ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance in
Australia. It is a day that commemorates
all Australians and New Zealanders who served in wars. It is a public holiday and is observed on the
25th of April each year.
After almost living in Sydney for three years this was my first ANZAC
Day in Australia. I was in New Zealand
last year and Bali the year before. I
was glad to finally be here and experience it.
It was quite the experience!
The day starts with commemorative dawn services. Following the services and parades through
the city, many of the pubs host “Two-up”.
Two-up is a traditional gambling game.
Two coins are tossed into the air at the same time and you bet if the
coins are going to land on heads or tails.
Two-up is only legally allowed to be played on ANZAC day. The guy that organises the coin tossing reminded me very much of George Washington!
This year I went to the Australian with the girls and they
taught me how to play Two-up. The
Australian holds one of the largest outdoor venues for Two-up. I started out small - betting ten dollars on
heads (holding the ten dollar note on my forehead). I found someone who was also betting ten
dollars but on tails. I held the notes
while the coins were tossed. And lucky
for me, the coins landed on heads, so I got to keep my ten plus the other
person’s ten! I decided to quit while I
was a head and just enjoy the day and watch money being passed from person to
person.
Overall it was an extremely fun day. We started the day off in the bright warm
sunshine and ended it feeling freezing cold and wet from a random hail/rain
storm. There was dancing in the street,
good conversation, bagpipes, and smiles with some of my best friends who I not
only get to spend time with on the weekends but I get to go to work with them
everyday and couldn’t imagine better coworkers and friends!
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