January 26 - Australia Day

January 26 dawned with an air of excitement. It was Australia Day 2010, and everyone was thrilled to have the day off to

celebrate. The locals were out in droves wherever we went. Federation Square, at the heart of the central business district, was bustling with street entertainers and concert performers. We even watched a sand artist draw the Australian flag (see second picture - amazing!) to music.

Throughout the day we trekked to different parks in the area, all boasting of exciting events. Thus we took in an Aboriginal group rock concert, a dog hurdle-jumping contest, a lumberjack log chopping contest, an excellent air show, an antique car show (see separate blog for this), as well as an Aboriginal dancer and a digeradoo performer. The same day was also India Republic Day, so we attended a concert celebrating indigenous Indian music and dancing at an outdoor Music Bowl.

Still not enough to do in a day? In the morning we had already taken an excursion by bus with our Canadian friend, Marianne Labun, who is currently teaching in Korea. The trip's destination was to see the nearby Dandenong Mountain range, with its gorgeous subtropical rainforest of ash trees. Here we visited the quaint town of Sassafras and also took a ride on the famous steam train, the "Puffing Billy".

Then at night we witnessed a spectacular fireworks display back again at Federation Square. Fireworks were lit from the roofs of three separate buildings at the same time! Twenty astounding minutes of beauty filled the skies. What a way to end Australia Day! We returned home tired but thrilled to have been privileged to take in such a wonderful day!