USA and AUS Swap Travelling Workers

If you're one of the many Aussie or North American readers of In Your Pocket -- and cor blimey, crikey, golly-gosh, damn tootin' there's a lot of you -- you'll be pleased to know that a new agreement is in place that will allow young Aussies and Americans to work in each others' countries from October 31 this year. For two countries with notoriously tight borders, this is a step in the right direction. More info from the Herald-Sun (a Melbourne-based newspaper).

ANZAC Day : Vilnius

Aussies and Kiwis in Vilnius are welcome to come along to the Dubliner on ANZAC Day. I've heard rumours that there will be meat pies and Vegemite. If anyone knows of other ANZAC events happening in other cities, please just add a comment below to let us know.

The outstanding ANZAC photo, from Perth, 2006 is from Devar on Flickr.

Beach swallows Prime Minister

We like taking a peek at the Jaunted travel blog from time to time, and noticed that they have listed Lambert Beach on the British Virgin Islands as a KILLER BEACH!!!

Pfh... that's nothing. We'd just like to remind you that Cheviot Beach on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, swallowed a whole Australian Prime Minister once. That was 40 years ago, so it's kind of old news, but still quite remarkable, don't you think? I mean, Australian Prime Ministers, with the obvious exception of the current one, are tough, hardy, burly blokes who don't get eaten by beaches easily.

Oh - and while we're on the subject of Australian Prime Ministers, we can't resist suggeting that you take a look at some of the classic insults hurled across parliament by former Prime Minister, Paul Keating. Follow this link and click on the 'scumbag archive'.

Aussies swap toads for beer

Aussies can now pay for their beer using cane toads.

Cane toads--ugly, slimy buggers that range from 10-15cm in length--were introduced to Australia in 1935 as a means of controlling cane beetles, who were scoffing Queenslanders' sugar cane. The plan went horribly wrong, and now the randy and prolifically breeding toads have taken over the country. (One of them is the Prime Minister, judging by appearances.)

Estimates have the cane toad populatioin at between 100 and 200 million. There are nearly ten toads for every person. And lots more toads than kangaroos.

To help eliminate the pests, Tom Hedley, Australia's biggest publican (no, he's not fat, he just owns loads of pubs), is offering to trade a bag of toads for a 'pot' (285ml) beer. A 'bag' must contain at least two toads.

So, now when you visit Australia you'll be able to spend the day hunting cane toads, and celebrating at the pub. Two cultural experiences for the price of none!

Sidenote: Cane toads are toxic. Licking them has psychotropic effects, and dogs have been known to become addicted to toad-licking.

Picture: cane toad from Michael Henderson.

Top stories from Down Under

I’m an Aussie living in Vilnius, a city that I reckon would top the charts if anyone bothered to get about and measure a quirky quotient. Having just put the finishing touches on the latest issue of Vilnius In Your Pocket, however, I found myself with a bit of time to goof-off and surf the net, and what I got was a piecemeal reminder that, yes, Australia can be a bit wacky too. Certainly it’s the ideal place to be eaten by a shark and still make it home for tea, to test the limits of Qantas (who are designing planes with only right wings – probably), to deal with an infestation of blood thirsty snakes and to get a credit card for your cat. Crikey! Next thing they’ll be puttin’ these Aussie dingbats in the bleedin’ zoo. (Genus: Homo sapien, Australian. Common name: Bruce.)