A letter, if you will, to the lovely Brits who accommodate us in their homeland from the perspective of Aussies who actually live here and those who are recent arrivals.

The real nitty gritty wishes of the expat Aussie in Britain:

1. DON’T ask me: ‘Why on Earth are you here?’ 

Yes, we understand that in the eyes of many Brits we all come from a land of sun, surf, sea and sand — and why would we ever choose to live in the cold and wet? This slightly backhanded compliment is not entirely welcoming. We also love a bit of self-deprecating humour, but just so you know, it’s never just about the weather. In actual fact, we’ll never fully understand why you all talk so much about the weather.

2. DO invite us places, we WILL behave. And the ‘tea rule’

It’s a cliché for a reason. Many Aussies love a good time, so please invite us places. Also, despite the reputation for rowdiness, we can likewise chill-out or engage in debate as much as the next person. However, a warning: we stick to our word, if you invite us somewhere we will probably turn up. A small but fundamental difference between us, most of our questions are not asked out of politeness. We also don’t understand the ‘tea rule’ off the bat. If you say ‘no’ to a cuppa we think you mean it. We don’t realise the British tradition of refusing at first and then saying yes when asked a second time.

3. Please DON’T ask about our visa

This just makes us feel you’re counting down the days till you get rid of us. In job interviews it’s a nightmare; we can tell you’re just calculating how many months until we leave, or how long before they you will have to start recruiting again.  Many of us do have a date we have to leave or even choose to leave, but while we’re loving every minute, please don’t mention it!

4. DO have fun with the ‘blunt sarcasm’

We Aussies can be blunt and sarcastic. Yes, some of us are often outspoken. However, so are many Brits. We have a similar sense of humour, we’re just more upfront with strangers. By the time you get to know us, you will realise we make jokes and have a laugh in the same way as you.

5. DON’T ask me to repeat a word or phrase

Although seemingly adorable, please don’t ask me to constantly repeat words like ‘aquatic’, just because I say it like ‘ah-kwottic’ rather than ‘a-kwattick’. It’s fun the first few times, but correcting us publicly won’t make us change how we were brought up to say it. Furthermore, comments about how we ‘destroy’ the English language with colloquialisms are a bit harsh, especially when Britain has so many regional dialects that we don’t know what ‘gurrt lush’, ‘twaddle’ or ‘to pull’ is, either.

6. DON’T assume we are all convicts

A recent census proved that one in four Australians are born overseas and 43% of us have a parent born overseas. We are very multicultural and many of us are first-generation Australians ourselves. So please, no jokes about convicts.

7. DO get to know that we have regional differences

We’re not all from Sydney and Melbourne and most of us haven’t dived The Great Barrier Reef nor visited Uluru. Some of us grew up on beaches, others on acres of inland farmland. Just like someone’s experience from Manchester differs from that of someone from Durham, as does the experiences of someone from Perth (WA) to that of someone from Wagga Wagga.

8. DO bring ‘The Brit’

The idea we all hang around in Earl’s Court eating Vegemite and lamenting the loss of the sun is an outdated stereotype. We’re generally an adventurous people who love to branch out. We want to try everything, so do pass us Yorkshire Puddings and teach us local customs. We grew up with our TV screens blaring out BBC programmes and English muffins in our supermarkets. We love a bit of cultural exchange and will often understand more than you think about British culture, including the diversity of modern Britain.

9. DON’T hold us responsible for Murdoch

A silly one, but something I’d always get snide remarks about. He was educated in the UK, moved to New York in 1974, became a naturalised American, and we don’t control who reads The Sun.

10. DO ask us about drop bears…

Because it’s a fabulous joke that just keeps giving, and in the end proves we have more in common that not.

TOP IMAGE: By William Perugini via Shutterstock.com

The post The 10 great dos and don’ts for Brits dealing with Aussie expats appeared first on Australian Times News.

Sean answered a quick-fire Q&A for us about his latest book, the writing process and life as a happy househusband author.

Tell us in your own words about your book, Wood Green…

Wood Green concerns two writers – one young and aspiring, the other old and spent. They make a pact with one another, each believing they are getting what they want, and both eventually realising their ambitions will cost them something completely unexpected. It is set on the side of mountain in Tasmania, where a small community plays an important role in the writers’ lives. It is a love letter not only to Tasmania, but also literature and music.

What inspired you to write Wood Green?

I was thinking a lot about what means to be a writer. At the time I was 43 and had spent the past twenty years trying to become a published author. I had three manuscripts in the bottom drawer, and no prospects of ever seeing them in print, yet despite these failures I could not stop writing. It made me think about what it meant to be a real writer. Whether it was having a book published, or if it was about something else. Perhaps a commitment beyond all common sense. I also began to think about the industry that has emerged around writing – giving hope to would-be writers through degrees, workshops, mentorships and online courses. All for a price. And I wanted to discuss the idea of art maybe extracting a different price – one that had absolutely nothing to do with money.

Two of the main characters are writers, what was the process of writing about writing like?

I suppose it made me question what I truly believe about writing – what it should be and do, how it should sound, feel and look. For what purpose should a book be created, and what should be the cost of creating it? It is through writing that I understand the world; that I express myself most succinctly and feel I am functioning at my best. It is through writing that I learn about myself, and engage my brain in the most effective manner. So writing about writing was easy. I have thought about writing all my life.

Music plays an important role in the lives of the characters in Wood Green. What influence has music had on your work?

