Amazing Australian Legends

Ned Kelly, an Australian legend. His famous armour and a replica of his head in the Old Melbourne Goal

 

A few Aussie people and things over the years have managed to gain legendary status...

 

Casey Heynes

It might have taken Ned Kelly and Don Bradman many years to become a Australian legend but thanks to the modern technologies of mobile phone camera, internet and Youtube, 16 year old Aussie schoolboy Casey Heynes became a instant legend overnight in March 2011.
The Year 10 student had been bullied for many years because of his weight and when a Year 7 student started punching him repeatedly he decided after a few punches that he'd had enough, so he picked up the bully and smacked him on the ground.
The video was posted on Youtube and went viral around the world, congratulations came in from as far as Russia, and Aussie media fought to be the first one to interview him. The instant legend appeared on national TV shows such as Today Tonight and A Current Affair, the website caseyheynes.com hit the web and the story was beamed all over the USA by Fox News.
We had the Youtube video embedded on this webpage but Youtube keeps on removing it so it never works for more than a day, just go to Youtube and type Casey Heynes in the searchbox, somebody will have put it back up again for your enjoyment.
We agree with Youtube's policy that prohibits violent movies on their service but we reckon this video is a source of hope and inspiration to bullied kids around the world, and they could make an exception here, if there were more Casey Heynes' in this world then bullying might become a thing of the past.
You can also see the infamous video on caseyheynes.com .

Crocodile Dundee

Don Bradman

Greg Norman

Greg Norman, also known as the Great White Shark, is an Australian golf legend who plays the game that well that his personal fortune in 2006 was estimated around the $278 million! Pity that he is just about to divorce his wife Laura who might take 200 of the 278 with her. He owns his own Gulfstream helicopter with Great White Shark emblem on the side, a mansion in Florida and a 1200ha ranch with golfcourse in Colorado, Great White Shark Enterprises that owns and operates 40 golfcourses in 12 countries and a few other little investments that generate around $50 million annually.

Lasseter's Reef

Not a part of the Great Barrier Reef but located well away from the ocean in Central Australia. According to legend it is a huge "reef" of solid gold, discovered by Swedish Mr. Lasseter ( a sailor, not even an outback explorer). Unfortunately Mr. Lasseter died so nobody could verify his discovery or get any instructions on how to get there but since then many people have exhausted themselves or even died wandering the deserts trying to find this amazing reef of gold, all with no results at all so many other people believe Mr. Lasseter might have had a bit too much sun on his head causing him to imagine this huge gold deposit.

Ned Kelly

Actually named Edward Kelly, this enterprising young Irish lad from convict parents managed to gain fame by starting a crime career in 1870 at the age of 14 by robbing a Chinese man. He received his first jail sentence at the age of 16 for receiving a stolen horse.
His career lasted ten years in which time, together with his brother, he robbed travellers, banks, shot and kiled at least three policemen, took posession of an entire town and held the population hostage in the local pub and even forced workers to remove railway tracks when they knew police were on their way by train. The police managed to find other transport and after a big shoot out witnessed by 600 people wounded and captured him and took him to Melbourne where he was hanged on 11 november 1880. Some of his accomplices were still holed up in the Glenrowan Hotel but died when the police burned it down.
His legend lives on today, his reputation of a Robin Hood resisting authority and helping the poor people in his area made him a folk hero. Also his home-made armour has inspired many artists in their paintings and at the National Gallery of Victoria you can admire Sir Sidney Nolan's 'Ned Kelly' series of pictures. In 1906 one of the world's first feature films 'The Story Of The Kelly Gang' was filmed in Australia. Years later Yahoo Serious made the movie 'Reckless Kelly' and around 1990 it even inspired Mick Jagger into a brief acting career playing Ned Kelly but the movie was not hugely succesful and he wisely returned to the microphone.
Ned Kelly's remains were at the Pentridge prison grave site, Melbourne, and his head was on display at Old Melbourne Gaol before being stolen in 1978. His death mask, armour and the gallows on which he died are on display at ye Old Gaol.
It has long been disputed where and how the armour was made; was it made by blacksmiths or did Ned and his gang make it themselves out in the bush? In 2005 the armour was taken to the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney where a whole range of test was carried out, including X-rays that could determine how hot the metal would have been. The results were quite patchy, it showed some of the surface had been heated for long periods up to 750 degrees ( the approximate heat a forge in the bush would have been able to reach, a black smith in his workshop would be able to reach higher temperatures) and other parts of the armour surface had been formed at much lower temperatures, this indicated that it most likely would have been Ned's own handywork out in the bush.
Peter Carey has written an excellent book based on historical records and diaries titled ' The true history of the Kelly Gang ' which is recommended reading, it tells a tale of how Ned was basically an honest man who was not afraid of hard honest work but with a corrupt police force of English background that did not like the Irish it was pretty well impossible to not get in trouble with the law from time to time.

