I didn’t expect to see the Stormtroopers. They came somewhere in the parade after the brightly dressed girls from Sri Lanka, before the Russians and somewhere between the visually impaired, the Chinese dragon, the Solomon Islanders and the penny farthing bicycles.
Welcome to Australia Day celebrations Melbourne-style! I was so very proud, not only to consider this my home, but to be surrounded by people from all corners of the globe, all celebrating the diversity and the quirky that makes this country unique.
Across the day the multicultural experience continued, watching a tribal dance band from Ghana, listening to folk singers from Bosnia-Hercegovina and marveling what a $5 million aerial acrobatic plane is capable of against a perfect blue sky. There were six planes in total and I’m guessing it is an expensive exercise to get a manouvre wrong.
After listening to several renditions of Waltzing Matilda and I Still Call Australia Home, it seemed only fitting to cap off the experience with a meat pie, a walk around the vintage car display and to join my fellow countrymen in admiring the Torana.
Australia - you make me so very proud.
