Becoming an Australian Citizen

Tomorrow is Australia Day.

I won’t explain what that is, I’ll assume you’ve read my post about Australia Day from three years ago. Or perhaps you’ve read about the Australia Day party I went to a couple of years back.

Last year, almost all Australia Day parties became charity events, raising money for those affected by the flooding in Queensland and other affected areas.

Brisbane was recovering from those floods, but it didn’t stop them hosting the biggest Australia Day citizenship ceremony of the year when just over 1000 people became citizens at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

This year, at the same venue, there will be another citizenship ceremony. I’m not sure whether this one will, again, be the biggest of the year, but for me, my wife Karen and my daughter Elizabeth, it’s certainly the most important.

Tomorrow, we will be making a Pledge of Commitment and will proudly become Australian citizens. And guess what?

It’s raining again…..

Courtesy of BOM - Click to view source

And when I say rain, I mean RAIN! I’m talking about a rain event reminiscent of the downpours we saw last year. Already…

• Wivenhoe Dam has been forced to release water.
• Many roads have been closed.
• King tides are expected to flood some low-lying areas.
• Rainfalls in Brisbane have topped 250 mm in some areas.
• Emergency services have performed 16 swift water rescues across the south-east.

And the deluge has only just begun. The forecast is for more, more and more. Nobody is expecting another flood like last year, but some people are copping it bad.

Here’s how they told it on the news….

Not just us here in Queensland, but also down in New South Wales….

Meanwhile, in Perth (40° C) and Adelaide (35° C) it’s hot and sunny. Melbourne and Canberra are quite hot too at around 26°C, and mostly sunny. Sydney (thunderstorms) and Hobart (drizzle) are not really that hot at 23° C.

Darwin is, as usual for this time of year, hot and wet.

Our Australia Day citizenship ceremony celebrations.

We had it all sorted.

Our local sports club were unveiling their brand-new multicoloured kids climbing frame in an Australia Day extravaganza!

There would be face painting, sausage sizzles, a reptile show, jumping castles, a land train, Irish dancing and all sorts of exciting stuff culminating in a firework display at 7:30 PM.

So we invited all of our friends and their children to this event, about 50 people in all. I know the sports club hadn’t laid on all the fun for us, but we were going to join the celebrations all the same!

Yesterday the sports club cancelled the event. Rain stopped play. Children’s new play area not yet ready, rain held up the builders. The fields are waterlogged, too wet for fireworks.

Everything else? Off!

Will the weather and those cancellations succeed in dampening the day for us?

No way!

We now know its all part of being Australian, putting up with the elements. We will have a great day and, look on the bright side, the bar will still be open.

And I know of three new Australian citizens who will be standing at that bar tomorrow afternoon.

Cheers!

If you want to know how I became an Australian citizen, read my entire series How to Move to Australia.