This coming Monday is a national holiday in Australia. And it amazed me when I learned about it. The day is a celebration of the Queen’s Birthday.
What amazes me about this is that we don’t even celebrate that in the UK. At least not with a national (bank) holiday. That is not to say we shouldn’t. I happen to think another national (bank) holiday in the UK is needed and why not this one? So why doesn’t the UK celebrate this day?
Queen’s Birthday? When?
It is not the actual day of the Queen’s birth (or reigning monarch) but a nominated day which can vary in different Commonwealth countries where the Queen is still head of state.
In the UK the day has moved a couple of times and is now (since 1959) on the second Saturday of June (the 13th this year). Although it is not a national holiday for the public it is celebrated with the famous Trooping the Colour ceremony. A fantastic military spectacle in which the Queen inspects the various regiments on display. In Australia – Canberra – there is a smaller scale version I believe. In Canada they celebrate it at the end of May while in New Zealand it is the first Monday of June.
Is it even going to happen this year? what with this virus nonsense? Hmm…I suspect not.
In Australia the designated day for celebrating the Queen’s Birthday is the 2nd Monday of June. The day falls on June 8th this year.
Long Weekend
So what this really all means is a long weekend for Dani. So we are heading off to the Blue Mountains again. This time to spend a couple of nights up there. The plan is to go up to Glenbrook as early as possible Saturday morning and have breakfast there. Sounds like a good plan eh? But never easy getting sleepy head Dani up early. Especially on a non-school day. Trust me this kid can sleep – see this post from just over three years ago).
After breakfast we plan to visit the painted hands caves which we missed out on last weekend. Then further inland stopping at Blackheath and Mount Victoria before checking n to a motel in Lithgow. that’s about another hour and a half further up the Great Western Highway from Glenbrook. I wanted to see past Katoomba – the furthest we have been inland so far – plus everything was booked up further down the highway. It promises to be a busy weekend as people escape the city for the Queen’s Birthday holiday.
Well that is the plan at least. We shall see how it goes…
Fuel Crime
This weekend is not only a long weekend it is also (officially) the first time people are allowed to travel within the state. Also the caravan, camp grounds and national parks are now all officially open. Ahem… let’s pretend the previous few weeks never happened then shall we?
