Outback Travel Tips. Waltzing Matilda. "Waltzing Matilda" is Australia's most widely known bush ballad. A folk song, the song has been referred to as "the unofficial national anthem of Australia".[1] The title is Australian slang for travelling by foot with one's belongings (waltzing, derived from the German auf der Walz) in a "Matilda" (bag) slung over one's back.[2] The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker, or "swagman", making a drink of tea at a bush camp and capturing a sheep to eat.
When the sheep's owner arrives with three police officers to arrest the worker for the theft, the worker commits suicide by drowning himself in the nearby watering hole, after which his ghost haunts the site. The original lyrics were written in 1895 by poet and nationalist Banjo Paterson. It was first published as sheet music in 1903. History[edit] Writing of the song[edit] The Combo Waterhole is thought to be the location of the story that inspired "Waltzing Matilda". Alternative theories[edit] Ownership[edit] Lyrics[edit] waltzing billy. First woman conquers Outback - Times Online. Royal Flying Doctor Service - ON CALL. Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) Outback. View across sand plains and salt pans to Mount Connor, Central Australia The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush" which, colloquially, can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas.
History[edit] The Overland Telegraph line was constructed in the 1870s along the route identified by Stuart. Exploration of the outback continued in the 1950s when Len Beadell explored, surveyed and built many roads in support of the nuclear weapons tests at Emu Field and Maralinga and rocket testing on the Woomera Prohibited Area. While the early explorers used horses to cross the outback, the first woman to make the journey riding a horse was Anna Hingley, who rode from Broome to Cairns in 2006.[1] Mining[edit] Other than agriculture and tourism, the main economic activity in this vast and sparsely settled area is mining. Population[edit] Medicine[edit]