Boxing Day

Although we just call this the very inventive Day after Christmas, places like The UK, Australia,  New Zealand and a number of other countries call it Boxing Day.

So what do they do in Australia?

What do people do?

Many important sports events are held on Boxing Day. The Boxing Day test match is a cricket game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The game is between the Australian National cricket team and other national teams touring Australia. The match starts on Boxing Day and may last up to five days. Between 1999 and 2007, the Australian cricket team won all of the Boxing Day Test matches, marking a huge victory for the nation.
Another important sporting event that starts on Boxing Day is the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. This is also known as the Bluewater Classic and covers a distance of 630 nautical miles between Sydney Harbour and Hobart on the island of Tasmania. Traditionally, it took about six days for the yachts to reach Hobart, but now the fastest yacht usually reaches the finish in less than two days. The media interest in these prominent sports mean television programs are dominated by sporting events on Boxing Day. People also spend the day travelling home from their relatives or to an intended destination for their summer holiday, which tends to coincide with the school holiday period.
In some parts of Australia, the post-Christmas sales begin on Boxing Day. Stores offer their excess stock that was not sold before Christmas Day at reduced prices. Many people take advantage of the sales to buy products or services at significantly lower prices.

Public life

Boxing Day is a public holiday. Schools, other educational establishments and many organizations are closed. In some states, all stores are allowed to open. In others only certain types of stores are open. Many shops are open in tourist areas. Most public transport systems operate a reduced service. However, in some areas, there is no public transport on Boxing Day.

Background

Boxing Day is a holiday in many countries, such as Australia, in the Commonwealth of Nations. It was traditionally a day for employers in England to give bonuses of money, leftover food or old clothing to their employees, or for lords to give agricultural tools and seeds for the coming year to their tenants. These gifts were presented in a box. Some people believe that this is the reason that December 26 is known as Boxing Day. Others think that the origin of the name is related to the box into which parishioners put church donations. In some areas, this box was opened on Boxing Day and the contents were distributed to the poor people of the parish.
Note: Many Australian states and territories state in their holiday legislation that Christmas Day and/or Boxing Day are public holidays on December 25 and 26 unless they fall on a Saturday and/or Sunday, in which the following days (eg. Monday or Tuesday) that are generally working days, are substituted public holidays.

One tragic Boxing Day

The most memorable Boxing Day.

No one would have for seen it.

No one will forget.

The biggest natural disaster in History.

8 years have past now but I still remember where I was on that day.
Do you?

I often think of those who were there. It is good that now there are early warning systems in place.
But we must not forget all those who lost their lives.


Scale of the devastation of the Boxing-day tsunami

1. 275,000 people were killed in fourteen countries across two continents, with the last two fatalities being swept out to sea in South Africa, more than twelve hours after the earthquake.
2. 40,000 to 45,000 more women than men were killed in the tsunami.
3. US $ 9.9 billion was originally estimated to be the value of economic, infrastructural and human development losses.
4. 141,000 houses were destroyed, which accounts for 47.9 percent of the total damage (BRR & World Bank, 2005)
5. Over 600,000 people in Aceh lost their livelihoods (in some cases only for a few months) including all those in the fishery sector and 30 percent of those in agriculture.
6. A 1,200km section of the earth’s crust shifted beneath the Indian ocean and the earthquake released stored energy equivalent to over more than 23,000 Hiroshima bombs.
7. Speeds of 500km/h were reached as the tsunamis radiated through the Indian Ocean. In the worst cases, the waves reached over
8. Tsunamis reached 20m in height at landfall in parts of Aceh. In other locations they spread 3 km inland carrying debris and salt water with them. The retreating waters eroded whole shorelines.
9. Within ten minutes of the earthquake, tsunami waves started to strike the Nicobar and Andaman Islands. Banda Aceh was struck within another ten minutes.
10. Within two hours of the earthquake, both Thailand and Sri Lanka had been hit. The east cost of India was hit shortly afterwards.
11. Three hours after the earthquake tsunamis rolled over the Maldives and more than seven hours after, hit the Somali coast.
12. Over 1,000 German and Swedish tourists were killed. Germany and Sweden were the worst affected countries outside the region and lost more citizens than all but the four most affected countries.

I will always remember this day.

Cherish what you have as it can be lost so quickly,

Dave