Being the youngest of four I missed out on music lessons, but listening to music has always been very important to me. Putting music on is the first thing I do in the morning, and turning it off is the last thing I do at night. I have written about music for twenty-five years, and I like the way this makes me listen more deeply, think about the ideas at work, and consider their context within the history of music. Music also helps to dream and think, which is very important to my creative process. I do not, however, listen to music as I write. I really cannot understand how writers do this. When I write I feel as if I am composing music. The sounds of words, the beat of sentences, and arrangement of paragraphs. So how could I do that while listening to someone else’s music? I need to write in silence to hear my work.

Do you have a particular process for writing?

I don’t use a computer to compose the first draft. I started writing long ago. Before the era of affordable PCs and the internet. So I tend to write either by hand or with a manual typewriter. I know some people might roll their eyes at this, but it’s just the way I have worked since the age of 15. I find handwriting allows for a closeness to the page that a computer doesn’t offer. A manual typewriter also allows me to bash away like a percussion instrument. One again, trying to find the rhythm of my sentences. Once the first draft is done I type it onto a computer, then print it off and work on paper. Always on paper.

When you’re not writing, what do you get up to?

Reading, reading, reading, listening to music, writing music journalism, working part time in a research library. Cooking for my family. Walking the dog. Housework. Not very rock ‘n’ roll, but routine is important if you want to get books written. I have no aspirations other than to write, help my wife achieve her ambitions, and to bring up my son as a decent human being.

Sean Rabin is currently in the UK for the launch of his debut novel ‘Wood Green’ at The Big Green Bookshop in (where else, but) Wood Green on 23 September, 7pm. Tickets are free and all are welcome. He will also be reading at an Evening of Independent Presses at Burley Fisher on 26 September and at In Yer Ear on 28 September.

The post Sean Rabin: dad, dog walker, music junkie, shortlisted for Readings Prize for new Aussie fiction appeared first on Australian Times News.

Each year Cheltenham Festival has a country focus and for 2015 it is Australia. We asked Christos about his role in curating the Aussie part of the programme as well as identity, myth and the future of what he calls the ‘Australian Project’

Australia is a country focus at Cheltenham Festival this year and you’ve been picked as guest director. What was your aim when curating the Australian part of the programme?

The festival had already invited guests so what I chose to do was frame the question of Australian identity and Australian culture in a particular way, wanting to ask: why is it that our sense of Australia is so extreme, either “God’s Earth” or “Arse-hole at the end of the world”? I think both responses are evasions and somewhat childish.

So in giving the festival this gentle push towards looking at this question, I hope that we as writers and attendees can use it as a springboard to ask further questions. One more I would like to pose I would be: is Australia’s apparent immaturity both a curse but also an indication of great potential?

You’ve been quoted saying “In many ways, Australia strikes me as a work in progress”. In what areas in particular do you think this is true?

Clearly there are great wounds in our national and historic psyche that have yet to be healed. First and foremost there is the history of Aboriginal dispossession, our failure to recognise how fundamentally our country is an Aboriginal country (which does not mean we who are from settler histories can’t be part of that). Second, I believe, is the violent history of convict transportation that so marks our character and our passive-aggressive relationship to the UK. And thirdly is the blight of the White Australia Policy.

All these enormous historic wounds are, of course, great burdens. But I think the potential comes from our still trying to understand and reconcile ourselves to these histories.

This is where I see multiculturalism as the great circuit-breaker to all these things; that the fact that we now all come from all over the world, that for most of us we don’t owe or comprehend allegiances to the UK, means that we are beginning to ask new questions and we are beginning to create new cultural forms. It is in this sense I see us as a “work in progress”, that we are still working out what nationhood might be.

You’ve mentioned ‘myths’ as a big part of the Australian identity. How much do you think the ‘bush, beach, beer’ identity is something fostered within Australia and does it ring true anymore?

Our relationship to the “bush” has been fraught because I think existentially, non-Indigenous Australians recognise it as distinctly Aboriginal. That’s why our literature, our films, our paintings are filled with terror of the interior: Wake in Fright or Wolf Creek.

Alcohol has been one way of Australia dealing with the paradoxes of our colonial founding; we drink to go “blind”, to forget. And we congregate at the edges of the country, on the water, not quite knowing where we belong. So you get the “white” myth of “bush, beer and beach”.

But with the seismic shift of multiculturalism, the increasing confidence and vigour of Aboriginal art, the lessening of that crippling passive-aggression within Anglo and/or Celtic communities we used to call the “cultural cringe”, then that myth is eroding. I think that’s a good thing. I love the bush but the ocean is home.

Do you think Australians particularly are often concerned with how the world views them? How much do you feel myths form a part of how we see ourselves?

I think that maybe Europe and Asia will always signify the “Old World” for Australians, as it does for American, Argentinians, Canadians and New Zealanders. I often envy the confidence I see in European identity, whether it be English, Scottish, French or Polish, or in Asian identity, be it Indian, Chinese or Thai.

It is hard not to think of oneself as “adolescent” when travelling in Europe or Asia. Certainly, travel, if only from the physical assault of jet-lag, makes one aware of how true the tyranny of distance is. We are also an island, prey to parochialism and to “island-fever”. Maybe all of this lends itself to self-doubt, to wanting to shout to let the world know we are there.

You have mentioned that Australia has “much unfinished business”. What issue would you like to see addressed foremost?

That we make our Aboriginal First Nations constitutionally and territorially integral to Australia. That we become a republic.

Your book ‘The Slap’ has been cited as being a “defining moment” in literature. You’re not afraid of touching on controversial topics. Will readers find ‘Merciless Gods’ shocking?

I have often said in the past five years that we are treating readers like children. Maybe culture journalists and critics have become like helicopter-parents, have fallen for the Calvinist ideology of the nanny-state.

