Good old Australia Day, you have to love a long weekend that allows you to celebrate every element of being an Aussie. It's all about the midday BBQ's and the beers, listening to the Triple J Hottest 100 countdown, pulling out the old Aussie flag and draping it over yourself to sit by the waterside with fish n' chips whilst you watch the sunset and wait for the annual free fireworks extravaganza.
This year however, it was utterly freezing in Ballarat and even though I still braved the chills for my yearly fix of fireworks on the lake, there were no BBQ's or beers. No, we had a very un-Australian dinner of Spanish frittata, followed with Dutch hot chocolates after the lake fireworks to thaw us out. But being a part of the great big melting pot of cuisine and culture in Australia is just as much a part of Australia Day as the bogans with their beer esky and thong persona, probably even more so now.
I think we have moved along from that archaic Aussie stereotype; you don't need to be strutting around in a wife beater singlet and a pair of footy shorts to be one of the Aussie's anymore, you can do whatever takes your fancy to celebrate being Australian.
Australia Day is a day for everyone to rejoice in our Great Southern Land, a day to celebrate the freedoms that we all enjoy together and a day to consider all of the wonderful things that make Australia home to us all.
If that means a BBQ and beer - so be it, if that means frittata and hot chocolate - so be it! There is no recipe to Australia Day, whatever you are doing to celebrate, it's Australian! Enjoy it and make it your own I say, that's about as Aussie as it gets!
This year however, it was utterly freezing in Ballarat and even though I still braved the chills for my yearly fix of fireworks on the lake, there were no BBQ's or beers. No, we had a very un-Australian dinner of Spanish frittata, followed with Dutch hot chocolates after the lake fireworks to thaw us out. But being a part of the great big melting pot of cuisine and culture in Australia is just as much a part of Australia Day as the bogans with their beer esky and thong persona, probably even more so now.
I think we have moved along from that archaic Aussie stereotype; you don't need to be strutting around in a wife beater singlet and a pair of footy shorts to be one of the Aussie's anymore, you can do whatever takes your fancy to celebrate being Australian.
Australia Day is a day for everyone to rejoice in our Great Southern Land, a day to celebrate the freedoms that we all enjoy together and a day to consider all of the wonderful things that make Australia home to us all.
If that means a BBQ and beer - so be it, if that means frittata and hot chocolate - so be it! There is no recipe to Australia Day, whatever you are doing to celebrate, it's Australian! Enjoy it and make it your own I say, that's about as Aussie as it gets!
THE CASTLE
Release Date: 1997
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 85 mins
If you're in the mood for a great Aussie classic, you really can't go past The Castle. Directed and co-written by Rob Sitch with some help from his usual crew of larrikans from Working Dog Productions- Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy and Santo Cilauro; this comedy has won a place in millions of Australian's hearts with it's quirky and painfully relatible Aussie characters.
The Kerrigan family are the quintessential Aussie battlers, fighting to keep their beloved home from the grips of the Melbourne airport authorities that wish to seize their land for expansion.
Jam packed with over the top characters and spilling over with quotable one liners, this is Aussie comedy gold. Stephen Curry is wonderful as the mullet toting Dale Kerrigan and Eric Bana is a perfect Con Petropoulous, in fact the entire cast does a really great job of making sure that The Castle ends up in everyone's "Pool Room."
FINAL SAY: You can't buy what I've got.
3.5 Chili Peppers
Release Date: 1997
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 85 mins
If you're in the mood for a great Aussie classic, you really can't go past The Castle. Directed and co-written by Rob Sitch with some help from his usual crew of larrikans from Working Dog Productions- Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy and Santo Cilauro; this comedy has won a place in millions of Australian's hearts with it's quirky and painfully relatible Aussie characters.
The Kerrigan family are the quintessential Aussie battlers, fighting to keep their beloved home from the grips of the Melbourne airport authorities that wish to seize their land for expansion.
Jam packed with over the top characters and spilling over with quotable one liners, this is Aussie comedy gold. Stephen Curry is wonderful as the mullet toting Dale Kerrigan and Eric Bana is a perfect Con Petropoulous, in fact the entire cast does a really great job of making sure that The Castle ends up in everyone's "Pool Room."
FINAL SAY: You can't buy what I've got.
3.5 Chili Peppers
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