Well today is Australia Day.

As Australians, we celebrate this day every year on the 26th of January. Australia day is a public holiday in every state and territory of Australia and commemorates the establishment of the first settlement at Port Jackson in 1788 – which is now part of Sydney in N.S.W. 

Australia day, is a day when all Australians celebrate what being Australian means to them. It is a day to focus on our country, our culture our food, family and friendships. Every Australian celebrates this occasion in their own unique way. On Australia day right around the country you will find a mixture of huge get-togethers and Australia Day events, as well as many backyard gatherings with a more intimate feel , celebrating with just family and friends.

January 26th is all about connections and community.

So were ever you are, may you enjoy your day as much as we will enjoy ours – here at home. The day is young still, but we intend to share it with family and hopefully a few friends along with our BBQ, some ‘Aussie Rock’ and a lot of laughter.

Happy Australia Day to you!

Note: Extra Info!

Want to join in an event close to home? then check this out for whats on in your area – Australia Day Events

Interested in learning more about the history of Australia Day? then why not check this out - Celebrating Australia: A History of Australia Day

Looking for something for your children to enjoy related to Australia day? Then check these out – Australia Day Activity Sheets for Kids and more Activities plus these drawings to colour in!

Need something educational? – TRUE BLUE? ON BEING AUSTRALIAN Teaching and learning activities

Well this morning I managed to get a few hours to wander around our little town. The aim was to try out different things on my camera and see how they turned out. The walk was very enjoyable and I even managed to arrive back home by 8am, so still had my whole day to myself, which is great.

Here are some of the pictures I took this morning.

Well today we decided to take a walk around one side of Town to show Babcia were we live. Here is it Kempton in all its beauty .

Last night Tata kept commenting on how cold it was. We had managed to go a few days without any heating on in the house, but around 7pm yesterday we could feel a real drop in the temperature – and this is when Tata mentioned how cold he felt. So for the first time in days we put the heating on, to try and warm the house. We also decided that we would leave it on overnight (even though it can cost us a bomb) as it was far to cold to turn it off and the extra money we would save was not worth the chance in any of us getting sick.

Anyway, this morning we realised just how cold it had become overnight as we awoke to snow all around us. When we got up and looked out from our veranda, towards the river and mountains, we could see snow on all the mountain tops, especially Mount Dromedary. Unfortunately from where we live we face the wrong direction to see Mt Wellington, but the children and I did go for a drive today around 2pm and checked out the snow on top and took some pictures. I will try to add them here a little later.

Currently it is 6 degrees Celsius here in Hobart, with an expected low of 2 overnight, with more rain and cold expected tomorrow. So no doubt the snow will be thicker on top of the mountains tomorrow when we get up again..

Definitely not like spring time here!

Well I must say that as we approached the beginning of September, we really felt that we had managed to escape the cold of winter here in Tassie. The weather had been so mild and the lack of rain quite good.

However the more we venture away from what is technically ‘Winter’ and move on over into ‘Spring’ the more we seem to experience colder, wetter weather and snow on the mountain!

Today there  is Snow on the mountain! but we are all set with jobs related to our move, so have no time to enjoy the snow today.

However, A few weeks ago, we did venture up to the top of MT Wellington, as the snow was covering it quite well. The girls had been bugging us all winter to visit so that they could play in the snow – as they remembered how much fun it had been the year before. However with our milder winter this year, we really thought our opportunities to ‘freeze’ atop the snow capped Mountain, where all but a dream.

That was until Spring arrived and the snow started to fall.

Here are some pictures of the girls enjoying the snow  and of their wonderful snow man as we headed into spring!

Tonight we had a Full Moon which was pretty spectacular. I tried to capture it in all its glory as it lite up the sky as we moved from 2009 into 2010.

The Full Moon

The Full Moon

The View of the Moon over Hobart - Derwent River

Bright Full Moon over Hobart - Derwent River

Well tonight we went to visit Tata at work and on our way home we decided to take a look around at some of the Christmas Lights on Display. Unfortunately there does not seem to be as many around these days as I recall as a child. However we had fun looking at the ones we did manage to find!

Here are some photos we took we would like to share with you all.