14 Reasons Why Australia Makes This World a Special Place

14Â Reasons Why Australia Makes This World aÂ Special Place

Would you like to go to a place where there are glowing worms instead of snow on Christmas, and birds that mimic dogs and even sing your favorite tunes? All you need is a visa and a plane ticket to Australia!

Bright Side hopes that our readers will learn something new and interesting about the homeland of kangaroos.

A UV index in the streets

Every Australian knows how important it is to protect the skin from the sun. It’s really easy to get sunburned here and in order to avoid it, there are special boards that show how aggressive the sun is. Using the boards, you can find the safest time to be outside and choose the right sunscreen.

Ugly fruits and vegetables

In grocery stores in Australia, you can buy unattractive fruit and vegetables at a lower price. This way, the farmers can stop the destruction of foods that don’t look good and show that ugly fruit and vegetables are just as tasty as the pretty ones.

There’s a metro but no subway.

The metro in Australia is quite rare and it can only be seen on the surface. The public transport pass works on a time-based system which means you can use it for 2 hours or the entire day (depending on the pass). But only 1 out of 10 Australians use the bus or metro — others prefer bicycles or walking to work on foot.

Very special sockets

Outlets in Australia seem usual only to people from New Zealand, New Guinea, and Fiji. All other tourists have to buy an adaptor. The electricity consists of 230 volts and there are special switchers for safety.

Vegemite

Vegemite is an Australian national food. It’s made of yeast along with different vegetables and spices. Vegemite is pretty salty but Australians love eating it with bread and cookies.

Carnivorous koalas

Locals advise to look up more often because there is a chance you’ll meet a carnivorous koala. They are big, aggressive animals that live on the tops of trees and attack unsuspecting people from above. There are many ways to protect yourself like sticking a fork into your hair to putting vegemite on your head (we will tell you about that one later). You can also try speaking with an Australian accent.

Fortunately, the carnivorous koala is just a myth that is used to scare tourists!

This is what a koala really looks like. Yes, they can get in bad moods too but they don’t hunt people.

Health ratings on food packaging

Honest manufacturers are what Australians are proud of. On food packaging, you can find stats that show how healthy something is. This makes it easier for people who choose to eat healthy food to find it.

Not a step back

Emus and kangaroos were chosen to be the formal symbols of Australia for a reason. They symbolize progress because it’s a common opinion that animals can only move forward. But in fact, both emus and kangaroos can move backward but they rarely do so.

Squirrels are exotic animals

For most people on Earth, exotic animals are kangaroos, emus, and capybaras, but Australians are really happy when they see squirrels. It’s hard to believe that no matter how many different animals there are in Austalia, these cute little ones don’t live there.

Bugs for Christmas

In Australia, everything is upside down. Of course, people don’t walk upside down but their summer starts in December and their winter starts in June. That’s why Australians celebrate the main winter holiday in the middle of summer and instead of snow, there are thousands of insects that glow which are a great substitution for Christmas lights. The best part about these bugs is that they don’t bite.

Mimicking birds

Lyrebirds have a unique ability to imitate sounds — and not just the ones found in nature. For example, they can easily mimic the sounds of chainsaws, car engines, alarms, rifle shots, camera shutters, cell phone ringtones, and many more. They can mimic the sounds of dogs barking along with the sounds of a baby cries which can be confusing to a lot of people.

City 1770

In Australia, there is a town called 1770. Despite the fact that the flora and fauna were preserved in this region, tourists can also have a comfortable stay there: there are restaurants, shops, hotels, and places to picnic with a free barbecue.

Motherland of selfies

Since 2013, the entire world has been using the word “selfie”. But few people know that it was a part of Australian slang. And the father of this word is a drunk Australian who wrote it in a forum in 2002.

“Flying doctor”

Royal Flying Doctor Service is the biggest aeromedical organization in the world. It was opened in 1928. They help people who live in rural regions or in remote regions of Australia and they are the first to respond when there are accidents. They transport sick people, consult doctors and regular people on the phone, radio, or video calls; and they transport necessary specialists for planned visits like pediatricians, gynecologists, psychologists, dentists, and many others.

Bonus: Here are some more surprises you can come across in Australia.