Racing cockroaches, rubber ducks and cows.
January 25th, 2010
‘Australians usually celebrate Australia Day with a barbeque, oftentimes with lots of beer’ That’s the the answer to ‘what do Australian’s do on Australian Day’ on wiki answers. Which is actually pretty much what happens. But it’s not all barbies and tinnies, though. There are many other things to do on Australia Day. Like racing strange things. Last year I attended the Cockroach Races in Brisbane, but I could have also watched racing cows, rubber ducks and leaky buckets. The Compass Cup is a cow race that takes place in Mt Compass, South Australia where men charge across the local football ground straddling dairy heifers and the rider who lasts longest wins. The Great Australia Day Duck Race on the Yarra River is actually a race using ducks of the bright yellow rubber variety. Each year there are thousands of entries. And in Tennant Creek, Northern Territory they host the annual leaky bucket race (I’m not quite sure what actually happens there).
Tossing odd things on Australia Day is also popular. Also in Tennant Creek they have the annual Australia Day gum boot and thong throwing competition (that’s a ‘flip-flop’ type thong, although throwing the other type of thong could be quite fun). While in Port Lincoln, South Australia they have a tuna-tossing competition (first held in 1961, it regularly attracts around 25,000 people). The specially frozen tuna (to aid grip and flight) weigh around nine kilos each and have a rope tied to them.
So, for my Australia day this year I’m heading into the city to watch a parade and probably have a pie and maybe even toss a thong or two. Most years I do actually ‘celebrate Australia Day with a barbeque, oftentimes with lots of beer’, but a few years back I did do something else quite different on Australia day. I went busking at the Tamworth Country Music Festival for my book The Naked Man Festival. Although I didn’t do to well. No one took any notice of me until I put my then 11-month old daughter Jasmine into my guitar case. As soon my little girl was seated she started dancing and clapping along to my singing. Almost instantly, a crowd began to gather. They would walk past and ignore me as per usual, then suddenly spot Jasmine and stop dead in their tracks. Cameras and videos came out and, best of all, people started throwing money. One lady walked up and put two dollars in the case and said, ‘It’s for the baby, not you.’
Here’s the video. Oh, and happy Aussie Day everyone.
On January 26th, 2010 Epiphanie said:
On January 31st, 2010 Samantha said: