By: Abbie Phillips

Modern Australian’s wear Western clothing which consists of shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, dresses, and thongs (flip-flops). When in Australia, you would want to stick to cotton material clothing due to the weather since it tends to get humid in the summer. In the summer, it is common for women to wear lose clothing and men love shorts and a plan t-short of any kind. Aussie’s also love their hats and sunnies. In the winter, Aussie’s will just stick to wearing lose pants and a tee.

The women in Australia are very fashionable and wear lots of colors! I’ve noticed the clothes from Australia are always super cute and trendy. They know how to dress and I love it!

There are many popular fashion brands from Australia that thrive on Instagram and now ship worldwide. These brands include Sabo Skirt, One Teaspoon, Billabong, Quay, and Zimmerman. You can find these brands on any of the social media sites for more information.

Australian fashion label with 2+ million followers across social media, Sabo Skirt, has a wide offering of dresses, playsuits, tops, pants, and more. They ship within 24 hours of ordering. https://saboskirt.com/pages/instashop

They have been featured in Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Grazia, CNN, Style Magazines, and more. They have been in many interviews, blog posts, and all over social media.

Since there aren’t any actual stores in the US, many people will order a ton of clothes from the online store and do hauls on YouTube sharing their experiences and telling their viewers if their clothes are worth the price. A well-known YouTuber, Millie Windebank, ordered $500 worth of clothing from Sabo Skirt and did a haul sharing the clothes.

A very well-known brand called Billabong was founded in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia back in 1973 by a man named Gordon Merchant. It started by him creating and designing board shorts at his home and he then sold them to local surf shops. Now, Billabong is a world-wide iconic surf brand. There are Billabong stores EVERYWHERE all over the entire world.

I’ve gotten a lot of my women’s swimwear from Billabong and it never disappoints. The swimsuits are perfect for surfing or the beach.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/06/quiksilver-owner-buys-rival-surfing-brand-billabong-for-198m

The Australian surfwear seller Billabong has been bought by rival Quiksilver for $198 million. Check out the article above. Quiksilver and Billabong are super similar because they sell the exact same items, they just look slightly different.

By: Abbie Phillips

Recently at the end of 2019 and continuing into the new year 2020, there have been horrible wildfires in Australia that have severely impacted their land. As of February 15, 2020, more than 46 million acres of land were burned in a wildfire. At least 80% of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area and 53% of the Gondwana world heritage rainforests in Queensland were burned. https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disaster/2019-australian-wildfires/

Since October 2019, at least 34 people have died from the wildfires. The majority of the deaths were in New South Wales, one was in the Australian Capital Territory, five deaths were in Victoria, and three took place in South Australia. Not only are people dying from the fires, but millions of plants and animals too.

The wildfires have caused a huge economic crisis in Australia. The estimated cost from the impact of the fires was around 3.4 billion dollars. At least 100,000 sheep and more than 25,000 livestock were killed in the Kangaroo Island fires alone. Hundreds of thousands of fish died in the Macleay River in northern NSW because of the ash and sludge from the fires. https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disaster/2019-australian-wildfires/

You might be wondering what started the fires. It’s the climate conditions that provided ample fuel for the fires to grow and spread. Before the fires ignited, Australia was already enduring its hottest and driest year on record. Lighting and even human action started some of the wildfires. https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/1/8/21055228/australia-fires-map-animals-koalas-wildlife-smoke-donate

Several firefighters sent out to help the fires were killed or severely injured. Many of the firefighters were volunteers because of how bad the fires were. About 3,000 homes and several thousand buildings were destroyed across the country. Many of the buildings that were destroyed were on farmland which will have an increased impact on the agricultural industry, in addition to the burnt soil. Wildlife rehabilitation and animal recovery efforts will be ongoing for years due to the destruction of habitat and the loss of animals. https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disaster/2019-australian-wildfires/

The fires were shown all over the media all around the world. The news, social media, twitter was blowing up, and more. Everyone was talking about how bad these have been and many people have been affected by these horrific fires. Having been to Australia for three weeks back in 2013 and seeing how beautiful it was makes me sad to hear about what’s been happening there. My prayers go out to everyone that has been affected by this.

To help Australia with what has been happening, it is very important to donate to groups or partnerships there. This is going to be something that is going to take a while to fix, and they need as many people as they can to help and support them as a country. At least $70 million has already been raised so we’re on the right track.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/01/australia/australia-fires-explainer-intl-hnk-scli/index.html

An Article by CNN on the wildfires in Australia.