I assume some readers might find parts of Merciless Gods shocking. Being shocked, awoken to the world, is part of what made me fall in love with art.

What do you think about the political turmoil in recent years in Australia says about their national character?

I think that the shifts in Australian politics over the last seven years reflects exactly what I have just spoken to, how we are still struggling to reconcile our different histories.

What kind of nation are we? I don’t think the Liberals or the ALP know how to answer that question. It is difficult, it is huge and complex, but both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott thought they could ignore the enormity of the future and settle for the lowest-denominator goals. It was excruciating being Australian over the last seven years, just how small-minded we had become, and how ignoble.

What would you like to see for the future of the ‘Australian project’?

More immigration and the building of the great infrastructure we need: rapid trains, new state schools and hospitals, metros etc. We have been asleep for too long.

CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS is author of ‘Merciless Gods’ published by Atlantic Books, out now.

He will be at Cheltenham Festival, Friday 9 Oct 2015 8:00pm – 9:00pm. Tickets can be booked here

IMAGES: Christos Tsiolkas (By Zoe Ali)

The post Australia has been asleep for too long: Christos Tsiolkas appeared first on Australian Times News.

Internationally renowned historian Clare Wright has spent her career writing women back into our history pages – now she turns her attention to a key event in Australian history and the pivotal role that women played.

In her latest book, The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka, Wright tells the uncut story of the day the Australian people found their voice. There were thousands of women on the goldfields and many of them were active in key roles. The stories of how they arrived there, why they came and how they sustained themselves make for fascinating reading in their own right. But it is in the rebellion itself that the unbiddable women of Ballarat come into their own.

I caught up with the 2014 Stella Prize winning writer to find out more about her work:

Do you remember what got you interested in history?

I fell in love with History in Year 12. That was the first time in my schooling that I had the opportunity to do an independent research assignment.  I spent my two-week Spring break buried in the dark bowels of the State Library of Victoria, poring over old newspapers, maps, diaries and letters.  Once I’d breathed the dust of the past into my lungs, I was hooked.  I am still happiest when I’m chasing down a question through the archives.  Historical research is a kind of pleasurably compulsive but also slightly masochistic detective work: asking questions, seeking answers, only to find more questions.  It’s hard to know when to stop.  And there’s no black and white – only endless shades of grey.  That’s why it took me ten years to research this book!

How do you feel Australian historians fit in on a world-scale?

There are many Australian historians who are better known to readers outside of Australia, particularly scholars of European History and Transnational.  They are eminent in their fields of expertise and have contributed widely to the scholarship and theory of the discipline.  But I think that scholars of Australian history are probably less read than they deserve to be.  Australians tend to be an enquiring and self-critical mob but have a short amount of white colonial and national history to dissect.  So we pour over our stories and can be really great storytellers.

Do you feel female historians are forcing readers to rethink history?

I don’t think that female historians are necessarily game-changers by dint of gender, but historians who foreground women in the conceptual re-imagining and narrative structure of the story certainly encourage readers to think again about events, characters and themes that they thought they knew so well.  As I write in my book, adding women to the picture doesn’t just add colour, it changes the very outline.  We are forced to think again about who it is that actually makes history (the default position is that men are agents of change), what significance a particular event actually has, and for whom, and why.  More questions! And because these are new questions to be addressed, it means you can go back into the same archives that have been used by previous historians, and find different answers.  A more socially inclusive approach to writing history gives us a much richer – and I would argue – more authentic version of the past.

Why Eureka?

Eureka is one of those key foundation stories that is told time and again in Australia. It is the moment when miners stood up against an oppressive regime and claimed their rights and freedoms.  Eureka is branded as ‘the birthplace of Australian democracy’.  Every school child learns about it, often at several different points in their education.  But the story has always been told as if only men were part of the landscape (the gold rush frontier), as if only male concerns were cause for the rebellion (political disenfranchisement) and as if only masculine values can be attributed to the legend (independence, autonomy, mateship).  I wanted to ask the question that never occurred to me as a school girl: where am I in this story?  I wanted to know whether the story that had been passed down was truth or legend.  And that meant returning to the primary sources and looking for traces of women.  Well, I didn’t have to look hard or far.  They were everywhere!

Where do you think Eureka sits in the Australian historical imagination? Why is it important for British to know about it?

See above re: Australian historical imagination.  I think British readers will be as interested in this story as Australians are because, after all, the majority of the people who were engaged in these mass popular protests for democratic change were recent immigrants from Great Britain.  White people didn’t just pop up on Australia’s shores like mushrooms after a rain.  They sailed here, under incredibly difficult circumstances, as refugees from the constraints and deprivations of the Old World.  Labourers fled serfdom.  Gentlemen and women escaped from restrictive social conditions and mores.  Many were political visionaries – Chartists, Bloomerists – who looked for fertile new soil in which to plant their reform agendas.  They all contributed to a second wave of dispossession of the original indigenous inhabitants.  This is a British story too.  It’s what happened at the tail-end of the European revolutions of 1848.  I don’t know whether it’s important to know the result of that particularly tumultuous era in British history, but it’s certainly fascinating!

What do you think are the most important Australian historical events that should be studied in every Australian classroom, and why?

The frontier wars between Aboriginal Australia and the European invaders.  Our first people fought a bloody and murderous war for control and sovereignty of their lands.  We need to know and reconcile this fact.

Eureka – obviously.

The first experience of massive multi-cultural immigration, a feature that would continue to shape our nation.

