Cheers Andy.

I’d have loved to go there, now it doesn’t seem worth it. The road you mention is pretty wide now thanks to this rather foolish effort, and the beach in the area they showed is virtually gone. It looks like a slip, a landslide, but it is manmade!!

They say they had to widen the road for the tourists. Kiwis and Aussies have been going there for many, many decades, as have many other people from all round the world. It had remained virtually as it was left when our armies withdrew. My sister visited in the 1980’s and said rifle shells could still be seen on the ground. All those tourists, millions probably, had the respect to not damage that sacred site. Now a council or government blunder has ruined it.

Of all places in the world, that tiny stretch of coastline stands very much in the hearts of Kiwis and Aussies as something very special. It is where our two countries acheived true nationhood. As I said, I have never been there, but I have heard and seen and read so much about that place. It is a really deep, ingrained part of our national culture, one that I am immensely proud of. I have a book detailing what the men from my town did in WWI, many of them fought on those beaches, a number of them died there. My Great-Great-Uncle fought there, and lived. he was wonded three times before he died on Flanders Fields in 1917.

I have heard from lots of Kiwis who’ve made the pilgrimage, even those who don’t go to Anzac Day services here, etc, that the place is so very special, and it has an atmosphere all of its own. People feel a presence there. A strong sensation. I have heard people have experience a simliar thing when visiting the death camps like Auschwitz. I guess it is a psychological thing when a place and the events that happened there are so deeply ingrained in ones psyche. I hope they can restore it, but I don’t think it will be the same.

And we thought it was bad when the Aussies wanted John Farnham to sing there!!

5. Crows and jays have the highest IQ among birds.

Flood

Hmm, I’ve heard otherwise. An international study of all intelligent animals, run by some university in the UK, found that New Zeaalnd’s mountain parrot the Kea was the most itelligent of all creatures (above the dolphin which came second). The tests involved performing set tasks as well as simply studying their day to day habits.

Most people in NZ would agree, they certainly are clever little buggers, and I’d definately wager that a Kea could out-think a Crow in a contest

Thanks Robert, really good pictures. Was it still flyng then?

Are the colours it wears now with the kangaroo on the nose an RAAF scheme or an RAF scheme?

It’s a pity a mega-rich company like Discovery or Sky didn’t get behind this and make a documentary about it all. That would have paid the bills. Sorry to hear it is off, but I’m sure the Canadians will appreciate having their Lanc at home for their own celebrations.