The girl next door grew up and moved to Sydney. She's home visiting her parents and I've been asking her about her work and life in Australia. Where has she been? I queried, so she named a number of spots. How about Tasmania? This provoked a laugh and a claim she has no desire to visit Tasmania. "Australians think Tasmanians have 6 fingers on each hand and are generally backwards."

This reminds me of what Americans may think of "Okies."

The only person I "know" from Tasmania is here at FT and is a very smart and capable woman. I've even seen pictures of her hands--no polydactylism!

So, Aussies, is this a general perception? The girl has been there for seven years, and for sure her friends in Sydney feel that way.

Queproblema, every state in Australia rubbishes the other states. Here in Western Australia, when we meet a Queenslander, we comment on the excellent job the surgeon did when he removed their second head - indicating that all Queenslanders are born with two heads.
South Australia's state recipe is boiled crow... take a crow, an onion and a rock. Boil for 3 days. When the rock is soft, serve with onion. Throw crow out to the dogs.
Queenslanders refer to other eastern states as cockroaches, Mexicans (south of the [Queensland] border) and various other derogatory terms.
West Australia is described as 2 hours and 25 years behind the Eastern States.
It gets worse during cricket and football seasons i.e.most of the year !
It's all in fun, and no one takes it seriously.
I plan to visit Tassie later this year, and can't wait - friends living there say the scenery is awesome and they have platypus living in their creek. What more could you ask for ?

Tasmania is often spoken about while humming the theme song from "Deliverance". I don't know where that perception came from, and most people I know think Tasmania is a must-see destination. Maybe because it's small. Some of our great sportspeople come from Tassie. Still, there are a lot of jokes still doing the rounds that refer to certain family connections in Tassie that are mentioned disparagingly in the Bible.
All rubbish of course, but the jokes are funny.
Chris

I get teased because I have family in South Australia. Apparently Adelaide is proof that Tasmanian's can swim.

Where I am in WA we tend to bag the Victorian's a lot (its mainly a football thing). There was a joke I saw the other day and cant think where it was.

Q "Why is Tasmania getting closer to Victoria?"

A "Because Victoria sucks".

The list of bad jokes goes on but as Australians, we all enjoy a bit of 'taking the mickey' out of anyone else but ourselves. Its all in good fun though

Just wait till you hear what gets said about Americans...

Bahaha.

We all rubbish the Victorians.

They can't drive. 'Bloody Victorian drivers' is a well-heard phrase.

QLD are of course a whole lot of bogans

And the Tasmanians...I'll echo what Channe said

Thanks for all the comments and jokes. I'm getting the picture a little.

Still, one thing I don't get is that this girl was enthusiastic about visiting Perth, Cairns, Brisbane, and Melbourne, but scorns the idea of visiting Tasmania.

There are heaps of reasons to visit the lovely Tasmania, not the least of which is the famous Cadbury Chocolate factory!

Hmmm... thanks for the reminder, Mother Goose - I had forgotten to add that to my list of "must visits".

I agree ozfei. It's simply beautiful!

Maybe she's scared of water.



Oh...and I Love Melbourne!

Melbourne is awesome.

Perhaps she's scared of visiting Tasmania because of the cold...or...I don't know, actually. I'd love to visit Tasmania.

I don't think it's the cold! She was born and raised in Alaska and is visiting in January. (It was 10 below 0 F. this morning-- about 23 below 0 C.) Must be her friends' influence.

We have sectional differences in the US, too, but not the grumpy-sounding but actually friendly banter you have.

Thanks to each for your input, and more is welcome.

It is a strange phobia. We all joke about it but Tasmania is beautiful with many wonderful places and things to see. I love Melbourne, and have just recently visited Adelaide, which we loved as well. Just missed the Panda's arrival, darn! Have to go back now
Can hardly wait to visit WA & Tassie.
I wonder who she has been listening to.

Channe, I was wondering the same. Maybe she just needs different friends.
We have neighbours who are Tasmanians, and they are the nicest neighbours you could hope for.. so were the Taswegians I nursed with...without exception, all the Tasmanians I have met have been pleasant.. and not even slightly inbred.

I'm in Sydney and I would love to visit Tassie one day. I almost did last year for a conference but the dates clashed with my niece's 21st birthday party. Have your former neighbour look up Wineglass Bay. Glorious!! Australians are perpetual stirrers so of course we have to take the mickey out of Tasmania. And Queensland. As for Victoria? Here in New South Wales we call Victoria "Mexico" because it's south of the border.

