Hello my friends,

Well, it's been a busy start to the year for me, and January is nearly over!
Today I have celebrated Australia Day, we had a lovely bar-be-que on my balcony, as the weather was not very good, raining on and off all day!
So nice to share a day with friends, and talk about our history, and how we used to celebrate when we were young.
Sydney city, was busy, with ferry races on our wonderful Sydney Harbour, and lots of activities everywhere!
I think about my heritage, (I am 5th generation Australian), and my ancestors from England and Ireland, how they stuggled to make Australia their home, and I know how blessed I am to live in this wonderful country!
I hope you enjoy reading a little about our history.
God Bless
Kerry

History of Australia Day
Australians have a national holiday every January 26th to remember their origins and celebrate their achievements.
ORIGINS:On January 26, 1788, a fleet of ships landed at what is now Sydney, Australia. These ships were under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip and had brought a load of prisoners from England. The prisoners on the ships were not all criminals as we would think of them today. Many of them were people who had been arrested because the government didn't like what they had to say. And some were poor people who had been jailed because they owed money.
These prisoners were the first Europeans to settle in Australia.
Before 1783 (when the Americans won the Revolutionary War) many of Britain's unwanted criminals had been sent to the United States.
The desire to get rid of criminals was not the only motivation for colonizing Australia. Botany Bay, Australia made a good port of call for British ships travelling in that part of the world. Also, Australia's raw materials were an attractive reason for colonizing the country.

TODAY:Since that time, millions more have chosen Australia as their home. And wherever they are from, they all take part in celebrating Australia Day.
During the last weekend in January, Australians enjoy folk dances and music of the many national groups that make up their land. These musicians and dancers appear in the oldest part of Sydney (called The Rocks) near the harbour where the first Europeans landed.
Captain Arthur Phillip's landing in the harbour is re-enacted each year.

Australia's National Flag　

In the top left hand corner is the Union Jack. This shows that Australia is part of the British Commonwealth. Beneath the Union Jack is a large white star with seven points. The points represent the six states and the territories. Originally this star had six points. The seventh point, for the territories was added in 1908.

On the right hand side are the stars of the Southern Cross. The Southern Cross was chosen because it can always be seen in the Australian sky at night.

　 The Aboriginal Flag

The Aboriginal Flag was designed by Harold Thomas, an artist and an Aboriginal, in 1971. The flag was designed to be an eye-catching rallying symbol for the Aboriginal people and a symbol of their race and identity. The black represents the Aboriginal people, the red the earth and their spiritual relationship to the land, and the yellow the sun, the giver of life.

In the late 1960s, Aborigines stepped up their campaign for indigenous land rights through protest marches, demonstrations, banners and posters. The protests increased in the early 1970s and Harold Thomas noticed they were often outnumbered by non-Aborigines with their own banners and placards. He decided they needed to be more visible and the idea of the flag was born.

The Aboriginal flag was first raised in Victoria Square in Adelaide on National Aboriginal Day in 1971, but was adopted nationally by Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in 1972 after it was flown above the Aboriginal "Tent Embassy" outside of the old Parliament House in Canberra.
The Aboriginal flag is increasingly being flown by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. In view of its increasing importance in Australian society, the Government initiated steps in 1994 to give the flag legal recognition. After a period of public consultation, the Government made its own decision in July 1995 that the flag should be proclaimed a "Flag of Australia" under section 5 of the Flags Act 1953. The flag was so proclaimed by the Governor General of Australia, William Hayden, on 14 July 1995.