What is Anzac Day you ask? "Anzac Day, April
25th, is one of Australia’s most important national occasions. It marks the
anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New
Zealand forces during the First World War. Anzac stands for
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly
became known as Anzacs, and the pride they took in that name endures to this
day (awm.gov.au)." I would say their Anzac Day is our Memorial Day.
3:45 AM, I woke up to go to the Dawn Service at Anzac
Square. What is Dawn Service? "Today’s dawn services include the
presence of a chaplain, but generally not of dignitaries. Originally, the
services were simple, and usually followed the military routine. Before dawn,
those who had gathered would stand while two minutes’ silence was held. At the
end of this time a lone bugler would play the Last Post and then conclude the
service with Reveille, the bugler’s call to wake up. In recent times more
families and young people have taken part in dawn services across Australia.
Reflecting this change, some services have become more elaborate, incorporating
hymns, readings, pipers, and rifle volleys. Other services, though, have
retained the simple format of the dawn stand-to familiar to so many soldiers
(awm.gov.au)."
I then went home and took a short nap because at 9:30 was
the parade. It was only a few blocks from my apartment so I stopped at
Starbucks along the way so I could get some energy because there were 159
different groups that were going to be walking by. Their parades are
similar to ours, except no candy was thrown out, ha. The parade took 2
1/2 hours - that's a lot of parade if you ask me.
All of the different branches of the military passed by at some point.
Lots of music which was great, here are some bagpipers.
Here's a sample of the music!
Since it was a national holiday not a lot of places were open so decided to go for a drive. Googled scenic drives close to Brisbane and decided on the Blackall Range Scenic Drive which was about an hour away. The drive started at Landsborough and encompassed Maleny, Witta,
Reeseville, Montville, Flaxton, Kondalilla, Mapleton and Cooloolabin. It was absolutely beautiful.
A storm was coming through which made the sky that much more beautiful.
That was a huge parade. The ones I've seen have only lasted maybe 30 mins, and that's at most, lol. I am loving the pictures you're posting of your adventures, so beautiful! Not sure what is going on with the color on this page, but the first part of your post I am unable to read it unless I highlight all of it. It looks as if there is nothing typed before the first picture, but I clicked on the spot and then was able to see there was something there, but I had to highlight all of the text to be able to read it.
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