Otherwise known as 'Stralia Day it's a national holiday celebrated annually on Jan. 26 and is a commemoration of the arrival of the first fleet of boats (of convicts from the UK) in Sydney Harbor in 1788 and the settlement of a new British colony.
It's the opposite of our Independence Day which is our commemoration of our independence from England. In terms of "controversy", it's a bit like our Thanksgiving Day which at its surface is a celebration of the first breaking of the bread between the pilgrims who'd just landed in the US after "discovering the New World" and the native American Indians. I say "controversy" because many indigenous Australians view Australia Day as the beginning of the destruction of the native Aboriginal culture by the British colonists. Sound at all similar to what the pilgrims did in "claiming" the lands from the American indians and pushed the indians to the most barren tracts of land in the US - I bet there was little "thanks" for that from the perspective of the native American indians.
Australia Day was on a Tuesday this year, but Monday wasn't a holiday so I decided to fly down a few days earlier, work from the Cisco Melbourne office and make it a long weekend!
Oh, and thanks to a conversation I had with my friend Glenn last year I was inspired to check out the Australian Open which was taking place the same weekend. That combined with my friend Georgina interest in planning a "Girl's Weekend" meant we had the ingredients for a grand weekend!
The first night we arrived, we went to one of the many outdoor pubs in the CBD (Central Business District) and then on to a restaurant with a great ocean view on the beach in St. Kilda called Republica with Val who has a great place in St. Kilda's. HUGE thanks to Val for letting us stay over at her place, she was a wonderful host and a great friend!
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