Thierings on Tour

We woke up to rain early in the morning, which really wasn’t ideal for pack up day, but it cleared pretty quickly and we even had some sunshine to dry a few things off… 

The kids always seem to have time for one quick play at the playground, but it actually worked well because our new neighbour was going into political debate territory and I had to excuse myself to watch them. Thanks for saving me girls!

From camp we headed off to the National Anzac Centre, an interesting and interactive experience to learn about the history of WWI through the eyes of different Australian and New Zealander soldiers, nurses etc. At the start of the exhibition each of us got given a card linked to a real person who had been at war and we had access to digitally scanned records of their enrollment, letters they sent and photos as well as stories of their life post-war. Throughout there were audio recordings of letters and recollections that you could listen to as you moved around the museum. It was a really lovely, relatable way of learning about an otherwise sad part of history and I know that the big girls took in a lot of information.

They also had historic records of everyone who left on the first and second convoy from Albany. The girls searched up the name Thiering and interestingly enough there was a George Thiering who left on the Ulysses with the second convoy. Something to research further!
Jazzy’s soldier – Clunie, later married his sweetheart Doris, who passed away on 4th September 1985, with the day and month being Jazzy’s birthday.

Outside there were other buildings including the barracks, where Scarly got a bit tired and asked to go outside. As we were sitting down waiting for the others, Scarly befriended a lovely gentleman by the name of John, who has been volunteering here for 18 years. John kindly offered to drive us to the top of the hill in the buggy, which was a welcome suggestion for all in our family!

He shared more about the submarines with us, having himself been a mechanical engineer in the Royal Navy before he had moved to Australia some 46 years ago. It was fascinating to chat to him. 
We hopped out of the buggy at the top of the hill and took in the amazing views from the top. Imagining all those convoys of ships lined up as depicted in the diagram really made it hit home knowing that they carried 41,265 Australians and New Zealander men and women.

We walked around the cannons and artillery rooms where Chris shares his Army reserves knowledge and experience with the girls. It was a very educational, but busy morning!

Driving to Bremer Bay wasn’t too long and Scarly had a good snooze in the car, which made time go faster also while the girls and I worked & homeworked. I feel like the commitment routine is finally a well-oiled machine for us, as we start getting closer to returning home. It’s actually 6 weeks today, whaaaaaa.

As we cruised into Bremer Bay, we drove past a brewery with a little playground, so we decided it would be rude not to stop for all involved… I have been tasting all the ginger beers along the way when we have visited breweries on the trip, while Chris had a pale ale.

Then it was on to the final leg of the day – camp for set up. The people at reception must have heard about our obsession with playgrounds, because our site literally backed on to one, ha ha. It did make it easier though because I could be watching the girls from the van playing at the playground.

Dinner was a collection of all the small bits of leftovers we had accumulated over the past 2/3 days and I was just happy not to have to cook anything new. A camp kitchen with a microwave is a very helpful thing for us who don’t have one in the caravan! 

The sunset was absolutely phenomenal with the deepest shades of pink and purple I have seen for a long time, but the photos literally don’t do it any justice. Chris was happy to finally have a fire as well, which was a good thing as the nights are still terribly cold around the area.

Kms travelled – 187