Day 16 by Jarrod & Alyssia

Today we were rewarded with a sleep in, not having to leave until nine. We boarded the bus for another day on the road with our first stop at the Lochnagar Crater. To many of us this crater appeared larger than others that we have seen because it was the first crater that was not filled with water. This was only blown up using 60 000 pounds of explosives where as the first crater we visited was blown up using 90 000 pounds of explosives. 

Next stop was at the Australian First division memorial, this was located outside the town of Poziers. The battle site has been described as the place on earth most densely sown with Australian blood. It was here that we met another school from South Australia, St. Michael's. Both groups combined and we performed a small ceremony for the Turley family. We also found out that it was around this location that Martin O'Meara was awarded his Victoria Cross. We made a quick stop at the Mouquet Farm memorial plaque so Jordan & Dave could see where their relative was killed in action.

Our journey continued as we stopped at the British National Memorial. This memorial was the biggest memorial that we have seen, it contained around 75 000 names of British soldiers that were never found and have no grave. There was also French soliders buried at this cemetery. From Theipval memorial, the group made our way to the second Serre-road cemetery where we held a service for Simon and Mason's relative.

After this moving ceremony we made our way to Amiens for lunch and a look around the city. Once in the city we were able to visit the largest cathedral in all of France. The stonework and intricacies of the building were simply stunning and once inside you could only be gob smacked by its size and beauty. Unfortunately like most of the older structures we had already visited it was under maintenance and had scaffolding up the side of it. After this quick tour we all headed our separate ways for lunch. Reunited again we set off back to the hotel for an early dinner at a restaurant chosen by Mr Heptinstall and Mr Blackmore. Due to a small language barrier, there was some slight differences between what was served and what had been ordered. Eventually after much running around from Mr Blackmore, everyone received the right food and it was time to go back to the hotel for an early night in preparation for the early wake up tomorrow.