Australia Day 2010
Margaret and I, neither of us being Australian, decided that the best way to celebrate Australia Day would be to get out and enjoy a piece of Australia. So we went hiking and camping in Morton National Park. When we celebrate our own national day, it's always in the middle of winter here, so camping has an added literal and figurative frisson. But, conveniently for its own people, Australia puts its national day in the middle of summer. (Note to self: do not suggest to Margaret, next time we're in the States in January, that we go camping for Australia Day.)
Anyway, here are some pics of a few of the things we saw: waterfalls, gorges, etc. I think I took most of them, but Margaret may have taken a few (I'm thinking in particular of the picture in which I appear, not holding a camera). I recommend the Fitzroy Falls area of Morton National Park, and the campground at Bundanoon is quiet enough to suit me, but it has flush toilets, which would suit the more delicate members of your camping party.
On our way back this afternoon, we stopped at the charming hamlet of Robertson, famous for being the place where they filmed Babe, but even more famous for being the home of the Big Potato, otherwise known as the Big Poo. My friend Tim, upon seeing it for the first time, returned to the car, stared at nothing for a while, and finally murmured, "That was a hell of a thing."
Yes. Yes, this is it. And it is, indeed, a hell of a thing.
A giant potato is a cheerful and reliable companion in all life's adventures.
Is this its front end, its back end, or something else altogether?
posted by Laura E. Goodin @ 8:01 PM (permalink)
11 comment(s)
11 Comments:
I grew up in Sydney and I've never heard of any of those places! Gorgeous scenery, and a seriously big Thing.
I made a vow when we moved to Australia that I would NOT sit at home and/or only do things I could have done back in the States. The Big Poo is something the like of which I would never, ever have seen back home.
Truly, though, all these things are in the Southern Highlands, which has many, many such treasures.
It's gotta be the front end: there's an eye there. Thanks for the pics! Gorgeous, especially the gorge...
Well, I AM Australian, officially, but I was a bit sickened by some of the rampant "patriotism" this year. It was worse than it ever was. I don't remember this from my childhood. The commercial television coverage was so jingoistic.
As you know, I don't fly flags. I am even more determined not to now. No country is worth celebrating this much - its life and people that are worth celebrating, not political entities.
*Steps down off soapbox"
Ah! The fresh air! Love it.
And the big poo? I don't know what to say.
Let's Celebrate the Big Poo-tato!
Hi Houston, and congrats on no longer being a Pom! I've noticed this weird patriotism on TV as well, but mainly in Australia and America. It's not so prominent in smaller, more homogeneous countries in Europe where I've lived and watched TV. I think it's part of being a geographically large nation strongly built on immigration. Even ad agencies get harnessed for nation-building.
Here in Finland, you don't really need to be told by TV advertising jingles that you're part of a nation whose name needs rubbing in at every turn. But in US advertising, the word America is frequently heard in the ads, as in Australia, the name Australia, respectively. What to do--assimilation is important, as every Klingon knows...
I think it's the Borg who assimilate, rob - and that's even more frightening.
I grew up in Ireland for the first 10 years of my life and I'm afraid rampant patriotism, which is there through fear and as a result of centuries of political oppression (or fear of it) seems to run through seemingly homogenous culture as well.
The results of that probably go a long way to explain why I have less respect for the idea of "nationhood" than many others might. I've seen love of an idealised country can do.
Wilfred Owen described the line "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" as "the old lie". I think, if I, too, "had stood behind the old wagon we flung him in", I'd come to the same conclusion.
I'm amazed at the amount of it this year though. Surelt it wasn't like this when I got back here in 1995 - and I'm sure it wasn't like this when I was a teenager.
Just what, or who, are we gloryfying?
You're so right about the Borg, Houston! Too long since I watched Star Trek, and I paid too little attention to it, anyway.
You sound gloomy about Oz--myself, I wouldn't change the years I got to spend there for anything. None of us ever became citizens, but we sure enjoyed the Australia Day celebrations. A great place, I'd contend, with some of the most straightforward people I've ever lived among. When people are dying to get in, the place must have something going for it, wouldn't you say?
Best,
Robert
It reminds me of a Dr Who amorphic alien. Hope it didn't smell like a giant poo, or a giant potato(e)*, either.
* For all the Dan Quayle fans out there. You know who you are.
Hey! You never took us to see the Big Tater! Sure, there was that Big Merino, and I still aspire to see the Giant Prawn, but man, how did we miss THIS???
I'm just going to have to come back for that....
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