British tourist Kat Penkin visiting Australia jokes about friendly locals saying hello on walks

A British tourist visiting Australia has joked about being ’emotionally drained’ after forgetting how friendly Aussies are compared to our UK cousins.

Singer Kat Penkin, who has travelled from London to Perth to spend the holidays with family, went for a morning walk on Christmas Day when she encountered the Aussie habit.

Penkin admitted she had forgotten the way Aussies interact with each other – even if they’re complete strangers. 

‘Every single person that walks past says “good morning, how are you?”,’ Penkin said in a video posted to TikTok.

British traveller, Kat Penkin was shocked by a ‘wholesome’ Aussie tradition while going on a morning walk in Perth, Western Australia

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Penkin, who was born in Devon, in southwest UK, was raised in Perth by her parents until she returned to England to pursue a career in music.

‘I’d forgotten just how nice Australian’s are,’ she said at the start of the video.

‘I live in London, so if you say “good morning” you get a punch in the face.’

The video then showed Penkin recording herself as numerous Aussies greeted her, ranging from a simple ‘morning’ to an exuberant ‘good morning’ from one chirpy passerby.

Hundreds of Australians flocked to the comments, not knowing that the tradition was just an ‘Aussie thing’. 

‘Today I learnt that this is an Australian thing. I lived my whole life thinking everyone did this,’ one commenter wrote.

Penkin replied saying ‘Honestly it’s so niche’.

The Londoner was swamped with random Australian’s greeting her as she passed by, many Aussie’s not knowing it was just an ‘Aussie thing’ until Penkin pointed it out

‘Australian here. if I don’t say hi to the randos [random people] I pass, I feel bad the rest of the day,’ another wrote. 

One Aussie shared their experience of not getting the same warm greeting while overseas.

‘Fr [For Real] I was saying “morning” in America and the amount of confused looks I got,’ one wrote.

Another Aussie chalked it up to being ‘a morning only thing, I think people who go for morning walks are just happier in general and it’s usual older people who initiate it’.