Aye aye sailor!

It’s ANZAC day today, the date which marks the anniversary of which the Australian and New Zealand combined force first landed on Gallipoli in 1915. This date is now a national holiday and with Rach having the day off work, the four of us decided to head in to town and attend some of the official events. None of us were brave enough to attend the dawn service as it would have meant us getting up at at least four o’clock to get in to the city for six. Instead we decided to attend the midday parade of war veterans and serving personnel.

We arrived in the city at the exact time we’d planned to see the last part of the parade by the train station. We were surprised then to see only the stragglers of the parade making their way through, with the main ceremonies having already taken place. Undeterred we headed on to the Shrine of Remembrance to see the last parts of a speech and a few war veterans. So much for attending the events! Whilst there we did manage to show Sam and Maddy inside the Shrine and the ‘Greater Love Hath No Man’ plaque (Oh we do like to be beside the Shrine).

We couldn’t decided what to do with the rest of our day and as all of us have been craving a real pub we set out in search of one. Australia’s major flaw is that it doesn’t have English-style, homely, wooden, proper beer pubs. Its ‘pubs’ are more glorified bars and we were sorely in need of a pint. We eventually came across one, The James Squire Brewhouse, and Alex drowned the other pub patrons in his saliva as he looked over the range of draught beer that was on offer. We settled down with our various ales and noticed an AFL game playing on the big screen. It was Essendon vs Collingwood and Rach had a bet on at work that Essendon would win. We got sucked in by the game and even Sam and Maddy were cheering Essendon. It was the most tense final few minutes with each side alternating with a one point lead. Devastatingly though Collingwood piped Essendon to the post.

Nursing our sorrows we were soon cheered up when a bunch of sailors who, slightly worse for wear, invited us over to play pool with them. They spent a while trying to teach us pool tricks and letting us wear their hats and Alex and Sam had a great time playing pool with them. As the night wore on we decided we’d had enough and headed on home.

Rex’s Rules of the Road

• There’s a number of services and ceremonies on ANZAC day through the city but from what we saw, the Shrine of Remembrance’s are fantastic.

• Australia is seriously lacking some decent pubs so try The James Squire Brewhouse for a taste of home.