Debbie Walker began her Australia Day with a swim at Sydney's Balmoral Beach before joining friends for a few pints in The Rocks with family and friends, wearing a shirt emblazoned with koalas, kangaroos and emus.
To her, the day is a reminder of the safety and freedoms Australia affords its residents.
"We're living in a country that is absolutely awesome. We're not bombing each other, we tolerate each other... I want people to remember we live in a fabulous country" she told AAP.
Ms Walker, a 57-year-old distribution manager, said political momentum associated with the day, with calls for changing the date to accommodate First Nation communities growing louder, missed the point.
She noted that crowds celebrating this year were markedly less than previous pre-pandemic turnouts because of political correctness.
"Whatever happened in the past, happened. It's not us who made the mistake it's our predecessors," she said referring to Indigenous dispossession and colonial violence.
But not everyone shares Ms Walker's views.
Thousands showed the depth of their feelings at the annual "Invasion Day" rally around the country, as speakers called for the abolition of the national Australia Day holiday and the government's plan to install an Indigenous voice to parliament.
In the 31 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody, there have been more than 500 additional deaths.
Bringing an outback spirit to Sydney's central district, Michael Flanagan, 50, rode down Cumberland Street on his white horse Pugsley in a decade-long tradition to mark the day.
"Australia Day represents our great nation and we should all be healing," he told AAP.
The civil engineer from Lightning Ridge in northern NSW wore an Akubra hat and smoked a cigar, as city onlookers took photos and patted the horse.
"It's fun, it's abnormal and it's a remnant of the past," he said.
In Melbourne, Jaime Castro said Australia Day reminded him how grateful he was to be free and enjoying life after his family fled conflict in El Salvador years ago.
"We are very grateful for everything Australia has done for us. Australia Day is every day because Australia saved our family," he told AAP.
Megan Ewins and friends took advantage of a day off together by having a picnic in the city's botanic gardens, but she said they were purposefully not celebrating Australia Day.
"I don't know a single person who is (celebrating), not even family members" she said.
