A BIG Thank You to the Aussies & Kiwis on here

[JJK2008]

This is just our personal Thank You to all the Aussies & Kiwis on here who have provided Soooo much valuable information about your countries to future visitors. I have gone through every page and read every post that pertains to us.  My DW has been down under, I have not. Truly looking forward to it. My DW and I will be visiting OZ & NZ in Oct., & Nov. Sailing on the Princess Royal on November 2nd out of Sydney. Prior to the cruise we'll be spending a few weeks touring OZ and visiting with friends. Like so many we had booked this trip and others pre-covid and of course the virus hit, and our plans came to a screeching halt. So, we are trying again. Back before covid we had done a 2-week river cruise in Europe. The ship only had 190 guests, so you get to know everyone within a few days. There happened to be a few Aussie couples on board. They did not know each other, and they live scattered along the east coast. We became very friendly and spent lots of time together. Even spent a day in an Aussie Pub in Vienna watching the Rugby Matches. Lots of beer consumed and NO it wasn't Fosters. Aussies definitely know how to have a good time, CHEERS!!! Can't wait to see them all again. Great people, lots of FUN!!!!. I always tell folks here in the USA that Aussies are like Canadians with a slightly different accent. We live in Southwest Florida and our community is filled with Canadian "snowbirds" as we call them. They escape the winter tundra in Canada and live in Florida for half the year. At least a third of our community is Canadians. We spent 8 weeks in Canada last summer visiting friends. They ran us ragged. We needed to go home for a rest. Without a doubt my DW and I have more Canadian friends than American friends. I said it before, Canadians are Aussies with a slightly different accent. That is a HUGE compliment as we love our Canadian friends. To the Aussies & Kiwis, Thank You again for all the GREAT info, tips and suggestions. Stay Safe & Healthy.

 

John & Nancy

[MMDown Under]

Bon Voyage for your holiday and cruise in Aust and NZ in Oct and Nov. 

I agree with your comments about friendly Canadians.  We do have a member of the Commonwealth bond. 

[cheznandy]

John and Nancy, that is so lovely. There are so many people on here happy to share their info and experience.

We too have met some wonderful Canadians, some have stayed with us when they travelled to OZ.

Others led me astray on a Asia to Alaska cruise and introduced me to a Rusty Nail haha

But embarrassingly I still cannot tell the difference between an American accent and Canadian!

I guess we get confused for South African/New Zealand.

 

Enjoy your holiday and catching up with you friends.

[Over from NZ]

You spent a day with Aussies watching rugby?! That'd be a sad occasion! hahaha. 😁

[Aussieflyer]

Hope you have a fabulous trip - it sounds like it will be wonderful. If you need any more info or have any questions just pop here again and I am sure we will not be backward in giving advice.😅

[MicCanberra]

Cheers, and enjoy

[MMDown Under]

On 3/20/2023 at 9:46 AM, cheznandy said:

John and Nancy, that is so lovely. There are so many people on here happy to share their info and experience.

We too have met some wonderful Canadians, some have stayed with us when they travelled to OZ.

Others led me astray on a Asia to Alaska cruise and introduced me to a Rusty Nail haha

But embarrassingly I still cannot tell the difference between an American accent and Canadian!

I guess we get confused for South African/New Zealand.

 

Enjoy your holiday and catching up with you friends.

I find accents fascinating.  We met a family with Canadian patches on their backpacks walking in Tasmania.  I commented I would have guessed they were American.  They replied they were, but Americans weren't  popular at that time.  Another time  I listened to a father talking to his children who had American accidents.  He was chuffed when I said I would have thought he was Canadian.  He was, but married in the US.  

[JJK2008]

On 3/19/2023 at 7:46 PM, cheznandy said:

John and Nancy, that is so lovely. There are so many people on here happy to share their info and experience.

We too have met some wonderful Canadians, some have stayed with us when they travelled to OZ.

Others led me astray on a Asia to Alaska cruise and introduced me to a Rusty Nail haha

But embarrassingly I still cannot tell the difference between an American accent and Canadian!

I guess we get confused for South African/New Zealand.

 

Enjoy your holiday and catching up with you friends.

 

11 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I find accents fascinating.  We met a family with Canadian patches on their backpacks walking in Tasmania.  I commented I would have guessed they were American.  They replied they were, but Americans weren't  popular at that time.  Another time  I listened to a father talking to his children who had American accidents.  He was chuffed when I said I would have thought he was Canadian.  He was, but married in the US.  

