A for

A for Arlee Bird, not a native Aussie bird to be sure but a bird worth noting in my iconic list as the founder of the A-Z Blog Challenge. Many thanks to you Arlee, we fly around the cyber world in April of each year because of your brilliant idea.


And so I begin with:-
 
A is for Australian Cattle Dog or bluey,  blue or red heeler, heeler, cattle dog.

Blueys originated, so they say,  from cross breeding a few hearty, tough herding breeds with an Australian wild dog called the dingo.  The result is a brilliant cattle herder who is fiercely loyal, intelligent, agile and extremely active.

They were used to drive cattle over some of the roughest terrain in the Australian outback. It has been nicknamed a "Red Heeler" or "Blue Heeler" on the basis of this colouring and its practice of moving reluctant cattle by nipping at their heels.

Blue Heelers are entrenched in our history as the loyal working dog by the side of those two icons of the bush, the farmer & the swagman. (you'll have to wait for 'S' for that one) They are used in advertising to give the product a distinctly Aussie feel and would have to be our national dog.

Today they are still bred for cattle herding but have also transitioned over to be fantastic family pets for those of us who don't mind having a dog who is smarter than them.

I may be biased here but this is one very cute bluey.

      

And Akubra

'The blurb'
The Akubra is an iconic part of our history
'Akubra hats have been associated with Australia since they were first made in 1905. They are worn in the Australian bush and the outback, and increasingly by people from all walks of life. The Akubra is to Australia what the Stetson was to the wild west. They are an iconic part of the Australian Outback and became a symbol of mateship to those who fought in the battlefields at Gallipoli.  The hats, which are made of treated rabbit fur, are worn by Australian soldiers, political leaders, movie stars and sports people.My Dad plays golf in one, my husband wears his when he mows the lawn, I wear one when we are on holildays and I want to keep the sun off. 

Akubra is an Australian Aboriginal word meaning ‘head covering’.'  Seriously?
I'd like to know if  it was really called the Aboriginal word meaning 'head covering for an idiot who should be sitting in the shade '.
The farm boys and Jackaroos still wear them, country pubs are still full of sweaty heads with an Akubra perched cheekily on top. We dont wear them in the city much of course unless you are going on a picnic and need to keep the freckles at bay. Our soldiers wore them as part of the combat uniform until after the Vietnam war. They have an Akubra as part of their formal uniform now, perhaps if we are in jungle territories in the future they may revert back to being part of their everyday uniform. Political leaders usually wear an Akubra if they are campaining in the bush (to fool the natives into thinking that they are a fair dinkum bloke) - you can tell they dont wear them anywhere else because the hat is pristine. Movie stars ... well enough said.  And sporting people, well yeah, again its more for image than necessity.
The main thing with the Akubra is the feelings it invokes. A sense of pride in our history. It is a symbol of our endurance against the odds and it really does keep the freckles at bay.

Akubra as worn by Aussie Cadets.  Photo courtesy of JT Randwick



So if you have an Akubra and a Cattle Dog all you need is a driza-bone & a Ute and you are a picture perfect advertisment for tourism Australia.