Anzac Day

Today commemorates Australia’s equivalent to Remembrance Day back home (ANZAC Day). It signifies when the Australians and Kiwi’s joined forces for the first time to go into battle with what was once known as Constantinople (or otherwise known as Turkey). Though many died in the battlefield that day, their memory lives on through the people they left behind and Australian’s treat it as a day of mourning and pride.


Now that you’ve been familiarized with the history behind the holiday, let me enlighten you on the a most unique game we took part in. It’s called “Two Up”. A game that was created to pass the time during the war and since then has been banned 364 days a year. That’s right, this game is considered illegal everyday except today.

It starts off with two coins (hence the name) placed on a paddle. The coins are tossed in the air and the goal is to get both coins to equal each other in suit(as heads or tails). How the betting works is that each person must find another person to equal them in dollar value of the bet as well as agree to the opposite of heads or tails (depending on which you chose to begin with). The game really takes no skill. Your odds are essentially 50/50, yet the attention it grabs is phenomenal! Everyone plays to have a good time, yet the intensity builds as each bet is placed and the suspense of having the coins drop in your favor is nail biting.

In the end, some of us won, some of us lost but we all ended up coming out as winners as it was an experience long to be forgotten.