26.01 Australia Day: Fireworks on the Yarra

So to finish off Australia Day we went and took our places on the River Yarra to watch the Fireworks!

View of the City!

The crowds gather on the opposite bank!

26.01 Australia Day: Triple J's Hottest 100

Triple J's Hottest 100 had a live link to Waterfront City at Docklands, so we thought that we'd join the rest of crowd in an intimate gathering, watching what has become our soundtrack to our year in Melbourne.

26.01 Australia Day: Classic Car Show

A massive classic car show was held in the Botanical Gardens for Australia Day! Here's just a couple of examples...

Obviously this is an excellent example of an Austin Maxi, but there are people still running these as every day transport! We've probably seen a handful of these about!

A Holden Torana, anyone else think that its looks like it is based on a Vauxhall Victor - does anyone remember those?!

A Vauxhall Viva! They love their Vauxhalls out here too! We saw a number of classic examples heading to the Summer Nats just outside Canberra on our way back from Sydney!

I know where I'm going to import my classic Mercedes Benz '200' from! There are plenty of good examples of these about, and most are the larger engined versions. In fact you can get any classic car you desire from Australia, even some classic Alfas or British Leyland models that have reduced to nothing but a pile of rust in the UK!

Another pristine example, this time a Citroen DS, and just like the Austin Maxi there are a number of these being used as daily transport!!

26.01 Australia Day: The Parade

Another excuse for a Bank Holiday, Australia Day! This day is also used to hold the Citizenship cermonies! In fact someone we know very well became an official Australian Citizen, congratulations Dan! We celebrated here with a can of VB in a stubby cooler, while throwing another shrimp on the barbie, kicked back and watched some sport (what ever was on at the time)! Actually, we joined in with the rest of the festivities that were happening in this great city of ours...

The Australia Day Parade through the city, showing the amazing diversity of different cultures that call Melbourne home.

Joanna's favourite local celeb John So (second from right) among a number of the VIP guests watching the Parade.

Flinders Street Station decorated for the Special Day, and plenty of national flags flying around the city!

Government House was also open for inspection, so we thought that we'd go and have a look!