Day 12 - ANZAC Day

During the night the group was playing all sorts of card games to keep us occupied during the evening, with the Royal Australian Navy Band and The Gregory Terrace - All Hallows Gallipoli Choir singing and playing many songs through-out the night at different times. Then after most of us had at least a couple of hours sleep we were woken up at 4 am to roll up our sleeping bags and solar blankets. We all stood up and waited for the Dawn Service to commence. The service was well planned and everything was going well with the bag pipes playing, and the catafalque party marched in until their was an outburst by a Turkish man which was dealt by the police that were there. After that, the rest of the Dawn Service continued, with the laying of many wreaths by dignitaries the national anthems for Turkey, New Zealand and Australia were played and the ceremony was soon over. We then got ready for our 3.5 km walk up to Lone Pine. Mr Croft and Tyler however would continue walking another 3 kms to Chunuk Bair for the New Zealand memorial. Once we got to Lone Pine it was a mad rush for Kyah, Megan, Harrison and Jake to get into their formal uniform because they had the honour of laying the wreath on behalf of the school. The rest of the group went and sat up in the grand stand and waited for the service to commence. The Lone Pine service had a good atmosphere with the stands being filled with six thousand Australians, it was good to hear so many other Australian accents! After the minute silence and the national anthems were performed we then got to lay the wreath and pay our respects. Meanwhile, Mr Croft and Tyler nearly missed out on going inside the service at Chunuk Bair, when they got told they couldn't fit anyone else in and would have to sit outside and watch the service on a big screen. Mr Croft used his charm on the officials, telling them that they had their suits inside and were there to lay a wreath. The officials then let them in calling them VIP's and they got to sit up the front with all the important people. During the Dawn Service and the Chunuk Bair service, two Maori girls sung a traditional Karanga (Maori call to gathering). After the ceremonies were finished we then had to wait in the sun for four hours for the bus to come. After the bus finaly got to Lone Pine, we all had to jump in as quickly as possible because Tyler and Mr Croft were at Chunuk Bair waiting in their formal uniforms, sweating it out due to the heat, for the same amount of time that the rest of the group spent at Lone Pine. All of the ceremonies were very memorable and worth the time spent waiting all of Wednesday night and Thursday morning. This is a experience we are all very privileged to be a part of and we will never forget it. We will now enjoy a night's rest in a comfortable bed and regain much of the sleep we missed last night.

By Kyah and Luke

For more pictures of the tour please visit Mr Bylund's photo blog at jebx4.tumblr.com