The passing of the 1902 legislation that made Australia’s white women the most fully enfranchised in the world.  We were the first to enjoy full political equality with men; that is, the right to vote and to stand for parliament (New Zealand women didn’t get the second right until 1919).

Your first book was Beyond the Ladies Lounge: Australian Female Publicans, do you feel there is a different relationship between Aussie women specifically and alcohol compared to other countries and why this topic?

When I was an undergrad, I became interested in cultural drinking practices and the way they revolved around gender.  Aussie men do a lot of male bonding around alcohol consumption (I suspect it’s similar in other western nations) and historically, the pub was seen as an exclusively male domain: ‘no place for a woman’. But popular wisdom and anecdote held that formidable women were the backbone of pub life.  Which was true?  I tested the stereotype of male ascendance through the use of both oral history accounts of women who’d run and worked in and drunk in pubs, as well as the documentary sources, to compile a strong evidence-based case for the fact that women dominated the hotel industry in the 19th and early 20th centuries – as proprietors and distributors, if not as patrons.  That makes the whole endeavour sound very dry, but actually the book is a hoot because it’s peopled with such indomitable, spirited women and stories.  It’s history written from inside the pub; it takes you right up to the bar and introduces you to the woman running it.  I like to write history that reaches out and grabs the reader where it counts: on the level of emotion, curiosity and empathy.

Are you working on a new book and what will it be about? 

Well, I’m working on a Young Adult version of The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka as well as a re-release of Beyond the Ladies Lounge, ten years after its original publication.  I’ve also just finished co-writing a landmark four-part television documentary series for the ABC to commemorate the centenary of World War 1.  It’s called The War That Changed Us.  And I’m working with a media production company to produce a very exciting new immersive digital media project that puts the user right back in the trenches and casualty clearing stations of the Western Front in 1916.  It’s an incredible melding of historical scholarship and cutting-edge technology.  But I’m soon to start research on my next book, which will be a new history of mining in Australia.  Another huge project, but I’ve promised my publishers it won’t take another decade to achieve.

Finally, who is your favourite historian and why?

I don’t have one, so can I name a few?  Geoffrey Blainey, not for his world view, but for his clear, elegant and accessible writing.  Michael Cathcart for his sheer exuberance and making history fun.  Simon Schama for taking history to the people.  Barbara Tuchman for her eagle-eye for detail.  Greg Dening for teaching me that human emotion is to be embraced, not feared.  Marilyn Lake for her searing intellect. Anne Summers, Simon Winchester, Geraldine Brooks (ok, she’s a novelist but she writes amazing historical characters).

‘The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka’ by Clare Wright is published by Text Publishing, Paperback Original, £16.99 and available on Amazon.

TOP IMAGE: The Eureka Stockade Rebellion flag (Paul Baird/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND)

The post The forgotten women rebels of Eureka appeared first on Australian Times News.

John Butler Trio live at O2 Academy Brixton, London

30 April 2014

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The John Butler Trio made a discreet entrance to the 02 Academy Brixton last night. Softly introducing the chords to ‘Revolution’ as the lights came up over a packed audience, building the melody and volume till dynamically bursting the chorus into the crowd.

A catchy re-worked and extended version of ‘Fire in The Sky’ followed an animated sing-along to ‘Used to Get High’.

Backed seamlessly by bassist Byron Luiters and drummer Grant Gerathy, Butler as frontman elicited an energetic response from the fans with an upbeat banjo-led prelude to ‘Only One’ and crowd-pleaser ‘Betterman’.

Taking the stage alone, Butler played an extended version of the acoustic ‘Ocean’, one of his most famous instrumentals he wrote while busking as a young musician. This has become a bit of an icon of Butler’s accomplished and dynamic fretboard skills.

‘How You Sleep at Night’ and ‘Devil Woman’ from their new album Flesh & Blood showed off the trio as a band working together with more jam-grooves than in previous, more acoustic albums.

With a sound so much more vigorous than can be captured with a studio album, you can see why JBT have released three live albums and have become a must-see Aussie act.

As an encore the trio played the infectious ‘Funky Tonight’ to a rapturous applause. Rather than losing momentum with a string of bluesy solo’s, JBT’s live performance showed off the current trio’s variety and virtuosity.

IMAGE:  John Butler Trio (By Kester Sappho)

The post John Butler Trio rocks Brixton appeared first on Australian Times News.

The John Butler Trio has just released Flesh & Blood, their first new album in four years.

Butler took a time out to chat with Australian Times after a gig in Auckland just before heading north for this week’s highly anticipated UK tour, including a big show on Wednesday at London’s Brixton Academy.

Like their last album April Uprising, Flesh & Blood mixes jam grooves with acoustic ballads. Butler agreed that his music has evolved in tone since the latest incarnation of the trio.

With fewer political lyrics, Flesh & Blood he describes as “less angry”. Moving on from “the struggle” his latest tracks, he says, are more about “balance, the fight for love and a celebration”.

“It was the easiest album yet and was made in 20 days,” John says.

He mentions how naturally the trio collaborated, especially on more percussive songs like ‘Devil Woman’ and ‘Blame It On Me’.

The track ‘How you Sleep at Night’, “came from a dream” and has a more melancholic quality. He wanted the song itself to be recorded in “a dream way”, as he put it.

The ability to move between very dynamic and more tranquil songs is a quality the John Butler Trio is renowned for, both on record and on stage. Butler says: “The audience wants the hits, and we’re happy to play them, but performances, like albums, need variety. You don’t want to drive through the same scenery every night. Music performances need momentum.”

When asked if audiences change according to country he says: “Not really, it depends how good the music sounds and the vibe of the audience. The collaboration between audience and band.”

