Australia Day.

[bewolf]

26th January.

Happy Australia Day from us whinging Poms. :D

[Lara]

LOL! :D

Greetings from the antipodes.

It was a bonza day here. Every person and their dog was on the beach.

[bewolf]

That would explain why I've seen so few Ozzies in here today then... all on the beach!

[Lara]

No, it can be explained more explicitly by telling you that it was yesterday! LOL

;)

Yesterday for us I mean. Today is the 27th for us, but yesterday was Australia Day here in Australia, the 26th.

Appreciate your thoughts for us, bewolf. You got the date correct!

[Lara]

Actually I was looking out for Queen noong yesterday.

I thought she might be out and about handing out Australia Day Honours.

[bewolf]

Ummm.... I think I might sneek back and edit the day to the 25th then...... Hang on a moment... just checked ... It IS the 26th .

So I was right about the date.... Just because you lot are soo far in front that our todays are your yesterdays.

(see told you we were whinging poms LOL)

[Lara]

lol, I waited around 'cause I wasn't sure if you read the edited part about the date. It is confusing isn't it ! When I log on here it shows the correct date for me, but if I read the forums without logging in, it shows the incorrect date. I often confuse myself!

Very hot and humid here. Sunburn weather indeed. Saw thousands and thousands of people out and about at parks by the beach yesterday having barbeques and playing cricket. Lots of music, lots of parties and generally people having fun.

I personally always make some time in my day to remember the original Australians and ponder a lot about what it indeed means to be an "Australian" in this day and age.



http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1834059.htm
Tim Flannery awarded Australian of the Year
ABC Science Online
Friday, 26 January 2007

Tim Flannery
Professor Tim Flannery, author and scientific commentator, has been awarded Australia's top honour
Scientist, conservationist and bestselling writer Professor Tim Flannery has been named Australian of the Year.

Flannery was presented with the award from Prime Minister John Howard at a ceremony on the lawns of Parliament House last night.

"He has encouraged Australians into new ways of thinking about our environmental history and future ecological challenges," the Prime Minister said.

Flannery's recent book, The Weather Makers, documents the role he believes human activity plays in causing climate change.

Flannery sees global warming as a calamitous crisis and argues Australia's drought-ravaged farmland, raging bushfires and dwindling city water reserves are textbook examples of its impacts.

"We are the worst, as a developed country. There is nowhere else that is getting the hammering that we are getting at the moment," Flannery said before the award.

"That is not due to poor infrastructure planning or anything else," he said. "It's actually due to a natural cycle of water availability which is driven by greenhouse gas pollution."

To avert biological disaster, Flannery argues the coal industry should be shunted aside and alternative power sources be used to establish a desert metropolis.

"We need to decarbonise the economy extremely rapidly," he said.

[K969]

Ok , I am an Aussie but born a pom. Call myself an aussie, been here too bloody long to be anything else. and with the cricket as it is right now I sure wouldn't admit I am a pom. lol.

For australia day we went down to the local oval for celebrations and then fireworks after. Only stayed for half an hour. too windy and sand blowing everywhere.

We rented a DVD and came home and still got to see the Fireworks from our front lawn. Unlike in Perth, they caught fire on the Swan River.
Did you see that on the news Lara?

Now I think you replied to me on another post and mentioned that you are in SE Qld. I lived there for about 9 years. Ipswich to be exact. Sorry to say this but I HATED it around that area and Brisbane too. and the Gold Coast? hmmmmmmmm wont go there. :rolleyes:

I am a west aussie gal from way back so just like ET did, I went home.

As for Australia Day I always say every year that I am going to take out citizenship on THAT day and then it comes around and I still havnt done it.
I have ONLY been here for 37 years. :D Should automatically be an Aussie heh?

Did you hear about that group of something like 36 people who are wanting to take their complaint to the UN and have the word "pom" banned.?

Dont know about you but coming from a pom here I think it's bloody UN-Australian NOT to call us Poms.:)

Hey-Whinging pom....... OOPS! I meant bewold. lol. How are ya? and did you ever get to see OUR wonderful ad about "Where the Bloody **** are ya?"
It was for tourism but "apparently" a small handful of "whinging" poms didnt like it and it was banned. Ho Hum.

