Australia day

Friday was a public holiday. No work, and there were fireworks. It Australia's national holiday, for celebrating all good things Australia.

It's an awkward holiday, though. For traditional reasons, the day is celebrated on the anniversary of the English landing in Australia in the 1700s. But that also marks the date that the English began their instigation of a brutal policy of genocide. Over decades, they systematically murdered estimates of between 250,000 to 3 million people. Native Australians see the date of the holiday as a date of mourning. And I agree with them. There is nothing to celebrate about European policies towards native peoples. There has been a push to change the date of the holiday, to something that all can celebrate and something that doesn't represent the beginning of genocide. And I think that is a very very good idea.

And yet knowing that, I still really really appreciated the three day weekend. I kept stopping and smiling all day Friday, remembering that I didn't have to go to church the next day. That I still had a Saturday and then a Sunday before the work week started again.

We went to the beach. We were planning to go further south, down the Mornington Peninsula, but we looked up the water quality and it was poor further south of the city -- I have no idea why. The more urban beaches were clean. Jonathan didn't want to go to the closest beach. He has decided he doesn't like that one. So we took a bus a little further and tried a new beach.

Because of the public holiday, public transit was on a reduced frequency schedule. We walked about 30 minutes up the coast to get back.

And caught the tram outside of Luna Park.

Our beach timing was good. It started raining hard soon after we got home. And that was a problem, because we had planned to go see the fireworks in the evening. Perhaps they would be canceled.

We went out anyway, equipped with umbrellas. The crowds were thin. But the festivities were still on. Dinner at the food trucks. Music and entertainment. In the rain.

And then fireworks! I didn't take pictures of fireworks. I didn't want to waste time trying to get that perfect shot when I could be enjoying the show.

But I took a picture of the harbour as we headed back home.

Happy Australia day, Australia. We are grateful to you for all the good you do. And we remember those who mourn on this day as well.