TOOWOOMBA ON AUSTRALIA DAY

BY LISA MACHIN, COLUMNIST

One of my strongest memories of going to school in Toowoomba was standing on stage, little chest puffed out alongside all the other kids as we drew huge dramatic breaths and belted out (a tad off key I might add) T-double-o-double -yoooo-doubleo-m-b-ayyyyyy, it’s the name of a beautiful city, that we all live in today.”

The very name itself is wild, and always provides a chuckle when our visiting Irish relatives take aim at the pronunciation.

There’s much debate about the origin of the word Toowoomba, some believe it’s a corruption of the indigenous word ‘tchwampa’ — the swamp.

Others argue it stems from ‘choowoom’ meaning native melon and others still say it comes from ‘woomba woomba’ meaning ‘reeds in the swamp’.

Whatever the origin, there’s something very Australian and very special about this city of ours perched on the Great Dividing Range, which dishes up scorching summers and strange fog-encased winters.

My dad used to declare with glee on a winter’s day, “Look at that kids — fog so thick you couldn’t hear a dog bark.”

So what place does our Garden City play in the modern Aussie narrative?

It’s come a long way since my teenage days when the top forms of entertainment included sliding down the Webb Park hill on a cardboard box.

Theatre, lounge bars, street art, lane-way cafes, more culture than a pot of yoghurt and a general ‘changing of the guard’ feel — these things to me reflect the modern Aussie narrative.

Today’s Australian is a connected and informed one, and it’s been lovely to see out city evolve accordingly, without losing that old-school charm that grounds us.

So to celebrate on January 26 this year I might order a turmeric latte on almond milk (hipster darling!), attach a Gopro to my head (like the modern technology-crazed Aussie) and slide down Webb Park hill on a cardboard box yelling “viva Toowoomba” in celebration.