It's Anzac Day here, the day when Australia remembers those who have died in all the wars since the first world war. The day commemorates the Galipoli landings in 1915, which the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) took a major role.
This morning the services took place at 5-30am, before dawn, the time when the Anzacs went ashore, and met fierce opposition from the Turkish hordes onshore.
Later the parades started, we went down into the town to watch, and were amazed at the crowds there. I think there would be in excess of half a million people of all ages just watching. The parade took over two hours to go by, led by a force in the dress of first world war diggers, who got a huge cheer from the crowd.
Representatives from every branch of the \Australian services followed, some thousands on the parade, along with many veterans, some of whom made brave efforts to march along, and some who had to be driven in Jeeps and the like.
As they passed us many of the units saluted us, or at least we thought they were, it was later that we realised that we were stood in front of the Anzac Memorial and the eyes left was of course for that!
Later in the parade representatives of many overseas forces passed us, one of the strongest was the British, because of course there are many ex-pats here. They were followed by groups from other Commonwealth countries, and even France had a contingent from the Foreign Legion..
It was heartening to see the many young people who took part, some of whom proudly wore the medals of their fallen fathers and grandfathers, marching along with their units.
They do this so well over here, they are truly proud of their forces and will not forget the sacrifices that have been made in their name, and bearing in mind that there are at least another dozen parades in the suburbs of Brisbane, the turnout was absolutely huge.
Later while walking about the city we found out that the show Annie is on here, and there was a matinee on today. We went along to the theatre on the off chance of getting tickets, to be told it was completely sold out. However we decided to wait to see if there were any returns, and we were rewarded with two of the best tickets in the house- tenth row right in the centre stalls! The show was fantastic, the kids stole the show of course, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house at the end.
Add in a great meal at the local RSL club, and it all adds up to a great day in Brisbane, tomorrow it is packing and making ready for our trip to Malaysia.
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