27th April 2011

Hello from Canakkale!

After an early start to the morning, some of us were greeted by our first sighting of rain in a foreign country.  Meeting Izzet Yildirium (our tour guide) and boarding the bus for the 8 o’clock ferry, we were extremely annoyed to miss the ferry and have to wait for another hour. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise with Mr Croft deciding to treat us all with Turkish baklava and chocolate éclairs.

After crossing on the ferry, we ambled our way to Brighton Beach, which was the intended landing spot of the ANZAC soldiers.  Izzet gave us insights into some of the theories of the botched landing spot, as well as detailed information into the reason why Turkey was brought into the war and their allegiance with the German troops.

Following this, we made our way to the commemorative site of ANZAC Cove (where the ANZAC Day Ceremony was held) for our own private ceremony. As we stood on the mournful beach we reflected on the tragic loss of life our men faced for the sake of their country. We laid the wreath on the water’s edge, near where the Western Australian troops had attacked the beaches.  We also managed to take some magnificent photos at the monumental beaches before moving towards Hill 60.

The Hill 60 (not the same as the Belgian Hill 60) Cemetery was found atop a hill 60 feet above sea level (hence the name). To reach the cemetery, we had to climb through thick sticky clay that clung to our feet. Here we saw remains of trenches dug by the Allies. Izzet informed us of the planned attack between the troops at Hill 60 and the Australian capture of Lone Pine. The Australians were to draw troops away to Lone Pine to allow the English forces a clear path to hill 971 to give them higher ground. After exploring the cemetery we trudged back down the hill and boarded the bus to the Shrapnel Gully.

At Shrapnel Gully Cemetery we found Major Quinn’s headstone, which Quinn’s Post is named after. Then the girls and Mr Croft all put their ponchos on for the drizzle that was falling, before climbing up a steep hill to Plugge’s Plateau. The plateau gave us a brilliant view of the peninsula (even with the cloud cover). Halfway up the hill, Mr Croft witnessed a miracle. He was explaining how the soldiers scaled the hill with 60-pound packs and rifles without any stairs and paths when Ashleigh Holmes swore never to complain EVER again. He then quickly snapped a photo as proof of the incident (which Ashleigh is now regretting).

After we all had made it back to level ground, we drove up to Lone Pine. Here we learned of the youngest Australian soldier to die for his country: Private James Martin, aged 14 years 9 months. This shocked all of us deeply, as we couldn’t imagine fighting for our country at our age, let alone 14. Liam Calton read his poem out as we reflected on the lives lost in the battle that was used as a diversion for the English.

After paying our respects, we walked to Johnston’s Jolly and saw Turkish and Australian trenches. Following this we jumped back on the bus and headed up to Quinn’s Post, which was the as far as the Allied troops ever reached on the peninsula. We then walked to the 57^th Regiment memorial, which was Mustapha Kemal Attaturk’s regiment. Then we bussed to The Nek memorial. The Nek was one of the most moving battles of the whole campaign with 400 unidentified bodies in a mass grave.

We then walked to a viewpoint near the Sphinx and looked out onto the whole of ANZAC Cove. The panoramic views showed the harsh reality the ANZACs had to face in order to conquer the impossible. After travelling on and off for eleven hours we finally made it back to Canakkale. We walked to a nearby restaurant which provided an excellent meal for everyone. We all retired early for a long bus ride tomorrow to Istanbul.

Ryan & Ashleigh H

April 26th

What’s up!

After our big walk up the hill to Lone Pine yesterday, Mr Croft decided to give us the day off.

Everyone had the most chilled day, it was great (:  We didn’t have to meet downstairs until 10:00, so Ashleigh and I skipped breakfast and slept in till 9:45. We had our little meeting and were told to meet back at the hotel at 1:00 to get money for lunch. We formed our little groups, ours consisting of me (Chloe), Ashleigh, Jonty, Keegyn, Mum (Kylie), Jamie and Ash Hollins. We spent the whole morning shopping! Was so, so good!  

