Australia Day Plans?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This Sunday, 26 January is Australia Day ( I also believe that it is Indian Independance day as well). It’s a holiday that marks the landing of Captain Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet in 1788 - the first European settlement of Australia.

It is also a holiday that hasn’t really captured the imagination of the Australian public - due in no small part to aboriginal protests of ‘Invasion Day’.

I think that ANZAC day (April 25) is a more important day in the national calander, but I generally have a pretty good time.

This year, I’m attending a fairly traditional barbie - blokes must wear Jackie Howes, tight stubbies, double-pluggers and watermelon helmuts, and the sheilas have to wear ‘suburban backyard Australia’ (we tried to encourage bikinis or nothing, but they didn’t go for it).

We’ll be eating snags, four’n’twenties, chicken twisties etc, as well as consuming copius fourex and bundy and coke.

So, do the Aussies have anything planned this year? And for you others, why don’t you do something “Australian” this Sunday?

  • Bubba.
2

… Superbowl?

3

We were going 4WDing and camping, but with the weather conditions and bushfire dangers, we’ve decided to give it a miss this year. :frowning:

Instead we are having a BBQ with friends, the usual stuff.

4

I’m going to spend the day doing nothing at all :slight_smile: and I can’t wait, I’ve been so busy moving house, organising baby stuff and catching up with work after the Christmas break that a day off to veg out is my idea of heaven.

5

Haven’t made any plans yet. Probably just enjoy the long weekend, kick back and take it easy. My grandparents are selling their holiday house on Saturday, so I’m expected to go along and generally be there - so I may well be driving home…

6

Oh yeah - doesn’t that involve one of those sports that only Americans play and when an American team wins they proclaim themselves “World Champions”.

-Bubba.

7

I’m going to learn the new Australia is awesome chant. It has something to do with being open-armed and tolerant, while we snicker at those asylum seekers locked up in the middle of the desert. I like being hypocritical, in case you were wondering about my motive for learning it. By the way, I’m probably one of about three people who know the entire national anthem.

8

TBU, indeed. But technically they are right.

9

Something about “Mighty Albion” and “British through and through”? I think I’ll stick with Waltzing Matilda thanks. :smiley:

I’ll be working on Australia Day.

10

I’m going to a picnic in the day, both to listen to the JJJ Hottest 100 and to stake out a place on the foreshore so we have a good view of the skyshow. And then we have the 2 hours of trying to drive home in the worst traffic EVER. Fun. :slight_smile:

11

It was reported on the ABC (the Aussie One) that the Qld Aboriginal Elders are embracing Australia day this year and not making some protest by calling it Invasion day. Me? I’ll be working if I’m not trying to repel more bushfires!

12

I plan to drink a can of Fosters, wrestle a crocodile, and publicly display my large knife.

13

So is anyone planning to take the oath thing that they want us to say?

14

The original words include the verse:

Verses three and four are almost as embarrassing. When they inducted Advance Australia Fair as the national anthem in 1984 they changed a lot of it and axed the rest.

The current national anthem has only two verses and a refrain. And polls still show that more than half the country doesn’t know the first of them.

On Australia Day I’ll be helping a friend move house. If you don’t think that’s patriotic, remember that Australia has two national pastimes - property speculation and being glad you don’t live in Melbourne.

15

The only oath I will probably take is “I swear, Constable, I have never seen this pile of traffic cones in my life.”

  • Bubba.
16

I’ve got my Aussie flag (to wear as a Superman-style cape), pluggers, nappy hat and a flag stubbie holder all ready for the big day. :slight_smile: Like Living Dead Girl, I’m heading down to the river foreshore to listen to JJJ and watch the fireworks.

It’s what my friends and I have done for the past three years. We get down to the foreshore about 10am to stake out a spot. (Incidentally, the beer-o’clock rules are inactive on Jan 26. ;)) We put a shade canopy up, bring along a baby pool to sit in, and spend the whole day playing cricket (we bring the gear and usually a bunch of strangers join in our game) and drinking. Usually by the time the fireworks come on, everyone’s too far gone to notice the pretty lights, but that’s all part of the fun.

Living Dead Girl: on the traffic thing – last year, we deliberately parked close to Canning Highway and lugged all our gear down to the South Perth foreshore. It’s a bit of a walk – especially with eskies and chairs – but it beat sitting in traffic for hours. When it was time to go, we drove straight out on to Canning Hwy and avoided the mess.

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Incidentally, I’ve heard from a couple friends that Australia Day isn’t as “big” over in in the Eastern States as it in the West. Is that true? Here, the Australia Day skyshow easily outstrips New Year’s Eve as far as public celebrations go. Nearly everyone I know goes to the river foreshore or to a private party.

17

That shit is excusable from an American, where it must mean dirty hair or something like that, I think black people are afflicted with it. But you wear diapers on your head? DOUBLEPLUS QUESTION MARK.

It certainly is. New Years is the big one out here. Even in Sydney, when they set the fireworks off like a week later. Smooth.

18

A “nappy hat” is a soft, shapeless head covering made of white terry-toweling.

BTW, I think the word you were thinking of is “nappy head”, which is a racist insult, from memory. :eek:

19

We’ve always called them “uncle hats”. I’m not exactly sure why.

20

Like a floppy hat? Surf companies recently got on that bandwagon… they have maybe 2 inches of all-around brim that is soft. Also known as fisherman’s hats. Apparently many different names.