By KELLI SAMANTHA HEWETT
Staff Writer

Marcus Dripps had heard about it, this American love of his native Australia.

He came to Nashville six years ago to help bring renowned Aussie physical therapy to the Music City. Mates told Dripps to expect some attention here, but he didn't figure the interest ran so deep. Crocodile Dundee. The Crocodile Hunter. TV's Survivor. Even the Outback Steakhouse fuels the craze.

''The inquisitiveness has been quite surprising,'' Dripps said. ''I don't understand the fascination. I guess the Australian image is one of the last laid-back, fun-loving people. We are fortunate in that the country has been the flavor of the month for about 15 years.''

Foster's may be Australian for beer, but Nashville is Australian for home to about 200 expatriates from Down Under — nearly all without koalas, boomerangs or notions of wrestling crocodiles. They are health-care workers, students, business people, mining company employees, aspiring music artists and even military types training at Fort Campbell.

This weekend, several dozen of them will become local ambassadors for North America's largest Australian Festival, a Nashville event that braids together Aussie culture, myth and legend for a host country that just can't get enough of them. Organizers expect upwards of 6,000 Yanks who are itching to hear the accents, pet the kangaroo, watch some Aussie sport or fill up on meat pie.

''You bring in a kangaroo and people go bananas,'' said Peter Beare of Melbourne. Beare, a Web designer, came to Middle Tennessee State as a tennis player. He is another festival founder, along with John Nelson of Adelaide, Australia.

''To me, the festival is giving back some of the way I've been treated since I've been here,'' Beare said. ''It's not an entitlement, and we should be very, very grateful.''

Organizers, who are American and Australian, work hard to balance U.S. love of kangaroos and koalas without fueling an extreme image of Australia — a place where more than three-fourths of the people live in large cities, demographics show. Most every Australian here will list the same curious questions from Americans. No, the kangaroos don't hop down the streets. No, the bloomin' onion is not a native dish. And yes, that's a very nice try at ''G'day, mate.''

''I think (the stereotype) is always going to be a rough tradeoff,'' Dripps said. ''A successful festival and information are two different things.''

Dripps was one of the first Aussies to come here when Tracy Caulkins Physiotherapy Centers opened in the mid-1990s. The health company was founded by Nashville native and former champion swimmer Caulkins, who married an Australian.

Other cities may have larger Australian populations, but Nashville as a midsize city allows for the Aussie community to connect with Americans and make a festival successful. They have also launched a school program to teach Australian sport, animals and culture throughout Nashville.

''We're not just going on holiday to America; we are interested in sharing our culture,'' said Lucy Dripps, of Geelong, Australia.

Lucy's husband, Marcus, was one of three Australians who dreamed up the first festival six years ago as part of the Nashville Kangaroos, a social club anchored in Aussie rules football. With a $500 budget, it drew fewer than 30 people to West End's Elmington Park.

Success has come through savvy organization, corporate sponsors, and the all-important live kangaroo. The idea is a hit with smitten Americans who might not know shrimp on the barbie from fair dinkum, Aussie for ''the real deal.''

''I think it's such an easy culture for us to get into,'' said Elizabeth Garton of Madison, a festival volunteer. ''It's foreign, it's fun, but it's familiar. They are big into sports, good food and the occasional beer.''

Jenny O'Donnell of West End thinks it's simpler than that.

''It's the accent,'' O'Donnell said.

In the rise and fall of an Aussie accent, many Americans hear evidence of a rugged Wild West, still alive, pressed into another time zone, another world away. Other ways to live life are still breathing, and adventure is still possible.

Or it could just be that it sounds sexy.

Either way, plenty of Middle Tennesseans are intrigued. Americans make up nearly 70% of the Nashville Kangaroos. The social club concept is big in Australia, where residents get together for socializing and sports.

Sylvia Gisel, a Clarksville native, joined the Nashville Kangaroos club last spring after Aussie football player Adam Carter became her physiotherapist. Gisel attended every 'Roos home game — several times via limo.

''They are so warm and cordial and casual,'' said Gisel, 57. ''They are a lot like Southerners.''

Carter believes the laid-back, outdoorsy attitude comes from the fact that most Aussies live along the coast and have the relaxed style of people in, say, Florida. Mix that with an isolated location, exotic animals and a frontier landscape, and the interest is cemented.

''It's unique,'' said Carter, who once shaved a kangaroo in his chest hair for 'Roos spirit.

Carter's wife, Kelly Noser, says the appeal comes from the Australian tendency to blur class lines. The Aussie culture often discourages ''tall poppy syndrome,'' where successful people make too much out of their achievements.

''I don't think the Australians would consider'' separating themselves by class, education or economic background,'' Noser said.

Kristi Brobeck of Crieve Hall has been hooked on Australia since she studied for a year in Brisbane. Like plenty of other Americans, she always wanted to visit or live in Australia.

''There was just something about it,'' Brobeck said.

''We are somewhat kindred spirits.''

Getting there

Highlights of the Nashville Australian Festival, today and tomorrow, Elmington Park, 3500 West End Ave. Admission: free. Small admission charges for some children's activities, including Aussie petting zoo. Cricket matches 9 a.m.; Kentucky Down Under petting zoo opens 10 a.m.; Outback Steakhouse food court opens 10:30 a.m.; Nashville Kangaroos Aussie rules football 11:30 a.m.; sheep herding demonstrations 1:15 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.gdaynashville.com/.

Kelli Samantha Hewett, who is half-Australian, can be reached at 726-5938 or khewett@tennessean.com.