32. Australian Hall of Fame

1. Don Bradman
In a career of 80 tests with a batting average of 99.94, Sir Donald Bradman is regarded as the greatest cricketer of all time. He was known by one and all as 'the Don'.

Above: Don Bradman's Blazer & Bat


2. The Meat Pie
The staple diet of Australian truckies, construction workers and all decent hard working Australians. Consumed with sauce, held in the hand and never, never eaten with a knife and fork.

Above: Pie'n'sauce


3. Vegemite
A fair dinkum Aussie icon - brown stuff that you spread on toast, bread and dry bikkies. Found in 90% of Australian homes, is it any wonder 22 million jars are sold every year?!

Above: Vegemite


4. Victoria Bitter
The greatest beer of all time - "For a hard earned thirst, you need a big cold beer, and the best cold beer is Vic, Victoria Bitter"

Above: Victoria Bitter


5. Thongs
A real Aussie icon classic, the undisputed all time Australian footwear item. Costs as little as $2 and have been known to last for years. The advantage of thongs is you don't have to bend over when putting them on or taking them off.

Insert right foot, insert left foot and Bob's your uncle! Off you go now.

Above: Thongs


6. Skippy
Our greatest television star - he knew whenever anyone was in trouble in the outback area of Warratah National Park, he was a life saver, solved crimes, and an all-round super-duper hero. During the 60's and 70's, hundreds of little boys and girls tried to whistle through a gum leaf thereby spluttering food in all directions!

Above: Skippy



7. The Melbourne Cup
A horse race. Australia's biggest and richest. Held the first Tuesday in November at Flemington. IN the red-roofed homes all over Australia, in office buildings and road works, people stop what they're doing and listen to the running of "The Cup". It's a public holiday in Victoria.

Above: The Melbourne Cup


8. The Beach
With a coastline of 36,735 kms - the beach is just the place for a nice day out. Loved by surfers, swimmers, mums and dads and kiddies alike.

Above: The Beach


9. Number 96
One of the first Australian serials, it was set in a Sydney block of flats. With a big helping of larger-than-life characters, a hint of campness and, wait for it - sex! Everybody remembers Abigail, she of the big...she had blonde hair and a lovely smile.

Above: Abigail


10. The Mullet
A haircut - cut (very) short at the front and sides and long at the back. Le Mullet is the world's best/worst haircut (depending on one's point of view). It can be combined with a long fringe, no fringe, rats tales, dreadlocks and even a receding hairline.

Above: The Mullet

9. Our Sally Wins Gold

Above: A victorious Sally Pearson
Sally Pearson won the 100 metre sprint in 11.28 seconds. Sally finished the final first ahead of Nigeria’s Osayemi Oludamola (11.32) and Natasha Mayers of St Vincent and the Grenadines (11.37), with England’s Katherine Endacott fourth.

Commonwealth Games Fiasco
Sally Pearson was stripped of her Commonwealth Games gold medal after a protest was lodged by the English team. Pearson had taken a victory lap and was preparing for the medal ceremony when she was told of the protest.

She (Pearson) was originally cleared by track officials to race despite appearing to false-start alongside England's Laura Turner. Time sensors at the stadium found Turner had broken from the blocks 0.001sec ahead of Pearson, but England's team management argued the margin was so small as to constitute a dual false start.

England's protest was eventually upheld – and survived a counter-protest from the Australians – after four hours of deliberations before an IAAF appeals jury. That allowed another English sprinter, Katherine Endacott, to be elevated from fourth to the bronze medal position and Oludamola to claim the gold.




Payback?
The claims that stripping Pearsons of her 100 metres Commonwealth Games Gold medal is payback by the English team could very well be true - Nick Honey from Athletics Victoria says there's bad blood between the teams after an Australian appeal at the last games saw the English team disqualified in the women's 4x400 relay.

Above: A devastated Sally Pearson
She may have had her Gold medal taken from her, but there is still the undistputable fact that Sally Pearson won the race and came first. And the English contestant came fourth. Had there been no false start, would Pearson still have won? Most likely. Had there been no false start, would the English contestant have won a medal? Most likely not.

So there you have it folks - payback, or getting even as some might say, is something that children practise. England may have a bronze medal but it is a hollow victory - Endacott won by default. It's a little like cheating in an exam - you might get a good mark, you might even get first in class, but deep down you know you didn't earn it.