Get Active – Happy Harmony Day!

Today is Harmony Day in Australia! Harmony Day is a day when all Australians celebrate our cultural diversity and it gives people the opportunity to celebrate what makes each Australian unique and share what we have in common. The day is also the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The message for Harmony Day in 2012 is that Everyone Belongs, which means all Australians are a welcome part of our country, regardless of their background. It’s a time to reflect on where Australia has come from, recognising the traditional owners of this land. It’s also about community participation, inclusiveness and respect – celebrating the different cultures that make Australia a great place to live.

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Get Active – March’s Sunday in the Sun

On Sunday we had our second Sundays in the Sun, in glorious weather at Heritage Hill. It was a spectacular day, check out the photos below:

Up on the rose lawn, we had the wonderful Vardos playing their wild gypsy music.

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Get Active – guest post from Chris Serong

Today for our Get Active series, we have a guest post from martial arts student and teacher, Chris Serong.

I started training martial arts when I was a kid, because I was insecure, and I wanted to be confident that I could ‘take care of myself’. Even though that never came up – I have yet to experience some sort of street-conflict that I couldn’t talk my way out of – I’ve found my martial arts practice to be thoroughly rewarding, if a little inconsistent from time to time.

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Get Active – Sundays in the Sun

Getting Active is about getting out and about, finding new places and seeing new things. So we thought part of our Get Active series should definitely focus on Sundays in the Sun! Sundays in the Sun are all about getting outside, bringing a picnic, watching some great live music and having a wander around our beautiful gardens.

This Sunday (March 11) has a spectular line up you’re not going to see anywhere else on the planet! Check it out:

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Get Active – Roller Derby with Ale Mary

Today we start our series of Gettin’ Active in a variety of interesting ways. We’re starting with a BANG, chatting to Ale Mary, one of the ladies in charge of the South Sea Roller Derby, a roller derby league from South East Melbourne.

Can you give us a quick overview of Roller Derby, it’s origins and what it is today?
Roller derby started as a women’s roller skating sport in America in the 1940s, and became very popular in the ’50s and ’60s. Over the past decade it’s had a world-wide revival, and now it’s the fastest growing women’s sport in Australia! It’s a very tactical and dynamic team sport, played in two-minute segments or “jams”. In each “jam”, a “jammer” or racer from each team lines up, along with four “blockers” from each team, to race around the oval track. The jammers win a point for every opposition player they pass – their teammate blockers try to help them through, and the opposition blockers do everything they can to stop them! Oh, did I mention it’s full contact? The results are spectacular, and frequently bruising!

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Get Active month

March is Get Active Greater Dandenong month!

Get Active Greater Dandenong is month of free activities within the City of Greater Dandenong and aims to promote a healthy and active lifestyle for the residents of the City of Greater Dandenong. It is open to all residents.  It will be held in March 2012/13.  This is one of several initiatives being implemented as part of a national project funded by the Australian Government. During this month, Council will showcase sport and recreation activities at a range of locations. This will be done on a “come and try” basis and will be free to encourage community participation.

How do you keep Active? Walking down the shops for milk instead of driving? walking to dog at nights or going for a jog in the morning? Walking around the block at lunch? Doing tai chi? Yoga? Play a sport on the weekends? There’s lots of ways to add a little more active into your week, and that’s what Get Active is all about.

For those of you outside Greater Dandenong, you can play along at home as all this month on the blog we’ll be looking at being active and healthy, some great recipes and we’ll be meeting a bunch of people who exercise in a variety of interesting ways. So stick around, and as always, let us know if you have something to contribute to our theme!

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