Also see: 5 awesome John Butler Trio live videos

For over a decade now, John Butler Trio’s UK concerts have been a mecca for expat Aussies. ‘JBT’ have become synonymous with the Aussie music scene and the band’s distinctive sound is cherished by Aussies worldwide.

Butler’s family travels with him on tour and he says he’s looking forward to the “beautiful places in the UK – old parts of town and parks – between gigs”.

Where to from here? Butler says the song-writing process is organic and his trio are “employees of the song. What the song wants is what the song gets. It’s experiential”. Next he’d like to do an album “with massive beats and fat guitar”. We look forward to that… and to Wednesday’s blast in Brixton — see you there!

John Butler Trio UK Tour 2014

> Rock City, Nottingham: 29 April

> O2 Academy, Brixton (London): 30 April

> O2 Academy, Bristol: 02 May

> Plymouth Pavilions: 03 May

Get John Butler Trio tickets, here

Get the John Butler Trio Flesh & Blood album, here

IMAGES: By Kester Sappho

The post The flesh and blood of John Butler appeared first on Australian Times News.

The Aussie ‘Orphan’ Christmas 

There’s something uniquely fun about a bunch of Aussies tackling the turkey and attempting all the trimmings the way ‘mum used to’ or whinging in unison about the lack of flame-grilled prawns. My first Christmas in the UK, a rouge bunch of friends lamenting our summer tans tripped down to Tesco and stocked up. You can quite cheaply pull off a quite hefty Christmas meal if you buy everything from the supermarket.

A few pointers; make sure you check on the turkey a few times to make sure it’s not going to end up in flames, overstock on the mulled wine, cue the cheesy ‘Christmas playlist’ on internet radio, wear a bad taste Christmas jumper where possible, Skype your family before you get too drunk (remember they’ll be relatively sober by that point) and listen to the Queen’s Royal Christmas message on tele before switching to JJJ when you start feeling nostalgic.

For those who’d rather not get their hands dirty bothering about the best way to tackle a turkey, why not head to the local pub. You’d be surprised just how many great pubs in London put on a roast and festive atmosphere. Grab a few friends and head down. Just remember, it’s not Christmas unless you’re all wearing ridiculous paper hats – so don’t forget the crackers. Why not lead up to the day with a ’12 pubs of Christmas’ pub crawl. There are many websites outlining fun seasonal crawls.

Christmas in Europe

Whilst living in the UK I’ve had a few Christmas’ in Europe. I highly recommend getting out and spending the Christmas period in another country. Flights and transport are really cheap this time of year and hotels/hostels won’t close when many other services will. While Christmas in London or the UK may be culturally rather like home but with an added chill, it differs greatly once you reach the mainland. Germany is well known for it’s gorgeous markets while in Spain you will find street festivals and dancing. I’m going to highlight two places I’ve spent the holiday to give an idea of what Christmas in Europe was like for me:

Oslo, Norway

A few years ago I spent the season in Norway. What I loved about it, other than the metres and metres of snow, was how differently Christmas could be celebrated a few hours on a plane from London. My mate and I stayed in a traditional log cabin that was hundreds of years old and ate Atlantic fish alongside Elk stew. This was before our Norwegian friends advised us to put porridge out on the threshold so the Nordic goblins would keep that years flock of sheep safe.

Click here for the weirdest Christmas traditions from around the world.

We finished the evening drinking vast amounts of Cloudberry liqueur — a local special. It is possible to find somewhere to stay with a few mates online and Scandinavia has hundreds of winter cabins dotted throughout the sparse landscape. It’s a great escape for a group of friends looking for something different to do. The best part, you’ll definitely have a white Christmas!

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Many Aussies visit Amsterdam quite early on in their travels. It’s a stopover on many people’s bucket list. In winter and around Christmas however, the city can be seen in a totally different light. Two years ago, four of us decided to hit up Amsterdam for the Christmas period. It’s really easy to get to from London and offers a beautiful setting for festivities. We booked into a hotel (really cheap as it’s off-peak) and spent the days walking Christmas markets, eating Oliebollen (dutch donuts) and –  if the weather’s right – ice-skating on the canals. We booked into a restaurant for our actual Christmas day meal and then went to Anne Frank’s house on Christmas day!

So if you love travel and you want to mesh it with Christmas, don’t feel like everything will be closed. There’ll be plenty to do in the major cities in Europe. The benefit also is that you’re already close if you want to spend New Years Eve in great places such as Berlin.

The ‘British’ Christmas and the Surrogate family

Not everyone may have this option open to them. However, you never know who might invite you to spend the day with their family or crew. Very last minute, I attended a friends Christmas in Sussex and it was fabulous. Make sure you bring a present for your hosts (a good liqueur often goes down well) and a good festive spirit and you’ll have a blast.

At a British Christmas, depending on where you go, you’ll discover great things such as; ‘pigs in blankets’, fights over various Christmas Special’s on TV, ice swimming and ominous spreads like ‘bread sauce’. Don’t be afraid to ask your friends what they are doing for Christmas, you’d be surprised how many people are happy to include a little extra Aussie spirit alongside their usual agenda.

The post Celebrating Christmas the Aussie expat way appeared first on Australian Times News.

NESTLED in West London, CHISWICK is 10 to 15 minutes from both Hammersmith and Shepherd’s Bush. However despite it’s close proximity, it offers something a little bit different from the two well-known antipodean haunts.

