Yesterday was the perfect occasion for indulging in a barbecue or two.

I went to five.

By 9am I’d managed to tuck away three sausages at two different barbecues.

Communities across Bendigo welcomed me into their Australia Day celebrations, as I fuelled my barbecue addiction under the guise of writing a story.

Volunteers and community leaders were up before 6am cooking sausages and onions to feed my insatiable appetite.

As an added bonus, the local sausage sizzles seemed to bring communities together. Across the region, the barbecue was the central point for Australia Day celebrations.

At Maiden Gully hundreds of residents gathered at the community park to enjoy a cooked breakfast.

From Kangaroo Flat to Eaglehawk, the barbecue was an Australia Day winner.

Kangaroo Flat CFA volunteer Bill Bowery, 82, said he’d shared a hamburger with old friends he hadn’t seen in years.

John Smith from Maiden Gully was armed with tongs as he spoke to a group of friends about how community events helped bring people together.

While they were chatting about the great things Australia Day had to offer, I helped myself to another free sausage.