The kids travelled reasonably well, although we had to stop a couple of times - once for lunch and then another toilet stop. When we finally came to Cotter Campground, just outside of the city, everyone had pretty much had enough of driving!
It was a beautiful campsite located next to Cotter River so the boys got their fishing gear out again! No success with the fishing though! After dinner Mars took the kids on a wombat hunt - one of the few Australian animals the kids haven't seen in the wild yet. They didn't find any though.
Watching these two get up to mischief together!
The following day we went to the Australian War Memorial. We didn't have any expectations of what it was going to be like (although it did come highly recommended to us). We were blown away by the amount of detail, memorabilia and information there. It was an amazing experience - one we will never forget and re-enforced to us the reason why we go to the Dawn Service on Anzac Day.
On the outside of the Building were a number of different vehicles on display; tanks, guns, ships and the Bushmaster - an Australian designed and built vehicle used to transport troops with a special design which deflected Improvised Explosive Devices in Afghanistan.
On entry was a statue of 'Simpson and his Donkey'. I wasn't familiar with the story behind the statue but was very pleased that Chad, Karli and Brenton knew all the details behind this famous man.
We took a guided tour which went for 90 minutes. Our tour guide took us through the main structural features of the building- ie. the Tomb for the Unknown Soldier, the Wall of Poppies and the view to the Parliament building - supposedly built in direct sight of Parliament to remind the Parliament members of the heavy toll War takes on Australia's citizens, before it makes any decisions to enter into war.
The guide took us through the World War I and World War II sections, giving information about the Dioramas depicting the different scenes of war/s. The attention to detail was incredible.
As we made our way through the exhibits the guide would stop and tell different life stories of those who fought and died in wars, became prisoners of war or contributed in other ways.
It was an incredible tour which allowed us to absorb a lot more information in such a short time. After the tour finished we headed off to the Discovery Zone where the kids could try on uniforms, operate a helicopter, walk through 'the trenches', navigate a submarine and locate the enemy, check out the inside of a submarine (bunks, shower, toilet) and do some hands-on things.
It was really smelly in the toilet cubicle! Couldn't even blame Karli this time! ;)
After some lunch and milkshakes we spent some time wandering through the different airplane exhibits in Anzac Hall. There were 4 different Sound and Light shows every 15 - 30 minutes. It was an amazing experience one that won't be forgotten quickly. One in particular was about the Japanese submarines that made it into Sydney Harbour. The submarine was reconstructed and was on display along with smaller items of memorabilia.
At 4.40pm the Memorial starts to close down so that everyone is able to attend the Last Post Ceremony at 5pm (every day). Each day a different person is commemorated and any family members are invited to attend. They are then invited to lay a wreath during the ceremony by the Pool of Reflection.
We left the War Memorial and headed back to our Campground for dinner and bed! It was a big day!
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