Australia Day

Let me first start off with “someone out there is really looking after us, and we want to take this opportunity to thank that person/person’s for the amount of luck you have provided to us!”

What do I mean? You’ll see in a sec...

Australia Day starts off as any other day except we didn’t have to work. We decide to head into the harbor as we were told there would be several events happening throughout the day. As we arrive, we end up missing the first event which was a surf board race across the harbor waters.

Not a big deal, so we then decide to take a walk around to see what else was going on. We end up stumbling onto a set of three tall ships docked in the harbor and rumor had it that these were the ones that were going to be racing in the afternoon. As we board the vessel to take a closer look, we were told that the boat was departing for the rest of the day and we were welcome to join them for a fee. At the time it seemed a bit much for our budget but after a bit of wheeling and dealing on Island Rice’s part, we were ready to set sail.

Yes folks, your two Canadian Ambassadors spent the entire day sailing on a tall ship on the Sydney Harbor! It was the most amazing way to experience Australia Day as we started by participating in a boat parade that saw hundreds upon hundreds of boats dressed in their finest outfits form a line behind us and partake in this annual tradition. Not only that, in order to insure no other boats came near us, we were given a police escort the whole time we were on the water.

Once the parade was over, we had a couple of hours to relax on the water where we went back and forth under the harbor bridge watching the thousands of people on the mainland passing us by. To keep us entertained until then, other events on the water included an aerial display of 7 jets flying above us, trained skydivers doing above ground acrobatics and a search and rescue display.

As 3pm struck, we were put to work. Being the younger, lighter ship, we were definitely the favorites going into the race. All who were able gathered to the front and joined in to raise all the sails. Once they were all up, we could feel the surge of the wind pick us up and send us flying! Though the race was a short sprint from start to finish, it was a great feeling crossing the line first amongst all other tall ships.

After the race, we were treated to yet another fine display of fireworks launched from Darling Harbor. As the sun set and the Commonwealth torch (as it made its way around Australia) sailed past us, the sky became lit up with a fantastic show to the awe of thousands of people who came to celebrate the country’s national holiday.

What started out as another average day turned out to be a moment we will remember always...

- the lone asian