quicko: interstate travel

I was talking with an Australian friend about our cultural differences and she suggested I mention how Americans will travel/move interstate at the drop of a hat, but Australians tend to stay more put.  It's heard of to move from one state to another, but not nearly as common as in America.

quicko: further australian patriotism-ish-ness

Also according to Garry (and presumably lots of other sources like atlases, I'm hoping), there are six Australian (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia) states and two territories (the Australian Capital Territory (i.e., Canberra for all practical purposes) and the Northern Territory).  The Australian flag, however, differs from the American in that each star does not represent a particular state.  Rather, there are five stars that together form the Southern Cross constellation and one star, called the Federation star or Commonwealth star (it's a vestige of English history, and Garry still sounds a bit bitter about it, so I didn't press for too many details there).  The Federation star has seven points and these seven points stand for the six states plus "other stuff" (i.e., the two territories and Norfolk Island, etc.).  So, while there are six stars on the flag, they do not actually correlate to the six states.

Finally, in true journalistic form, Garry suggests that, if you don't believe him, you check out wikipedia.

quicko: the northern territory

The other day I was chatting with (he might argue "to") GarryWith2Rs, bemoaning the fact that I was running a bit thin on tidbits for the blog.  He very helpfully spent the remainder of our conversation expounding on the benefits of the Northern Territory. 

Interestingly, the NT has the only flag in Australia that doesn't include blue.  Instead, it is black, white and ochre (browny orange).    

I'll spare you the details of the NT, but thought you might like to know that, according to a devout local, "We're a lot more laid back here, we're a lot more multicultural, and we drink a lot."  Also, apparently, they have crocodiles.

quicko: state slogans

Like American states, Australian states also have state slogans.  Ahem:

New South Wales:  The First State*
Queensland:  The Sunshine State**
Victoria:  The Garden State***
South Australia:  The Festival State
Western Australia:  The Real Thing
The Northern Territory:  Outback Australia
Tasmania:  Apple Isle
The Australian Capital Territory:  The Nation's Capital

*American equivalent:  Delaware
**American equivalent:  Florida
***American equivalent:  New Jersey