January 26th - Australia Day!

Picnic at Swanborn Beach

Silka on Pirate Ship Playground at
Swanborn Beach 

 Well, I think Australia gives Canada a run for its money when it comes to celebrating the birth of a country and its accomplishments since then. Australia does it well. We started our day at Swanborn beach where we body surfed in the waves and enjoyed a picnic lunch. As we were leaving we saw many people heading to the beach with inflatable "thongs" (the ones you wear on your feet) -we later found out that over 2000 people were floating off Cottlesloe Beach as part of the 6th annual Australia Day thong Challenge. They added 700 to the  world record they set last year. 

We drove downtown to join in on the activities happening on the waterfront. The kids bounced around in funhouses while Tom and I took in the festivities. They have BYO Picnic Zones - something Canada lacks. We arrived at the Perth & Tattersail Lawn Bowling Club not far away for the "Welcome Barbecue" put on by the Western Australia Exchange Teachers Association. We got to meet half a dozen other families also on exchange from Canada, Britain and Colorado. After we ate and mingled a bit we all headed down to the waterfront to see the fireworks. They were pretty spectacular!