It was amazing  to see how many gold shops there are here, and how cheap it all is! One whole street was pretty much all jewellery shops. I bought a pair of jeans, Ashleigh got a dress and some shorts and stuff, and the boys just kind of followed us around. We got through one whole street, looking in almost every shop before it was almost 1 o’clock. We made our way back to the hotel and Mrs Walkerden gave us our money for lunch.

Our group found this really nice kebab shop, as that is very popular here! It was yummy and really filling.

After lunch we continued with our shopping. There wasn’t really much left we had to buy, Ashleigh and I found a nice pair of shoes each and the adults got watches and stuff. We bought some fruit to take back for later on and then went back to the hotel at 3:00, to chill before tea at 7:00. Everyone just sat around in their rooms, on computer, listening to music and some people went for a walk to look at the Trojan Horse. 

Ashleigh went for the walk, but I didn’t. She said it showed how the town used to be, and that it was really interesting and nice; although she couldn’t live how those people had to. Before long it was time for tea. Everyone had showered and was in the lobby by 6:45.

Jamie picked the restaurant for tonight; it was a nice little place on the shore. We got there and ordered. I got cheese pizza, chips and ice cream. Others got pasta and chicken, but everyone got ice cream for dessert. The restaurant was weird, it was giving us our mains before entre, and some people even got dessert first!  It was 2 and a half hours before everyone got there food and finished. The wait was really bad and the restaurant was a bit unorganised, but in the end the food was really good.

At about 9:30 we got back to the hotel, we were told we would have to be downstairs by 7:30 in the morning, as we have another day of touring at ANZAC cove! Hearing this, everyone went up to their rooms for an early night.

We are having a great time and miss everyone back home.

Chloe and Ashleigh (: (:

ANZAC Day

Hello everyone!

Happy Easter to everyone!

We have had a very busy two days, with the lead up to the dawn service and the services we participated in on ANZAC day. On the 24^th we had a quick breakfast before making our way to the Gallipoli Peninsula via bus, ferry and foot.

We stopped off at Lone Pine, to drop off our formal uniforms for the following days service, where we met some of the organisers of the event before making our way down the Lone Pine track to Shell Green Cemetery which is located in a beautiful spot midway on the long walk to ANZAC cove. The area looks out over the peninsula and surrounding area, here we had our lunch and kicked the footy.

We then carried on walking down the track to Beach Cemetery, where John Simpson Kirkpatrick is buried, who was the famous Simpson and his Donkey and who was killed whilst rescuing a wounded soldier from the battlefield.

We continued on our way to the area where the service would be held. We were allowed in to pick a spot but soon had to leave again so the area could be checked for bombs. We then sat outside the security gates and waited for several hours before finally being let in at 6 o’clock.

Once in, we settled in for the night in high spirits despite having to adorn thermals and many layers of clothing to resist the cold, windy weather. During the lead up to dawn some people chose to get some sleep while others chose to wait out the long night and some had no option but to stay awake.

 We were entertained by our cobbers and a program of historical documentaries and music from the World War One era. Throughout the night there was a very patriotic but solemn atmosphere, with thousands of proud Aussies and Kiwis packed into the designated area, joking around and continuing the larrikinism demonstrated by the Australian soldiers during the Great War.

One of the high points of the lead up was being interviewed by Sarah from Channel Nine. Some of the students who were awake at the time along with Bumblebee (Mrs Walkerden) and Mr Croft, who was asked about the importance of ANZAC day and about Jonty’s  thoughts on the importance of being at Anzac cove for the service. This can be viewed on the Channel Nine website (http://today.ninemsn.com.au/videoindex.aspx?videoid=c230fd7e-85cc-450b-87f4-98a00790b3ef )

At 4:30 a.m. any group member that was still asleep was awoken as all people on the grass had been asked to sit up to allow more people into the area in preparation for the upcoming service. The sky began to lighten when the service started with the entrance of the catafalque party followed by the odes and prayers of the service. The Last Post was spine tingling and the National Anthem sung with more pride than ever.

