Day 17 by Kelsey & Mason

Once upon a ridiculously early morning, 32 dedicated, hard working, utterly exhausted tour members set out on a truly wonderful bus trip *wink wink nudge nudge* to Villers Bretonneux. The problem with this trip compared to the others was the fact that our bus driver was slightly intimidated about the journey we were embarking on. Taking us the back route on a road almost abandoned from traffic, even though there was around 6000 other dedicated participants heading to the same location. With multiple stops and confusion and an extra hour onto the journey we finally saw the lights of the ceremony, and weren't we glad (although there were quite a few staff and students who managed to sleep through a fair chunk of it). After claiming our seats and sending off Rhiannon and Mason accompanied by Mr Croft and Mr Dent as they were participating in the Roll of Honour name call as part of the pre ceremony service, we set up our umbrella hats, scarfs, beanies, gloves and solar blankets preparing our selves for the weather as the rain and chilling winds started to sweep across the open landscape. The weather became progressively more horrendous as the dawn service began, so much so, that students and adults were forced to don the most beautiful ponchos ever introduced to humankind. 

Mason and Rhiannon did a fantastic job reading the names of lost service men that fought for our country 100 years ago, getting soaked through in the process. The whole ceremony was chilling, sending shivers up your spine. The amount of people that put up with the weather to pay their respects to the lost soldiers was unimaginable the seats were full and people were standing around in massive packs trying to keep warm. At the end of the ceremony we laid a wreath on behalf of Collie Senior High (yes, this involved removing the beloved ponchos, beanies and scarves). It was a massive honour and everybody did their part in giving Collie and Australia a great sense of pride. 

Once the ceremony ended and we had lined up for our coffee and breaky, it was a waiting game. The thousands of people that braved the cold at Villers Bretonneux for the ceremony were waiting for their bus in the same spot as us, and amongst the buses to take these people away was ours, bus number 50! After climbing aboard and cranking up the heater we were back on the road, heading to Bullecourt were we would be participating in two more ceremonies. On our travels, we stopped at a small cafe in Albert to fill our empty stomachs. Whilst waiting for our food, some of us took the time to look for some more things to buy in small markets located just outside the cafe. Some even bought extra bags to carry the few extra kilograms of chocolate and clothes they have onto the plane to avoid a large bill. After this much needed break we got changed in to our dry formal uniforms and made the rest of the journey to Bullecourt. 

The first ceremony we participated was held in the town centre, near the church and town hall. We did not have a large role in this ceremony, but we were part of the crowd paying our respects along with many officials from both Australia and France. Like all the other ceremonies, it was moving experience and an honour to have the privilege to participate in it. After this ceremony, we were invited along with the rest of the crowd to participate in the second town service in Bullecourt. This was held near the Diggers memorial near one of the battlefields in the town for the soldiers of the Great War. Again a touching ceremony in which we paid our respects. At this ceremony, some of the students laid a wreath while the rest of the staff and students formed a guard of honour. This was the final formal ceremony that our tour was to participate in and while being relieved that the day was over, we were all extremely sad to see it end. 

After this very long day, the bus trip home had 32 very tired tour members either sleeping or trying to stay awake so Mr Croft didn't take a selfie with them while they slept. When we arrived back in Arras, an early dinner at an Italian restaurant that Mrs Abbott & Miss Wellington choose, saw us at the conclusion to our very long and emotional day. Many of us had not eaten too much because we were far too exhausted, but others stopped in to get ice cream on the way back to the hotel. When we were all back, it was not too long before we were all in bed ready for a well deserved, much needed sleep.