Rhonda Bracey: At Random

Thanks to Steph…

1. Heard a kookaburra in person [yes, and seen plenty too]
2. Slept under the stars [yes]
3. Seen a koala [yes]
4. Visited Melbourne [yes]
5. Watched a summer thunderstorm [yes]
6. Worn a pair of thongs [wearing thongs right now!]
7. Been to Uluru (Ayers Rock) [yes, twice]
8. Visited Cape York [does the Daintree and Cape Tribulation count?]
9. Held a snake [yes]
10. Sang along with Khe San [absolutely]
11. Drank VB [no – I never drink beer of any description]
12. Visited Sydney [yes]
13. Have seen a shark [yes]
14. Have used Aussie slang naturally in a conversation [fair dinkum! what sort of question is that? ;-)]
15. Had an actual conversation with an indigenous Australian (aboriginal) [yes]
16. Eaten hot chips from the bag at the beach [yep; yum]
17. Walked/climbed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge [does driving over it count?]
18. Used an outside dunny, and checked under the seat before sitting down [yep – there was a slimy frog on it the one time I didn’t check the top of the seat one night when I was a kid!]
19. Seen Chloe in Young & Jackson’s [no, but I know what/who Chloe and Young & Jackson’s are — does that count?]
20. Slept on an overnight train or bus [yes, bus]
21. Been to Sydney’s Mardi Gras [no]
22. Have gone bush-bashing [yep, when I lived up north]
23. Taken a sickie [not as far as I can recall]
24. Been to see a game of Aussie Rules football [plenty since my nephew started playing AFL!]
25. Have seen wild camels [yep, and have even eaten camel!]
26. Gone skinny dipping [yes, though it was MANY years ago]
27. Had a Tim Tam Slam [absolutely]
28. Ridden in a tram in Melbourne [yes]
29. Been at an ANZAC day Dawn Service [no]
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset [yes]
31. Held a wombat [no]
32. Been on a roadtrip of 800km or more [often]
33. Seen the Great Australian Bight in person [yes]
34. Had a really bad sunburn [too right — sun/heat stroke too…]
35. Visited an aboriginal community [yes]
36. Seen a redback spider [many]
37. Have watched Paul Hogan [in ads, on TV and in films only]
38. Seen Blue Poles in person [no]
39. Wandered barefoot in the bush/outback [are you crazy? no way!]
40. Eaten Vegemite [I’ve eaten more kilograms of Vegemite in my lifetime than I’d care to count…]
41. Thrown a boomerang [tried in vain]
42. Seen the Kimberleys [yes — well, Kununurra, Wyndham, Emma Gorge – does that count?]
43. Given a hitch-hiker a lift [yes, once, years ago…]
44. Been to Perth [lived there for ~30 years!]
45. Have tried Lemon, Lime and Bitters [plenty]
46. Tried playing a didgeridoo [no]
47. Seen dinosaur footprints [yes, in Broome]
48. Eaten Tim Tams [of course!]
49. Been to Darwin [yes, for work]
50. Touched a kangaroo [yes, and I had a pet euro for a time]
51. Visited the Great Barrier Reef [yes and swam with the fishies]
52. Listened to Kevin Bloody Wilson [on tape and radio only]
53. Killed a Cane Toad [no]
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre [yes; ah, memories…]
55. Have read and own books by Australian authors [yes]
56. Visited Adelaide [yes]
57. Know the story behind “Eternity” [what’s “Eternity”?? guess the answer to that one is ‘no’]
58. Been camping [yes]
59. Visited Brisbane [yes, mostly for work]
60. Been in an outback pub [yes]
61. Know what the term “Waltzing Matilda” actually means [yes]
62. Gone whale watching [yes]
63. Listened to Slim Dusty [yes]
64. Own five or more Australian movies or TV series [don’t own ANY movies or TV series, Australian or otherwise]
65. Sang along to Down Under [often!]
66. Have stopped specifically to look at an historic marker by the side of the road [no]
67. Eaten a 4’n’20 pie [yes, and have even had a pie at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels in Woolloomooloo]
68. Surfed at Bondi [I’ve walked along the beach — does that count?]
69. Watched the cricket on Boxing Day [on TV only]
70. Visited Hobart [no, but I went to Launceston for 24 hours once to watch an AFL game (see #24) — does that count?]
71. Eaten kangaroo [yes and often, and very nice it is too]
72. Seen a quokka [yes]
73. Visited Canberra [yes]
74. Visited rainforests [yes]
75. Used a Victa lawnmower [yes, years ago]
76. Travelled on a tram in Adelaide [not that I can remember]
77. Watch canefields burning [I’ve watched them growing, but not burning]
78. Used a Hills hoist [every week…]
79. Visited the Olgas [yes]
80. Used native Australian plants in cooking [no, though I’ve eaten dishes with them in]
81. Visited the snow [yes]
82. Chosen a side in Holden v Ford [no, and I don’t care]
83. Visited the desert [yes]
84. Been water skiing [tried once; failed miserably]
85. Read The Phantom [when I was a kid!]
86. Visited Parliament House [yes]
87. Gone spotlighting or pig-shooting [yes, but it was kangaroo and wild goat shooting]
88. Crossed the Nullarbor [yes, road and air]
89. Avoided swimming in areas because of crocodiles [yes]
90. Listened to AC/DC [absolutely, and as loud as possible!]
91. Called someone a dag [yep]
92. Voted in a Federal Election [yes — even though there have been times the fine for not voting looks more attractive]
93. Have been swimming and stayed between the flags [yes]
94. Had a possum in your roof [yes]
95. Visited the outback [yes]
96. Travelled over corrugated roads [yes, too many times]
97. Hit a kangaroo while driving [no, thank God]
98. Been well outside any mobile phone coverage [yes — a few years back you only had to be 10 mins out of Albany and you had no coverage… And we lose coverage about 5 kms out of town here]
99. Seen an emu [many]
100. Have woken to the smell of bushfires [yes, unfortunately]