Lone Pine

(Random walkies)



Australia and New Zealand hold memorial services for the war dead on ANZAC Day. It's like Memorial Day in America or Poppy Day in the UK. ANZAC stands for Australian & New Zealand Armed Corps.

In World War I the Anzacs fought a series of terrible battles in appalling conditions against Turkey at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli. Many of our boys died there and still lie there in Turkish soil. The Turks look after them for us along with their boys.

(To my mate currently serving in the Middle East: Don't get shot at, pet, and enjoy all that khaki crumpet.)




Rosemary is for remembrance.




It says:

"Pinus halepensis

Lone Pine or Plateau 400 was the scene of a major diversionary offensive launched by the 1st Australian Infantry Division on 6 August 1915. The Turks had cut down all but one of the trees that covered the ridge to clothe thrie trenches. The ridge dominated by the single Allepo Pine (Pinus halepensis) became known as Lone Pine. In three days of fighting the Australians lost more than 2000 men and the Turks losses were estimated at 7000. Seven Victoria Crosses were awarded.

As far as we know two Australian soldiers souvenired pinecones from the ridge that found their way back to Australia.

Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith of the 3rd Battalion, whose brother was killed in the battle for Lone Pine, sent a come home to his mother, Mrs McMullen at Inverall New South Wales. Mrs McMullen kept the cone for 13 years before planting the seeds in 1928. She grew two seedlings, one of which she presented to the town of Inverall and the other to the Parks and Gardens section of the Department of the Interior in Canberra. The Duke of Gloucester planted this second tree at the Australia War Memorial in October 1934. Today iot stands over 20 metres in height.

SGT Keith McDowell of the 24th Battalion carried a pinecone in his haversack until the end of the war. Upon returning home to Australia he gave it to his aunt, Mrs Emma Gray, who lived at Grassmere near Warmambool, Victoria. A decade or so later Mrs Gray planted the seeds and [unknown word] seedlings were grown. One was planted in May 1933 at Wattle Park, Melbourne. Another at the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne and another at the Soldiers Memorial Hall at The [unknown word]. The last was planted in the Warmambool Gardens.

In 1990 two trees were taken back to Gallipoli with war veterans who attended the memorial service to mark the anniversary of the battle of Lone Pine.

Since the 1980s many trees have been grown by seed and grafting techniques from the tree at the Australian War Memorial. This tree is one of those trees."




The photo above is of the marker under this tree. "This tree is one of those trees."

More on Anzac Day at the Ducktionary

The Woy Woy Dawn Service will be at the memorial park on Brick Wharf Road next to the blue fish and chip shop. The march starts at 10.30am from the carpark of Deepwater Plaza, George Street near Railway Street in yer street directory.

The sound of rain on water

(Random walkies in Woy Woy)



Saratoga from Brick Wharf Woy Woy today




Saratoga from near Brick Wharf in 2005




Ducks and new cycle path Brick Wharf foreshore Woy Woy today




Brick Wharf foreshore in 2006


Walked down Brick Wharf Road this morning to Brick Wharf. Brick Wharf is where I did my final every-street walk of Woy Woy in 2005.

Brick Wharf Road runs from the pub and the fish and chip shop down past Soldiers Park, Woy Woy's narrowest house, Lions Park, and the Bowls.

I sat for a bit under a picnic shelter in Lions Park. The rain was a quiet slow tap on the trees and tin roofs. Ducks quacked and waddled about, mostly adult ducks but there was one family with 5 wee fluffy ducklings. A pair of coppers cycled slowly past in their official shorts on their official bikes. In the background there was the quiet zoom and stop of the postie's motorbike and someone testing the bells of the UFO.

I wandered down to Brick Wharf and looked out over the water to Saratoga and the hills of Green Point and Gosford beyond it. The clouds were low and a wee misty bit of cloud had snagged in a fold of a hill. The colours were soft greens and silvery greys. The rain started to come down again, harder this time and I listened to it hitting the still green water.

Right now as I'm typing the rain has started to piss down again and there's a storm coming in. A beautiful day.


Local linkage

House-hunting in Ettalong

The Gosford Times

Australia Day in Woy Woy - photos way better than mine from another local blogger

Grab bag

Graffitti, or more grammatically graffitto, on Mrs Wilson's shop (circa 1910) at the Charlton Street-Railway Street roundabout.

Thank yer, that graffitist, this is much better than the usual tags.

Would've sworn on a stack of beer bottles I had a photo of Mrs Wilson's circa 1910 shop. But diligent searching on Flickr turns up nowt. Buggeration!



This is the Belinda K, a local working boat. She's a familiar sight to those on the ferry out of Woy Woy. She's moored at a private jetty on Brick Wharf Road.

Presumably the owner's house is just across the road. That'd cut down on yer commuting time, wouldn't it? You could totter across the road still clutching yer breakfast coffee cup, cast off and putt off down the channel coffee still in hand.



I rabbit on a bit about catching the ferry so here's where I catch it from. "Woy Woy Public Wharf" as it says on the sign. In the background there's the commercial wharf, the fish and chip shop all the tourists go to, the CWA and, behind the CWA, Roma.

The park (right, where the tree is) is where the Woy Woy to Gosford Fun Run leaves from. It's coming up again soon. Better start training for it.

Barely a step from Bustling Downtown Woy Woy and a nowt but short stagger from the pub.


Quizzed

The questions below arrived in a very straightforward email. I know what curious buggers you all are so here's my answers for all to enjoy:


Hi.. I just found your site recently and I love the blog.. I have a couple of questions..

1. How old are you?

I have not long been dragged kicking and screaming into my third decade.

2. What do you do for a living that you can walk in the daytime?

I am a freelance correcter of other people's theses.

3. Where are all the people? .. It looks like scenes from Stephen King's The Stand.. kind of creepy..

You are not the first to ask.

Woy Woy is at its busiest on sunny weekends when the roads are clogged with boats in the mornings and afternoons and the fish and chip shop clogged with tourists all day.

On weekdays there's the Dawn Walkers and their dogs, then the commuters, then a bit of a hiatus until the commuters come home and the pub shuts. On pension cheque days the pavements are chockers with Dear Old Things called Mabel walking very slowly to the supermarket.

Thanks.. Keep those house pictures coming..
Diane

Yer welcome. I will.