Day 5

Today we visited the cemeteries and memorials of many soldiers who fought in the Great War. Firstly we visited the Somme American Cemetery. The sheer number of crosses that are present at the cemetery was amazing and as we walked through the 1800 headstones, the devastating loses that occurred became much clearer.  In this area alone there are more than 400 cemeteries and so when we began to think about the total number represented, the number is incomprehensible. Visiting the Australian 4th Division Memorial at Bellenglise was a new experience for any Collie SHS Anzac Tour group, and the first school group our guide had taken to the site due to its isolation. From here we also visited the Australian 2nd Division Memorial in Mont St Quentin, amazingly across the road from Colin's house (132 Australia Avenue, Mont St Quentin, Perrone). This was a very sobering and emotional experience for all involved, and hopefully something we won't forget soon. We followed this by going to Heath Cemetary, where we held our first commemoration of the day, for Kyah and Lisa. We were even able to place the Military Cross on the gravestone, which made the ceremony much more meaningful.

Australia's official war memorial at Villers-Bretonneux is a memorial of great importance, sitting on a picturesque French hill. It was at this stage in our journey that Courtney Salmeri led the group in singing our National Anthem after the reading of poems by Kate Varis and Braydee Thompson. At this memorial, we also recognised family members of the group that were located in the cemetery or on the memorial.  At VB we also visited Victoria School, a site in the town that idealises Australians. Students are fed a three course meal daily for lunch and we enjoyed playing football outside in the courtyard (with Ms Miller nearly taking out a window). Upstairs the school doubles as a museum to the Australian forces that served in their town, displaying pictures of the events that occurred.

Tonight we are dinning at an underground restaurant a short walk from our hotel. The speciality is ribs and many people are enjoying the dishes. We are all seated around two long tables and can enjoy the squeezing and shuffling that occurs. As always everyone is looking forward to a delicious dessert. The highlight of the night was Jake East being tricked by our guide Colin into asking the waitress (in French) for a kiss instead of a drink. However he succeeded by receiving a kiss from BOTH waitresses, making his night!

By Emily and Tyler

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