I never really considered the difference between an American & Canadian accent sounding the same. Just never thought about it. For us in the USA and those in Canada, the accents are easily distinguishable. Certain words have different pronunciations. The American and Canadian accents are not as different as say American and British accents. Those are very distinct. American and Canadian accents are similar, but they do have differences. I'm guessing the same holds true for New Zealanders and Australians. Here's a dead giveaway for identifying a Canadian accent. This holds true for across Canada except for the Province of Quebec. Many times (almost always) a Canadian will end their sentence/phase with the word "EH" said not so much as a question but more of a confirmation to the person they are speaking with of what they just said. Example - "That was a great meal, EH" or "We had a good time, EH" or "It sure is cold out, EH" it is not really a question as it is more of a confirmation of what they said. Listen for the "EH" at the end of the sentance and you'll know immediately the person is Canadian. One of our friends that we have in OZ sent us this "guide" on Aussie slang. My DW and I will start practicing....LOL

[OzKiwiJJ]

Many years ago, when I still lived in NZ, I was in Denver for a day or so before heading for the skifields. I was very impressed when the cab driver worked out that "no, that's not an Australian accent, are you from NZ". 😊

 

Lately people have been asking me which part of the UK am I from. I blame that on having an English-born mother and a confused Australian/Kiwi accent ie Australians pick up my Kiwi accent but my Kiwi friends claim I've now got an Australian accent! I give up! 🤣

Edited March 21, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[MMDown Under]

23 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Many years ago, when I still lived in NZ, I was in Denver for a day or so before heading for the skifields. I was very impressed when the cab driver worked out that "no, that's not an Australian accent, are you from NZ". 😊

 

Lately people have been asking me which part of the UK am I from. I blame that on having an English-born mother and a confused Australian/Kiwi accent ie Australians pick up my Kiwi accent but my Kiwi friends claim I've now got an Australian accent! I give up! 🤣

I guess you have a unique accent from your English mother and Aussie/Kiwi travels.  I was really impressed overseas when two people correctly identified I was from Brisbane, Australia.  One  was a member of the military serving at a British Open Day in Germany and the other one in the US, who had worked in Brisbane.  

[cruiser3775]

The Aussie lingo is a good introduction, but some terms are outdated

I always identify Canadians by the way they say "about", which sounds like " aboot".

There are regional Aus accents, but they are very subtle differences, so hard to pick up. I can usually pick out South Australians, and rural Queenslanders speak very slowly.

Edited March 22, 2023 by cruiser3775

[SinbadThePorter]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

The Aussie lingo is a good introduction, but some terms are outdated

 

I'd guess that list dates from the 70s. Some words like bonza or yakka are only used ironically now.  Durry for cigarette I haven't ever heard at all, except in pieces about WW2.

 

The way to pick out Kiwis is to get them to count to ten ... four, five, sex, siven, et, nine, tin ....

Edited March 22, 2023 by SinbadThePorter

[lyndarra]

I've heard durry used. Not uncommon around here but mainly used by older coves.

[Obilix]

What's an older cove?

[Kellyansapansa]

12 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

I'd guess that list dates from the 70s. Some words like bonza or yakka are only used ironically now.  Durry for cigarette I haven't ever heard at all, except in pieces about WW2.

 

The way to pick out Kiwis is to get them to count to ten ... four, five, sex, siven, et, nine, tin ....

I'm a crow-eater and we definitely call them durries. 😉

[MMDown Under]

16 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

I'd guess that list dates from the 70s. Some words like bonza or yakka are only used ironically now.  Durry for cigarette I haven't ever heard at all, except in pieces about WW2.

 

The way to pick out Kiwis is to get them to count to ten ... four, five, sex, siven, et, nine, tin ....

I've never heard it used either.  Mustn't be a Queensland word.  We have plenty of our own words in common usage - togs, port, Windsor (sausage), cheerios, etc.

[JJK2008]

18 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

The Aussie lingo is a good introduction, but some terms are outdated

I always identify Canadians by the way they say "about", which sounds like " aboot".

There are regional Aus accents, but they are very subtle differences, so hard to pick up. I can usually pick out South Australians, and rural Queenslanders speak very slowly.

You're exactly right, Canadians do pronounce the word "about" like "aboot" they also do it with the word "out" but they pronounce as "oot" like saying "boot" without the "b" it's really funny when they combine the words in a sentence like - She went "oot" and "aboot" all the accents and little quirks we all have give us some good laughs. Good fun. 

[JJK2008]

On 3/19/2023 at 7:46 PM, cheznandy said:

John and Nancy, that is so lovely. There are so many people on here happy to share their info and experience.

We too have met some wonderful Canadians, some have stayed with us when they travelled to OZ.

Others led me astray on a Asia to Alaska cruise and introduced me to a Rusty Nail haha

But embarrassingly I still cannot tell the difference between an American accent and Canadian!

I guess we get confused for South African/New Zealand.

 

Enjoy your holiday and catching up with you friends.

