ANZAC Day

What is it about Aussies (and a lesser extent, New Zealanders)? Other cultures celebrate great successes and victories, but one of our most solemn national holidays commemorates the date of a gigantic military arse kicking. Along with other antiheroes (Ned Kelly, the swagman from Waltzing Matilda), it's an interesting facet to our national character/culture.

Here's a great pic of the War Memorial in Perth taken by a fella who calls himself Broadview on http://flickr.com



Things to do on ANZAC day if you're in Perth:

- Wake up while it's still dark to get to King's Park in time for a dawn service, which memorialises fallen soldiers, the atrocities of war and generally just says a big no to settling differences with violence. I'm notoriously slow moving and grumpy in the morning, so in 2006 (the last time I was in Oz for ANZAC day) a mate and I drove to King's Park the night before, slept in the car and got up at the last possible minute for the service.

- Buy a poppy to wear; proceeds go to the RSL, who support war veterans (I have no idea why poppies. They don't really flourish in Australia. In fact, I'd never seen a real, growing poppies until coming to France. We probably appropriated this tradition from the Commonwealth, or at least from Europe).



- Watch the ANZAC day parade, which goes through the centre of the city. Marching bands, regiments of soldiers past and current, and family members carrying the medals of relatived who served but have since died. I've marched the parade a few times, once playing the trombone and twice the trumpet. It's a helluva workout for the lips!

- Get blind drunk, preferably at some pub close to the city, straight after the parade. Hey, if it's good enough for the soldiers, it's good enough for me.