Well, Happy Australia Day!

Its our first Australia day today and we’re looking forward to enjoying some of the activities on offer.

A big bonus is that Australia day is a public holiday which is great news as I get a day of work and a nice long weekend too.

Apparently for a number of years the holiday was held on the closest Monday, to provide a long weekend for everyone. Now the government (one assumes) has made the change so Australia Day is now held on the actual anniversary (today) but thankfully we’ll get the long weekend anyway

Not surprising, for such a big day there are some huge events planned, all around Australia including the Order of Australia and Australian of the Year awards for outstanding achievement.

Air Force aerial displays are being held in many of the capital cities including here in Perth so I’ll be sure to duck as the planes fly past.

Citizenship ceremonies are also held on Australia Day so hopefully this time in two years we’ll be pleding our oath to the Australian flag

There is an Australia Day Achievement ceremony where medallions are awarded to citizens based on excellence in both government and non-government organisations.

Customarily, the Prime Minister will make an address to the nation. I’m unsure if this will be like the Queens speach we get back in the UK but it be worth watching.

John Howard certainly has some interesting stuff to say at times. I’m sure it’ll make more sense once I’ve had a couple of beers.

Fireworks celebrations are held in many towns and cities around the country (click the picture above for an idea of whats in store).

The one we get here in Perth is supposed to be the best.

The Lotterywest Skyworks display, named after the sponsors of the display; Lottery West is billed as the largest Australia Day celebration in the country, with more than a third of the city’s population (around 600,000 estimated for the 2007 Skyworks) lining the river foreshore for the display.

We were going to go down to the rivers foreshoure ourselves but most of the roads are going to be blocked off this afternoon and although were close to the city, walking that far with a four year old isn’t really an option for us.

Getting there by walking wouldn’t be a problem, but getting back late at night when all his lordship wants to do is sleep, would not be the most relaxing of times for any of us.

So, we’re going to enjoy the display from our balcony at home.

Although we are on the wrong side of Bankwest Tower (as you’ll see in the picture we can see the CBD skyline but not the river behind it) we’ll still get an ace view of the fireworks (we hope) from the balcony outside our bedroom so we’ll see how things go.

I’ll post some photo’s but then again, if they come out like all pictures of fireworks come out I maybe won’t!

I’ve been reading that apparently for many Aboriginal Australians and sympathisers, the Australia Day celebrations arouse hostility; there has been some comment on how the arrival of the British adversely affected the indigenous people of the country which I guess goes without saying unfortunately.

They call the day “Invasion Day” as they regard it as celebrating the decimation of their people, the confiscation of their lands and the destruction of their culture. In recent years, some indigenous Australians have also celebrated the day as “Survival Day,” thankful that their ancestors were not completely wiped out by the newly arrived settlers.

Australia Day is also treated with ambivalence by those who consider the anniversary of the founding of one colony not relevant to Australia as a whole.

Some proud Western Australians point out that Western Australia was not even claimed by Britain until 19 September 1829.

For us though, we’re just going to enjoy Australia day for what it is, a celebration.

Hopefully the day will be pretty uneventful , one thing thats for sure is it’s going to be a very hot one – it’s forecast to be 102 ° F today!

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