This morning was a fairly early start with us having to be ready by 7:30am, when we started our 1 hour bus ride to the Australian Memorial in Villers Bretonnuex where we had a quick look around for some Collie soldiers, took some photos, and held some small services. It was here were we also dropped off Mr Dent, Mason and myself (Rhiannon) for rehearsals for the ANZAC Day service. We spent the day going over our parts we will speak at the ceremony and watching the other acts rehearse. It was amazing to see how much organisation and effort goes into this service to ensure it runs smoothly.
Whilst they were rehearsing, the rest of the tour drove to many different significant sites. First stop was to the Australian Corps Memorial Park, La Hamel. Then we travelled to the resting place of Kelsey's great, great uncle, where Monique read her poem and Kelsey said the Ode.
We then moved on to Albert for lunch, splitting into groups in search of food with some of us searching much further than others-Kelsey, Natalia and Josh attempted to find McDonald's until they figured out that the five minute drive would most likely take a lot longer on foot! After eating we ventured into the underground museum, where we looked at pieces and information from WW1. Mrs Abbott and Justine received a fright when in the stimulated war trenches Mr Croft jumped out (but we would get him back later).
Next we travelled to Georgie's great, great uncle at the London cemetery, were Josh read his poem and said the Ode in our small service. After, we went to the South African memorial site called Deville Woods, where the last surviving tree of the Somme is located, this beautiful tree is now over one hundred years old. After taking time to look around we took advantage of the wide open grass area, and threw around our makeshift sport equipment (plastic water bottle).
We then headed to Caterpillar Valley for yet another emotional service, this time, for Sarah's great uncle, with Liam's poem and Sarah saying the ode. After we drove back to Villers Bretonnuex to pick up Mason, Rhiannon and Mr Dent and have a service for Jordan's extended relation and Miss Wellington's great, great uncle, with Jordan saying his poem and Miss Wellington saying the Ode.
After returning to the hotel we had some time to rest or explore Arras. Jarrad, Mason, Georgia and Liam went out for a walk with the rest of us taking time to watch part of a movie or rest before going to dinner at 7:30 chosen by Justine and Mrs Curran. We tried a restaurant that made the best ribs in town. The menu consisted of a variety of starters and for mains ribs; original ribs, smoked ribs, Texan ribs, ribs with chicken, ribs with steak, ribs with prawns, ribs, ribs, ribs! During the night Brianna wanted some bread and Mr Croft decided he would "help her out" by telling her how to say " Can I please have some bread?" Brianna reluctantly tried her French out to find Mr Croft had told her to ask for a kiss! She got a kiss on the cheek by our waiter after he checked several times with Mr Croft that it's okay for him to do so. We were also given a tour of the underground tunnel that the Australian soldiers used for shelter during World War One, which was directly underneath the restaurant! We went down in two groups, the first group left Nat at the door, waiting to get her revenge on Mr Croft. When Mr Croft opened the door, Nat jumped out from the dark, making Mr Croft jump! We ended the night with an enjoyable experience which left Mrs Curran and Justine in second place with a combined score of 37!
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