ANZAC Dawn Service 2026

Phoebe and I were going to do the rowing service however that didn't come together so we dusted off plan B and attended the Dawn Serice in the city. 

3:00 rise and coffee

3:30 depart Fairfield 

3:50 park and walk

4:00 in ANZAC square

         Man welcomes us and dignitaries walk in. 

4:20 catapult party starts

5:13 finished.

5:20 we are walking up to look at the Shrine of rememberance

2:57am I'm in the kitchen making a pour over coffee. This is a Phoebe thing. I'd not heard of it before meeting her. Take it into her. There are those who need a coffee to get the body to come alive. 

It's raining. 

I think my only rain coat options are centenary coaches jacket and my ski jacket. Chose centenary. Kept liner.

Lots of st Peter's kids. One with a wreath.

No rain. Cool wind. 

A few drops. Zip up and pull hoodie on but not long after push the hoodie back. 

5:13 it's all over. 

Sun not risen. 

PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION

Reflecting on the futility of war.  

It must have been absolute shyte to have been at Gallipoli. Cold mud and close to death. Thinking back to last year and actually being at Gallipoli and seeing the closeness of the trenches reinforces the futility.

Nothing changes. 

Turkey is still Turkey. 

Fast forward to the present- 

In 100 years,  Iran will still be Iran.

Israel will still be Israel. 

We speak of our freedom. 

I think the soldiers die to maintain the status quo.  

They should put the words at the top of the screen. 

Post Party Asian

We went to "Sangs East Asian Cuisine".

It hit the mark for me.  A big variety ordered. I cherry picked the beef and the sauce from The massaman curry.  It had chillie in it which combined with some veggies that also seemed to have chillie made for a nice tasty meal. 

No wine. Just water. Very refreshing. 

Afterwards next door to the gelate shop. In my opinion a bit sub par. Very sweet and not so smooth. Almost like the different I've creams had different colours but sweetness overwhelmed the flavour. Except this expression is contradicted by one of the flavours that Phoebe got that she tried to palm off to me and it was a very strong flavour that I didn't like and can't describe.  A bit like those yellow banana lollies.

Aunty Margaret 100 Birthday Party

Phoebe and Jemma and I stayed over night at Graham and Mels and then attended the Party. 

Good afternoon all and happy Birthday aunty marg. 

I understand it's customary to reach back and remember key moments in the intersection between my life and the Birthday girls life 

It's these stories that knit us together with a shared family history 

however my memory is crap and as you know Margaret's memory is the keeper of the family story so I should just defer to her.  

In the mean time I've referred to my brothers for memory assistance. 

Three memories. All of which highlight Margaret's wonderful hospitality. 

1 CANBERRA 

The first is from when I was very young. We spent a night or so in her house in Canberra. Following advice from Lewis it was apparently so Henry could be born. I recall aunty marg getting us turning boiled eggs over and with great hilarity claiming they were empty. 

2 DADS DEATH

The next is a thank you to her and uncle Eric for the huge support 50 years ago in 1976 after my dad died when we stayed in her families beds At her house. And I learned recently that Andrew stayed over night with Dads body. Shows that her spirit flowed to her children. 

3 NOW FISH CHIPS

The third item is much more recent where Phoebe Jemma, myself and my dog Magnus have visited and been hosted by aunty marg at Penny's Sea food where there's lots of hilarity and they would point out the special Margaret ramp for her wheelie walker.

PHOTOS

As you are surrounded by photos we are giving you a card featuring my brothers and I and their families.

And a present of a photo frame with mummy brothers and I.

SOCIAL SUPPORT PERSON

We had a great "speech" from a person who drives her around. 

She's got a great bond with her support workers.  

Brightwater Park Run

Dieting, Weights, Running and Erg.  It all gets better together. 

Brightwater parkrun results for event #572. Your time was 00:35:40.Congratulations on completing your 72nd parkrun and your 1st at Brightwater parkrun today. You finished in 266th place out of a field of 344 parkrunners. You were the 149th male and came 14th in your age category VM60-64.We have set this as your PB.

If you look closely, Somewhere in the photo, you will see Graham and Mel.

Maroochydore Dawn

Fri night family Maroochydore

DIET

Skipped both breakfast and lunch so I guess about 20+ hr fast. 

Then had fish, chips, beer, wine, cheesecake. Did not sleep well. 

Erg #1

Well it's erg time again. The grammarians are trying a different process for selecting crews this year that is only partially influenced by erg times.  Other things like age are part of it. It's unlikely that my erg time will make any difference to whatever crew I end up in but I am still using it as motivation for exercise. 

This afternoon was my first erg in ages so my main objective was to just do 5km and not stop and not worry about the time.  Not stopping is a very important thing.  Can not let the brain ever get the idea that one can stop while rowing just because one's body is crying "stop".