Anzac Day

What a busy day. I stayed up really late last night and got up just before 5 am. I guess that this is the one day of the year that it isn't too difficult to get out of bed. I enjoy being able to pay my respects to those who have served our country in war time. There is a tradition in this country - it rains, it is cold and it is miserable on Anzac Day. It's a given.

Not so today. It was somewhere around 18-20 that early in the morning and climbed to 30 degrees. "Risk of a storm" was the forecast last night. Perfect bloody day. So I guess that I was a little disappointed to see so many people sitting down at the time that I arrived for the dawn service which started at 6 am in King's Park. There are always thousands of people. Nice sunrise.

The most disappointing aspect was the complete lack of a cannon shot after one minutes silence following the Last Post. It scares the bejeezers out of everyone and is worth the wait. Was it some terrorist that stole the gunpowder or what was going on. There was a nice touch of a Spitfire or similar fighter plane roaring overhead seconds after the conclusion of the service. Later there was a flyover by four biplanes in formation.

Back home for a big brekkie then off to Subiaco for the fruit and vege shopping. Miky cracked a boonta after a little thing about her driving and so we had some drinks at a cafe. Went home to watch Essendon knock hell out of Collingwood - always a good thing to do on Anzac Day. Some bastard decided to start the game an hour early and so I missed the first quarter!

Following the footy all of us - me, Miky, Yu-Jin, Aunty and Grandma - went to Cottesloe Beach. On the way we stopped at the Duyfken replica. It is a replica of the first European ship known to sail to Australia, in 1606. Yu-Jin was very excited about boarding it and wanted to go everywhere.

Down to Cottesloe Beach and pretty damn busy it was. Yu-Jin wanted to go in the water and crawled halfway along the beach as though he was a dog. He had a great time. Afterwards we had that great Aussie dish - Fish and Chips. Ok, it's not just Australian.

Great way to spend Anzac Day.