2015 Collie Senior High School Anzac Tour: Day 19 and 20 Homeward Bound and Last word from Mr Croft

They are on the way home!!

En route Paris to Doha

Depart Paris QR040 1600

Arrive Doha 2320

We are on our first plane home...on a big double decker plane with quite a bit more room...

Miss Wellington

Airbus A380-800 (quad-jet)

Click here for flight tracking details

We are on our final leg, awaiting our departure from Qatar International Airport. This tour has been a wonderful success. I am immensely proud of all of our students, who have acted at all times as wonderful ambassadors of our school, town and Australia.

I have had many comments from strangers of many different nationalities at how polite, helpful and mature our students have been, throughout the tour and in every country. We have made new friends with the students in Atheneum Pottelberg, Belgium and Beranger College in Perone, France and been hosted by the mayor of Perone.

Everybody has learnt a tremendous amount about the First World War, at times perhaps, more than we felt comfortable with for it was such an awful struggle on a scale that can really only be appreciated by walking the battlefields and seeing the countless graves that are tended so lovingly by the countries in which they lie.

The students have also had a fantastic immersion in different cultures. One that is sure to spark an appreciation for other peoples and perhaps the desire to travel further. It has also given them an insight into just how extremely fortunate they are to come from a country like Australia and what it means to be Australian.

We have found the graves of relatives and the men of Collie in all battlefields and located their names on the walls of memorials. Sadly, so many. We held our own services at these places where we read poems and played the Last Post and reflected silently on the meaning of the Ode and all we had lost. Sometimes it was too much for some of us and therein lies the real value of this tour to our students; there is hope for all of us if our youth can feel and be moved so deeply and learn the lessons from history.

Perhaps peace, tolerance and understanding of other cultures and religions may be something they fiercely uphold. Those Australian traits of egalitarianism. fairness and openness based on a secular democratic tradition are the ideals that stemmed from those men who left our shores during the Great War. They may not have been able to identify or articulate them that way but it was what they would achieve for us. This tour aims to revisit these values and reaffirm them to our youth.

James Moulden deserves a special mention for his bugle playing which he did extremely well (if not with the most alacrity at times much to his tour leaders frustration- warming up was always problematic and I guess you can’t rush an artist) and it added a depth of solemnity and reverence that we all appreciated. James is usually funny - usually, but not when in the town hall of Perone and addressing La Mayor! Oh and there was that day in the hotel...

Jarrod Vickers was a credit to the school as its Captain. Always polite, well-mannered and helpful, he served his school well and his reading of the Ode at the Menin Gate Ceremony was a first for Collie Senior High School and a great honour. A highlight of the tour for me and he did his parents proud.

Georgie-Rose likewise represented the school as Captain and her smile and good nature was appreciated by many. I may be pretty colour blind but I have never seen anyone blush as hard as Georgie when she was asked to thank the firemen in Paris! She is also the heavyweight shopper of the tour weighing in at 29.7kg on the return leg and still going strong in the airports.

Liam was a gentleman all tour and quietly went about being fascinated and moved by what he saw. Mature and seamlessly polite and friendly. He really enjoyed himself and cared for others the whole way through. A very special young man!

Georgia was wonderful all tour and we all were affected by the raw emotion of visiting her great, great grandfather’s grave. She was a trooper through her sickness and only mildly suffered from foot in mouth disease.

Rowdy (Emma) was a troublemaker all tour. Whenever any shenanigans were on, Rowdy was at the centre of it., and if she wasn’t, we blamed her anyway. Emma is such a lovely young lady she will believe anything her tour leader will tell her, even that the man standing randomly by the exit to the airport needed to see her passport!

Mason also was a gentleman and wonderful ambassador for our school. His efforts at the Dawn Service at Villers Bretonneux were outstanding and he always showed good humour, even when he had to have dinner with me. His attempts to include me in the conversation were appreciated, even if I didn't have a clue what it was all about.

James Abbott has grown a great deal over the course of this tour and not only in height! Quite willing to have a crack and put his hand up for everything. Even telling our Turkish bus driver how pretty he was and that he'd like to marry him. James also needs to learn not to play tricks on the tour leader! He was an outstanding contributor and it was nice to see him look after his mother from time to time.

Natalia was another trooper. Very ill at the beginning, she was more concerned with how it was affecting the rest of-the group. Always pleasant and polite she gave her best at all times and even tried to scare me in a deep dark tunnel but I knew she was there all the time and I didn’t’ jump one bit. Honest! Karma got her in the end because she had to sit next to me on the plane.

