We celebrate Australia’s National Day on the 26th January every year. The day is declared a public holiday Australia wide.

It’s also the day upon which Australian Commonwealth Honours are awarded and Australian of the Year is announced.

At the Local Government level, outstanding citizens are recognised for their community work and a naturalisation ceremony is held awarding Australian Citizenship to new residents who qualify the the privilege.

Here in Goulburn, a country New South Wales town of some 24,000 residents, the Australia Day festivities are held in Victoria Park, a large central park complete with a public swimming pool complex, a skateboard park a velodrome and various other ammenities.

The focus this year was, as always, on the young and young at heart.

Apart from vintage and veteran car and motorbike displays, martial art contests, pipe bands,  jugglers on stilts, young musicians and stalls galore, not to mention Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade units, Emergency Serices Units,  a static Police display and many more, one of the stand outs was the climbing wall.

It was fascinating to watch young children and sometimes their parents, climbing the wall in an effort to reach the button at the top of the climb which when pressed activated a siren blast. More kids reached the button than did their dads or mums.

The day’s activities are like a magnet for photographers. The climbing wall and the skate board park provided great opportunities as did the formal ceremony and the crowds in general.

Here are a few images to show you how Australia Day was celebrated here in Victoria Park.

The young learners were more interested in the fire engine display.

Goulburn Mulwaree Council Mayor Geoff Kettle addressing the crowd in Victoria Park.

 

Mr Warren Brown, Goulburn’s 2016 Australia Day Ambassador entertaining the crowd with an amusing address.

The fabulous and challenging climbing wall.

A typical stall on Australia Day in Victoria park.The great mural on the wall of the swimming pool complex adjacent to the skate board park in Victoria Park.

On leaving the park, like many many others, a cup of tea and lamingtons helped cement the fantastic feeling of being a fair dinkum Aussie bloke living in the greatest country in the world.

Now, what is a lamington you may well ask?

Sorry, that’s a story for another day.

Hoo roo