The War Memorial

We visited the War Memorial which is quite a moving experience for people, even moreso for the returned soldiers who served in any of the conflicts Australia have been involved in...the shot shows the view back towards the Parliament House, all part of the design from concept...

Before entering the memorial you will see a number of statues around the grounds depicting scenes to capture in part what it was like for those who served. This particular scene is of private Simpson who fought in Gallipoli - he was unknown to a lot of the soldiers by name only as the soldier with the donkey. He rescued over 300 men who were wounded and was himself killed at Gallipoli. We later found out that in joining the army he was trying to return to England to see his mother and fight on the western front but midway through the journey the orders were changed and they went to Gallipoli...

This is a portion of the navel ship HMAS Brisbane...turret gun at the ready...

A pan view of the central courtyard with the eternal flame and tomb to the unknown soldier in the middle of the photo...either side is the roll of honour...

The roll of honour contains all 102,000+ names of Australians who died during all conflicts right up to today. The greater portions of these are the 60,000 lost in the First World War and the 40,000+ lost in the Second World War. There wouldn't be a town in Australia that hadn't been touched in some way by these horrific days...

The poppies in the roll of honour were placed by relations of the soldiers that served when the then Prime Minister Paul Keating delivered his speech at the return and burial of the 'Unknown Soldier' on the 11th November 1993

The tomb of the unknown soldier returned from the European battlefield, who came to represent all soldiers who served in battle in all wars not just the Great War of 1914-1918...

The speech delivered by then Prime Minister Paul Keating on 11th November 1993 at the service for the unknown soldier. It's a ripper....to add to the occasion one of the WW1 diggers who was at the service had a handful of dirt and tossed it into the open grave and said 'You're finally home mate'...very powerful symbolism...

Inside the memorial were exhibits from all services. Here Sailor Sam is being attentive controlling the submarine...

....ably assisted by 'first mate' Leeanne...

This is 'G for George' the famous Lancaster Bomber that survived 90+ missions in the Second World War. The average at the time was between 20-30 before being shot down by the enemy...

The couple of 'redneck gunners' in the chopper are Joey and Sam... the pretend paratrooper is Leeanne...somebody help us!!

Into Australian Capital Territory (ACT) & Parliament House, Questacon Visits

We arrived into the ACT on a lovely sunny day which may surprise some!! Here's Lee at the ACT sign...

Lee, Joey, & Sam outside Parliament House. The flag at the spire top is large enough to block out a double-decker bus!!

A pan view from Parliament House looking back towards the War Memorial...

Inside the Parliament House visitors can see the beautiful stone work and architecture, which is a credit to the designers...

Midway between Parliament House and the Lake Burley Griffin is this row of foreign flags representing a large number of the worlds nations...

Here's Joey checking out one of the many displays at Questacon - a scientific showpiece in central Canberra. Both the boys loved the interactive displays which showed a multitude of information about the planet, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other naturally occurring events...excellent day out here...

Sam is checking out the internal workings of a combustion engine - by assembling the various parts prior to start up...he got it running...

Lee and Sam are competing against each other on a standard bike and a 'recumbent' type bike. The recumbent bike is supposed to be faster but Sam blitzed Lee in this instance!!

Kosciuszko National Park & Snowy Mountains Scheme

Well we finally made the 'bad boy country' blues home ground etc. Crossed into NSW and drove through some of the little coastal towns listed on the sign. Lots of rain about for this trip. Bega had 350mm which fortunately we missed most of...

Turning inland we headed to the high country, through Cooma and into Kosciuszko NP for a look around...

A major feature of this region is the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric & Irrigation Scheme. Amazing work to transport the water from east of the ranges to the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers on the western slopes to irrigate crops in both NSW and Victoria..This picture shows the Murray 1 power station which is part of the greater scheme...

A pan view of the Snowy Mountains - minus snow...

The ski runs and chairlifts of Thredbo Ski Resort

Thredbo ski resort proper....

This enormous valley is Charlottes Pass which has the lowest recorded temperature in Australia - minus 23 degrees, recorded in June 1994...

Joey & Sam @ the top of the ski lift at Charlottes Pass - some 1850m plus above sea level...in amongst the clouds...

The trees aren't much to look at at this Alpine height...

The details of the Snowy Mountains Scheme which took an amazing 25 years to complete...

Another surprise awaited us at the camp next day...Skippy invited himself to have some breakfast with us...because of his good manners we let him join us at the table....

Here's Skippy helping himself...

Lakes Entrance & Mallacoota Victoria

Leaving Wilsons Prom we headed west and stayed at Lakes Entrance which is a huge series of lakes along Victoria's West coast that the town provides access to. Very busy in summer months...

Lee is on one of the boardwalks that connect the lakes and town to the open beach with its powerful surf...

Couldn't resist this little ripper of a car. I think a bit chilly in Victoria's climate?

This was the campsite at Mallacoota Vic, near the NSW border. Each campsite on the river had it's own jetty!!

A pan view of the waterway opposite our campsite. At the time of our stay the Victorian's were having a major fishing competition. Apparently the region is great for fishing

Wilson's Promotory National Park

After a great time at John & Lea's we moved east to Wilson's Promotory, the southernmost point in mainland Australia. We caught up with friends Ben & Wendy and family from Townsville...

Right behind where we were camped was this magnificent beach - Nelson's - amazing view...

 The local Rosella's were happy to join us for lunch....or any other food item that was free!!

We headed to Squeaky Beach with Ben & Wendy and kids Ollie, Josh, & Bailey. A bit cool but still a nice day out...

Along the path some 300m takes visitors to Squeaky Beach famous for the sound the sand makes underfoot...

Right next to Squeaky Beach is Whiskey Beach. Another nice spot....

To really cap off this nice spot we had a visit from 'Wally the Wombat' at night....really cute we thought...

Family Time @ Mornington

Another highlight of our trip was being able to have some quality family time with my younger brother John and sister Cath and their families...we're all getting older!!

Here's the adults: Tom & Leeanne, John, Cath, hubby Gary, and John's wife Leanne (family tradition marrying a Leanne)....

The boys - Joey, Sam, with cousins Ben, Matty, & Nick...great kids, had a top time together...

The adults having an attack of the 'sillies'....

The whole crew...John & Lee did a great job of hosting the lot of us in their home. Very grateful for  the kindness shown to us....

Another highlight...all the time during our stay John was keen to get me on the back of this beast, his Kawasaki ZX636 Ninja. He won and I took it for a run down the Peninsula....