Brianna was the most excitable sponge on the tour. She wanted to take everything in and all at once with double doses. Her enthusiasm was outstanding and her ability to talk to others (that means anybody and everybody) was truly impressive, if not bedazzling for others! She even managed to ask a young waiter for, and got a kiss while asking for bread. Now how did that happen?

Jordan is going to become a great man one day. He shows initiative, drive and insight into a great many things that others don’t. A heavy dose of common sense to boot. He and his Dad’s finding of their ancestors name and togetherness at Mouquet Farm was a highlight. Girls this one’s a keeper as long as he doesn’t grow a moe like his old man did back, in the day!

Monique's smile was always great to see. Up for anything and I think a very canny shopper, she really enjoyed herself on tour and gave it her all. Completely respectful and polite, intelligent and happy. What more could you ask for!

Sarah, dubbed "Cheeky' by Mrs Curran, as ever had her quiet, but wonderfully nice nature on display everywhere we went. We all have a soft spot for Sarah, and none more than me. She had a great tour and her smile lit up the world.

Dante had an incredibly successful tour in the shopping stakes and there are still a few bruised Turks in the Grand Bazaar wondering what hit them. Dante was only outmatched by Mrs Curran in the photo taking stakes and the family slide show when we get back is going to take a few weeks! Dante’s eclectic view on things sometimes left me scratching my head but it did make for some interesting and funny conversations.

John was incredibly good natured and impeccably polite and willing. He had a great tour and was incredibly good at holding all of Dante s shopping. The finding of his ancestors name on the wall at Tyne Cot was incredibly moving. A great young man!

Rhiannon! If only you could bottle her blood! An outstanding contributor and positive the whole way through, she truly was wonderful. Her efforts at Villers Bretonneux were just perfect and in wet, cold conditions. As she said, “the troops had it worse.”

Joshua was the one person who I most worried about! That he would lose something, like his passport, get lost or sleep through a fire alarm, which he did (though not the only one!) He was also the one who most surprised me. In a private conversation in one of the many cemeteries, he showed such depth of emotion, just quietly to me, that it nearly made me weep. He gave me all the justification I’ve ever needed as to why this tour is so worthwhile. He is also very gullible, just like Rowdy, and would have shown his passport to a random stranger if I let him!

Olivia, though usually pretty quiet, really shone on the tour and had a fantastic time. Her reading of her great Grandfather's diary at Poziers in front of all of us and another school (St Michaels) was really emotional. Hearing those words nearly a hundred years after they were written, in that place, brought home to all of us just how that battle affected our men and why it is ground " more densely sown with Australian saenfice than any other. Thank you Olivia.

Kelsey is a lot like her father: she likes to have fun! Always in the mix and ready to have a quip, she epitomises true Aussie spirit. Wonderfully aglow with life and vitality, determined (an Eagles supporter in a Freo- family with short memories) she took on all challenges on tour and represented our youth as we would all hope.

Alyssia is a steadfast, mature and intelligent young women who always gives her all. I was actually asked by another teacher from the Belgian school if my colleague would like some coffee. She had assumed that Alyssia was a teacher from the conversation that she had had with her! Reliable and dependable and she laughs at my jokes, or maybe that is, at me! A great scout.

I am not going to go into details about every adult on tour as they wouldn’t thank me! I have already spoken to them individually and as a group about how appreciative I have been of their efforts and friendship, humour and resourcefulness. They truly were a great bunch to have along on tour. Thank you guys!

I will mention Macca. Kevan McKenzie, our RSL veteran, whom I shared a hotel room the with during the whole tour. I won’t go into that! Kev was an outstanding bloke and awesome to have with us. The kids loved him, and the adults got to learn just what a sense of humour he had and just how competitive he was. I now officially declare him the winner of "My Restaurant Rules which he well deserved, despite the howls of protest from the also-rans. Thanks mate!

The parent body have been a most marvelous group of people. Thank you for the trust you, have shown in the school and the commitment to your children. You truly are amazing.

This tour is only possible because we come from the town of Collie. Its people and spirit and generosity make it happen. I hope you have all enjoyed our blog and found it entertaining. More importantly, I hope you find pride in the achievements of our students because they have done Collie proud.

Thank you.

Ed Croft

Doha to Perth