Still giddy with the outcome of yesterday’s play at the MCG, we donned our tourist outfits for a day’s sight-seeing in Melbourne. Although Australia’s 2nd largest city, it has a very small town outlook, with chic avenues crossed by narrow cafe-filled alleyways, and number of large historic buildings dotted throughout a modern vibrant CBD. Undoubtedly, the most fabulous architectural heritage is the central train station on Flinders St., a magnificent Victorian era building, extending half a mile along the river banks. Melbourne is also renowned of course as a sporting mecca; home not just to the largest cricketing venue in the world, but also the Rod Laver tennis stadium for the Australian Open, the Australian F1 Grand Prix, the Melbourne Cup horse race, and also Essendon AFC. It is also situated on the Bass Straits, and is the starting point for the Melbourne-Hobart boat race.
Melbournians have also spared no expense to honour service men and woman from across Victoria that fought for the British in both world wars, helped defend their own country, and secured peace in other countries under a UN mandate. The Shrine of Remembrance on St. Kilda’s Street was built ostensibly with private donations between WW1 & WW2, with over 100,000 attending the opening ceremony in 1934. It is a massive yet simple structure, filled with personal mementos sent home from the front lines, and adorned floor to ceiling with the service medals awarded to the many brave and courageous fallen souls. However, it is a simple small statue outside the memorial that captures the attention of most and evokes the greatest sense of suffering and loss. Many visitors are simply overcome by the sight of this little donkey, head bowed, carrying a wounded soldier away from the carnage at Gallipoli, leaning on the shoulder of the donkey’s handler, Pte. John Simpson Kirkpatrick. History records that both he and his much loved donkey repeated these evacuations day and night for many days, across steep open terrain, under constant threat of sniper fire from 
Monosh valley to ANZAC Cove, and carrying essential medical supplies back to the front lines. Tragically, both were killed by machine gun fire, while ferrying two wounded soldiers. It is said that ANZAC comrades, already accustomed to the brutality of the campaign, openly wept on hearing of their deaths.
On return to the Green household we met up with the remainder of the Green clan, who had assembled from across Victoria to celebrate the 60th birthday of Nick’s brother Tim - involving yet more food and wine! Out of shear disgust at the sight of our now very bloated bodies, we opted to end the day with yet another run along the Yarra river, and then slumped in front of the TV to watch the first few episodes of Benidorm, an ITV comedy about English riff-raff on holiday at an all-inclusive Spanish resort – cringing hilarity
No comments:
Post a Comment