By now the crowd had fallen silent and the flags of New Zealand, Australia and Turkey were flying high over the onlookers who were united in the remembrance of the fallen. There wasn’t a person in the crowd that hadn’t been touched by the moving ceremony, with all thinking of the men and women who died serving the Commonwealth, on the very spot where we were standing. It had become apparent to us all that this was an experience that would never be forgotten and that all Australians should endeavour to take part in.

When the service commenced, we began shuffling out of the area with the hundreds of people making their way up the hill to Lone Pine for the Australian ceremony. Upon arrival at the apex, we all rushed to get changed into our formal uniforms ready for the service to begin. Many of us thought that due to the walk back down Lone Pine and because the sun was now up, we would be warm enough in our formal uniform without our thermals.

We soon discovered this was not the case. We all huddled in the grandstand, with jumpers over our legs and with scarves and gloves on to attempt to fight the chilling wind while we awaited the laying of the wreaths. The service was amazing and the large contingent of Aussies who attended the service were silent throughout.

The dawn service was an amazing experience and both of the services that we took part in on the day were definitely worth the wait and cold we endured the day before. The pilgrimage that we made to Anzac Cove is one that every Australian and New Zealander should have the chance to experience.

“No Sleeping BumbleBee”,

Keegyn and Kaitlyn J

24th April 2011

We are on our way to ANZAC Cove to wait for tomorrow's dawn service.

On return we will post an entry about ANZAC Day.

For now, Happy Easter from all of us!

Friday 23rd

Friday 23^rd (day 7)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERSTYN!

Today we awoke from our last full night in Ieper, Belgium. We continued to tour battlefields and cemeteries of the Great War. We saw the Hill 60 crater (from the movie) and German pill boxes and bunkers.

No more baguettes and chips with mayonnaise. Now we are eating Belgian bread with salad.

After checking out a private museum full of authentic WWI equipment and weapons we saw a German cemetery. This cemetery has about 40 000 personnel from the German Imperial Army. 25 000 of them are in a mass grave about twelve metres by twelve metres. That’s about four times the population of Collie in one 40m squared piece of land.

In this cemetery there are about 7000 school aged children who had signed up to the war. 900 have their own burials and the rest are in the mass grave. We then went onto the cemetery where John McRae wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields”.

Today was our last day with Colin Gillard the tour guide and “Jerome: Europe’s number one bus driver”. We took Sherstyn, Colin and Jerome to Poppy’s restaurant near the Menin Gate. Sherbo was awarded her birthday gift which was ‘stealthily’ purchased by Ms Miller. She also got balloons. Kaitlyn thanked Colin in French and Keegyn pronounced his love for Jerome (unknowingly) in French.

We went to bed to awake at 3am for our flight to Turkey.

From Jorje and Samuelle (Josh & Sam)

Hello Hello

Today we were once again bombarded with the reality of war: the massive amount of fallen soldiers. This was made evident to us when we travelled through the battlefields of France and Belgium; scenic but incrusted with the history of our nation and many others.

Firstly, we travelled onto Vimy Ridge; however, before reaching the jaw-dropping memorial we passed a millions of shell craters and fenced off areas which were filled with live explosives and thousands of unfound, fallen soldiers. Vimy Ridge, although a Canadian memorial, the sight of this gigantic structure takes your breath away. The two white towers are beautiful, covered in statues: a fitting tribute to the fallen soldiers of Canada.

Then, we travelled a short distance to the reconstructed trenches of the German and Canadian troops. We were shocked by the realisation that the warfare was at such close quarters: literally a matter of 50m apart. We were next chilled by the German cemetery close by. The cemetery contained 40 000 crosses with 4 names per cross.