Anyway between the both of you Lara(aussie) and bewolf(pom) it appears that i fit in with both of ya.:D

Love Tracey

[Lara]

Hi Tracy,
How are you? Good to see a post from another Aussie. :)

We rented a DVD and came home and still got to see the Fireworks from our front lawn. Unlike in Perth, they caught fire on the Swan River.
Did you see that on the news Lara?

Gosh, No. I didn't see that. I hope no one was hurt. I remember years ago some dreadful fireworks display that killed a young girl, but can't remember where that was.

Now I think you replied to me on another post and mentioned that you are in SE Qld. I lived there for about 9 years. Ipswich to be exact. Sorry to say this but I HATED it around that area and Brisbane too. and the Gold Coast?

Ipswich, hey? Why on earth did you choose Ipswich when there's every other town and city in Qld that would be nicer? LOL Geesh. When it's 35C in Brisbane, it's sure to be 40C in Ipswich. Born and bred Qlder here. Grew up in Far North. I even love parts of the Gold Coast ;) ... Springbrook National Park, Beechmont, Natural Arch etc. Need to get off the beaten track. I love Northern NSW too. Gosh, I love it all! lol

I guess if you're not technically an Australian, you can't vote? Dual citizenship would be handy I would have thought. Do you ever go back to England to visit?

take care,
Lara

p.s. I *feel* a cyclone coming on.

[K969]

lol@ The Cyclone. Yeah I have had a few people refer to me as a Cyclone over the years. But as i always say, Yes I can be nasty so GET OUT OF MY WAY. :D . Really I am as placid as a mouse. and anyway that was spelt Tracy, I am spelt TracEy.

Ok to answer your questions.
Firstly we'll start with why Ipswich. Hubby joined the Air Force and our first posting was to Amberley. Yep you sure are right about the weather though. Extremely hot in summer and bloody freezing in winter.

I have numerous healt problems and it was after I was Diagnosed with MS that we asked for a compassionate posting back to the west due to the extreme heat and also WA is home to us. So we were then posted to Perth but only stayed there for about 2 years and my health got worse and so hubby had to discharge to be my full time carer. The RAAF then moved us back down south here where we originally came from. The weather suits me better and it is home, as I have said before. We also were hoping for family support but thats not the case. Their loss not mine.

I LOVE Tambourine Mountain and went there heaps of time. The furthest north I went was to Harvey Bay. Hubby has been far north Qld many many years ago. We do plan to travel around when our last remaining child leaves home and so North Qld is on the cards but not Ipswich. :) Actually we will coz we have friends from the Air Force days there.

You asked about me going to England. Have never been back and at this stage I cant see myself ever going there either. It's not like I keep in touch with cousins etc and I do consider myself an Aussie. IF I was ever financial enough and thought of going it would be to see the Countryside as a tourist.

As for voting. Yes I started voting when i was 18, thought I had to. It was not until I was in my 30's that I found out I didnt have to at all. BUT I strongly believe that I should. I use to have this stand alone debate with a neighboiur in Ipswich. You see he is a Pom and has lived here most of his life and not citizen and he doesnt vote and yet he use to complain ALL the bloody time about the government etc. I use to say to him that he had no right to complain when he didnt vote. I'm allowed to complain coz I vote and hey I am a whinging pom remember. lol

Ok gott go.

oh yeah and as far as I know no-one was hurt with the fireworks in Perth going wrong.

Love always
Tracey

[Lara]

Hi again Tracey,

LOL had to laugh at what you said about the cyclone. That's too funny! :D I didn't even twig to that when I wrote it. You're way ahead of me. I really meant the one that's forming up north today. I could even sense the weather changing here a few days ago.

Makes sense you lived in Ipswich if work was at Amberley.
I have a longstanding, deep and profound love for our old F111s. ;)

I've not been over your way but sure would love to one day though. I lived on Tamborine for a short while house sitting for someone many, many moons ago. The roads were pretty bad then so it was a bit of a trial going down the mountain all the time to get business done. Otherwise, was magical... esp. in winter months.

Great that you vote. I just wasn't sure how that worked. I'm like you, I think everyone should vote, but then even when we do we don't always get what we want, hey?! lol
Keep well there,
Lara