By: Abbie Phillips

The radio in Australia has over 600 stations including songs and podcasts. It is operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia’s public broadcaster. Most programming is in English, rarely some in French. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Australia

Radio Australia constantly faces competition with America, as the number of delivery platforms has increased. Since both Australia and the US are popular English speaking countries, they seem to be in competition with each other in the media. Both radio systems are government-funded.

Like Americans, Australians use the radio to get their daily news and listen to music while in the car. One of their common radio stations is called ABC Radio Australia.

ABC News is a public news service in Australia produced by the News and Current Affairs division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The division is responsible for all news-gathering and production of news output for ABC television, radio and online services. Established in 1947. https://www.allyoucanread.com/australian-newspapers/

The CoronaVirus has reached Australia and a University there has been offering Chinese students $1500 to stay elsewhere due to the virus. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8023665/The-outrageous-way-Australian-university-getting-coronavirus-travel-ban.html

• Australian university offering to pay Chinese students $1500 to dodge travel ban
• The ban stops those travelling from mainland China from coming into Australia
• The Australian government extended travel ban on Thursday until February 29 
• Western Sydney University said it would subsidise 14-day stay in a third country
• Ban can be dodged by going via countries which do not have a China travel ban

Another common news source in Australia, News 9, two passengers from a cruise ship died from CoronaVirus in Australia.

By: Abbie Phillips

The Bachelorette Australia is an Australian reality TV series that started in America and is a spin-off of The Bachelor Australia. It is presented by Osher Günsberg, a 45-year-old man who is known to host reality TV shows in Australia. The series premiered September 23rd, 2015 and is still currently running. https://10play.com.au/the-bachelorette

The 2019 Bachelorette was Angie Kent. She is a 30-year-old woman from Sunshine Coast, Australia.

The series revolves around an eligible, single bachelorette and a pool of romantic interests to fight for her. The goal of this journey to end in a potential marriage. The Bachelorette goes on one on one dates and group dates to get to know the men better and get a feel for who her perfect husband is. At the end of each week, there is a rose ceremony where the contestants can get eliminated. The contestants can also get eliminated on group dates and even one on one dates.

There are six main differences between Bachelorette Australia and Bachelorette US. One main difference is the fantasy suits. In the US, the fantasy suits are included with the top three contestants and that is commonly a time of intimacy and no cameras, while in Australia, the fantasy suits are completely left out. Also in Australia, they have normal job titles but in the US, they seem to commonly make the job titles more of a joke. thehttps://www.mamamia.com.au/the-bachelor-america/

Since the Bachelor and Bachelorette are so big here in the United States, you don’t hear much about the Bachelor/Bachelorette Australia other than through social media apps like Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube. Other shows, like Love Island Australia, are more well known in the US than this particular show.

In the media, you can find the Bachelor and Bachelorette Australia being advertised on many social media apps because, of course, they want more viewers as well. 75% of the people watching the show liked it compared to the US, 85% liked it with 7.15 million total viewers last season. So you can see how it is more popular in the US. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/bachelorette-finale-part-1-scores-tv-ratings-monday-july-29-2019-1227883

By: Abbie Phillips

Tiger Mist is Australia’s current leading online fashion destination. It is an Australian clothing brand that was started by two sisters named Alana and Stevie Pallister back in 2008. They started as a little boutique retail store in Melbourne, Australia and now it is an online global fashion store that ships all around the world.

Their goal is to make every girl who wears their clothes to feel beautiful, confident, and powerful. Their clothes were designed in a house by talented designers and they have a variety of styles. Laidback and relaxed or sleek and sexy, you pick! Another great thing about this brand is the clothes and styles always change, they know how to keep you on your toes. https://tigermist.com.au

One thing that helped spread the word and get Tiger Mists’ brand more recognized around the world is through Instagram. They have a big following on there where they can post pictures of their clothes for everyone to see. That’s how I discovered this brand. Another thing that helps is all of the models who model their clothes are stunning. When I first saw their Instagram page, I was immediately drawn to it and bought a few things from them. The quality of the clothing was amazing, the customer service was great, the clothes fit so well, and looked so flattering. I truly felt beautiful and confident.

Tiger Mist has its own Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest. They use social media, as said before, to expand their brand, which honestly nowadays is a really smart thing to do. Many women use these apps to review Tiger Mist’s clothing and it’s almost always positive reviews. Tiger Mist has taken over the media in the past few years and knows how to market their brand well. Keep it up, TM.

