Our First Boxing Day

Yesterday was our first Boxing Day in Australia. I had no idea what it even was so I was really interested to see what happened.  Of course the first thing I did was Google it. I was interested to see that it is celebrated in the UK, AU, NZ, South Africa and Canada. It originated in the UK when wealthy people would give a box containing a gift in it to their servants.  Today, in most of these places, it is a public holiday which essentially means no mail and no banking. Everything else seems to proceed as normal.  Interestingly, in the state of South Australia, they do not have Boxing Day. Instead they observe a holiday known as Proclamation

Boxing Day is very similar to the day after Thanksgiving in the US. All the stores open very early and have massive sales. It is often the biggest revenue day of the year for local shops.  Boxing Day is also a big day for sporting events here in AU.  The Boxing Day Test Match is held in Melbourne. This is a cricket tournament between the Australian National team and other touring teams.  Another big event is the beginning of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race also known as the Bluewater Classic.  This race covers 630 nautical miles between Sydney and Hobart (Tasmania). Another interesting tidbit- this race used to take 6 days to complete. Today, the fastest yachts often finish in just under 2 days. That is quite a difference!

Boxing Day is also a big day for travel. Australian spend the day visiting friends and relatives or head off for their summer holiday (vacation).

So, what did we do on Boxing Day? Not much really.  Tucker and I walked from our apartment to the University of Sydney Vet Hospital (almost 3 miles each way!) to buy dog food for the girls.   Coop and Doug took a walk.  We did no shopping and played no sports, but we did play at home, we napped and we simply relaxed. Not bad for our first Boxing Day in AU, huh?

Two white ducks Tuck and I saw on our walk