Last Monday was a public holiday (the Australians don't call them bank holidays) because it was the day which commemorates the first fleet landing at what is now known as Sydney. This is the day on which all new Australian citizens are 'sworn in' for want of a better phrase, and is a day where it is traditional to go out and do typically Australian activities such as have a BBQ and drink beer with friends. We pondered whether we should go and participate for all of 2 minutes before agreeing that a BBQ with the locals would indeed be a good plan for the day.
Freyja arrived with her mum, picked Em and I up and we headed over to get Sunny from the hospital as she had to work that evening so was dropping her car off at work so that she could get home the following morning. We then headed in to Sydney and went to Hyde Park so that we could go and join in with the Big Aussie BBQ. We found a spot and as it was passing lunchtime we headed over to grab some food and drink. We all opted to have Aussie Burgers which are essentially a large beef burger with beetroot, cheese, onion, pineapple and lettuce all in the bun, along with a schooner of beer. It was an overcast but warm day with clouds looking like they were laden with rain, but as conditions hadn't changed I figured that the rain would hold off for the day.
We watched the end of the children's entertainment slot on the main stage where Dora the Explorer was singing all kinds of songs and keeping the kids occupied. The musical portion of the days event then began and we saw chinese drumming, folk singers, dancers and more. Sunny's housemates turned up after a while, as they were in Sydney prior to flying back to the UK for good as they'd been here on a 6 month contract, so we got to catch up with them and find out what they'd been up to over the last week or so.
The Citizenship ceremony followed along with singing of the National Anthem - I would say that Australians are around about 75% of the intencity of Americans when it comes to patriotism and this was evident throughout the day with the number of people wearing flags, waving flags and with flag face paint or tatoos in evidence.
The rain eventually came though. Went to Darling Harbour that evening for a meal and to view the fireworks that were being put on. Ended up at a restaurant on the harbour edge with what we expected to be a good vantage point. However, the fireworks were set up right at the bottom end of the harbour, so although we went out to watch them from where we were, the combination of the low cloud, constant drizzle and a breeze all conspired to create a huge smoke cloud which drifted down the harbour and blocked our view. We could tell from the noise and the occasional glow in the sky that it was a good show, but unfortunately hardly any fireworks were to be seen.
Got a late train and were back home in Terrigal around 2am.
No pics from today as forgot to take the camera.
Tootle pip,
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