We don’t usually do anything for Australia Day. It’s a national holiday here in Australia, as it rightly should be, but usually we use it for day of doing nothing at home.
This year we decided to head out with our friend Kathryn to Geelong. The original intention being to finally take some photos of fireworks, which strangely is something I have only ever done once and not very well. So I was kind of excited when plans were first made a couple of weeks back.
Then looking into it the day before heading down, Geelong doesn’t have fireworks on Australia day, they instead have them a few days earlier for Geelong Day, the celebration of the settlement of Geelong. So there was going to be no fireworks and this was a little disappointing but we were still going to go for the day anyway, our plans didn’t change.
We had a fun day of it, took Bill along for the day. Ended up spending 5 hours walking around in the overcast day which became increasingly sunny. And we got burnt to a crisp which we didn’t kind of notice until way later in the afternoon. Turns out the UV Index for the day was right at the tip-top of the range and even with the overcast day we were guaranteed to get “sun” damage. Stupid part of it was we had sunscreen in the car. It was silly.
But as we wandered we got some good photos of the day’s activities.
- The swearing in of the new Australians by the Lord Mayor of Geelong. He welcomed 30+ new citizens in the day’s public ceremony.
- The sea plane and helicopter
- Some of the art of Geelong
- Beach Volleyball
- Camel rides
- The markets
- Diving and other crazy activities at the Beach House and the diving areas
- The punk pop band “Prefect Fit” playing at the skate park
- The Roulette’s aerial display, which we almost missed as we were leaving
We ended our Geelong adventure with a crape and lots of liquid before the drive back to home.
Completely buggered by the end of the day and with our sunburn quickly on the rise and becoming more evident and more painful by the second we had an early night to bed.
It was a great day out. We got a bunch of great photos and had a fun Australia Day with our fellow Australians.
Below is only a few of the photos taken, for a view of all the photos I uploaded the Flickr, visit my Flickr gallery Australia Day 2011. All the photos were taken using just manual focus. I’ve come to not trust the auto focus on my camera and think it needs a service, which I will have to organise soon.
Today is my 36th birthday, crap! I’ve been on the earth in this form for 36 years, what have I done with it?
Well if I’m honest not as much as I had hoped. If I’m even more honest, while at times I cringe when I think of all the things I wanted but haven’t done, mostly I’m thankful for how my life has played out to-date.
I have a loving partner with whom I’ve spent almost 13 years with, the best family I could ask for and awesome friends who really are more like extended family.
I don’t often celebrate my birthday, it is after all just another day. But (and thankfully) my friends remind me that it’s a great day to be thankful for everything I have.
Last night David cooked an amazing dinner, well when I say last night I actually mean he spent the entire day Saturday preparing and cooking dinner for seven. I’m aghast that I didn’t take any photos of the food. I was too busy enjoying eating it. He made three pasta dishes, including the pasta, and followed it up with home made banana ice cream and home made chocolate sauce.
My friend Andrew hopped a flight from Sydney and spent yesterday and today with us. It was great to finally introduce my Sydney friend to sone of my Melbourne friends.
This year I was treated with some lovely, thoughtful gifts. I never expect gifts, believing I’m lucky to have all the great people in my life, who needs to add to that with gifts. Having said that I’m always chuffed when a present comes my way. ;)
From Kathryn and John I got some flowers, boomerang magnets (she loves her crazy gifts) and some beautiful Burberry Brit spray.
Nikki and Trudi also had me gobsmacked with their thoughtfall gifts. As a recent vegetarian they’ve given me some of their favourite vegetarian recipes in a folder, all broken out into the sections for easy reference.
I also now have a great memory card game. As we get older it’s important to keep our minds active, Nikki clearly knows the importance of this and has recruited my family to help.
You can see from the photo above the effort Nikki has put into this gift, and I’m not lying to say even typing this I have a little flutter in my chest, wait is that a heart attack at 36?, no, it’s the realisation that I’m loved by my friends. The amount of time Nikki puts into these gifts is amazing, just look at it.
Not only has she sourced every member of my family (including pets), Nikki has also photoshoped them all so just the heads are in there. She’s also made sure the corners are rounded so they aren’t pointy and won’t hurt my ageing fingers.
But if you thought the cards were impressive, check out the container they live it. A piece of handmade art! I love the look of this game wallet, and love that so much time and effort was put into it by a very special person.
Today we went for breakfast and followed it up with a great lunch at the Bridge Hotel in Werribee.
So as I start this next year of my life, I’m joyous and grateful for everything I have and everything I’ve experienced in my life, so far. I know I have a long time ahead and can’t wait to see what’s to come.
Thanks to everyone who contacted me and sent messages today, it’s much appreciated and makes me feel special.
I wonder if it’s real? I don’t really think I suffer from it. But I do feel that my older brother was afforded more choices than the rest of us when we were kids.
Not to say I ever felt left out. Our parent supported us in what ever we wanted to do, where we could afford it. And more importantly I always felt loved as a child.
The image attached is from our local newspaper way back in 1979. You can click on the image to see the full-size version of it. You will note that a face is circled in the picture, that of my older brother Brian (who was 7 at the time). And given that this image has been kept in a family photo album since 1979 with the one face circled, you’ll be forgiven for thinking that Brian is the only member of our family in the photo.
Yep there I am, first row, second from the right, proud as punch to have my intermediate learn to swim certificate at the tender age of 5.
Of course I jest. While I am in the photo, this clipping was in a photo album dedicated to Brian so it makes sense for him to be circled. But then my photo album doesn’t have the same paper clipping in it with me circled. :P