A leafy suburb right on the River Thames Chiswick is an oasis full of surprises, with great food, bars, pubs, and sites. Without having to leave zone two, it provides the perfect refuge from the throngs of people in London

I have lived in a few places in London but I love the versatility of Chiswick. Here are a few of the reasons why I have stayed here so long:

1. Food & Drink

Chiswick High Road is full of amazing places to eat and drink. It hosts a variety of food from delicious surf and turf at The Cabin to its very own Franca Manca — arguably the best pizza in London (and the most reasonably priced). It is also home to wine bars and pubs with courtyards on the Thames, perfect during the summer. Drinking holes such as The Mawson Arms are great to stake out a spot to watch The Boat Race, with slightly less manic crowds than further up the river.

2. River Walk or Bike ride

Round the corner from Hammersmith Bridge, a walk along the Thames Path past the houses on Chiswick Mall is a must. Along the way you can stop by the William Morris Society, also host to some great art exhibitions. And why not end up at Chiswick’s very own Fuller’s Griffin Brewery, which has been there since 1845 and runs up to 20 tours a week at £10 a head!

You can also cycle along the Thames Path all the way to Barnes Bridge. This path goes through such dense bush-land in places you won’t believe you’re in London. Pack a picnic and enjoy lunch in Dukes Meadow on the river.

3. Chiswick House & Hogarth House 

One of Chiswick’s main claims to fame is that it’s snuggled in the middle of it is Chiswick House and Hogarth House. Chiswick House is a grade I listed neo-Palladian villa set in historic gardens. Built by the third Earl of Burlington in 1729, the house still displays many brilliant artworks. It’s £5.90 entrance but on various dates during the month you can get in free.

The gardens at Chiswick are the birthplace of the English Landscape Movement and have inspired many gardens including New York’s Central Park. At certain times of year there’s outdoor cinema and music concerts to be enjoyed in the grounds.

Hogarth’s House is the former country home of the 18th century English artist William Hogarth. The House is open to visitors and free of charge! Right near Chiswick House, you can do both in an afternoon.

4. Markets

Every Sunday between 10am and 2pm there is a local food market open to the public in Dukes Meadow. You can buy fresh food, including a range of organic produce, direct from the people who grew it. Not to mention great coffee!

On the first Sunday of every month Chiswick also has a fabulous Car Boot Sale at the same location where you can discover just about anything you may want or need in London. Scope out some treasures or even sell some of your own.

5. Theatre

Chiswick is home to The Tabard Theatre (since 1985) on Bath Road. It’s known for its debut writing and experimental work.

Just around the corner from Turnham Green station this competitively priced theatre also has its regulars such as Al Murray, Russell Howard, Chis Addison and Dara O’Briain. If you miss them at other venues in London, catch them in Chiswick in a much more intimate atmosphere –  with a pub downstairs for drinks before and after the show.

The post Our London: Spotlight on Chiswick — Top 5 appeared first on Australian Times News.

THE clocks went back last weekend making our days feel even shorter. Coupled with the storm that battered southern Britain yesterday, many Aussies in the UK may be feeling down about the onset of winter. Don’t panic here’s some advice on surviving those long cold months.

1. CLOTHING
Never underestimate the importance of a good winter coat and all the accessories. Invest in some warm gloves, scarfs and hats. You will need them. Girls, although we all resist initially, you will eventually have to give in to knitwear. Carrying a brollie also just stopped being optional, always have one in the bottom of your bag. You don’t want to get drenched and be the ‘damp’ smelling person on the tube.

2. PUBS
Scout out your local drinking holes. The one which was your haunt in summer is probably not going to be the best during winter months. Scrap the courtyards, and find the cosy local with an open fire if possible. On big nights out, start carrying cash for the cloakroom.

3. DRINKING
Don’t let the dark and damp keep you indoors. Still go out with friends and stay social. Discover winter warming drinks like Irish coffee, a ‘hot toddy’ (also recommended when you’re sick) and mulled wine around Christmas.

4. ROASTS
There’s a reason the Brits eat roasts in winter. You need hearty food during the cold months. Find a local pub with a good Sunday roast, or even get your friends around for one. Make sure you get into all the trimmings, including Yorkshire pudding. Stock up on comfort foods, under so many layers you can now embrace the Heathrow injection.

5. SAD
Don’t get sad, or even SAD (Sun Affected Disorder). Eat oily fish, eggs and find good vitamin D supplements if you are the type to miss the sun. A cheeky sunbed every now and then won’t hurt, and for the hard-core a sun-lamp might be a good investment.

6. WINTER TRAVEL
Many Aussies can get so caught up travelling in the summer they forget about the amazing places to be seen in winter. Take advantage of the off-season cheap flights and see cities in a different light. Scandinavia is especially beautiful in winter. Also, don’t forget Britain. If you’re feeling down about the weather why not spend a weekend in Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast or even Bath. For those lucky enough to be able to, break up winter with a trip home. Fail that, Skype your mates and tell them how much fun you can have in the UK despite the weather.

7. CHRISTMAS MARKETS
Take advantage of the amazing Christmas markets in Europe. Lille and Bruges for example are just a Eurostar away and will make you feel like you’ve stepped into a childhood picture book. Other great markets are in; Paris, Munich, Brussels and Salzburg. A good way to get you outside when you just want to mope inside.

8. EVENTS
Get involved with as many London winter events as possible. Head out on Guy Fawkes night and enjoy the fireworks across London. London is beautiful on New Years Eve. Winter is also the best time to do all those indoor things you meant to in summer such as The British Museum, a West End Show and The Tate Modern.

9. AUSTRALIA DAY
Australia Day in the UK is a great experience. Get out and among the atmosphere and celebrate with friends. There are events across the UK. It’s a good spirit lifter for those feeling a bit homesick in January.

