HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!!
Many people asked me if "Australia Day" is like the USA's "Independence Day/Fourth of July" They are both the National Days of their respective countries and both are celebrated with BBQs, fireworks, outdoor concerts, and sports games. But here's a little history lesson to show their differences...
Australia Day, celebrated annually on January 26 is the date that commemorates the arrival of Great Britain's First Fleet (of eleven convict ships) at Sydney Cove in 1788 and is often called 'First Fleet Day' or 'Foundation Day'. Independence Day, the "Birthday of the United States of America," commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. One celebrates a new colony under the British Empire, while the other ultimately leaves it, never looking back!
This year, 2012, two-hundred and twenty-four years later, I was actually in Australia and able to celebrate with my Australian family for the first time. We celebrated with a BBQ in the park, a friendly game of cricket and some tight-rope walking courtesy of Mat's Brazilian friends! The weather, forecast to be rainy, actually cooperated with sun for most of the day. We had one 15 minute rain shower, but we saw the rain coming with enough time for Mat and I to attach the tarp to the tent and make-shift a shelter for the 15 of us to huddle under and wait it out. Then we returned to eating, playing cricket, watching a few of the crazy boys jump in the harbour and celebrating what an amazing country Australia is and how happy we are to live here!!
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