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Australia Day holiday

Australia Day holiday

It’s a national holiday as today is Australia day. It’s the day Aussies don green and gold, stoke up the barbie, wave the flag and drag out every cliché in the book. So for those international visitors that swing by here is a little round up from down under.

Of course this past year we lost one of our greatest ambassadors for Australia and Australian wildlife Steve Irwin . Australian fauna always fascinates vistors to this country. Creatures such as Koalas are not in my back yard but there are possums and, in the reserve down road we have kangaroos. Unfortunately many of our unique animals are endangered.

Visitors are also drawn to other national icons such the Great Barrier Reef or in the heart of the continent, Ayers Rock which is actually known as Uluru, and then of course there is the extremely beautiful Kakadu National Park. Places such as the Sydney Opera House are big attractions. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is another national icon which has an interesting history.

Then there are things in our history such as the flying doctor service and we have folk heroes such as Ned Kelly (who was a bushranger

Because of our film industry visitors sometimes ask about such as the Man from Snowy river but are unaware that it is a poem by Banjo Patterson that started the story.

Many people are unaware we had a gold rush here with people leaving California to look for gold on the Victorian diggings including the Chinese. Life on the goldfields was hard and the Eureka Stockade was our only attempt at revolution.

Icons of Australia include such things as the Holden car which we even stick in Museums. With our love of suburbia everyone has memories or swinging from a Hills Hoist. Since I am talking of childhood who remembers Ginger meg? I can’t forget to mention Snugglepot and cuddlepie

I have mentioned before that I live in the capital, Canberra. Many people went to this event held every year on the Lawns of parliament house where the Australia day awards are announced. I am sure we are the only country to party in front of parliament.

Australia has an Aboriginal Heritage which is I am sad to say often forgotten. For some Australia day is a Day of Mourning. Although many have said sorry we should at least recognise that we are in fact celebrating European invasion.

Apart from doing the patriotic thing and rounding up every cliché in the book (which was fun) while humming Waltzing Matilda , and spreading vegemite on my toast what am I doing today? I hope to get a little stitching done and later put on my Akubra (yes I do have one) and do some gardening. So with that waving from down under, happy Australia Day!

6 Comments

  1. Sharron, you are a very bad influence you know, ggg. I’ve just spent over an hour clicking on all your links, and I even put an entry in the Australia Street site under the “suburbia” link for Essex Street. What a great project, and you must have had such fun finding all those links. The fireworks at our local council celebrations have just finished so I’m retiring to my sewing room to do some work now. Hooroo, Christine.

  2. I have just now finished updating my personal blog about my Australia Day. Don’t look too closely at the dreadful photo of me, just thought you might like to see me “in the flesh”. I looked very 1830’s sitting on the verandah stitching my piece of linen in a hoop with a lovely lidded basket at my feet, got quite a few comments,ggg. Christine.

  3. Happy Australia Day, Sharon!
    I just finished reading “Mutant Message”, a fictionalized account about the true experiences of an American woman on “walkabout” with a very, very obscure tribe of Aborigines. What a holy and beautiful people they are!

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