Born in New South Wales Trivia Quiz

Answer: Norfolk Island

'The Thorn Birds' was a saga about an Irish family living in outback Australia and was made into a television mini-series in 1983.

Norfolk island is an island at the northern end of the Tasman Sea, equidistant from the east coast of Australia and the northern tip of New Zealand. It is an Australian territory, and MacCullough was probably the most famous resident.

Answer: Rick Springfield

'Jessie's Girl' was a huge hit for him in 1981. Also in 1981, he joined the cast of the multi-award winning soapie, 'General Hospital' as Dr Noah Drake.

Ricky May was a very talented New Zealand jazz musician, who died in 1988. Paul Hogan was born in New South Wales, in the opal-mining town of Lightning Ridge, and Richard Gere is an American.

Answer: Henry Lawson

Lawson was born in Grenfell in 1867, and along with Banjo Paterson is one of the best-known authors in the history of Australia. These two authors both wrote of life in the Australian bush in the latter half of the 19th century, but their views were diametrically opposite- Paterson's was the romanticised, fun and funny view. Lawson was much more pragmatic and gloomy, telling how tough life was in the colonial period. Lawson died in 1922.

Laurence Binyon wrote the poem 'For the Fallen', from which the 'Ode of Remembrance' is taken. Most Aussies will be familiar with the words
'They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.'

Adam Lindsay Gordon was a very interesting chap, known for being a superb horseman, a politician and a poet. He was only 37 years old when he took his own life. Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, who was born in India in 1865 and died in 1836.

Answer: La Stupenda

She was given the name 'La Stupenda' ("the stunning one") by Italian art critics after a superb performance in Venice in 1960. Sutherland died in 2010 at her home in Switzerland.

'Gianni Schicchi' is the name of a Puccini opera, and Makybe Diva was a horse, who won the famous Melbourne Cup three times. 'The Voice' is a TV reality singing competition, broadcast in several countries around the world.

Answer: Hugh Jackman

Sydney-born Jackman was also voted as 'Sexiest Man Alive' by 'People' magazine, in 2008. Other trophies on his mantelpiece include a Golden Globe for 'Les Miserables', a Tony Award for 'The Boy From Oz', a People's Choice Award for 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine', and an Emmy, for hosting the Tony Awards in 2005. He hosted the Academy Awards in 2009.

Eric Bana, who was born in Melbourne, Victoria, came to the attention of Hollywood when he starred in 'Hulk' in 2003 and 'Troy' in the following year. Errol Flynn was born in Tasmania, but died before any of the other men in the question were born.

Hugh Grant is not Australian- he was born in London in 1960.

Answer: Dawn Fraser

In 1956, she won the gold for the 100 metres, and also won in the relay. She won the 100m again in 1960 in Rome and completed the trifecta at Tokyo in 1964. Add in a swag of medals from various Commonwealth Games and it is understandable that she is one of the best athletes of all time. Just to top it off, she beat and held over 40 world records in her career.

After she retired from swimming, she bought a pub in the Sydney suburb of Balmain, and was also on the board of the Balmain Tigers Football Club (rugby league). A short stint in politics followed, and she remained active in many sporting associations and charities for many years.

Fellow Olympian Raelene Boyle is also a bit of a character. However, she was a sprinter, not a swimmer. Suzie O'Neill was a butterfly swimmer, who won a couple of golds at Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000). Shane Gould cleaned up in the pool at Munich, in 1972, and at one stage, she held every world record from 100m to 1500m. She was only 15 when she was on top of the world, and stunned everybody by retiring at age 17.

Answer: Muriel's Wedding (1994)

Luhrmann was born in Sydney, but raised on the north coast of New South Wales. He attended National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), but eventually turned to directing, with his first major project being the stage version of 'Strictly Ballroom'.

'Muriel's Wedding' was produced and directed by P J Hogan.

Answer: The Body

Elle is tall, blonde and just stunning. She formed her own lingerie company and also markets cosmetics.

La Divina was Maria Callas, The Oomph Girl was Ann Sheridan and Sunshine is a nickname for Gwen Stefani, none of whom are Australian, OR models.

Answer: The Tenterfield Saddler

Tenterfield is close to the Queensland border and has a population of around 3,000.

The 'Tenterfield Saddler' was Allen's grandfather, and the saddlery has been restored into a small tourist museum. The song tells of his dad's suicide, and also of his own personal experiences after he found fame. One of my favourite lines is "...he married a girl with an interesting face...". That girl was Liza Minelli, whom he married in 1967.

Allen released the iconic 'I Still Call Australia Home' in 1980. It was shortlisted as a possible national anthem, but did not quite make the cut.

Answer: John Newcombe

'Newc' was born in Sydney in 1944, and won his Grand Slams between 1963 and 1976. He won the Doubles twelve times with Tony Roche, a record that lasted for more than fifty years. In 1997, he was voted as one of the 100 Australian National Living Treasures.
Edwin Flack was Australia's first Olympian, who competed in the tennis in Athens in 1896. Pat Rafter won the US Open in 1997 and 1998 and Mark Philippoussis was the losing finalist in the 1998 US.