With less than a month to go to the 2014 GLOBALHealthPR AGM, we thought it might be wise to share some tips and trivia on our island home.

Aussie Trivia:

• January 26 marks Australia Day – a day when our nation celebrates all that’s Australian. Marking the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove, New South Wales and the raising of the Flag of Great Britain.
• The Great Barrier Reef, located along Australia’s northeast coast is the world’s largest coral reef system. It comprises more than 2,900 individual reefs and over 900 islands that cover a massive distance of over 344,400km squared.

• We use the metric system of measurement – millimetres, centimetres, metres, and kilometres for distance. Degrees Celsius for temperature. Milligrams, grams, kilograms and metric tonnes for weight.
• Our Prime Minister is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia, The Hon.Tony Abbott, and was elected to the role on September 7, 2013.
• We drive on the left side of the road!

Helpful tips:

Always swim between the yellow and red flags on our beaches.

The flags are set up by the surf lifesavers, who patrol the beach and represent the safest location for swimming, based on tides, rips and wave activity.

So, if you plan to go for a dip in our beautiful ocean, play it safe and swim between the red and yellow flags.

Research shows mosquitoes are attracted to people who have recently consumed bananas. So arm yourself with mosquito spray when heading Down Under.

Avoid socks and sandals. Although a ‘fine fashion statement’ in many countries, nothing is more unAustralian than a sock tan!

When we talk about wearing thongs, we mean flip-flops or jandals. We don’t mean to be offensive.

We love a good old Aussie BBQ. We actually call shrimps prawns, and we throw them on the ‘barbie.’ And basically, we will (or at least try to), cook anything on a barbecue (eg. Kangaroo, Crocodile, Emu)

The term ‘footy’ generally refers to AFL (Australian Football League) or rugby (usually rugby league). We use the term ‘soccer’ when referring to world ‘Football,’ and we call American NFL, ‘American Football.’

When Down Under, don’t forget to savour our favourite Aussie fare, including pavlova, lamingtons, meat pies, sausage rolls and of course Vegemite.

We look forward to shedding further light on some of our dinky di Aussie traditions with you at our upcoming Sydney 2014 GLOBALHealthPR AGM. See you Down Under!