-1969.
My next introduction was probably cricket in the mid 70s,Australia frequently pounded England in test cricket and a few years later I discovered Australia were pretty good at rugby too....again routinely beating England.
As my love of running began in 76 I also began to watch the Olympics and Commonwealth Games where I watched Australia win gold upon gold in the swimming,I guess being an island and surrounded by water helps you develop great swimmers.
Although they've had a drop off in tennis in recent years some of the all time greats herald from Australia Rod Laver and Margaret Court will forever be linked w/ the all time greats.

As a runner Kathy Freeman and Rob De Castella were two Aussies who did much to elevate Australian athletics and while Craig Mottram has done much to keep that flame burning I've learnt from the past through such great as John Landy and Ron Clarke.
As a music fan Australia gave me AC/DC,Inxs,Midnight Oil,Icehouse,Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue and on the big screen Nicole Kidman,Mel Gibson,Russel Crowe and Paul Hogan,so thank you Australia for all that you've given me....and if I do have a relative down under don't be shy getting in touch.