Welshie

I hate Bonfire Night..that is definitely one thing I wil not miss!

Scares the shit outta my horses and dog! Have to spend most of the night in my horses stable calming him down!! Grrrrrrrrr

Juliecabs

Hee Hee, that cheered her up Pool parties beckon

Larissa

This was something I really missed last year, when we first arrived. The only comparable thing is Australia day, but then that's hot and there aren't any bonfires.
My mate is having bonfire night with a brazier, sparklers, pork pies and mushy peas (weird Northern food!). I've got some sparklers left over from Aussie day but the kids are in bed now, and last time I used the brazier to burn some boxes, I got really paranoid about bushfires and smoke and hosed the fire out!
We had a great campfire out in the country, on my mates property. On larger blocks of land I think you're allowed to burn if you have a permit, depends on the time of year too, but you just can't do it in the suburbs.

possoms

So you can buy sparklers out there then? thought they would be banned too.

Had a fab bonnie night I will miss it

Swerv-o

Apparently they do it in South Africa, though this is largely based on the childhood memories of my South African ex girlfriend, who was actually born in Zim, so perhaps it's best to ignore this post, which, to be fair, had little point other than to suggest that other countries may celebrate our flakey old customs.

I'll get my coat.

Still, it's unlike the Aussies not to hijack one of our celebration days and then turn it into a public holiday just to annoy us


S

Vash the Stampede

It's called Bonfire Night, and we've celebrated it ever since we were colonised AFAIK, so no need to hijack it in the first place.

We've simply chosen to retain it as a legitimate part of our British heritage.

possoms

so you do have bonfire nights in OZ sorry dont understand why you are quoting me here, nor what you are saying

Vash the Stampede

Yes, we do have bonfire nights.

I am quoting you because you said "think is its an english custom so wouldn't have thought they would celebrate it."

I am simply pointing out that we do celebrate it.

possoms

well I stand corrected yet again, I was only quoting what someone had posted earlier re Halloween they said you couldnt have them due to bush fires.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...4&postcount=17

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...9&postcount=18

Vash the Stampede

As a general rule of thumb, it's best to ignore at least 40% of the stuff some people say about Australia because they're very often wrong - whether accidentally or otherwise.

Oh, and just where do they think Aussies live - deep in the outback somewhere? We DO have suburbs, you know - and there's not much chance of starting a bushfire there!

possoms

The two people in the links I posted do live there.

Vash the Stampede

That's no guarantee that they'll be right - especially if they're ex-pats!

possoms

ok I'll leave it up to you to tell Mrs D shes not right.

gogdownunder

I've seen more bushfires in Melbourne than bonfires

NickyC

I've been here for 26 years and never, ever have I seen or heard of anyone in Sydney celebrating Bonfire night.

Back in my early years here, Queens Birthday weeked was the traditional night for fireworks and it was called Cracker Night (not Bonfire Night). Because Queens Birthday is in June (early winter) it kind-of resembled Guy Fawkes night. No guys, though and definitely not on the 5th November.

Since NSW banned fireworks in the 1980's there haven't even been Cracker Nights. Don't know where in Australia they have Bonfire Nights - certainly not in NSW. Maybe it's an obscure Tasmanian tradition...