Following this and a few other cemeteries we travelled to VC Corner. This particular cemetery lay hold to two mass graves totalling 410 fallen soldiers. This cemetery contained the relative of Sam and Kristy Pengelly. Then we did something quite moving: we walked in the footsteps of our soldiers from VC Corner to Cobbers. This utterly chilled us as we thought”we could have been one of the men who travelled this path at the battle of Fromelles, especially considering our age.”

Also the border between France and Belgium was ten metres apart with no mans land between and was as simple to cross as walking across a street. The locals were quite amused by us tourists jumping from one side of the border to the other. The fact that the ten metres in between belonged to neither country, this raised some quite perplexing questions that, sadly, no one could answer, such as “what happens if they have a baby in between?”

Cobbers memorial was quite a moving memorial as it symbolised all the characteristics the Australian troops prided themselves on: mateship and caring for your ‘cobber’.  We then travelled to the small town of Ypres to participate in the daily service at Menin Gate to lay a wreath in honour of the many fallen in the area.

This service would have to be one of the most eerie services so far, with its six buglers rumbling throughout the memorial and even a sole bag pipe blaring. This immense  sound rattled your bones with such intensity. I felt a great honour being able to participate in the service. When the bugles sounded it sent chills down my spine and definitely everyone else in the memorial. Walking up the stairs passing the names on the wall was a very moving experience.

 Having a great time,

Jonty and Liam =)

Bonjour!

Bonjour!

This morning we woke up to the smell of coffee and a plate of carbohydrates. We boarded the bus to begin our tour of the Western Front, to learn of the booby traps set by the Germans resulting in the annihilation of Bapaume’s town hall, consequently many Australian’s were buried alive.  We were astounded to learn that this battle began the use of improvised explosive devices (IED).

It was then time for a moving service at Beaulen Court British Cemetery in remembrance of Mr. Calton’s grandfather. The cemetery was very serene and peaceful in respecting our fallen men.  Following this, we made our way up to the High Wood Longueval Cemetery, which was very restricted as it still held 8000 lost soldiers. This intrigued us and naturally made us curious for wanting to explore these sacred woods. At High Wood we held a service in remembering a fallen soldier for a family back home in Collie.

We were thrown into the deep end by visiting the biggest war cemetery where 7000 men lay, this being the Serre Road Cemetery. Here lay an ancestor of Lachlan’s.  We then drove through the pristine country side of northern France to Pozieres. Here we had lunch and later commemorated the First Division Memorial and looked in awe at the preserved German underground bunker. As astonishing and moving as these were, we were absolutely overwhelmed by “The Windmill”, this was the place where the most amount of Australian men died in a single area.

Driving in the bus towards Thiepval, we were amazed by the magnitude of this memorial, which is the largest war memorial in the world. Standing underneath looking up at the walls, we are blown away by all the names, 73 000. The Beaumont- Hamel New foundland memorial, was astonishing as we experienced the trenches first hand and saw the battle fields and the after math of the war on the rolling green hills. The Beucourt- Hindeberg line runs for 90 miles.

We were all starting to get very exhausted and made a few short stops before heading back to the hotel. Collin, the tour guide, hunted on request for frog’s legs in the surrounding restaurants. Most of us braved the delicacy and were shocked at the similarity of them. We went for a final walk to the local Cathedral to see it magnificently glow in the night.

See you all soon,

        Jane and Georgia J

Journey through battlefields to Arras

Hey everyone back in Australia ,

Today we woke up bright and early to be picked up by Colin Gillard our tour guide and Jerome the bus driver.

We trekked it to the Second Division memorial in Mont St. Quentin where Colin shared some of his expansive knowledge with us. He explained the monstrous task that the Second Division soldiers were faced with at Mont St. Quentin.

After this Colin took us to look at his own project, a group of trenches around  the area that he is making open  for the public to view. We were the first ever group to see these trenches.

The next item on our agenda was the town of Peronne, where we went to the Historial de la Grand Guerre  museum to have lunch. After lunch we travelled to Heath cemetery.

