According to Wikipedia Australia Day is the official national day of Australia and commemorates the arrival of the first fleet in Sydney. I take everything that's on Wikipedia with a grain of salt, but based on my Australia Day experience that seems about right.
Australia Day reminded me a lot of the 4th of July in the US. While it's not their independence day, it was a day full of Australian pride and patriotism, and it's also in the middle of summer. Of course it's a day off of work which is always nice, but it was great to be a part of another country's national day.
I wanted to have an 'authentic' of an Australia Day as possible, so I met up with my two Irish friends.... luckily we have some Aussie friends as well, so we spent the day in a park in Balmain, had a bbq, and soaked up the Australian summer sunshine.
I thought this was the coolest thing ever
The Aussie gang
I was even able to try a traditional Aussie treat - lammington. I have no idea if that's how you spell it. It's basically sponge cake covered and chocolate and coconut. Quite tasty actually.
The flags are a nice touch, right?!
Yet another glorious day in Sydney. And at this point it's the end of January so my time in Oz is quickly coming to an end and my mom is coming to visit soon! I can't believe I've actually made it this far.
Okay, so we may or may not be over 7 months into 2011, but I still need to share what I did for New Year's Eve this year. Normally New Year's is a disaster - I feel like this is universal for everyone. There's always a lot of planning, a lot of hubbub, long lines in the snow in Chicago in open toed shoes (so necessary), and an even longer line at the bar once you actually get inside the venue.
Well, I have to tell you this was hands down the best New Years Eve I've ever experienced. For one thing it was summer time - holla! I've shared a bit how strange it was being in Oz during Christmas, and the strangeness just continued through New Years. My New Years preparations typically involved planning the cutest outfit that still provided so at least some level of warmth while waiting for the non-existent cabs on New Years Eve in Chicago. This year was just a little different - just slightly.
My husband and I and two of my great friends in Oz rang in the new year in amazing Sydney style. We took a ferry to Goat Island in Sydney Harbour and had a picnic to watch the fireworks. Now, this sounds amazing on it's own, but it gets better. I've pretty much just droned on about how beautiful Sydney Harbour is, well Goat Island is a part of the parks district island and is just on the other side of the Harbour Bridge - where the fireworks take place. You literally couldn't get a much better view of the show. Apparently this was the first year that the city opened this island for fireworks, and only about 780 tickets were sold so it wasn't over crowded at all.
Sydney is one of the first major cities in the world to ring in the new year, so they always have a spectacular fireworks show. I mean, we've all seen fireworks, and to be honest, I was more excited to just hang outside with my husband and friends on December 31st, but wow.... I don't know the exact number of what the city spent on the fireworks display but it was several millions of dollars.
My vocabulary isn't nearly good enough to describe the evening, but I was able to capture a little bit on video. (Be forewarned, we were a little in awe, so there are a few swear words.... okay more, than a few. If there are young ears around just put it on mute.)
I had so many new and different experiences down under, but this was a once in a lifetime experience. And the cherry on top was that I got to share it with my husband.
The strangest thing of all was after enjoying the New Years Eve festivities, sleeping in and having a lazy New Years Day morning - it was still the middle of the day on December 31st back at home! I sent my friends and family a note from the 'future' and told them all about 2011. Hopefully you all listened and have had a great year so far!
