Copyright © 2000 by Michael
Segers, All rights reserved
Most
of us have a special treat with the upcoming Olympics this year (2000), since most of
us have images of Australia formed by the two Crocodile Dundee films
and a popular restaurant chain that uses an Australian theme that is about as
accurate as another popular restaurant chain's down-home (not my home!)
southern style. Of course, when you are talking truly south, we
"southerners" don't stand a chance against our Aussie brethren on the
other side of the Equator.
Now,
I need to explain that I have never visited Australia on the other side of the
Equator, just the Australia found in cyberspace. With the Olympics coming up so
soon, now is a good time for us to rove around the Internet and get some idea of
the country that will be hosting the Olympics and the dreams of so many athletes
in a couple of months.
Australia,
it soon becomes apparent, is a huge, diverse continent, one which might make us
think of our own. Yes, Australia is the outback, and it is the Great Barrier
Reef, but it is also the Sydney Opera House. It is also a land of
contradictions, in the conflicts between Aboriginal wisdom and British/European
innovation. Sydney is a sprawling metropolis with more than twice the area of
New York City, stretching over a variety of sites and sights, which I’m sure,
we’ll see a lot of in television coverage of the Olympics. Modern as the city
is, it is filled with reminders of its ancient aboriginal heritage and the rough
and tumble beginnings of the first British settlement, a penal colony.
Australia
began the twentieth century by becoming a country. New South Wales, of which
Sydney is capital, became a state of Australia in January 1901. Australians
fought alongside Britons in World War I, an experience hauntingly recounted in
Peter Weir’s film, Gallipoli. Australia also suffered in the Great
Depression, but pretty much avoided the suffering of World War II. American
soldiers on R&R (that’s rest and relaxation, not our memorable Internet
columns) during the Vietnam War discovered Australia. Australia celebrated the
bicentennial of the British settlement in 1988. This year, it is hosting the
Olympic Games, and next year, it will celebrate its first century of
independence.
The
most distinctive building in Australia is the Sydney Opera House, which was
constructed between 1959 and 1973. Besides its interior spaces for music,
theater, dance, and film, the Opera House has outdoor cafes with striking views
of the harbor. On the weekends, there are also free outdoor concerts and arts
and crafts shows. In fact, perhaps more impressive than its architecture is the
way it has integrated itself into the fabric of Sydney’s daily life, even for
folks who wouldn’t be caught dead listening to opera.
The
Opera House is one of many memorable sites along the harbor, which is a center
for all the water sports to which Australians are so dedicated. It also has what
Australians and others call the most beautiful beaches in the world.
So,
get started with the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
and the
International Olympic Committee which has some fascinating
history.
For
anyone interested in Sydney or the 2000 Olympics with helpful pictures and maps,
Sydney Olympics 2000 City
is
a great site as is the official site of the
City of Sydney.
For
an Australian Internet search, try the Boomerang Search Directory.
Access over 130 Australian newspapers online.
Visit
the Australian Museum Online, which has especially good sections on
"Stories of the Dreaming" and "Aboriginal Peoples."
Stop by the Sydney Opera House and get the news about their winter series—on the other side of the Equator, remember!
Two
of Hollywood’s currently hottest leading men are Aussie imports, Russell Crowe
and Mel Gibson. The
old crocodile hunter, Paul
Hogan, has had such a low profile in recent years
that there have been Internet rumors about his death, but he is bringing out Crocodile
Dundee III next year and is alive on the Internet.
The
always intriguing director Peter Weir is commemorated in The Peter Weir
Cave.
Dame
Joan Sutherland, one of the greatest sopranos of our time hails from the land down
under.
If
there is one song or poem that sings or speaks of Australia all over the world,
it is "Waltzing Matilda." Of several sites about this charming piece,
I’ve chosen these two. The first has an illustration and best of all,
footnotes explaining the Australian-English.
At the second,
you can hear an elegiac performance of the ballad, recorded live at the Sydney
Opera House.
Keep
your feet dry, your heart full of noble thoughts, and if you must have a song on
your lips, make it "Waltzing Matilda." And once again, be grateful for
the World Wide Web and our own local access to it that makes it possible to rove
to places where our feet may never reach.