Wednesday, 21st April

Left Melbourne at 6am, first stop Glenrowan where the Ned Kelly story came to an end. We saw the spot where the Anne Jones Inn was, where tha last stand took place. It was strange seeing the railway line and where the police shelter site was, knowing the story and seeing where it all took place. There was a huge fire on the side of the highway not sure if it was meant to be or not. Were both so excited to arrive at Tim and Lanas, the kids are away for the night, so Tim and Lana had friends Grant and Sam and Tims brother Dave over for a bbq, lovely evening.

Thursday, 22nd April

Bailey, Griffin and Tilly came home from their Grandparents, it was so lovely to see Bailey who we last saw when he was 10 months old and to meet the newer editions to the Fox family. We went for a tour of the City with Tim, Tilly and Grant then up to Mount Ainslie to get a view over the whole of Canberra. Tim was a very good tour guide showing us where all of the need to know places are and how the layout of the city has taken place. We stopped at the Hyatt hotel, where Tim and Lana met when they worked there, to see the winning design for Canberra and the very different 2nd and 3rd places.The 3rd was really bizaar with a replica Sydney Harbour Bridge! We had a bit of a laugh at the bell boys outfit that Tim wore when he worked there. Our next stop was New Parliment House , it has a flag pole on top of the building that looks like a Christmas tree stand. We had a wonder through the State rooms and the Great Hall then got some lunch and met Lana and the boys at the park. Such a beautiful park and I saw some Pukekos that Jimmy and Anna have story books of from New Zealand so I took a photo to show them. After lunch we all headed to the War Memorial. They've combined a museam with a Memorial so it feels more personal. We had a look through the various rooms and watched some short films on certain people and Sydney Harbour during the wars. As the Memorial closes each day everyone gathers outside the Hall of Memory which on Anzac Day they shine a beam of light on the unknown soldier who is burried there in Remambrance to all those who fought. The courtyard outside is lined by the Roll of Honour, lists of those men who died during the War. It's emotional to see, you can put poppies by their names and one young girl asked Tom to give her a lift up so she could put one by someone in her family. When everyone was out in the courtyard a Bugal player came out of the Hall of Memory and played The Last Stand. As soon as he started you could feel the emotion building in everyone , tears welling up, we both felt completley taken in by it. A lovely Thai for supper.