These pictures are brought to you in association with the Ateliers Fabreguettes.
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This is undoubtedly the staple food of Australia and an experience a foreigner is unfailingly submitted to when visiting an Australian home. A dark brown spread made with a concentrate of yeast extracts...
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Even if your skin is not spread with Vegemite, Australian crocodiles might still find you quite appetizing while you are trying to launch a boat, fish by the river bank, clean your fish or swim...
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Here, one can swim without a bathing suit, since it is "optional"! We have witnessed several times this circumlocution obviously preferred to a more direct way of indicating access to a nude beach...
By the way, you will not find Whyallah's nude beach indicated on any map in this town of South Australia. To find it, you need to obtain a mud map from the tourist bureau whose brochures spell out the following warnings:
- the track to this beach is difficult to access
- it is not sign-posted
- the track is sandy and not easily driven
- the beach has no toilet or other facilities
- there is no shade
- there are no life guards on this beach.
Who still wants to go there???
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Australia's got talent! When driving in rural areas, we keep on the lookout for the next entrance to a station or property, hoping to spot a new example of this popular art which acts as a marking as well as a mail-box.
Often built with odds and ends, they can be seen anywhere in the country. Here, an airplane in South Australia, with a dog in Western Australia, a cow in Tasmania and a bulldozer in New South Wales.
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This is a another expression of popular art, which we found in the south of Western Australia. While the pupils were out on holidays, the school yard remained peopled with... tiny children-scarecrows!
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Tin cans can turn into animals in Tasmania!
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Trees are another favourite subject of popular art in Australia. It is rarely an individual production as shown here on the bottom left, with this "tool tree" encountered in Corner country. Most often, it is the result of a collective effort as with this "shoe tree" and "thong tree" of Western Australia.
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Such trees do not always have a specific motif and can be garnished with whatever comes at hand: Xmas ornaments as on the left hand side photo taken in South Australia, or an old bike from the Nullarbor, WA.
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Here, these Western Australian gates garnished with underwear and shoes are the result of free initiatives. But someone in the North of Tasmania has gone one step further with this safety rail decorated with stuffed animals by providing a bucket with pieces of wire to encourage more contributions.
Here, teddy bears, dogs or ducks are warmly welcomed!
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In a more unusual way, the public can also be called on to contribute to a collective art piece dedicated to more grave subjects like our dear lost ones, such as here between Karijini and Tom Price, in WA.
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It praises the fact that Tasmania has always been one of the more open-minded states in Australia, possibly because of its past as a penitentiary colony in which the ratio of female convicts was much lower than that of male.
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Here is another typical Australian item which is mounted on most 4WDs, a "roo bar", short for "kangaroo bar". "Bull bars", a larger model mainly seen on commercial vehicles, is meant to protect from encounters with larger animals - bulls but also camels.
This device is useful for fishermen as well, saving them the trouble of having to take down their fishing poles.
Those who like to travel with their vehicles can opt for a surrounding model including a step, a useful addition when driving off-track in the bush, as it helps brush away scrubs and bushes.
It can also hold jerrycans or even a generator. This is an important piece of equipment for the Australian bush lover, which goes hand in hand with the "esky" - or fridge - into which are stored beer and meat, the two vital ingredients of a successful "barbie" - barbecue, of course!
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LÂMB. "A fragrance for women". This is not a campaign for a famous French perfume but for meat! We found this ad to be as savoury as talented and full of humour!
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In Australia, police often run safety campaigns by letting the public know they are targeting a specific road hazard. Our collection of warnings is missing one sign - mobile phones - as we could not safely stop or park to photograph it.
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The Department of Health and Ageing publishes a brochure which could be dubbed "SOS Toilet" and runs a helpline, e-mail, fax and SMS service to help you locate the nearest toilet facilities.
The insert photo on the left shows how Tasmanians opted for a much cheaper way to help the public locate the nearest toilets. This sign was seen on the parking of a lookout.
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