FAIR DINKUM FUN DAY

DAILY MERCURY ONLINE - 27TH JAN 2011

IT'S the one day of the year when you hear “Hey true blue”, “fair dinkum” and “Oi you flaming galah!” in every conversation.

Many around the Mackay region were speaking the language of the land down under yesterday as they partied in their backyards and on the beach or took a crawl around some of Mackay's well-known pubs.

A Mackay police spokesperson said they had a strong presence around the region yesterday, with officers patrolling public spaces including parks and Harbour Beach. Most who were out and about were well behaved, the spokesperson said, but there were three arrests at Eimeo beach.

At the Old Railway Hotel it was a family affair for the Stuarts, who were at the Daily Mercury Aussie Crawl.

About 250 people joined the Crawl, which raised funds for the flood appeal and The Mackay Support Group for families with children affected by Down Syndrome.

Andrea Stuart and her two adult children, Jessica and Adam, decided to spend the day together and help out a charity.

“We will be walking to every pub and I will have a blister to prove it,” Andrea joked.

“The best thing about Australia is it has a great lifestyle and is the best place to raise a family.”

Adam and Jessica agreed adding that you can't go past a good old Aussie barbecue as well.

On the other side of town, at the Andergrove Tavern, sporting heroes were celebrating Australia Day at the beach olympics, competing in beach volleyball, cricket, keg and thong tosses and a cold pie eating contest.

Andergrove Tavern manager David Van den Boom said he had officially opened the beach olympics on Tuesday night by lighting a cauldron of fireworks.

Now in their third year, the beach olympics continued to get bigger and better, Mr Van den Boom said. This year 16 teams entered. Teams were competing for a full pallet of XXXX Gold, equal to 70 cartoons of beer.

“We came up with the idea of the beach olympics because, as Australians, we love to have fun in the sun,” he said.

Mt Pleasant resident Rob Andrews said he had been coming to the Andergrove Tavern for the past three years and said his team had been the first to win the beach olympics.

“We won the first one so, for me and my mates it has become a bit of tradition to come here every year.

“Australia Day is about traditions and celebrating them with your mates,” he said.