Australia Day

Leading up to the weekend, I spent an interesting couple of days asking random visitors:

"What is the meaning behind "Australia Day" ? Because I didn't have a clue.

Evidently, they didn't either.

(And actually, I didn't really just "ask"...I interrogated those visitors. But I'm cute and can get away with it.)

I heard:

"It's the day we celebrate by having barbies".

( as in throw another shrimp on the barbie... otherwise known as barbeque's)

"It's a day when we have piss-ups with our mates."

(which means drink lots and lots of beer and become drunk and obnoxious and call everyone within cooeeee your mate.)

"I don't know the meaning behind it, but it's a public holiday"

and

"It's a public holiday, so all the shops are closed."

Okay, but why is it a public holiday and what are we celebrating?

12 random people were "polled" (well, actually they weren't just random people, but my guy, parents of my daycare kids, 3 friends, the Avon Man (yes indeedy, we have "equal opportunity" in this country), a guy trying to sell me Austar and the meter-reader) and not a one of them could give me a definitive answer. So I went googling.

And found this :

"On 13 May 1787, a fleet of 11 ships, which came to be known as the First Fleet, was sent by the British Admiralty from England to Australia. Under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, the fleet sought to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay on the coast of New South Wales, which had been explored by Captain James Cook in 1770. The settlement was seen as necessary because of the loss of the colonies in North America."

(And those damn Yankees just wouldn't accept convicts from England anymore.)

So anyway... it seems that one Major George Johnston was the very first officer that came ashore to establish a penal colony... and that was cause for big celebration.

However, it wasn't his own feet that actually carried him ashore - they were somebody else's feet.

Major George Johnston had the honour of being the first officer ashore from the First Fleet, having been carried from the landing boat, on the back of convict James Ruse.

Because, James Ruse had to carry (well, I don't think that he was actually "asked" per se, but was forced to carry... thereby making it "HAD to carry") Major George Johnson piggy-back style through the surf, so the good major wouldn't get his feet and his expensive leather boots wet. So James Ruse really got there first, didn't he? But of course, the major got the pats on the back and had tankards of ale hoisted in his honor.

20 years later on January 25th 1808, they celebrated not only the landing, but the survival of the the people who made the "First Landing" ... and all because Major George Johnson first stepped ashore on Australian soil after someone carried him there.

And they celebrated because they had all endured hardship, deprivation and starvation.

Anyway, that's the story in a nutshell.

I'm going to go out now, fire up the barbie and have me some snags and hoist an ale.

Happy Australia Day, everyone !

I hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing day!