Advance.....AusTRALLLLLIAAAAAAAAAAA FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIR!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello boys and girls!  Its AUSTRALIA Day here in the land of Oz.  For those of you not in the know, it is the celebration of the landing of the First Fleet of the British Navy in what would be come New South Wales and proclaimed British sovereignty over Australia.  This was a full 18 years after Captain James Cook (see here) had mapped out the eastern coastline.

See? He has a map and everything.

The Indigenous Australians have alternatively called this day "Invasion Day" for very obvious reasons but these days its just a day for your average Dinky-Di Aussie to grill some sausages and be out in the sunshine.  Since I am not an Aussie, but I play one on TV, I decided to join in the festivities.  Gina, Julius, and LilyAnn are visiting me and we all went to the National Museum of Australia because they had an exhibit of Indigenous bark paintings on display and it was FREE today!

Julius has been dying to go to the Reptile Zoo with no takers, the NMA had a special display today so he finally got to see his reptiles!

 Before we got inside, the Canberra Reptile Zoo had a small exhibit set up at the entrance.  For days Julius has been trying to talk either me or Gina into going with him and neither one of us are really that interested.  This way we have been able to let him get his reptile fix without either of us having to endure the creepiness of all those reptiles.  I did agree to take some photos though.....

BIG lizard.  A Perentie

So we let Julius get his reptile fix then it was off to see the Old Masters exhibit.  The exhibit showed bark paintings from Arahem Land in the Northern Territory.  There are approximately 4 regions in this area and all of the artwork came from these areas.  It was very cool, but because it was a paid exhibit the rest of the time, you could take no photos in the exhibit.  So I bought the book instead (yes, I know that is their plan all along, but at least they are good photos and have all the descriptions so money well spent).

After we went through that exhibit, we decided it was time for some tukka.  Being Australia Day, the museum pulled out all the stops to draw the crowds with concerts, cooking exhibits and more.  We decided to grab something from one of the stands.  I opted for the traditional Aussie meat pie (of course!) and Gina and Julius decided to try the Kanga Bangas (or Kangaroo sausages for the unindoctrinated).  They pretty much had the same reaction I had, pretty gamey, not all that spectacular.

KANGAROOOOOOOOO

Picnic by Lake Burley Griffin with Auntie Tracey

Happy Australia Day!!

Whaddaya mean we didnt pack more diapers??

HAHA!! Just kidding.

Daddy and LilyAnn taking in the lake

The it was time for fireworks!  We walked down to the lake from my apartment and just found a spot to watch the fireworks.  LilyAnn did really well and wasnt scared at all (she wasnt all that impressed either....)