[187] Top 5 Myths About Australia
Hey amigos, in today’s episode I debunk top 5 myths about Australia I heard on my travels in Chile. I mention blonde people, I talk about dangerous animals that live here, talk about the sunshine and surfing and also about the people that live here! Enjoy :)
Links mentioned
INSIDER’S GUIDE TO LIFE IN AUSTRALIA – Free gift to you!
Transcript
Hey guys this episode is brought you by one and only Insider’s guide to life in Australia. Download it for FREE simply go to www.englishmadesimple.net/guide.
And before I forget, my intro! Amigos, you are listening to the English Made Simple show this is episode number 187, number one hundred and eighty seven. Let’s get crakin!
‘Sup? My name is Milena from www.englishmadesimple.net.
How’s it?
I’ve decided to do a short episode today about some common misconceptions about Australia. I am supposed to be on a mini-break hence the reason why this episode is a day late. For those of you who are new to the show, welcome amigos – I normally release my episodes on a Monday. I hope to be back to my regular schedule in a couple of weeks.
So let’s get cracking and demystify some common misconceptions about Australia.
This is the content I got from people I met in Chile when I lived there and I decided to do this episode about what they thought of Australia. I am going to assume that the majority of people, not just Chileans, think the following of Australia.
Myth number #1
All Australians are blonde.
Ok, hmmm not really. And you will see why this is not true when I get to Myth #5.
So, without going further into this, I am just going to say that this is not true. Not all Australians are blonde!
Next!
Myth number #2
It’s dangerous – half of the world’s most venomous animals live in Australia and they are looking for you. They are really going after you. Leaving their natural habitat and looking for you.
Not true!
I do have a confession to make. Before coming to Australia from New Zealand, I always thought it’s really dangerous because there are snakes in Australia, I am going to see crocodiles, spiders and so on.
Actually, yesterday I saw a spider in the car. It’s called a red-back spider and it is venomous spider. They are usually hidden somewhere in the garden but this one wanted to catch a ride with me. It was in the boot of the car. I took a photo of it. Should I post it on Instagram or not… I know some people might be fearful of seeing spiders.
Anyway, you know what. It didn’t touch me, it didn’t really care about me, it didn’t care that I was there.
Now back to solving this myth. If you live in the city centre you won’t have problems with spiders nor snakes. But if you live in the suburbs with a lot of land around, yes you are more likely to encounter snakes and different types of spiders.
But they are not that intimidating, they are more scared of you… so they don’t really care about you. Just remember not to touch them with your bare hands.
If you see a wild snake close to your home, you should contact Snake Catchers – yes there are people who have this job to relocate snakes.
If you get the Insider’s Guide to Australia I explain more about snakes, spiders and crocodiles. I go into more details there.
Myth number #3
It’s always warm and sunny.
Depends where you are! The northern part of Australia, yes it’s pretty warm. Northern Territories, Western Australia and Queensland are very warm. Queensland and the Northern Territories have a subtropical climate which makes the weather humid and hot in summer.
However, if you live in the Southern part of Australia, like Victoria and Tasmania then you will need to invest in an umbrella, boots, scarves and hats during winter. It doesn’t snow in the city but it’s freezing. For example, tomorrow morning it will be 4 degrees Celsius in Melbourne. So I need to have a heater on tomorrow morning.
We do have mountains and snow in Australia. You might not have imagined it, but it does snow in Australia. If you like skiing you can explore The Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Mount Bulla in Victoria, Mount Hotham in Victoria, Mount Baw Baw in Victoria.
Yes, all these mountains have skiing resorts.
Myth number #4
People are fit and they exercise every day. Or a similarly I hear people say “Everyone surfs in Australia”
Uhm not really. I tried surfing and it’s really hard! It looks easy when a professional does it but it’s really hard.
Anyhow, you do get to see a lot of surfers in Queensland, more specifically on the Gold Coast, which a second largest city in Queensland. There are good conditions for surfing. Likewise in Sydney… you are able to surf on the Bondi Beach and Manly beach.
However, if you live in Melbourne for example, you would have to drive 2 hours to get to the nearest surf beach. So you don’t get to see a lot of surfers around. You get to see polar bears haha ‘cause it’s freaking cold compared to the rest of Australia.
Myth number #5
People are cold and not welcoming.
Australia is a country of immigrants. Last year, 190,000 immigrants arrived in Australia.
I’ve read somewhere that 43% of the Australian population is either born overseas or have parents that are born overseas. You will see all sorts of nationalities here. Which is awesome. That’s what I like about Australia, cultural diversity.
You get to taste all sorts of different ethnic foods. I always think about the food.
It’s just cool that you can have Vietnamese food one day and the next day you eat Indian food, Japanese food and Thai food. Just delicious.
What’s Australian food? Hmm, it’s quite similar to the English food from the UK. People normally eat fish and chips in the summer, roasted meat and veggies in winter, a bit boring food when you compare it to the Asian food that’s full of flavour!
Australian people are warm and yes they are welcoming. When you first speak with an Australian you might not understand them as they do tend to speak fast and they also abbreviate words, but if you just say that you are new in the country and that you are learning English they will make the effort to slow down and explain things in more laymen terms.

Milena Vujnic
Podcast Host at English Made Simple Podcast
Milena is the host of the English Made Simple Podcast and is passionate about helping English learners break their fear of speaking English so they can confidently make conversation and be understood by other English-speakers.
Milena lives in Australia with her Chileno husband and loves anything podcasting and online coaching and is honoured to be supporting and guiding immigrants from all over the world with her products, programs and coaching services.
Click here to learn more about how you can work with Milena.