Melbourne to Canberra

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Long day on the bus today. Left the hotel at 8 am. Drove for a couple of hours then stopped for "morning tea" in the town of Glenrowan, home of the Australian bandit/Robin Hood named Ned Kelly. On the next leg of our journey we watched a documentary about kangaroos, but I slept through most of it.

Stopped for lunch in a town called Holbrook. Originally it was called Germantown, but due to legislation during the first world war, the name was changed. And then changed a few times apparently. Eventually, the town decided to name itself after a British submariner. So even thought the town is hours from the coast, there's a submarine in the town square.

After lunch, our bus driver played a CD by someone named Lazy Harry. It has all the Australian standards, and he actually explained the meaning of Waltzing Matilda.

A matilda was a bedroll used by a swagman (a hobo). A swagman sat by a billagbong (slow, clear place area of a stream), waiting for his billy (tin can kettle) to boil. Along came a jambuck (young lamb) and he put it in his tucker bag (food holder). Then came the squatter (landowner) who wanted his lamb back with some troopers, but in order to escape the hobo jumped into the stream and died.

I'm almost out of computer time, more to come later.

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