10. AVOID GETTING SICK
Keep eating fruit and veges as much as possible. Avoid your time being ruined by the latest bug (those who had last years Norovirus will know what I mean) and keep your immune system strong. However, you probably will get sick at least once and it is a real downer. Stock up on cold and flu medicine and tissues in case and steer clear of people coughing on the tube.

Oh… and don’t try to peel a banana with gloves on!

The post Survival of the warmest: Top 10 tips to survive the UK winter appeared first on Australian Times News.

You were born in England, when did you become Australian?
I moved to Australia when I was 30 and became Aussie within a few years. I spent 25 years overseas, five years away in Asia and Africa before moving to Oz. I was there for many years and when I finally came back to the UK after a quarter of a century, it had changed out of all recognition in that time. It was a foreign country to me by the time I got here, which I liked.  I’ve always liked this idea of being an outsider. I’ve always enjoyed being an expat. People sometimes even pick me as Australian.

How much has travel played a part in your life?
When I was a kid I was a bit of a dreamer I suppose. I always wanted to have adventures. When I went to get a job it was the 70’s, a time of huge recession in the UK. It was very difficult to do anything, so the chances of actually working abroad seemed pretty small – my escape was into writing. I’d always written adventures stories. I used to lose myself in writing as I never went anywhere for years and years. However, at that stage I never got published. Then I started to work for Shell in The Strand as a journalist – an industrial editor. But I wasn’t made for the corporate life, it wasn’t for me. Every time I saw a job overseas I’d apply. Finally I got a job in Nigeria. I was an information officer in North Nigeria near the Sahara for two years. There was no phone, no communication. I even got lost a few times. Then I was in Taiwan for just over two years.  I came back to the UK after that. I was only six weeks back in the UK before I ‘cracked’ and bought a ticket and arrived in Sydney. So I’ve got that experience of arriving in places where I didn’t know anybody. It’s character building.

What did you do during your time in Australia?
Well I knew I wanted to stay, but journalists weren’t on the list – the famous ‘list’ then of those who could stay in the country.  So I had to set up my own business and employ Aussies to convince them to give me citizenship. That was when I set up an editorial agency. It turned out to be quite successful. We wrote mostly about science, technology and had big blue chip clients alongside clients like AWA, CSIRO and a few federal government departments.

What did you do when you got back to the UK?
My first series of jobs when I got back were for a big PR company who wanted high profile Australians in London interviewed. I had a good time meeting some great people. In fact the Australian connection turned out to be the most useful. I think the Brits figured I ‘speak the language’.

What do you think the British think of Australians in the UK?
Well there was some truth in what some of these high profile Australians I interviewed said. All of them said that being Australian, gave them a certain amount of leeway. That the Poms they dealt with, often in positions of authority, never knew quite how to take them. So they could get away with being quite honest, and quite straight. Not necessarily crude, but that they could get away with speaking their mind. Which of course is an Australian trait anyway.

Tell me a little bit about your last book The Warning Bell?
Well it was difficult to write as it had autobiographical strands. It was written under the pen-name Tom Macaulay. It was really a tribute to my dad. It’s about some RAF boats during the war – namely the boat 2548. The boat is almost a character in the book. A young boy has to figure out what happened to the old boy during the war. I even managed to see the relic of that exact boat. There is often this crossover between the adventures in your own life and the adventures you want to write about.

Your new book Distant Thunder is an epic adventure where the characters move through England, India and Sudan at the turn of the century. Was there a particular pull to these areas and inspiration for your characters?
I had long been interested in the life of [Winston] Churchill, as a kind of template of someone who’d lived at that time. Churchill was born in 1874 and it occurred to me as an interesting idea to trace the life of somebody who’d been born originally in that era. My main character was born in 1878. Churchill was young enough to take part in the last British Regimental Cavalry Charge which is in the book — and he lived long enough to buy the first Beatles LP. Among the changes that happened during that time were; the internal combustion engine which suddenly meant cars were on the street, flight, the theory of relativity, two world wars, telecommunications, huge advances in things like medicine — all those changes took place in that lifetime.

Do you have a favourite Australian novel?
Breath by Tim Winton. I also think that David Malouf is not well enough recognised. Those two are certainly up there.

What English/British novel would you recommend to Australians who have just arrived in the UK?
Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson. I read it when I first got back here, almost as a foreigner myself. It’s his story about how he arrives in Britain and didn’t know anything — never been here before. And if you want a classic, Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. 

Distant Thunder is published by Orion Books and available now via Amazon.co.uk/Distant-Thunder-T-D-Griggs/dp/1409101908

 To read more about Tim’s books and adventures, visit Tdgriggs.co.uk or follow him at @TDGRIGGS1

Read about Dame Edna

The post Distant Aussie thunder rumbling around the world appeared first on Australian Times News.

I’VE become used to living in England, a country where people ‘buy’ sunshine.

They save up money and time to sit in resorts or on beaches. They also have this obsession with a ‘tan’ — proof that you have access to this precious commodity of sunshine. Which is why, when the sun hits their own shores, I find it fascinating how worked up they get over it and am amused at how I might be going the same way.

I remember laughing out loud when I first saw the advertisements on the tube warning people to carry water when commuting due to the ‘extreme’ summer heat. This was before I realised that air-conditioning on the underground doesn’t really exist and, only just the other week, witnessed my first fellow elderly passenger pass out.

Being a Sydney girl I love summer and have often giggled at how the English whinge about the hot weather despite constantly trying to chase the sun elsewhere in the world. However, I’m shocked at my recent inclination to defend them.

