On Tuesday 26th January Australians celebrate their national day (a public holiday), usually with a barbecue (it’s summer down under, of course) and the odd ale. Traditional family activities include back yard cricket matches, surfing the waves, beach games, watching girls in bikinis and generally just keeping cool as it is the time of the hottest weather in Australia.
This year, Buriram golfers can enjoy an expat’s Australia Day celebrations with golf in the morning followed by a “true blue” Aussie barbecue at Paddy’s Irish Bar and Outback Grill in the afternoon. The day’s golf competition is the usual individual Stableford but the winner is crowned the Australia Day Cup Champion, receives a free drink at Rod’s bar and receives a very dodgy embroidered cap he can wear proudly around Buriram.
The kangaroo and emu are on Australia’s coat of arms and are very friendly beasts (as shown below). Red back spiders prowl the toilet seats and barbed wire is the preferred method of keeping un-Australian people off your property. And, of course, our easily recognized flora is the gum tree (eucalyptus) that sprouts lots of gum nuts during the year.
If you ask really nicely, Rod may paint your face so you can be a “true blue” for the day
Due to the time differences of four hours between the east and west coasts in summer, Sydney and Melbourne people tend to be drunker earlier than their Perth counterparts. Perth partygoers tend to wait for the Fremantle Doctor (a cooling westerly breeze) to arrive late in the morning before launching completely into their barbecue.
Lots of sporting activities are on offer for those who prefer to watch rather than participate. The Australian Open Tennis tournament is currently underway in Melbourne and a Twenty20 cricket match between Australia and India will be held in Adelaide on Tuesday (expect temperatures to be super high in Adelaide!).
A very happy Australia Day to everyone in Buriram. Goodonyamate! Get one into ya!
Article written by Lindsay