Interesting You know, your visit could well have coincided with the time frame I was talking about listening to "And the band played..." in music class. I'm not entirely sure why the band played Waltzing Matilda (but that link might have some clues). In 1918 the real Australian anthem was "God save the King", our current one wasn't chosen until 1974, but I think Matilda has always been popular. The link to Gallipoli is interesting too. After the war, Mustafa Kemal, who had been commander of the Turkish forces on the day of the invasion wrote a tribute to the Australian troops quoted at the Australian war memorial's web site, http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/ataturk.asp

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well."

P.S. I got side tracked and forgot that I meant to send you a link to "I was only 19", another sad Australian ballad about returned soldiers.
In reply to this comment by AdrianBlack:
I've known it was sort of the un-official national anthem for Australia since I was little (I was there when I was 9yrs old), so I guess I've always heard it in an Australian voice.
I also had a music box as a child that had Waltzing Matilda as it's song.

How well known it is to others, I don't know. I always seem to be the one that collects odd little facts.

Lol, nice accent, btw.

Cheerio!