At home I take for granted that when the weather gets a bit too hot I can always jump in the ocean or at least enjoy a swim in a mate’s pool. We equip ourselves in Australia for the onslaught of summer as much as we under-prepare ourselves for the shock of winter. Here it’s exactly reversed; it takes imagination to endure a hot day in London. There is little escape from a heat wave unless you actually leave the city altogether. It involves avoiding tubes, finding parks with shady spots and trying to stay away from the stagnant humidity of the central City.

I attended a BBQ last weekend with a mixed crowd. During the sunny afternoon we all milled about and yes, there were a few whiny comments about how the heat ‘was a bit much’. However when it started pelting down with rain unexpectedly, all us Aussies ran indoors like wimps and watched as a couple of the English lads created a canopy over the barbie with their brollies and kept calm and cooked on. I can’t help but think we could learn from each other in this sense.

In Oz I’d like to have more central heating, more pubs with open fires and for people in general to be in less denial that winter actually exists. Likewise, perhaps us Aussies should stop laughing at the Brits sweating and whinging and get involved in a few more muddy festivals and sun-baking in the park.

The post Getting all hot and bothered in Britain appeared first on Australian Times News.

I CONSISTENTLY get asked by Brits, “what are you still doing here” — coupled with a look of disbelief. This is usually followed by complaints over weather and society, contrasted with an idealistic mirage of Australia as the land of plenty.

My friends understand why us Aussies inundate London and Europe to travel (and party), but are often perplexed why I have chosen to make a life here. The pull towards Australia for Brits in this way is similarly a two-headed beast. What attracts the traveller is different to what attracts the immigrant.

A fair chunk of the Brits I know in London have done a ‘tour’ of Australia in their youth. A right of passage for travel-minded people, much like the one many Aussie’s take across Europe. It’s usually the same stories; Bondi Beach, up the East Coast on a tour bus, Ayres Rock, Darwin, Melbourne, a bit of wine-country, throw in some fruit-picking and sun-baking to lobster pink on Fraser Island or the Great Barrier Reef — then eventually arrive home to show off the tan.

When asked what the attraction is, many tell me it’s the idea of absolute escape. A place full of sun, animals, friendly people who like a drink, less likelihood of being pick-pocketed — the ideal extended travel destination. Also, for many youngins it’s a safe option for their first foray into travel. Much like Contiki tours in Europe, they can find a group of enough of ‘their own’ to share the experience with. They feel we must be similar enough (“you were colonised by us”). The concept that we may have social-political unrest is unthinkable. The attractive image is that we’re an island in the middle of no-where where everyone is laid back.

For the Brit who wants to move to Australia permanently, the attraction is less tied to an idea of exploration and the exotic. The stereotype extends away from just sunshine and is more about work, space, egalitarianism and less class-friction. Concepts made even more attractive after the global financial crisis.

A friend of mine has recently decided to move to Sydney. On realising that the older you are the harder it is to obtain a visa, she quickly applied shortly before her 30^th Birthday. The response among friends was fantastic. On one side there was awe and on the other an attitude like she’d packed it all in to take the ultimate risk.  The sheer difficulty of getting into Australia is seductive, a seemingly walled-off paradise of acceptance – so long as you can get there.

I think a lot of these ideas are down to Aussies in general ‘promoting’ their country overseas much more than the Brits do. We seem to travel everywhere and are a huge expat community, but often – albeit eventually — want to settle back at home. Perhaps us expats ourselves are the advertisement that attracts people to Australia. After all, my answer to the question “why am I still here” is consistently “because I can always go home”.

The post Why Poms move to Oz appeared first on Australian Times News.

John Butler Trio @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire, 6 July

THE John Butler Trio were back in London on Wednesday night, and played to a packed Shepherd’s Bush Empire. It was a humid and rainy night, but the crowd was charged as main-man John Butler sat down with his guitar and was joined by bassist Byron Luiters and drummer Nicky Bomba.

The Trio, who are renowned for their free-form jam-like live performances, didn’t disappoint with a set that moved fluidly between Butler’s political rhetoric and light-hearted banter.

On the JBT website Butler says of their most recent album, April Uprising, “it’s my best work to date”. Playing live they certainly proved it’s their most versatile; mixing influences from dancehall, roots and rock. Highlights included Revolution, with its political flavour and lyrics “sometimes I do wonder how we do sleep, serving the dodgy companies we keep”, to the more playful Don’t Want to See Your Face and Close to You — the distinct JBT rock track with elements of the album Grand National.

The fans got to hear some of the older, much loved tracks and Treat Your Mama [with respect] had everyone dancing wildly in the stalls. The instrumental Ocean was also a crowd favourite — which showcased Butler’s sheer skill on guitar — and proves why the track has over 12 million views on Youtube.

There was a notable performance of Funky Tonight — where Butler asked that the audience face the back of the room before playing the well-known opening riff. Butler’s mention of Broome, South Australia and a couple of other Aussie references elicited loud enough yells to show that JBT’s visits to London have become something of an expat Mecca.

The evening ended with a memorable encore of Peaches and Cream. Butler started playing the acoustic ballad but stopped soon after to say to the noisy crowd, “you’ll have to shut the f*ck up”, which of course they did as the laughter died down.

It’s this interaction with the audience that makes JBT such a worthwhile live act as much as their original sound. Despite having got bigger over the years, JBT still make the crowd feel like their sitting in on a jam-session in their living room. Some of the older fans may have wanted to hear more from his first album and Three, but most would have been satisfied with the balance of uplifting tunes with political tracks.

The post John Butler Trio triumph again appeared first on Australian Times News.