This was a very emotional time as Sherstyn viewed the grave of a relative that fought in the war. Even in this small cemetery there was a huge amount of graves, this truly shows the magnitude of the Great War.

Next we went to the Australian memorial at Villers-Bretonneax, where we held our own ceremony. The ceremony was amazing,  with us singing our own national anthem and Jenny playing the eerie Last Post and Reveille.

Once we had looked around the memorial and paid our respects, Jerome took us to the town of Villers-Bretonneax. In this small town we went to the school which was rebuilt after the war with the  funds raised by schools in Victoria. The school is made to be like an average Australian school, it was built to be a living memorial for the Australian soldiers that fought in the war.

Once we had our photo in the Arc De Triumph formation, we went and looked around the Australian war museum which contained a model of one of the battle grounds.

After a long day we travelled  to our new home of Arras and dropped our bags off at Hotel Moderne.

Dinner was our next objective, at a seafood restaurant close to our hotel. Almost everyone tried snails, which Mrs Walkerden especially enjoyed. Finally we walked back to our hotel where everyone was glad to get some sleep.

Lachlan and Liam

 J 

Photos from Paris

Paris! Paris! Paris!

Today was an adventure-filled day in Paris! After everyone had had a good night's sleep from nineteen hours of flying we were up early to see the sights of Paris. First we made the long walk from our hotel to Notre Dame where everyone was in awe of the magnificent church and beautiful stain glass windows and statues.

We quickly made our way to Paris's most iconic landmark - the Eiffel Tower. Although some of us had small fears of the great height, everyone took the lift to the very top to view the absolutely stunning view of the city.

We are now very confident making our way around Paris via the Metropolitan, despite Mrs Walkerden yelling out across a whole carriage "WE'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!"... When in actual fact we were perfectly on course.

After a large feed of pizza for lunch we strolled down the Champs-Elysees and window-shopped until we reached the Arc de  Triomphe. From there we made our way to view the outside of The Louvre home of the Mona Lisa. For a bit of amusement and fun the adults decided to make us students ballroom dance in the square in front of  The Louvre for a photo opportunity (not to mention that there were many poeple watching us attempt this whilst looking very uncoordinated!).

We then had the chance  to spend some money in the countless number of gift shops.

After this long day we came back to the hotel for dinner and a well earned sleep, as we need to get up early to catch our bus to Arras and view various battle sites.

Brierley & Sherstyn

(More pictures uploaded in the morning) :)

Bon Jour from Paris!

We made it!

After a good night's sleep, we are all feeling human again and ready to take on the streets of Paris once more.

Tears, hugs and kisses as we left on the bus turned into excitement, wonder and awe as we arrived in the City of Lights early yesterday morning. It was a good thing that we could not check into our hotel rooms when we arrived as it meant that we had to stay on the run and tackle the fatigue in order to see as much as we can in the little time we have.

The Metro is an absolutely amazing service available in Paris. Tunnels and staircases in every direction is a confusion to begin with. It took most of yesterday to get our heads around the directions we needed to go and stops we needed to change at. A public transport system that needs to be seen to be believed.

We arrived at the Palace of Versailles to be met by thousands of fellow tourists hoping to get inside the golden gates to see the beautiful gardens and rooms of the Palace. Unfortunately, we were not to have time to waste over two hours in line and had to take our pictures from outside the gates. This was disappointing but it meant that we could see more of Paris.

After a lovely lunch at a nearby bistro we made our way back to Paris and to the Moulin Rouge. In an interesting district of Paris, we took photos outside the famous theatre before making a trek up the hill through the gorgeous streets of Paris.

This blog entry will be continued tonight and many photos of our first two days will be added so stay tuned!

Love from Paris!

Countdown!

As of tonight's meeting we will have 62 hours until we meet at school to begin our journey on Saturday morning.

The School ANZAC Ceremony and Combined School's Ceremony will be attended in the lead up to departure. These along with the town service, are always moving events. One can only imagine the emotion we will feel when we will stand on ANZAC Cove and many other sites to remember the diggers.