Day 12 by Georgia & Josh

Well today was a fairly relaxed day in the scheme of things, however it was also a day of mixed emotions. We had the option of what the tour considers a 'sleep in', as we didn't have to be in the lobby until 8:15! We then drove to meet our new Belgian friends for breakfast, which was yummy crossaints & pastries. After introducing ourselves to a large group of Pottleberg students, we shared two buses and went to the Trench Of Death for fallen soldiers from Belgium and Polygon Woods for fallen soldiers from Australia with students from the opposite country honouring the other with a poem, then James played The Last Post and the Reveille on the bugle followed by a minute silence. 

At the Australian memorial, Polygon Wood, we went for a small walk through the wood to see some of the trenches, however they were full of water at this time of the year, which was interesting as they hadn't had rain all week yet it was still full of water. It made you imagine what it would have been like in the trenches during Winter with lots of rain.

We said goodbye to our Belgian friends because they had to get back to their school. We soon followed suit and headed back to the hotel where we were then given a bit of a break for some quick shopping or just to relax. At 6pm we all gathered in the hotel to have an early dinner and luckily for us we ate at the hotel rather than having to walk anywhere. To finish of the day we had the option to go to then Menin Gate ceremony again. Some of us were lucky enough to meet the only living descendant of a Victoria Cross medallist from The Great War. Once we finished packing for the next day we all went to bed for some much needed sleep.