Day 15 by Rhiannon & Natalia

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!

Day 14 by Liam & Olivia

Today was a pretty busy and exciting day as we got to meet the Mayor of Peronne and explore many more cemeteries to pay our respects. We left the hotel at 7.45am and made our way to "The French School", where we shared breakfast with the students as they asked us interesting questions about life in Australia and the meaning of Anzac Day and its importance to us as a nation. We were also taken on a tour of the school exploring all of the hallways and singing the French national anthem to the music students. Macca put on quite a show for the students, bouncing like a kangaroo along the hallway!

After our tour of the French school we said our goodbyes and made our way to Heath Cemetary where Natalia read her poem and James Abbott recited the ode. After our ceremony we headed back to the bus and made our way to a war museum on Victoria Street. We found the museum very interesting and we're all intrigued with the precious artefacts used within the First World War. We also had a photo in front of the school that Australian soldiers helped to save in the war. After the Aussies saved the town they didn't want to ever forget this sacrifice so they had a sign painted on their school saying "Do Not Forget Australia." After the museum we travelled to Adelaide Cemetary which contained the 'remains of the unknown soldier'. We were all very emotional when it came to this as Mr Croft read the speech that was presented by P.J Keating to honour the men that died without their remains ever being recovered. This cemetery was surrounded by canola plants, which gave a beautiful view to the side.

It was now time to travel to the city of Peronne, where we met the Mayor and spent time in the city hall. We then had the opportunity to ask the Mayor questions as we sat in the council chambers. Afterwards, we explored the magnificent artefacts that are kept within the hall. One of the council members explained to us how during the First World War when the town was under threat, they buried all of the artefacts underground to prevent them from being destroyed by bombs.

This then brought us to our last stop for the day which was the Mont St Quentin, a memorial for the 2nd division where they made an act of courage to do the impossible. They succeeded in taking the area from the Germans with 1/3 of the amount of men they were supposed to have. It is said to be the greatest battle of the war. The original memorial was taken by the Germans as it contained the German eagle flat on its back with an Australian soldier looming over it with a bayonet. The new memorial is now an Australian soldier by itself. We held a ceremony where Dante read her poem and the ode and James Moulden played his bugle. We then hopped back on the bus and headed back to the hotel for a few hours rest before dinner.

To finish off the day we had a special farewell dinner for our tour guide, Colin, at one of his favourite restaurants. There were a range of scores with their lowest score being a 5 and the highest being a 10. Sadly though, Sheree and Leonie only scored a 36 for the night putting them in second place for the My Restaurant Rules competition. Tomorrow night, Mrs Curran and Miss Bottega will be introducing us to their restaurant with the "best ribs in town"!

Day 13 by Georgie-Rose & James

We all had a pretty relaxed start to the day today after finally being able to have a 20 minute sleep in, which sounds like nothing, but if you were to see us all right now a little extra sleeping time definitely wouldn't do any harm. 😜 After loading up the bus we headed out to travel further around the Western Front, the first stop being at Bedford House Cemetery where we visited and payed our respects to E. Thompson, the relatives of the Thompson's that were on the previous tour. After Mr Croft managed to get the attention of the gardeners to ask them to be quiet, Georgia read her poem, Georgie (me) recited the ode while James played the bugle and we held a minute silence. 

We visited the Island of Ireland Peace Park where we paid our respects to the Irish soldiers who fought in the war. There was also some poems that were carved into stone and placed there some of these were very sombre. Continuing our journey to Arras we detoured to the Pool of Peace or Lone Tree Crater, largest man made crater on the Western Front, where we saw a freshly dug up shell in the paddock next door.

After travelling further we stopped at one of the most famous fields involved in the war. It's called Christmas Truce and it was where the two different nations, Germany and Britain, joined together on Christmas Day to celebrate together by sharing food and stories and a game of soccer which the British claim to have won (there's a first time for everything). We then walked through the woods to the all Australian cemetery, Toronto Avenue, where 37 Australians are buried, all being killed on the same day on the 7th of June 1916. Here we held another ceremony to honour those who fought for our country. 

After venturing on we stopped at Rue Du Bois cemetery where Georgia's great Grandfather has been laid to rest. It was a very emotional time for all of the students as we come to the realisation of how close to home the tour is becoming. Then we headed off to the border after a quick stop over at a chocolate shop, so to all the parents reading this, don't be surprised if you get toiletries and clothes mailed home to you to make room for the chocolate. Especially the Mouldens, you may need to pay for an extra seat on the plane so James can fit. Once we fit all our bags back on the bus we started the exciting drive to cross the border from Belgium to France, after convincing Emma she needed her passport out and ready we apparently crossed the boarder, only knowing because our tour guide pointed it out! We headed to Fromelles and Cobbers memorial in France. We learned that the battle of Fromelles was the only piece of land in France that the Australians aimed to capture but failed, resulting in over 1701 deaths of our men, where only 400 soldiers have ever been found on the land that we were walking over.

After a visit to the Cobbers memorial we discovered what true aussie mate ship was about. The statue in the centre was of two Anzac soldiers from the 57th and 60th battalions where one solider is carrying the other after he had been wounded. After we reenacted the statue we left for Arras and had a quiet tea near the hotel, with snails on the menu (although James M & Miss Bottega were too scared to try)...at least it was quiet until Mr Heptinstall caused a commotion and had to be taken to hospital, worried he was having an allergic reaction! We got back and hit the sack as soon as we could before a massive day tomorrow, hopefully Liam won't be spewing again tonight after smelling putrid gas produced by one of the students!