jayneandmarty.com

ANZAC day and Australia Day are my two favourite holidays of the year. I love this country and thoroughly enjoy anything to do with “being an Aussie” - Jayne and I deliberately try to be as Oz as possible on these two days. On Australia Day this year we drank stubbies out of the esky, ate pies, had BBQs, wore thongs, went wakeboarding, camped, abused noisy campsite neighbours, cheered at a bloke who was holding an Aussie flag whilst waterskiing, wore boardies, didn’t shave (well, I didn’t anyway), swatted flies and mozzies, spent time with family, got woken up at 5am by screeching cockatoos and got sunburnt. Not bad.

This year’s ANZAC day was a little quieter than that but we still had a great day. I woke early and drove the short trip to Torquay for the dawn service at Point Danger. I overslept, actually. I would never have made it in the military. I’ve never been to an ANZAC day service before, let alone a dawn service, but I knew that I’d be moved even if it was simple. Jayne said the reason she didn’t go is because she knew she’d cry. (I say that’s the best reason to go. She’s promised to come with me next year.)

Anyway, the hairs on the back of my neck were up as soon as I approached the Point. It was cold, windy and dark but all I could see were hundreds and hundreds of heads silhouetted against the ocean. It was clear that there were thousands of people there. The service was already under way when I arrived, but I found myself a spot where I could see the ocean, the Aussie flags and the speaker and just tried to take it all in. The Last Post got me going, the national anthem brought a lump to my throat, and watching the diggers march past finished me off. I don’t really know why. It’s not as if I’ve been directly affected by war. I guess I’m just proud to be Australian, and when you’re standing side-by-side with other proud Australians honouring what the Aussie servicemen and women have done for this country it’s hard to keep emotion out of it. Maybe it was the bagpipes. Bagpipes have a strange effect upon me. If you ever want to distract me, hire a bagpipe band.

By the way, what is with the people who bag our national anthem? I think it’s fantastic. Like all good national anthems it can be inspiring when sung by a child, can create anticipation and suspense when sung by a crowd and is reassuring and happy whoever sings it. It’s about us and our country, not our meaningless queen (to single out one particular anthem from a different country). I like it.

But back to today. To be honest the rest of the day seems a bit insignificant. We had a big breakfast, worked on the boat and in the garden, walked at the beach with Maxy and watched some of the footy. We weren’t as Oz as we were on Australia Day but perhaps that’s the difference between the two days. Both celebrate Australia and its people but while Aus Day is loud, parochial and hot, ANZAC day is more refined and calm.