Anzac Day

Yesterday was Anzac Day, the day Kiwis and Ozzies remember our veterans and war casualties.  It is a public holiday but a greater and greater number of people are attending services all over the country to commemorate the terrible sacrifice that has been made so that we may enjoy the lifestyle we do.

Early before the majority of attendees arrived

I attended the Dawn Parade here in Palmy and it was very well attended and was a great service.  I particularly enjoyed the way a high school student spoke of his ancestors who had fought and suffered in the two world wars.  I was also shocked to learn that Palmerston North's deaths in WW1 alone were a staggering 800 from a population that was then only 12,000 - one can only imagine the effect that had on the community.

After the always sobering and emotional service I returned home and got into more mundane tasks - a walk with the dog and then a job that occurs around every 25,000km - front brake pads for the Connie...

The heavy weight and lack of engine braking is fairly hard on the pads and the old ones were well and truly shot.

While I was working on the bike I kept an eye on the time and an ear out for the arrival of our local Spitfire - it along with 2 of the air force's Texan trainers were programmed to fly over a number of the local war memorials as part of the Anzac day activities.

Unfortunately she was flying low and slow so hard to hear properly and also difficult to get a picture from my driveway.  Here's the best blurriness that I could capture:

V12 beats turbine every time...

Here's what they really look like (and a chance to show off some of my favourite photos from the 2013 Wings Over Wairarapa).

The rest of the day was bright and sunny and I spent it at home pottering about until later on in the evening when I popped out on the Connie to meet this chap:

More on that later...let's sign off with some magic from Mr Knopfler...