Solidarity in the spotlight
CHEMISTS
Gold Coast Chemists: Westfield: Tweed City Shopping Centre: Major retailers 1pm; JB Hi Fi closed.
The Strand Coolangatta: Timezone, cinemas, some restaurants open from 1.30pm.
LIQUOR STORES CAFES, RESTAURANTS
Cafe Catalina:
Bridges Paradise Point: 3/36 The Esplanade, Paradise Point, 3pm-late. COOMERA will stay true to the Anzac tradition, with both the Australian and New Zealand national anthems performed and both flags raised during this year’s service.
More than 4000 people, including large numbers of Kiwis, are expected to line Tamborine-Oxenford Rd for the march and service at the Coomera Cenotaph today.
The solidarity and mateship between both nations, amplified by the Christchurch terror shootings this year, stretches across generations.
Both Ray Middleton and Dave King joined the armed forces as teenagers, serving their countries overseas, nearly 40 years apart.
One fought for Australia, the other for New Zealand. And both will march today.
Gunner Middleton, 71, served in the 161st Battery of the Royal New Zealand Artillery in Vietnam, after joining aged 18 in 1967.
As a third generation Digger, Mr Middleton wears his grandfather’s WWI medals, and his father’s WWII medals on his chest, as well as his own service medals and citations as he marches each year.
“(The Anzacs) have been together right through. It’s a brotherhood,” he said. “We had the odd fight with blues
Peking Duck Chinese Restaurant: Broadwater Ave, Hope Island, 4.30-10pm. Kuan Yin Tea House: 2/152 Scarborough St, Southport, 11.30am-8pm.
Gill’s Indian Cuisine:
D’Arcy Arms: Gold Coast Hwy, Surfers Paradise, 4pm. Lolas Broadbeach: 101 Old Burleigh Rd, Broadbeach, 6am-2.30pm.
Social Eating House: and heckles between the Kiwis and the Aussies but we protected them and they protected us.”
One vivid memory was the Battle of Coral, in Vietnam – the only night Mr Middleton was truly terrified.
“We were the first in. They couldn’t put us into the area, so they dropped about 80 of us 500 to 1000 metres out,” he said.
“I was sitting sentry about 2 in the morning and I could see all the flashes of the mortars. They didn’t hit us, they hit the Australians who had moved into the area where we should have gone.”
This year is the first Sgt in Charge of the 2/14 Queensland Mounted Infantry (Light Horse) Dave King has led the Coomera march after arriving back on Australian soil from two deployments to Afghanistan and two to Iraq.
“(Deployments) are what you join for really,” he said.
“In the last couple of years we’ve been deployed with the Kiwis, especially in Iraq so the experiences are the same, we’re working side by side.”
Coomera Valley Rotary Club organiser Warren Edwards said locals had pushed for a more inclusive service because of the large Kiwi population. The march leaves the School of the Arts at 9am, with the service at the Coomera cenotaph from 9.30am.
Hwy, Mermaid Beach, 12-8pm.
California Tacos: 1718 Gold Coast Hwy, Burleigh Heads, 11am-8.30pm.
Avvia: 1383 Gold Coast Hwy, Palm Beach, 6.30-9pm.
JJs on Golden Four Takeaway:, 329 Golden Four Dr, Tugun, 6.30am-7.30pm.
Seabreeze Family Dining Restaurant:
Delizioso: