The Pinnicales and ANZAC Day

Hi,
Tuesday was a very busy day...a lot of fun though. I was up at 5am to get my bus into the city for my tour to the Pinnacles. I was very excited as I was using the same company me and Gaz used in Alice Spring and was hoping the tour guide would be as much fun as Stuey was. Grant was a good sport. I arrived with uniform in hand (yes i know im a scout geek you don’t need to remind me!) asking where i can hang it up so it doesn’t get creased i got a funny look, which is quite normal let me fair and he said if you sit up front with me it can lie on the shelf between the cabin and the back. It was great so i got to ride up front all day which so much fun especially as I didn’t get to do it when we were on Stueys tour.
It was a very long day but we had a great laugh, well me and Grant did I don’t know about everyone else, and we managed to avoid the rain and still have a great day. The Pinnacles were as beautiful as they seemed in Billy Connolly’s tour of Oz back in 1994 when he runs naked through them. I behaved myself and kept my clothes on as i ran through them but they’re truly amazing.
I had to be back in Perth for 7.30 for the St George Day service the Rover Scouts were putting on especially and PJ (the Western Australia Rover Scouts commissioner) was stressing by the time i got back into the city! I was only 5 minutes late and the guys waited for me to get there as promised, PJ made sure everyone knew it was my fault he was late. The service was really lovely and made up for the fact on Sunday i was meant to be at Windsor at the Queen Scouts Parade and meeting the Queen. Have to say this was so much more fun and they'd lit 100 candles to symbols the 100 years of scouting and i got to blew them out with the help of some cubs! Apparently they don’t normally celebrate St Georges day as "it’s an English thing" but I pointed out to PJ St George was also a scouting thing and this service came from that!
What we were all really at Kings Park for was the ANZAC Day celebrations. What is ANZAC Day? ANZAC Day - 25 April - is probably Australia's most important national occasion. 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 soon took in that name endures to this day. (Yes I stole that from http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac_tradition.htm if you want to read more about it…coz I know Vicki is dying to learn about that like she did about the Queen Mary!) So I guess it’s like how we celebrate Remembrance Day without the public holiday. Since 1934 the WA Rovers have guarded the War Memorial in Kings Park. The story goes that the memorial got covered graffiti the night before ANZAC Day due to angry over the Second World War. Ever since, the Rovers have guarded the memorial for 12 hours prior to the celebration. I got to do my bit and took part in being a guard which involves matching around the memorial with 3 other people holding a thumb stick (I think it was called) for 30 minutes at a time! Hard work but seeing the city lit up at night was gorgeous and I quite enjoyed it…got to wear the official Australian Scout 2007 necker…had to give it back though! Might ask PJ if I can have one to keep. At 1am I needed sleep, PJ had got one of girls to bring her swag for me. Swags are awesome to sleep in best sleep ever! So at 5am I was woken up to be part of Guard of Honour. We all lined up and then when it was time matched down to where we were to stand though the dawn service. I didn’t last long…we all lined but at 5.30 for the 6am service and by 6am my partner had to sit me down as I had collapsed! Id gone all light headed and the last thing I remember was him talking to me and all I could see was his white necker. I spend the whole of the service sat on the floor, so embarrassed! The service was so moving and I managed to hold my head up high and match out of the line up when the service had finished. A really good morning and part from collapsing I really enjoyed the whole night/morning. Ill try and get some official pictures, Paul took some photos from me when I was guarding the memorial before my camera battery died. I meant a couple of people who are coming over for the Jamboree and PJ’s best friend was actually at the Windsor service I was meant to be at so it was a big thing I was there and Terry was where I was meant to be. I had so much fun and im so glad I got into contact with PJ. He’s amazing…he’s my age and runs the whole of WA Rover scouts! That’s like running Network throughout Europe but … also not as he’s only got about 150 members but they’re all really active members. Definitely going to have to get some tips on how it all worked in Perth.
Leaving Perth tomorrow, so ill let you all know what Exmouth is like and what swimming with Whale Sharks feels like.
Love you xxx