after an early morning wake up of 3:30 am, we made our way from the host families houses either by private transport or mini bus from the school. although we had been constantly warned about the extent of the cold it came as a surprise to us just how freezing the weather really was. upon arrival we were greeted with the kind and familiar voices that followed the accents of the australian soldiers. one soldier that was handing out programmes and badges said in a typical australian manner; "get your free programmes and badges, yeah come on mate you know you wanna." the mood as we all bundled together as a group was one of reflection and in my case extreme awe of the love and gratitude the people of france, particularly villers bretonneux, have for australian's. this feeling was finalised with the kind treatment we received at our host familie's house. as the ceremony proceeded, the emotion of the event reached everyone in the audience and we rediscovered the significance of anzac day. brad, laura and dylan made us all proud by laying a wreath infront of the crowd on behalf of tumut high school. the freezing cold weather was not enough to stop us all from experiencing and discovering a new meaning to anzac day as well as getting first hand experience and insight into the strong bonds between australia and france. the ceremony over all was very touching and was definately a highlight of the trip. particularly visiting la hamel, the town in which my host family resided, and seeing their memorial with australian trenches and the meaning behind each stage of battle displayed in english and french on boards leading up to the flags of australia, france, usa and canada. i will never look at anzac day in the same light again. love lisa.
