She'll definitely lead you Australiana!

That daughter of mine has been a 'mischievous koala' these last couple of nights, adamant that there's a knocking sound in her room and she's scared. Dad has been working back quite late, so I've let her fall asleep on the sofa in the living room. I know, I know. I've made a rod for my own back but at least I get some work done. I tell her she has to do 'A, B, C' before she goes to sleep and she does it. Maybe it's the knocking sound in my head that she can hear!

My daughter is such a sponge for information, like me, which I love. I know tonight was a bit of a stalling act but she wanted to hear the Australian national anthem as well as the "Star Spangled Banner". She's been learning all about planets, astronauts and outer space this term so has seen 'old glory' flapping in the breeze from many a Youtube video of the first man on space plus other things. This lead to the story of how the "Star Spangled Banner" was written, then onto watching footage of "Advance Australia Fair", our national anthem and how a lot of people would like "Waltzing Matilda" as the anthem instead.

We talked and talked about everything typically Australian tonight and she was just so interested. Things like Banjo Paterson (the author of "Waltzing Matilda" and "The Man From Snowy River", which we also read and watched on Youtube), Phar Lap - one of our most famous racehorses, and had a great time. I just loved Tom Burlinson in "The Man From Snowy River" and it was so great to see a Youtube clip of "The Descent". The famous scene from the movie when he rides nearly vertically down the face of a mountain. Check it out.

And a verse from A B (Banjo) Paterson's poem, "The Man From Snowy River", describing the descent:

He sent the flint stones flying, but the pony kept his feet,
He cleared the fallen timber in his stride,
And the man from Snowy River never shifted in his seat -
It was grand to see that mountain horseman ride.
Through the stringybarks and saplings, on the rough and broken ground,
Down the hillside at a racing pace he went;
And he never drew the bridle till he landed safe and sound,
At the bottom of that terrible descent.

My daughter was fascinated. I didn't want to overload her too much but she was very interested (and stalling, of course).  Also, I thought I'd leave it for a couple of years before I showed her Austentayshus' "Australiana". I just love this so much. Heaps of Australian rhyming slang and names of Australian towns, animals and places used in place of other words. A real classic! (Reminds me of a few parties I went to in the '80s.)