ANZAC Day

Ok, so I have not gotten around to giving Australian slang words for a while . . . sorry about that! But here's one for this week:

Australian term: Digger

American equivalent: Australian soldier


I chose that word because this Wednesday, Australians nationwide celebrated ANZAC Day. ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, and this day commemorates the battle in WWI at Gallipoli. The Allies definitely lost this battle, but that is not what this day remembers. Before Gallipoli, the "diggers" separated into their own states, and some held bitter rivalry towards the infantry of other states. But at this battle, the Australians joined together, and fought not as separate divisions, but as one country. Australians celebrate this day to honor the soldiers' lives who were lost in the battle of Gallipoli and also to remember the day that Australia came together, both on the battlefield and also in Australia, where the mourners of the lost men drew together in grief.

My dad got the day off, so we called up the Grzesiaks, and carpooled up north to the Sunshine Coast. A cute little place called Noosa is situated right on the beach, so we settled down there. The water was surprisingly warm, so we spent more than one hour bodyboarding and bobbing in the waves. After we dried off, we ambled through the Noosa National Park, keeping watch for koalas, but without any luck (during an earlier trip to this park, we saw one koala). Then we had lunch, and of course, ice cream. We sure needed it after that big day! :-) Altogether, we had a fantastic time celebrating our last ANZAC Day in Australia.