Happy Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day! To mark our national day, we took a look at some of the search 'spikes' we see every year around this time, and they make for really interesting reading. They're a great barometer of what Australia Day is all about and how we celebrate.

We're getting ready for the day by dressing up, planning meals, reading up on the history of the day, and being inspired by impressive Australians.
Australia Day costumes
Why do we celebrate australia day
australia day recipe
Australia day BBQ
Australian of the year

On the day we're looking for the music countdown we've come to love, ideas for activities and where to watch fireworks, and making sure our favourite stores are going to be open.
Triple J Hottest 100
Australia Day fireworks
Australia Day opening hours
australia day activities

And in the aftermath, we head online to look for news stories and photos of the day.
Australia Day photos
Australia Day news

We also hope you enjoy today's beautiful Australia Day Google 'doodle' on our homepage*. 12-year-old Jessie Du of NSW was the winner of the 2009 Doodle 4 Google competition, and we're so proud to have her gorgeous artwork adorning our homepage today. In 2009 we invited school children across Australia to share with us their 'wish for Australia', and the results were simply beautiful. Of the 32 national winners, Jessie's was selected by our original Google Doodler Dennis Hwang as the overall national winner, and we think you'll agree, he chose a very talented young artist to highlight!


Happy Australia Day!

Posted by Katharina Friedrich, product marketing manager

*You may have noticed that the Google Doodle on the homepage today is slightly different to Jessie's original entry, because that one contained copyright imagery that we weren't able to publish on the homepage today. However, I think you'll agree it's still absolutely beautiful, and inspires lots of wonderful ideas about the Australia of our future.