By Rebecca Denton
For The Tennessean

Mikisha Doop tasted Vegemite yesterday for the first time, and probably the last.

''It kind of tastes like gravy — that brown, packaged meat gravy,'' said the Nashvillian, chewing a small bite of the concentrated yeast concoction on a cracker. ''It may have lots of vitamins, but I'll stick to Flintstones.''

Doop was one of thousands of Yanks exploring Aussie culture yesterday at the sixth annual Australian Festival in Elmington Park — and most activities went over better than the Vegemite samples.

Children and parents crowded into the petting zoo for a close-up look at creatures from Down Under. A brush-tailed bettong, a kookaburra, a 7-foot-long python and a blue-tongued skink were just a few of the animals on view. An eastern gray kangaroo named Warringah — the star of the show — stood patiently as little hands poked and prodded.

''She's soft,'' Rebekah Spradlin, 8, said, stroking the kangaroo's hunched back.

Two rainbow lories, birds similar to parrots, perched atop the head of Sybil Levine, 11, of Nashville.

''I'm a nature freak, so I really like this,'' she said.

The two-day festival also offers a climbing wall, games, an inflated trampoline for children and live music, food, Australian products and sports.

After games of cricket and Australian Rules football yesterday, players cleared the field for a sheep-herding demonstration. A black border collie named Robin crouched and streaked across the grass, steering five Katahdin sheep in wide circles according to the handler's signals.

Mike Bell, who lives in the Hillsboro Village area, was watching at the field's edge. He came to the festival with his wife, Michelle, and their 3-year-old son, Jacob, mainly to see the demonstration.

''I've seen it on television, but I've never seen it live,'' Bell said. ''I've always been fascinated with sheepdogs and their ability to control the sheep. In this high-tech day and age, it's neat to see something so simple work so well.''

Put on by the not-for-profit Nashville Kangaroos social and sporting club, the festival is the largest of its kind in North America. Roughly 5,000 people attended in 2001, said festival director Erin Downey, an Australia native.

The event aims to promote Australian-American relations and Aussie culture.

''We want to give Nashville a little taste of Australia and a feel for its habits and sporting traditions,'' club President Shane Clothesy said, ''so not everyone thinks we're all Crocodile Dundees or Crocodile Hunters.''

The festival continues from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. today. General admission is free. For more details, visit http://www.gdaynashville.com/.