Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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APPENDIX . AUSTRALIA IN DEPTH
a beachhead on the peninsula of Gallipoli in Turkey. The Turkish troops had
been warned, and 8 months of fighting ended with 8,587 Australian dead and
more than 19,000 wounded.
Australians fought in World War II in North Africa, Greece, and the Middle
East. In March 1942, Japanese aircraft bombed Broome in Western Australia
and Darwin in the Northern Territory. In May 1942, Japanese midget submarines
entered Sydney Harbour and torpedoed a ferry before being destroyed.
Later that year, Australian volunteers fought an incredibly brave retreat through
the jungles of Papua New Guinea on the Kokoda Trail against superior Japanese
forces. Australian troops fought alongside Americans in subsequent wars in
Korea and Vietnam and sent military support to the Persian Gulf conflicts.
RECENT TIMES Following World War II, mass immigration to Australia,
primarily from Europe, boosted the population. In 1974 the left-of-center Whitlam
government put an end to the White Australia policy that had largely
restricted black and Asian immigration since 1901. In 1986 the official umbilical
cord to Britain was cut when the Australian Constitution was separated from that
of its motherland. Australia had begun the march to complete independence.
In 1992 the High Court handed down the “Mabo” decision that ruled that
Aborigines had a right to claim government-owned land if they could prove a
continued connection with it. The following year, huge crowds filled Sydney’s
Circular Quay to hear that the city had been granted the 2000 Olympic Games.
The Olympic city built new venues (some of which were temporary, others
now used as arenas for professional and amateur sports). A new expressway and
train link were built to connect the spruced-up airport to the city center, and
Sydney welcomed thousands of international visitors to the 2-week extravaganza
starting in September 2000. The Games put medal-winning Australian athletes
Cathy Freeman and swimmer Ian Thorpe in the spotlight, and spurred a new
wave of interest and tourism in the Land Down Under.
4 Aussie Eats & Drinks
THE EATS
It took a long time for the average Australian to realize there is more to food
than English-style sausage and mashed potatoes, “meat and three veg,” and a
Sunday roast. It wasn’t long ago that spaghetti was something foreigners ate, and
zucchini and eggplant were considered exotic. Then came mass immigration,
and all sorts of foods that people had only read about in National Geographic.
The first big wave of Italian immigrants in the 1950s caused a national scandal.
The great Aussie dream was to have a 1 ⁄4-acre block of land with a Hills
Hoist (a circular revolving clothesline) in the backyard. When Italians started
hanging their freshly made pasta out to dry on this Aussie icon, it caused an
uproar, and some clamored for the new arrivals to be shipped back. As Australia
matured, Southern European cuisine became increasingly popular, until olive oil
was sizzling in frying pans the way only lard had previously done.
In the 1980s, waves of Asian immigrants hit Australia’s shores. Suddenly,
everyone was cooking with woks. These days, this fusion of flavors and styles has
melded into what’s now commonly referred to as “Modern Australian”—a distinctive
cuisine blending the spices of the East with the flavors of the West.
THE DRINKS
THE AMBER NECTAR The great Aussie drink is a “tinnie” (a can) of beer.
Barbecues would not be the same without a case of tinnies, or “stubbies” (small