May in Canberra

May in Canberra, among other things, means peak Autumn colour. Our "front garden" is getting more photogenic each year as the "forest" of Acer Rubrims (Lipstick Maples) in front of our apartments, mature. They're doing very well, for being only six years old!

You can see our apartment behind the trees in this pic (on the 4th floor) ........

Its been hard to get a sunny pic of our trees this May - its been raining, cloudy or drizzly most days. I took this one earlier in the week, because the Lipstick Maples looked very colourful against the grey day!

The same scene taken earlier in May, but four years ago, showing the maples an awful lot smaller then.

May also means it's the anniversary of the sinking of the Centaur (hospital ship) on the 14 May 1943. Here in Canberra the event is commemorated at the beautiful Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial. We were there yesterday evening for this always solemn and respectful event.

The life of Clement Woods was celebrated last night. A member of the 2/12 Field Ambulance just like Rob's dad Allan. Clement was one of the many who did not survive the torpedo attack on the hospital ship that night. He was nine years older than Allan and had managed to marry and become a father of two tiny girls before he died on the Centaur. Many members of his family came to Canberra for the ceremony honouring their father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Its a beautiful ceremony each year but always very sad to to think of how few men and women survived the attack. It always reminds us just how lucky Allan Ludlow was to make it, being one of only 64 survivors out of a crew of 332, most of whom were medical staff. Of the 12 nurses on board, only one survived.

Its a very respectful and solemn ceremony but each year the sulphur crested cockatoos do whatever they can to assert their cheeky presence throughout proceedings, shrieking and swooping across these hallowed grounds almost constantly. We think they are there for Allan Ludlow - he would have loved them!