Day 7 - Aussie Road Crew
We were awake at 5am to be on time for the ARC ANZAC Day service. Kelly organised the whole service and managed it superbly wearing her full ceremonial uniform - she is still serving in the Army. There are close to 20 veterans on this tour and it was a huge success. Libby sang Danny Boy and Beccy performed Poster Girl. Roadie Ron played the "bugle" using his mouth harmonicas. Beccy's crew cooked early breakfast - toasted egg and bacon sandwiches which we ate around the camp fire.
Most Roadies went by bus to the Charleville ANZAC Day commemorations and marched with the locals. They adjourned for lunch at the RSL. I drove Anita into town in time for lunch, then walked around the empty streets of Charleville with Bluey. I didn't go to the local ceremonies or lunch as I didn't want to leave him in the caravan for several hours. I walked a couple of the other dogs left at camp. He seems to be over his sickness but we saw how skinny he is when I washed him late this afternoon.
This week the town is also remembering the 1990 flood that inundated more than 1,000 homes. The 30th anniversary was last year but the events could not proceed because of COVID. The first photo shows the 1m flood height marker for the Warrego River. The top of the marker in the second photo is 4m, well above the top of the road. The flood peaked at 8.54m so single storey buildings were flooded to the roof. The whole town was evacuated. Until helicopters were despatched there was only one SES boat and a ski boat owned by a local resident to rescue people from roof tops.