January 26 is the Big Day here - Australia Day!! A Day commemorating the arrival of the first fleet of British colonists in Sydney Cove in 1788 - also a day to be proud to be Australian and enjoy all the fun that "Oz" has to offer!! We think that Aussie pride is synonomous with fun around here so we ventured out to experience Aussie "pride" first hand. We had lots of options, but we decided to head out later in the day when it's a bit cooler, catch some of the carnival, have a picnic and watch the fireworks. Commonwealth Park is nestled in the center of Canberra, right next to Lake Burley Griffin. At the park we enjoyed bounce houses, balloon art (seen below with their balloon dogs), a tea cup ride, giant slide (is Emma having fun?? not sure) and finished off with some "fairy floss" (can you guess what that is??) For dinner we grabbed a pizza a drinks and more candy and headed over to the Lake for a picnic dinner. On our way, we passed by the monument dedicated to Captain Cook (no Emma, not Captain Hook). James Cook, he's the Aussie version of Christopher Columbus, as he's known for discovering Australia! Em and Lil seen below pausing for a photo op at the historical monument. Notice, we weren't really prepared in wardrobe for Australia day, so we came as closely decortated as we could without showing our obvious USA spirit. We even had to borrow someone's Aussie Flags for a picture by the lake - LOL!! When the sun starts to set, the air gets cooler and it was a perfect night next to the lake. The girls had a great time listening to the bands and they danced around and giggled for hours!! The Biggest disappointment and the Biggest laugh for us......The bands played ALL American Music!!! Yup, we heard Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses, The Rolling Stones (I guess they aren't really American, but still), Van Morrison, etc... and the icing on the funny cake?? They even played "R-o-c-k in the USA"!!! LOLOLOL!!! We wondered how many Aussies around us were bothered by the fact that the band played only American songs on their National Holiday. But as the sun went down over the lake, we were treated to an amazing sunset, full of pinks and oranges and reds (you can see the end of the sunset in our family photo above) - what a gift after a fantastic day of fun. We survived and enjoyed our first real Australian Holiday - can't wait for the next!!! Cheers!
January 26 is the Big Day here - Australia Day!! A Day commemorating the arrival of the first fleet of British colonists in Sydney Cove in 1788 - also a day to be proud to be Australian and enjoy all the fun that "Oz" has to offer!! We think that Aussie pride is synonomous with fun around here so we ventured out to experience Aussie "pride" first hand. We had lots of options, but we decided to head out later in the day when it's a bit cooler, catch some of the carnival, have a picnic and watch the fireworks. Commonwealth Park is nestled in the center of Canberra, right next to Lake Burley Griffin. At the park we enjoyed bounce houses, balloon art (seen below with their balloon dogs), a tea cup ride, giant slide (is Emma having fun?? not sure) and finished off with some "fairy floss" (can you guess what that is??) For dinner we grabbed a pizza a drinks and more candy and headed over to the Lake for a picnic dinner. On our way, we passed by the monument dedicated to Captain Cook (no Emma, not Captain Hook). James Cook, he's the Aussie version of Christopher Columbus, as he's known for discovering Australia! Em and Lil seen below pausing for a photo op at the historical monument. Notice, we weren't really prepared in wardrobe for Australia day, so we came as closely decortated as we could without showing our obvious USA spirit. We even had to borrow someone's Aussie Flags for a picture by the lake - LOL!! When the sun starts to set, the air gets cooler and it was a perfect night next to the lake. The girls had a great time listening to the bands and they danced around and giggled for hours!! The Biggest disappointment and the Biggest laugh for us......The bands played ALL American Music!!! Yup, we heard Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses, The Rolling Stones (I guess they aren't really American, but still), Van Morrison, etc... and the icing on the funny cake?? They even played "R-o-c-k in the USA"!!! LOLOLOL!!! We wondered how many Aussies around us were bothered by the fact that the band played only American songs on their National Holiday. But as the sun went down over the lake, we were treated to an amazing sunset, full of pinks and oranges and reds (you can see the end of the sunset in our family photo above) - what a gift after a fantastic day of fun. We survived and enjoyed our first real Australian Holiday - can't wait for the next!!! Cheers!
The end of January and you are having a picnic, going to an outdoor festival, and seeing fireworks-I'm jealous!! Great picture of the girls with the Australian flags-you need to blow that one up and flam it to remind yourselves of your amazing day of celebrating in Australia. Thanks for the newsy update-Nana Milne
ReplyDeletefun fun! If you squint really hard, the last pic looks like the National Mall on 4th of July. Looks like you are adjusting well to the OZ life...so are we, but the other OZ, you know with Toto and Dorothy? ;)
ReplyDeletep.s. is "fairy floss" cotton candy?! If it is then I would never have a problem flossing my teeth! lol
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