Tomorrow is almost a national holiday - well, in at least seven out of the eight States in Auz - Western Australia had be different, don't ask me why! (they will have theirs on Sept 8th). Anyway, tomorrow is Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrated birthday. Now for the crazy part - her real birthday is April 21st, so you might be asking yourself, as I have been, why in the world are we celebrating in June if her birthday is really in April?! And the really crazy thing is I have been asking many of our Aussie friends for several days that very same question - and their answer? They don't know either! I kid you not. It's been great fun. The most common answer is they already have a holiday in April - Easter. ( the Monday after Easter is a day off work). May is Labor Day - at least in Queensland, so why not do it in June? Sure, we need a day off that month!
You might also be asking yourself, why is Australia celebrating the Queen of England's birthday? And since I have smart friends and family, you remember that Auz is one of the 16 independent states that she is still the Queen Regnant of. Short version - she is the Queen of Australia. What I really find amusing is that her birthday, real or celebrated, in her own mother country of Great Britain is NOT a holiday. I have this on cross-my-heart truth from several immigrated Brits. Back to the hypothesis that the Aussies love any excuse for a holiday and a day off work.
Actually I did some homework and found out that this all started back in 1788 when the Aussies decided to celebrate King George III birthday which was June 4th and the tradition of celebrating whichever Monarch's BD in June must have stuck.
Ok, whose other birthday is it?
The State of Queensland! (where we live)
Yesterday marks the 150th anniversary of Queen Victoria's formal approval of separation from New South Wales (the adjoining State south of us), and self-government as a colony. The early settlers, while successful in their bid to end rule from Sydney, however did not get all their own way. They wanted to name the colony Cooksland after Captain James Cook who had sailed north along its coastline the previous century. Queen Victoria preferred Queensland and had her way.
(naturally!)
Since games are a birthday tradition, let's play "So you want to be a Hundred-aire, the Queensland version".
**$1 question:
Queensland is the ______ largest state is Australia.
A - second or B - third
Final answer: second, as in HUGE! 668,207 sq miles
**$5 question:
The official color of Queensland is:
A - orange, B - blue, C - maroon.
Final answer: maroon
**$10 question:
The regional animal is a:
A - kangaroo, B - platypus, C - koala
Final answer: koala
**$20 question:
The official bird emblem is a:
A - kookaburra, B - brolga, C - Australian magpie (like Norman, who is still around, by the way).
Final answer: the brolga
It is the only species of crane native to Australia and is found along the Queensland coast.
$50 question:
The floral emblem is the:
A - Cookstown orchid, B - frangipani, C - any yellow rose
Final answer: the Cookstown orchid
Ok, are you bored to death?
one more question -
The Hundred dollar question:
The Queensland motto, "Audax at Fidelis" means:
A - meet you tonight at the Pub, B - throw a prawn on the Barbie, C - Bold but Faithful, D - A, B & C
Final answer: Bold but Faithful
As you can probably tell, we are falling in love with our (temporarily) adopted homeland.
AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE!!!!
(and the correct response is: OY,OY, OY!!!)
Alex left Brisbane this last Wednesday to begin summer term at BYU Provo next week. Needless to say, the house is very quiet as I write this. Thank goodness for my good pal Rio to keep me company.
But it hasn't been all work and no play - he's enjoyed zipping around Brisbane on our little Vespa which he named Tug. (remember we name all our vehicles). 
But it hasn't been all work and no play - he's enjoyed zipping around Brisbane on our little Vespa which he named Tug. (remember we name all our vehicles). 
