Territory Day

1 July is the anniversary of the day the Northern Territory was granted self-government (21 years this year) and the territorians celebrate in style. NT is one of the last places in Australia where people are allowed to buy fireworks, albeit only on the one day, and the locals made the most of it. There were queues down the street outside fireworks retail outlets, and reports on radio of people spending hundreds of dollars.

The bangs started in the late afternoon, and got into full swing once the sun went down. Our caravan park had thankfully banned the use of fireworks inside the park, but the locals were at it full tilt. It was non-stop explosions (some sounding like full-strength TNT rather than just a firecracker) and star bursts for hours. This morning there are still sporadic bangs and pops, I suspect we'll be hearing them for weeks.

The local radio this morning is congratulating Territorians on their responsible fireworks use - there were only 90 fires, 4 minor injuries and a badly burned 15 month old baby. The litter and detritus left on various public open spaces defies description.

Ironically, for all the euphoria surrounding the celebration of Territory Day, it isn't even a public holiday here!