Day 115: 25/4/13
Today was Anzac Day- remembering the people who have fought in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp. There was a dawn service which I had no intention of getting up for. By the time I got up the parade was almost over aswell- I thought it was on later in the day, but it was on at 9. They were finishing at the Shrine of Remembrance and I saw them raising the flags and singing both national Anthems- the Union Jack was there too! There were some soldiers on the steps of the Shrine of Remembrance, people carrying Australian flags and people giving speeches. I didn't see the people standing in the groups they would have been in for the parade but I saw lots of ten standing around in their uniforms and suits, with all their medals on. Some looked old enough to have fought in World War 2. Some were young and probably still in the army. There were also young children with scouts uniforms and army camouflage uniforms. There were boys with kilts aswell wherever they were from. There were a lot of young people, children, wearing army medals aswell- it looked like they may be wearing medals belonging to a father or grandfather or something. It was all very official looking. All the soldiers and everyone looked fairly jubilant- it's obviously considered a big honour to be there. I was sorry I had missed the parade but I don't think there would have been much to see. I would have liked to see them arriving at the Shrine of Remembrance and the rest of the speeches but I couldn't get there any quicker as the trams and trains were stopped or delayed! Anyway, I think I saw plenty. There were wreaths aswell laid on the steps of the shrine of remembrance with the motto of Anzac Day- Lest we forget.
I walked along south gate after that for a while. I like it there as there are always street performs and artists. Today there was an Irish guy doing magic tricks- making balls and potatoes appear under cups! I don't know how he did it!
One of the girls in the hostel had said that Docklands was a nice area and there were lots of cheap clothes outlets there so I thought I'd go there. The area is still in development so it wa fairly empty and a lot of the shops were closed. I looked around a few but I didn't buy anything. It was a wasted journey really. I didn't think the area was any nicer than the rest of the city- maybe I missed the nice part!
The other thing that happens on Anzac Day is an AFL match between Essendon and Collingwood. It's just a special match for Anzac, its not part of the league or anything. There were people everywhere in jerseys and tickets were all sold out. I think they sell out pretty quickly with members from both clubs. I don't know who won in the end, I'll have to look it up!
Anyway, I did very little else today. I had told Laura I'd contact her but when I text her in the morning she rang back to say they were going to a show or something that Jamie's friend had gotten them tickets for, so they were busy with that. I went to be early again this evening, as I didn't have much else to do! There was the free wine and cheese going on in the bar this evening but I didn't really want any.