Yeah Wineglass Bay is just awesome.
If you think the abuse we give one another from different states is bad, you should see how we treat New Zealand folk, what with their lamb obssession and all...but its just a sign of affection really,

Hahaha that's right! Aussie and Kiwi rivalry is just beut mate

Even us Kiwis give the Tazzies heaps about their 'Duelling Banjo' lifestyle

But as one of my nearest and dearest married a Tazzie(Met in Scotland;now living in Melbourne.Phew!) I now spend my time making sure the kids have all of the All Black gear...can't have them looking like canaries in the family photies

Canaries poneke? Them's fighting words! To paraphrase Billy Birmingham (The 12th Man).. It's Aussie Gold not canary yellow and don't you forget it!! Lol. One of the best games of rugby I ever saw (albeit on the idiot box) was the 1999 Bledisloe Cup match at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney. NZ scored 4 tries in the first 7 minutes. Australia equalised by half time. NZ ended up winning by one point. After the game no one really cared who won or lost. The Kiwis were thrilled to win but everyone was just happy to have seen it, been there, played it.

It's sorta like a sibling rivalry. You may fight like cats and dogs but don't let anyone else hurt your sibling.. my nephew who fought constantly with his sister would defend her to the death even at the age of five.. "Don't you hurt my sister!!!!" It's kinda like that with Oz and NZ and I love it.

Tizzabelle, I think you have it !
We can criticise amongst ourselves.. but let anyone else say a bad word about Australia... or New Zealand...and the fight is on !

Kia Ora Tezza and Tizza ( a pair of great Ozzie names if ever I heard )

...I have the 12th man on vinyl ! Funny! Funny! Funny!... names like: A'broke me'and dad

OooooH those Bledisloe Cup matches eh? John Eales! Arrrrgh !Don't it just define our 'sibling rivalry' beautifully!

Ya both nailed it! We can and do take the mickey out of each other at every opportunity, but Lord help any non-ANZAC who tries it on
I've added a couple of my favourite links to show how much fun we have with each other; hope y'all enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RenRILqwhJs&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28pbk_cQx-w&feature=related

Kia Ora Poneke... and peanut butter jars.. double decker bus..
I was OSH officer at an abattoirs at one point.. we got in a team of slaughts from South Island.. one guy we reckoned was a 7 cut slaught.. and that was just on his left hand !
But what a great mob of guys...my husband ran over a snake on the way home one evening.. we put it in a plastic bag in the fridge.. next morning took it in to work and carefully arranged it in the canteen where the Kiwi group usually sat... was an "interesting" morning to say the least.

LMAO Tezza!
Nowt queer as folk...especially our South Islanders! We make them show their passports before they board The Cook Straight Ferry. Could'a been worse tho ...they could'a been aucklanders

Tassie is beautiful. We have friends who live down there and we visit about two or three times a year. The people are lovely, the food fantastic (particularly the fresh rasberries) and the scenery is just gorgeous. Hardly a straight road in the place as the roads wend their way through mountains. Yes it's cities are much smaller than the those on 'the big island' as they call us mainlanders but they are charming. I am planning to retire down there I think I (ok only after I've spent some time down there in winter).

You know you're Australian if …

1. You know the meaning of the word "girt".

2. You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.

3. You think it's normal to have a leader called Kevin.

4. You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expired petrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.

5. You've made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden.

6. You believe it is appropriate to put a rubber in your son's pencil case when he first attends school.

7. When you hear that an American "roots for his team" you wonder how often and with whom.

8. You understand that the phrase "a group of women wearing black thongs" refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.

9. You pronounce Melbourne as "Mel-bin".

10. You pronounce Penrith as "Pen-riff".

11. You believe the "l" in the word "Australia" is optional.

12. You can translate: "Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas."

13. You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.

14. You call your best friend "a total bast@rd" but someone you really, truly despise is just "a bit of a bast@rd".

15. You think "Woolloomooloo" is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.

16. You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.

17. You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin.

18. You understand that "Wagga Wagga" can be abbreviated to "Wagga" but "Woy Woy" can't be called "Woy".

19. You believe that cooked-down axlegrease makes a good breakfast spread.

20. You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis.

21. Hamburger. Beetroot. Of course.

22. You know that certain words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels' song Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again.

23. You believe, as an article of faith, that the confectionary known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year.

24. You still don't get why the "Labor" in "Australian Labor Party" is not spelt with a "u".

25. You wear ugh boots outside the house.

26. You believe, as an article of faith, that every important discovery in the world was made by an Australian but then sold off to the Yanks for a pittance.

27. You believe that the more you shorten someone's name the more you like them.

28. Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.

29. You understand that "excuse me" can sound rude, while "scuse me" is always polite.

30. You know what it's like to swallow a fly, on occasion via your nose.

31. You understand that "you" has a plural and that it's "youse".

32. You know it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.

33. Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules for beach cricket.

34. You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call "Anzac cookies".

35. You still think of Kylie as "that girl off Neighbours".

36. When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs - just in case you're trying to sneak in fruit.

37. You believe the phrase "smart casual" refers to a pair of black tracky-daks, suitably laundered.

38. You understand that all train timetables are works of fiction.

39. When working on a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer.

40. You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second.

41. You find yourself ignorant of nearly all the facts deemed essential in the government's new test for migrants.

42. You know, whatever the tourist books say, that no one says "cobber".

43. And you will immediately forward this list to other Australians, here and overseas, realising that only they will understand.

Lol - this might help the OP understand us a little better....