Australia Day

Megan and Me
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Five Thirty came and it was time to knock off shift. It was pretty exciting as I had been looking forward to this all day. It was Australia Day, although most of the morning everyone was occupied by work so Australia Day had turned out to be Australia Night. Back home we would have had the day off and most likely I would have been spending the day having a BBQ with some friends or off to the Beach with some glorious sunshine. But instead it turned out to be a different experience altogether.

Steele and I with our Aussie Flags
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As I clocked out, I headed straight to the meeting spot for the shuttle pickup which headed back to Mount Royal College, there were several Aussies already standing about and waiting for the Shuttle also. It was an exciting moment as everyone exchanged hugs and wishes for Australia Day. Everyone was so eager to head home right away so they could all get ready for a big night out. Once we got home everybody ran straight to their units to get changed and hit the booze. As I took a shower and got changed, I heard drunk Aussies out and about shout slurring the National Anthem and Waltzing Matilda over and over again. It only took a few neighboring Canadians to get annoyed and say "SHUT the &*(% UP!" for them to stop. Although it wasn't the occassion for everyone to celebrate it was not long before I joined in with the singing with a beer in my hand. I then went over to Steele's house and we called a Cab. While we were waiting, Steele and I stuck some fake tattoos of the Aussie flag on our hands. Steele went for his arm and I went for the inside on my wrist. We then took a photo with the Australian Flag and it was about this time that the Cab rolled up, so off we went Downtown to Bottlescrew Bill's Pub. Once in there, Steele and I went to the bar to get ourselves a drink, a VB for Steele and a Cooper's Pale Ale for me. You know, it was great to have home beers on Aussie Day but it nearly costed us an arm and a leg. $12 bucks for 2 beers. I guess they were imported.

Steele and I at Bottlescrew Bill's Pub
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We went on to scope out the pub to see if we could find anyone we knew and we hit the jackpot, a whole bunch of Aussies who joined 8 tables together and nearly occupied the width of the room. We pulled a seat up to join in and I ordered Bangers and Mash. Although I think Bangers and Mash originated from the English but it was close enough to an Aussie dish. After much drinking and eating at this Pub, they had ran out of all the Aussie Beers so I guess that was the queue to move on. We headed off to HiFi Bar which was more known for it's house/dance/techno music, it reminded me of the clubs back home. It was a refreshing alternative to the other clubs that we've been to which had a variety of genres and the good solid hour devoted to country. Although I don't know whether I'm getting deaf or just not use to the blasting loud noise since I've been away from home but it was LOUD and pretty hard to hear people talk. But one thing it didn't stop was the drinking, our first couple of drinks were $4.50 for a mixed drink and that all changed when we discovered $7 for doubles. It was the cheaper alternative.

Everyone at Bottlescrew
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The rest of the night we danced and mingled and danced and took photos. By the end of the night, when it was time to go home, Chris, Cam and I tried to hail down a taxi after 30 minutes and not one cab stopping, Chris was drunk and shivering to the bone as he was just wearing a dress shirt and didn't bring a Jacket so he had to bail and went across the road to the Mac's convenience store to get some warmth. As soon as the big feller got into the store, Cam and I hailed down a cab. Then we called Chris, he was so ecstatic to hear that we got a cab that he immediately ran out of the store and across the intersection like a charging elephant on a rampage. Once he got into the cab his big knees knocked the meter and you can instantly tell the Taxi driver was annoyed. The following minutes Chris continued on his rampage by winding down the window and mouthing of rude but witty remarks at people on the street. Although it was somewhat amusing to us he went over the line when he tried to stick his head out of the drivers window to throw a witty remark at someone. The driver's personal space was intruded. He stopped the car and said "I can't drive live that!" At this point Cam and I knew exactly what the next few words to be expelled out of the Cabbies mouth were and we did not want to hear them. Then Chris appoligised very sincerley and fortunately the cabby was still nice enough to take us home. Phew!