'Australia Day' is on January 26 th, we commemorate the establishment of the first European settlement, at Port Jackson, now part of Sydney, in 1788. It is a day for all Australians to celebrate their country and culture. Though I was born in England, I have now lived in Australia more years than I did in England....40 years now.
The following poem by Dorothea Mackellar (born in Sydney in 1885-1968.) encapsulates my feelings for this land.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of drought and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons.
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror-
The wide brown land for me!
Sunrise through a Gumtree in the High Country, in Mansfield, Victoria.
Driving home in a thunder storm in Tasmania.
A warm day on the beach, near our then home, on Bruny Island
Tasmania. 2010.
A cold day on Bruny Island....what a magnificent landscape,
living next to the sea was such a pleasure.
Early settlers tumbled down farm house.
This wide green land, in this case, where I now live.
I think we now deserve a simple repas, outside of my old studio, after our mini grand tour.
It is a diverse country, and these few pictures tell only part of the story of Australia.