Ah yes, Canadians leading you astray. Not a surprise, they have a habit of doing that, particularly when it comes to alcohol...LOL. Alcohol prices in Canada are very expensive compared to the US. For example, a 24 can case of beer in the US can be bought in Walmart for $20 +/-. That same 24 can case, same brand of beer in Canada would be $55+/-. Bottles of wine in the US bought for $8-$10 would be $30-$35 in Canada Even with the exchange rate, the price in Canada is more than double the US price. Actually, everything in Canada is very expensive compared to the US. So, when the Canadians come to Florida for the winter months, they drink themselves into oblivion. There is a get together at someone's house several times a week. And yes, my DW and I are usually in attendance. We all live in two closed, sister communities that abut each other with private roads. Our roads interconnect so once inside either community you can go back and forth between the two. They are golf communities, and everyone owns a golf cart, so once home we all drive golf carts to each other's homes. It removes the worry/risk about drinking and driving. It is technically illegal in Florida to drive drunk even in a golf cart, but because the communities are closed, the police never come in unless called. These communities are very, very common in Florida. Now we have had some (not many, Fortunately) of our dear Maple Leaf (Canadians) friends who have consumed a wee bit too much and have driven their golf cart off the road and hit a tree or ended up in one of the lakes. One dear friend who along with a fellow Canadian was "racing" their golf carts and took a corner a little too fast, lost control of the golf cart and was ejected. Lots of road rash and a separated shoulder, but he was numb and couldn't feel it. No serious injuries but some good stories and "What a dumbASS" comments to riminess about. Stay safe.

 

John 

[JJK2008]

With all the new words being presented here, I'm going to have to revise my Aussie Lingo List. Thank You all for your contributions. We have several months to study, so we'll be experts by the time we get to OZ. 🤣😆😁. 

[arxcards]

5 hours ago, Kellyansapansa said:

I'm a crow-eater and we definitely call them durries. 😉

Also an acceptable term in Newcastle, but usually for a rollie.

 

I would agree that many on the list are not used so much now and are somewhat ocker.

 

The list is a bit of a dogs breakfast really, but by crikey, I use one of those terms every day which I rarely hear others use.

[JJK2008]

We hope to use every minute of our time in OZ. This is my first time, but my DW has been there before. Neither of us has been to New Zealand. My DW is hard at work planning our trip. Truly, she is better than any travel agent could be. Flight time for us will be about 24 hours. So, including stops, layovers, to/from airport that is a Loooong travel time. We're going to break-up the trip with stops in Hawaii for a few days in each direction. We will land in Sydney and spend several days seeing the sights. Next, we fly to the Gold Coast and spend time in the Surfers Paradise area. We have friends who live here and will visit with them if all goes well. From here we plan to rent a car and drive along the coast to the Sunshine Coast, with a stop in Brisbane. Eventually arriving in Mooloolaba. We have friends here and will visit with them. We'll go back to Brisbane drop the car off and fly to Cairns. Rent another car and spend some time seeing Cairns. Then head to Port Douglas for all the tourist stuff. After we've had our fill it's back to Cairns drop off the rental car and fly to Sydney. That will be November 1, 2023. Our cruise leaves from Sydney on November 2nd. Thats 2 weeks around New Zealand. At the end of the cruise, we're back in Sydney. Next up, we fly to Melbourne, rent a car and spend several days here. We do have friends here as well. Hit the road towards Port Cambell stopping along the way. Then it's a long drive eventually ending up in Adelaide. Do more tourist stuff. Drop the car off and fly back to Sydney, then back to Hawaii for several more days, then home. In all the trip will be 8 weeks. Once in a lifetime. So, any suggestions people have on our course of action, Please chime in. Thanks, in advance. Stay Safe & Healthy all.

 

John

[JJK2008]

19 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Also an acceptable term in Newcastle, but usually for a rollie.

 

I would agree that many on the list are not used so much now and are somewhat ocker.

 

The list is a bit of a dogs breakfast really, but by crikey, I use one of those terms every day which I rarely hear others use.

OK, I'm completely lost on those terms...."rollie" "dogs breakfast" "crikey"....HELP???? You got me on these...😄😆🤣

[JJK2008]

5 hours ago, Kellyansapansa said:

I'm a crow-eater and we definitely call them durries. 😉

OK, I have to ask.....what is a "crow-eater" and what are "durries"??????🤔🤔🤔

 

[arxcards]

15 minutes ago, JJK2008 said:

OK, I'm completely lost on those terms...."rollie" "dogs breakfast" "crikey"....HELP???? You got me on these...😄😆🤣

Dogs breakfast = mess/disorganized

Crikey = shocked/amazed, a bit like bugger me

Rollie is a roll-your own tobacco cigarette, much like a durry from your list

[arxcards]

I should mention, you need a different list for New Zealand. Some phrases overlap with Australia, but they also have many indigenous ones.

 

No worries though, after so many years of Hollywood on our screens, we also talk American.