After terrible fires, scorching heat, and dry-as-a-bone days, it is pure bliss to celebrate Australia Day with hour upon hour of glorious rain. Apparently Australia is known as “the land of flood and fire” and now I know why! In spite of the crazy, sometimes scary weather, I love it here so much.

Bear and I drove out to Stanthorpe this morning, thinking that the perfect way for us to honor this day was to drive the countryside that we both love. Our road took us up into the hills over terrain transformed by rain from dry, golden mounds into scenes straight out of Ireland: craggy rocks glistening under cascades of water, vivid green grass andΒ  glossy leaves.

We met up with some old friends and total strangers to take an Australian weapons licensing test – Bear for his crossbows and me for firearms – and we both passed with flying colors. Yippee!!

It was so interesting learning the Australian rules for weapons use and safety. Some things are similar to the United States, but others are vastly different. I was intrigued to learn that wanting a weapon for personal protection is not a lawful or accepted reason in Australia for getting a weapons license. I asked the Aussies what you’re supposed to do to protect yourself from bad guys here and they burst out laughing and said, “Run!” Duly noted. πŸ˜‰

To reward ourselves for passing our tests, we headed to one of our favorite stops, Vincenzo’s, for hot drinks and a visit.

cappuccino design

Then, of course, we were ravenous, so I happily tucked into a rather marvelous steak pie while Bear got sandwiches and we shared a plate of piping hot chips. It was so nice chatting and eating and sipping as the rain pounded on the roof and the occasional gust of wind showered us with raindrops.

celebrating Australia Day

Then we drove home again, stopping to treasure hunt at one of our favorite thrift stores before donning boots and raincoats to feed the animals in the downpour.

girl wearing polka dot wellies

Now it’s time to cozy in for the night with hot coffee and a stack of movies from the library.

Happy Australia Day, dear Aussies! (And happy weekend everybody else! :-))