Australia Day

[karen donnybrook]

It is Australia Day today (26th January) and we have just got back from the Australia Day breakfast that the Shire put on.

The Donnybrook ensemble led the crowd in several songs one of which is "I am Australian" and it goes like this:

I come from the dreamtime, from the dusty red soil plain
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame
I stood upon the rocky shore; I watched the tall ships come
For forty thousand years I've been the first Australian

I came upon a prison ship bowed down by iron chains
I cleared the land, endured the lash,
And waited for the rains
I'm a settler; I'm a farmer's wife on a dry and barren run
A convict, then a free man, I became Australian

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian

I'm a teller of stories, I'm a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira, I paint the ghostly gums
I'm Clancy on his horse, Ned Kelly on the run
I'm the one who waltzed Mathilda, I am Australian

I'm the hot wind from the desert,
I'm the black soil of the plains
I'm the mountains and the valleys,
I'm the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock; I am the sky, the rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land, I am Australia

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian


And for all those Aussies who are not here on Australia Day,

I've been to cities that never close down
From New York to Rio and old London town
But no matter how far or wide I roam
I still call Australia, I still call Australia
I still call Australia home

[Mary]

Congratulations and best wishes Karen on Australia Day. We do the flags, fireworks and food for our Fourth of July - are there any traditions that go along with your special day?:) :)

[Carbone]

Can we wish Happy Autralia Day..? Anyway, you get my point... have fun!

Ray

[NMarti]

Karen,
Happy Australia Day. Is it similar to our 4th of July? I keep forgetting you are enjoying your summer right now. Gosh - wish it would come here.:(

[karen donnybrook]

Yes it is similar to your Fourth of July. Most local authorities put on an Australia Day breakfast and some of the bigger towns/cities have all day events, culminating in a fireworks display at night.

In Bunbury, there is a breakfast, a fun run in the morning and at night a fireworks display.

Three people were naturalised as Australian citizens and we all made an affirmation of our own citizenship.

Also each local authority has Australian Citizen of the Year awards - firstly for a person over 25, secondly for a person under 25 and thirdly for an organisation/group/event. There were 4 nominations in the over 25 and an Alfo Torrisi became Donnybrook/Balingup Australian Citizen for 2006. Chris (I think it was Chris) Henderson was Young Australian Citizen for 2006 and the Donnybrook Subcentre for the St John Ambulance was awarded the organisation award.

Thank you all for your good wishes.

[Grant]

I have a misty vision, the year is Jan. 26, 1788 11 ships, 160 sailors, 729 convicts, moored off of Sydney Harbour waiting to disembark and Governor Arthur Phillip surveying the beach and thinking "By God we will do good here!"

Well done Australia you have earned you day, you have done well .... enjoy January the 26 for now and many more years to come.

[Wendy]

Happy Australia Day ....

... and thank you Karen for telling us about the things that happen on Australia Day. I find it so interesting to learn these sort of things :)

Wendy

[karen donnybrook]

Pleasure was mine, Wendy :)

[kevq]

Karen,
Enjoy Australia Day.
Good on yer cobbers, you done good, from a convict colony to a country to be proud of.

Kev:) :) :)

[w7vp]

Karen
Keep the wonderful lore of Australia coming.

We have a couple of connections there.

My son did a term at University of Sydney and traveled in eastern and northern Australia. Later he did some work in Hobart. His mother remarried an Aussie.

His youngest sibling is our daughter who I call Lady Julianna.

Congratulations on Australia day.

P.S. That is my son on the bridge in my Scenes from Nepal montage in my gallery and my daughter on the swing.

Bill

[e-mailsucks]

Happy Australia Day Karen. Just wondering:rolleyes: , do you sing it in the chorus of Oh Canada:D . Just kidding. I tried it to the theme of Ole Lang Sign and America The Beautiful, but those didn't work either. Can you just hum us a few lines?

Brian:)

[Dorrie H.]

Happy Australia Day Karen....

Some day I may make a visit there. At least that has been my wish for many years now. I hope I get there before the Lord says it too late. Your country has always fascinated me. The only other place I would like to visit before my time ends, is the Azores where my Father was born.

Dorrie

[GaryK]

Karen

I hope you had a great day. Best wishes to you and your mates on Australia Day. :D