By: Abbie Phillips

Wolf Creek is a chilling Australian horror film that’s based on a true story. It is a story about three road trippers who are in their twenties named Kristy, Ben, and Liz. They decided at the beginning of the film that they wanted to backpack through Wolf Creek National Park together in the Australian Outback all alone. When they arrive at one of their scenic spots, their car dies and a few hours after waiting, a local man named Mick Taylor offers them help with his big truck. Mick Taylor then takes the backpackers to his house and drugs them so they fall asleep and wake up separated and trapped, ready to get tortured by him. A dream that turns into a nightmare.

This movie does a good job of sending a message to not trust people too easily and always be careful when you’re exploring. The producer, Greg McLean, made it feel real and kept it interesting throughout the entire movie. There were lots of advertisements for this movie even in America after it was released in 2005. However, the movie doesn’t have that great of ratings for some reason.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wolf_creek

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416315/

On Rotton Tomatoes, it is rated 53% by the ‘Tomatometer’ and the audience rated it at 49% out of 100%. It got a 62/100 on IMDB. Opening weekend, the film made $2,805,754 in the United States and compared to other movies, that’s not that much.

Australian movies don’t differ much than the movies we have in America but they don’t produce nearly as many movies per year. In fact, Australia only produces about 35 movies each year. Australia finds it difficult to compete with our American film industry and media industry because we are both English-Speaking Countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Australia

It is common that most actors and actresses from Australia get scouted from the United States and they’ll move to LA to pursue their careers.

John Garrett, the main character and killer in Wolf Creek, is rated one of the most popular actors in Australia.

By: Abbie Phillips

Bali Body Australia is an all-natural, organic, and long-lasting self-tanner that launched in 2014. This brand originated from Australia and the goal is to get the darkest, most natural-looking tan possible. Recently, Bali Body has had a huge increase in sales and is becoming much more well known. It has caught many people’s eyes through Instagram and YouTube AD’s (nice job Bali Bodi) and is now rated one of the best self-tanners in the world.

All orders are shipped with UPS all over the world from their main distribution center in Los Angeles. Bali Bodi does a good job of promising a shipping time of 2-3 business days.

Bali Body sells Suncare, Self-Tan, and Skincare. They sell Tanning Oil, Self Tanning Mousse, Face-Tanning Water, BB Cream, and Shimmering Body Oil.

I’ve tried their self-tanning mousse and I loved it. It made me brown rather than orange like what I’ve seen most other self-tanning lotions do. I first found Bali Body through an Instagram AD and all the girls looked so naturally tan and beautiful so I wanted to look just like them! Instagram did a good job of promoting it because I ended up buying it in the end. I also looked at their Instagram page and saw it was an Australian brand and having been to Australia, I knew it would be an amazing product.

“Get that insta-famous BB tan, without the sun.”

Hope you enjoyed my blog.

Xx

Abbie

https://us.balibodyco.com

By: Abbie Phillips

One of the most popular dating shows in the world, Love Island, hit Australia in 2018. Love Island Australia is an Australian dating reality show which originally started in the UK. The show gives hot, young, and single Aussie contestants the experience of a lifetime with the possibility of meeting their soulmate. It is hosted by local Sophie Monk and narrarated by Eoghan McDermott. This show is different than other dating shows because there are challenges everyone does together which keep things fun, there aren’t necessarily weekly eliminations, you just have to be coupled up, and the couples pick each other day one to start off as an “offical” couple based on first impressions. The catch is as time goes on, the couples are forced to recouple over the duration of their stay at the villa. Of course there is lots of drama that happens but if there wasn’t drama, it wouldn’t be as fun to watch now would it?

The contestents are isolated away from the world on an island in a villa. The two villas are located in gorgeous places, Spain and Fiji. Throughout the show, they are referred to as islanders. The show averaged roughly around 200,000 viewers at first in 2018 then overnight raised to 511,000 once viewers from Nine’s streaming service were added. The audience appeales to a younger audience of 16-39 year olds and what’s interesting is 85% of these viewers are outside of Australia. This show seems to thrive in the United States, mainly because of social media and advertisements.

Finally at the end of the show, the audience votes for their favorite couple and the winner wins 50,000 AUD. The winning couple can choose to split it amungst each other or one of them keeps it all.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaH2fA_zKsVlC2Y4uuRA-yA

https://www.her.ie/entertainment/i-watched-love-island-australia-to-see-how-it-compares-to-the-other-series-and-oh-boy-409711

Check out these links to get more insight on Love Island Australia.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.