Australia Day

We got a fully down-under accented email yesterday:

"Stone the f*%kin crows mate - it's australya day tomorra an we're gunna av a do at our place to celebrate. Yous guys are all invited so don ya thongs and ya green an gold clobber an rock up ere round 7 for tucker. We'll chuck some rissoles on the barbie (not bloody shrimps!) an will ave all the trimmings wif good ol lammos and pav for afters. Alls ya need to bring is yourselfs and some stubbies o piss or longneck coldies of amber nectar (or some plonk!) for drinkin' an we'll ave an esky wif ice. Aw yeah, and if yas are one of those vedgie types and meat just ain't ya thing, ya might wanna bring somefin else for ya burger.

See yas tomorra ya flamin galahs.

Hooroo,"

Who can say no to a celebration of Australia Day. The day commemorating when the British settlers of a penal colony first sailed the majority of their fleet into Sydney Cove after giving up on settling Botany Bay. Just as inspirational as the signing of the declaration of independence, if you nation was a commonwealth nation consisting of six self governing colonies and other territories that federated together into a parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the head of state of Britain. Bureaucratic negotiations totally trump a revolution.

Not to be one to deny an excuse to get together an celebrate, I eagerly agreed to participate. After a post-work paddle in the harbor that took us past the iconic Fatu ma Futi, I rinsed up at the pool showers at the Sadie's by the Sea Hotel and headed over to Coconut Point for the Australia Day celebration.

This mostly consisted of hanging out on Aussie Ben and Sarah's front porch, which Sara and I have written about a few times before. This time it was spiced up with burgers (and veggie burgers) with authentic Australian toppings like beet root, pineapple and american cheese. We also had it explained to us that Australians don't say "shrimp," those are called "prawns," thus the saying "throw another shrimp on the barbee" has been ruined for me.

That said, nothing's more Australian than a barbecue in January. Sara wasn't feeling well, so she missed out on the evening. Luckily I was able to bring her some of the traditional "lammos" and "pav," a.k.a Lamington and Pavlova. Those will help you get over anything that vexes you.