Western Front: Fin

Cabin fever hath come and gone for the boys of the ANZAC tour [jack especially being that he was out of mobile phone service and is now placed in a room with liam and lyndon, who recently divorced in an Arras seafood restaraunt, Lyndon citing Jack as the cause of the breakup] , today being a [slight] return to normality [and heterosexuality] except for jack who is madly in love with Pascal, as he announced in a speech (written in French) that Mr Croft had prepared for him to read out at dinner. [note: Jack doesnt know French, Lyndon wondered why it said "Je t'aime"]

You'Ll hear the full story later but basically Mr Croft OWNED any shred of Jacks dignity [*jack angrily throws starburts wrapper at wall*]. [Jack: Hes a bully bullman]

So t'was another day out on the battlefields, visiting another large crater, locating the tombstone of an Australian soldier [Evan Thompson] from Collie, a former CSHS student, visiting a memorial for unfound New Zealanders [choyce azz bro] and starting new paragraphs to bring the blog back to coherency.

We also visited a memorial to those soldiers who died from gas attacks. [Quick fact: many soldiers were saved by one soldier who was profficient in the ways of chemistry [wonder if he's related to Mr Abbott] and deduced that peeing on a rag and holding it to ones face would save one from the poisonous gas. The ureah in the urine would break the spine of the chlorine in the gas quicker than Crofty breaks Jacks ego.]

Also visited was the grave of a young 15 yr old victim of the war, and a German cemetery. The Germans seem to have a way of making their cemeteries look as if they were made for the bad guys, ie. as Colin explained there are many who find it too eery to enter. Although the German cemeteries are an important reminder of suffering from both sides, and that a death is still a death, no matter who orchestrated it.

On a proud note, we all suited up to attend the daily ceremony at the Menin Gate, where Liam, Jess, Tameeka and Natasha laid a wreath whilst the rest of us took the flanks [just incase of zombie attacks (you can never be too careful)]. This wreath laying was our second public representation of Collie students, Collie people, and the whole of Australia after L'Arc d'Triomphe [which Mr Croft just reminded me of]. We have received rave reviews from the locals and other Aussies [eg. Jim from down the ATM] who witnessed the ceremony.

And so now with chocolatey fingers and a weary state of mind we bid you adieu on this, our last day of heavenly bliss in the city of Ypres, where zombies lurk in shadows and veloceraptors hide in diguise, and the students and watchful adults of the 2009 Collie ANZAC Tour pack their suitcases, pull off their sweaty socks, fall onto bed and drift softly, slowly away, awaiting the big day that lays ahead of us...


BANG!! [the sound of one of many occassions wherein Lyndon accidentally headbutts something hard]

From The Sultan Hotel, Ypres, Belgium, Goodnight Australia.

Liam [dirty old man #1], Jack [dirty old man #2] and Lyndon [proud young Australian]