Australia is known for its stunning beaches, unique wildlife and laidback culture. But there’s a lot more to this land of dramatic contrasts than meets the eye.
From underground towns to record-breaking fences, Australia is packed with weird, wonderful and downright surprising facts. Read on to discover 12 of the most interesting things you probably didn’t know about Australia.
1. We inspired a Billie Eilish song
If you’re a pop music fan (or even if you’re not), you’ve likely heard the Billie Eilish song Bad Guy, which was blasting from every club, supermarket and car speaker in 2019. But did you know that the tune was actually built around a sample of the sound of a Sydney pedestrian crossing? Well, now you do.
2. We’re home to the longest-running experiment
The University of Queensland is home to the Pitch Drop experiment, which holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-running laboratory experiment! Created in 1927 by Thomas Parnell, UQ's first Professor of Physics, this ongoing experiment demonstrates the fluidity and high viscosity of pitch, which is sort of like tar. Only 9 drops of pitch have fallen. The last in April 2014 and the next is expected sometime in the 2020s, so maybe you’ll catch it! You can visit it in person or watch the live stream.
3. We have a pretty big fence
Australia boasts the longest fence in the world, at over 5,500 kilometres in length. The fence, often referred to as the ‘dingo fence’ or ‘dog fence’, starts in South Australia, cuts through New South Wales and ends in Southern Queensland. It was constructed to keep dingoes (predatory native Australian animals similar to dogs) out of the southern Australian states.
4. We’re a picture-perfect film set
Thanks to our pristine beaches and gorgeous open landscapes, many Hollywood movies have done a big portion of their filming here in Australia.
For example, the 2014 World War II film Unbroken was almost entirely filmed in Queensland, as was the 2017 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Marvel’s blockbuster, Thor: Ragnarok was filmed around Brisbane. Even some of the underwater scenes from the 1970s cult-classic Jaws were filmed in Port Lincoln, South Australia!
5. You can see our reef from space
The Great Barrier Reef, located off the coast of Queensland, is the largest coral reef in the world. Its total area is around 340,000 square kilometres, making it about the same size as Italy or Japan.
Not only is the reef home to thousands of different species of marine life, but it’s also visible from space!
6. We pretty much all live by the beach
The majority of the Australian population lives within 50 kilometres of the coast, which makes sense when you find out that there are over 10,000 beaches in Australia.
7. Vegemite was once called ‘Parwill’
Although it’s now a staple in pretty much every Australian home, Vegemite wasn’t an instant bestseller back in the 1920s when it was first created.
At the start, many Aussies were reluctant to swap out their comforting British Marmite for this newfangled spread. When sales tanked in 1928, the company changed its name to ‘Parwill’.
They eventually changed the name back to Vegemite and we couldn’t be more thankful. Parwill on toast, anyone?
8. What came first, the platypus or the egg?
Australia and neighbouring New Guinea are the only places in the world where you can find egg-laying mammals, also called monotremes. In fact, these animals are so rare that there are only two species in the monotreme family – the platypus and the echidna.
9. We have more scary animals than you thought
While many visitors to Australia are worried about snakes and spiders, our deadliest animal is actually the ocean-dwelling box jellyfish. We promise we have nice animals, too!
10. Cockroach racing is a thing
The Story Bridge Hotel in Brisbane has hosted the annual cockroach racing event since 1982, where crowds gather from all over to see which cockroach will take out the title.
As a bonus, the roaches also have hilarious names! Our personal favourites are Guns ‘n’ Roaches and Lord of the Drains, who took out the ‘93 and ‘03 titles respectively.
11. We’re forward thinkers
The kangaroo and the emu are featured on Australia’s national crest because neither of these animals can walk backwards. This is supposed to signify that our country is always moving forward.
12. A battle between man and bird
And finally, we went to war against the emus… and lost!
In the 1930s, these large, flightless birds were causing chaos for farmers in Western Australia. The Australian government hired World War I veterans to cull the emus using machine guns, but as it took at least 10 bullets to bring an emu down, the plan was abandoned and the emus came out victorious.
Bet they regretted putting them on the coat of arms!
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