Australia Day vs. the 4th of July

Last weekend was AUSTRALIA DAY! Well, not the whole weekend....actually just Saturday, but we did get Monday off as a national holiday so it many ways Australia Day was really Australia Weekend.....which I wholeheartedly approve of.

Australia Day is essentially Australia's 4th of July. It's the day set aside to celebrate the first settlement of Europeans on the continent of Australia. By the way, this means criminals. Truly. British criminals at that.....which always has me envisioning Jack the Ripper disembarking from the first ship at Sydney Harbour still dragging a few bloody entrails behind him. While this is clearly not historically accurate (most of the Australian "criminals" were just poor people who stole a loaf of bread), it doesn't stop me from searching the face of every Australian I meet for the telltale signs of genetic madness. I sleep well at night. By the way, Australians of JL's generation (clearly way before mine) think that having an ancestor who arrived with the first fleet (i.e., a criminal) is a status symbol. People of JL's parent's/grandparent's generation.....not so much.

But this is all beside the point. Australia Day is a grand affair with a yacht race (including an amazing replica of Captain Cook's boat (see above)), parties at the harbour, fireworks, concerts, parades....the whole shebang! JL and I spent the morning with Choppers (the dog) down under the Harbour Bridge where we ate gelato and listened to a Celtic bagpipe band while watching the yacht parage. Then we spent the afternoon kayaking around the Manly area. That was great fun as loads of people were out partying on their boats and everyone was very friendly (i.e., drunk)! We were feeling the spirit as well and spontaneously broke out into our personal rendition of Waltzing Matilda while on the water. Talk about a good time!

Now I have to say, as much as I LOVE the 4th of July (and JL has given me permission to have a 4th of July party next winter*), Australia Day clearly kicks BUTT! But I'm sure that's only cause it just happened, and I got the day off work. I'll probably re-think this once July rolls around!


* Yes, July is the middle of winter in Australia....I'm still having homemade ice cream though!