Australia Day fun

This years Australia Day celebrations kept us entertained over a week and we enjoyed a variety of events. The Australia Day Legends lunch was held at the Melbourne Convention Centre and we enjoyed a lovely lunch sharing our table with not one but four of the Australia Day ambassadors. 'These are a group of 149 Victorians, both men and women, representing the fields of the arts, sport, entertainment, community and business arenas. Their role as Australia Day Ambassadors is to promote the significance of our national day and encourage people to participate in the many activities which take place'. We shared our table with a businessman from St Kilda, a retired Police Commissioner of Tasmania, Paul Jennings, yes it was the Children's author himself and last but not least Dr Sally Cohen. You might know her better as Dr Sally Feelgood from TV. I can only tell you that she kept us all in stitches, the laughing kind, through lunch and we all enjoyed her company.

The Legends themselves were announced during the lunch and with 2011 being the Centenary of the International Women's Day it was fitting that this years award recognised four women who have helped advance women's equality in Australia. These four women were Eva Cox AO, Elizabeth Evatt AC, Germaine Greer and Anne Summers AO. All of them have helped create the fairer Australia we live in today. And as always, whenever Germaine Greer is mentioned there is some controversy, this time on the news as many debated as to why she was included. They all spoke on the day and she was very entertaining as usual.

Our next event was very exciting as we donned the glad rags and proceeded to Government House for an Australia Day Reception. Welcome drinks in the Ballroom started off the evening. Once the Australia Day address by the Governor Professor David de Kretser, A.C. and the Premier Mr Ted Ballieu, was completed we were served drinks & canapes in the Fountain Garden. At this time we were able to stroll through Government House seeing the State Rooms which included the State Dining Room, State Hall, State Billiard Room & State Drawing Room. These rooms are what the public get to see on Open Days and events like this and they are beautiful and very impressive. We had a lovely evening and met some very interesting people.

On Australia Day itself we spent a leisurely morning at home and then walked up to the Botanic Gardens. We had a lovely lunch in one of the cafes and then spent a few hours enjoying the beautiful gardens as we wandered aimlessly. A very relaxing way to spend the afternoon. While there we were pleased to see that the lakes and waterways that had been almost dry last year were now full and supporting a wide variety of bird life. Everywhere we looked we saw babies with their Mums. Ducklings, Cygnets, Baby Dusky Moorhens, Little Coots just to name a few. Bill had left his camera at home and once we saw all the gorgeous little creatures we decided there and then that we would go back on the weekend. So on Saturday morning we headed off very early to see what we could find. Another few hours wandering in the gardens and Bill has some beautiful pictures and many hours of deciding which ones are the best.

Our Australia Day wanderings were completed that night when we returned to Birrarung Marr to watch the fireworks. We found a great spot up on the hill and had a great view across the river and once again Bill got some fabulous pictures. He is still practising with the settings but I think he has nailed it this year.

So with our National Day celebrated in fine style in many different locations we headed back to work the next day. A bit hard as Thursday became our 2nd Monday for the week. Not much fun but the good news was we only had 2 days until the weekend. We survived and look forward to doing it all again next year. I hope you all enjoyed your Australia Day as much as we did.

This last weekend has mostly been spent at home, sheltering from the rain on Friday night and some of Saturday. No doubt you will have seen the footage on the news showing all the flooding throughout Melbourne & Victoria. It has been a wild week in this country we call home and I'm still trying to understand how a cyclone that devastated the far north east can then produce a weather system that floods three states, SA, Canberra & Victoria. With only some very minor local flooding here our hearts go out to everyone else across the country who has been affected.

On a lighter note Sunday has been a fine and sunny day and we did wander up to the South Melbourne Markets to pick up something for dinner. While up there we stopped at Panette's for a yummy lunch. They really do the best pancakes and french toast. I will take my camera one day and torment you all with their masterpieces.

until next time..............