The mask worn by Mick Jagger in his Ned Kelly movie	There are a few Ned Kelly letterboxes around Australia	The big Ned Kelly
Mick Jagger's temporary diversion from singing to acting.	Excellent book from Peter Carey detailing the life of Ned Kelly	One of the few images of Ned Kelly while still alive

Phar Lap

Postcard Bandit

Skippy

Though this series only ran for three years and finished in 1971 Skippy is still world famous.
The series showed the adventures and mishaps in the life of a park ranger and his family but there was always a happy ending as Skippy would save the day and a few lives at the end of every show.

Steve Irwin

Legend Steve Irwin is no longer with us after a lifetime career of do-not-try-this-at-home stunts with dangerous animals came to an abrupt halt when a stingray whacked a 20cm. barb into his heart while he was snorkelling at Batt Reef off the coast of Port Douglas on Monday 4 September 2006, he was 44 years old. He became worldfamous through forever risking his life in front of the camera by confronting huge, dangerous and poisonous animals while pouring out colourful Aussie language at the same time. Many Australians consided him way over the top and an embarrassing ocker but his mad adventures made him a super hero in the U.S. where his TV series and movie made millions and in november 2003 he auditioned mad Americans to join a reality TV show to be filmed at his wildlife park. Over the years he has received numerous bites, one of those was on stage in Alice Springs at a Toyota conference where a two metre long Perenti lizard latched on to his arm. He is also reported to have trade marked the name Crocodile Hunter, as was pointed out in a letter from Steve's lawyer to real crocodile hunter Mick Pitman who claims to have roamed the north for 20 years, much of it with legendary croc hunter "German Jack", and who is outraged his primary job description has been hijacked. He claims he was hunting crocodiles while Irwin was still in nappies and says that Steve is only a 'crocodile photographer'. The hype has gone that far that Steve was even nominated for Australian of the Year, though this is more for his generosity in sharing the proceeds of his crazy crocodile empire with numerous charity organizations.
Despite making it to Queenslander of the year he came under fire early 2004 when he held his baby son Bob a metre from the mouth of a 4 metre crocodile at his Australia Zoo to teach him to become completely familiar with crocodiles.The stunt was slammed by child support groups and compared to the furore caused by whacko Jacko dangling his newborn baby over a German hotel balcony in 2002. After this stunt his chances of becoming Australian of the Year diminished and it was Steve Waugh that snatched that title away from him. This stunt caused the Queensland workplace health and safety division to re-draft crocodile handling guidelines which included a ban on children entering crocodile enclosures.
On 5 January 2008 a crowd of 4500 people paid $90.- each to get in to a show at the Australia Zoo where controversial American psychic John Edward was supposed to make contact with the deceased Steve Irwin.
A nd....you guessed it, nothing happened....
The Irwin's family spokesman John Stainton announced in 2007 that 15 November had been declared Steve Irwin Day, the Irwin family was hoping that everyone would take a day off work, and they hoped that it would even become a national public holiday, also people were encouraged to wear khaki to work.
The Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said there were no plans at all to make November 15 a public holiday, and he doubted Steve himself would have wanted that much fuss.
A few people saw it as just another ploy to get more crowds to come to the Australia Zoo festivities and spend money....
The American cartoon show South Park has devoted a whole show to John Edward in which he wins the award of Biggest Douche In The Universe, beating several douche contestants from other galaxies.

Do you know of (or are) an amazing Australian legend? Then contact us !

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