Family flyingFolks flying with kids seldom feel special on airlinesthese days. And any perks are likely to come at extra cost.

The Inquirer

By Michelle HigginsNEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

Surely they could spare a littlemilk, right?

But when John and Mary RoseLin of Jersey City, N.J., ran out ofmilk for their 18-month-old twins

on a recent Continental flight from New-ark to Maui, the flight attendant refusedto give them more. That particular bever-age, the Lins recall being told, was forcoffee, not children. “I was not asking fora full bottle, just a cup,” said Mary RoseLin, noting that she even offered to payfor the milk.

It was the low point of an arduous trip.The misery of air travel is no surprise

to anyone who has boarded a domesticflight in the last five years. As airlineshave maximized capacity and slashedservices, passengers have learned tobrace themselves for packed planes,stuffed overhead bins, harried flight at-tendants, and fees for everything frompretzels to pillows. On top of that aredelays and cancellations.

For families, however, the costs and theinconveniences are compounded.

See FAMILY on N4

A Year and A WorldBy Larissa andMichael Milne

A taste of old-worldBelgium on a budget. N5

Battery system keepsiPhone in power. N4

STEPHAN SAVOIA / Associated Press, file

A mother and her3-year-old daughter atLogan Airport inBoston. Flying withchildren today isn’tlike the ’60s, whenfamilies seemed toget royal treatment.

A ustralia is often thought of asa laid-back nation whose re-laxed citizens seem to be on

permanent vacation. Perhaps thiscarefree attitude is due to the factthat more than 90 percent of thepopulation lives within the sirencall of the beach. But while much ofthe culture has been formed by anoutlook based on surf and sand, thecountry has also experienced darkdays and challenges throughout itshistory.

An excellent way to learn aboutthis past is to visit several sites inSydney that highlight the country’smilitary legacy. A good place tostart is the Victoria Barracks, locat-ed on 29 acres in the neighborhoodof Paddington. Built in the 1840s bymostly convict labor, the colonnad-

ed sandstone buildings are themost significant group of late-Geor-gian architecture in Australia and

See AUSTRALIA on N6

Seeing those laid-back Aussies as a fighting force

MICHAEL MILNE

At Sydney’s Victoria Barracks, left, free tours are led by the Corps of Guides, retired veterans. A metalbadge on the guide’s hat bears a female crown — for Queen Elizabeth — in the army symbol.

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Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011 ★ Section NA

Victoria Barracks/Army Museumof New South Wales

Location: Oxford Street inPaddington, a 10-minute bus ridefrom the center of Sydney. Buses378, 380 and 382 stop right infront.Hours: The Army Museum isopen on Thursday from 10 a.m.to 1 p.m. and Sunday from 10a.m. to 4 p.m. Victoria Barracksis still an active Army base soguided tours are required. Theseare offered on Thursdays at 10a.m.Admission: Tickets are $2 to theArmy Museum while the guidedtour is free.Web:www.army.gov.au/ArmyMuseumofNSW/

ANZAC Memorial

Location: Hyde Park South in thecenter of Sydney. Pretty muchevery city bus stops here. Thenearest train station is MuseumStationHours: The memorial is open

every day, except Good Fridayand Christmas Day, from 9 a.m.to 5 p.m.

Admission: Free

Web:www.anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au/home

Australian National MaritimeMuseum

Location: Darling Harbour inSydney. Easy access from thecity center by foot, bus, light rail,ferry or monorail.

Hours: Open daily 9:30 a.m. to 5p.m. (Until 6 p.m in January.)Closed Christmas Day.

Admission: Entrance to themuseum is free. Visitors wishingto board ships including asubmarine, Navy destroyer, andfull-scale replica of CaptainCook's Endeavour mustpurchase a separate ticket.(Adults: $12-$32 and children:$7-$17.) Prices are in Australiandollars, which are aboutone-to-one with US dollars.

Web: www.anmm.gov.au/

one of the finest historic barracksin the world.

Free tours are offered on Thurs-days by the Victoria BarracksCorps of Guides, retired veteranswearing khaki army slouch hatsand blue blazers. Our guide, David,had been stationed at the barracksduring the Vietnam War so he knewthe place well. The tour starts inthe Guard House with a visit to thefour cells that held “drunken andoutrageous persons.” This being anarmy base with young soldiersaway from home, the cells wereeventually expanded into anotherbuilding.

While leaving the Guard House,David pointed out a metal badge onhis cap and explained the signifi-cance of the crown in the center ofthe Australian army symbol. Thecurrent logo contains a femalecrown (yes, male and femalecrowns are different) representingthe reigning monarch, Queen Eliza-beth II. He said that after “Lizziegoes” the logo will be updated toshow a male crown for KingCharles, or perhaps King William.Loyalty to the monarchy lives on inthe Australian army.

The tour of the barracks includesthe Army Museum of New SouthWales. The museum traces the his-tory of the Australian army fromthe early days of the colony toWorld War II. Pride of place is giv-en to the famed Gallipoli Cloth, afive-foot-square fabric containingthe signatures of the first soldierswho returned from the disastrousGallipoli campaign in World War I.Most of what we knew about thatbattle was gleaned from the movieof the same name starring Mel Gib-son. We were to learn much more abit later in the day.

After touring the Victoria Bar-racks we took a 10-minute bus rideto the ANZAC Memorial located inHyde Park in the center of Sydney.ANZAC, revered in Australia, is theAustralia New Zealand Army Corpsthat fought in the battle of Gallipoli.Planned as a bold move to land AN-ZAC troops on the shifting sands ofthe Gallipoli Peninsula, it turnedout to be a disaster. The troopswere pinned down on the beachand under constant enemy fire foreight months, only to be evacuatedwith tremendous losses.

Australians, being the positivecreatures they are, view the battleas a supreme example of their sol-diers’ gallantry and fortitude. OneKorean War veteran explainedthat even though Gallipoli was amajor defeat, “The nation wasforged by that battle, it made Aus-tralia the nation that it is today.You can’t overestimate its signifi-cance.”

The square, 98-foot-tall memorialis clad in pink granite quarriedfrom nearby Bathurst. The art decodesign caused somewhat of an up-roar due to its break from tradition-al memorial architecture of thetime. Although there are no namesof soldiers inscribed at the monu-ment, the 120,000 stars in the ceil-ing represent those who served inthe war. The interior’s main focus isa poignant statue of a soldier,whose lifeless body lies on a swordand shield being held aloft by threewomen and an infant representingmother, wife, sister, and child:those who were left behind by thebrutality of war.

The cruciform base of the memo-rial houses a museum dedicatedto the Gallipoli campaign. It has

been expanded to include the roleof Australian troops right up tothe Gulf War. Mementos from the

battle are on display and sketchyblack-and-white films taken at thetime run on a continuous loop togive the visitor a “you are there”feel.

The museum continues with ex-hibits about the home front inWorld War II. For obvious rea-sons we were particularly drawnto the display of Warrant OfficerGN Milne’s diary; he was sta-tioned at a hospital in Darwin,Australia, when it was damagedby Japanese bombing raids. TheANZAC Memorial gives visitors agreater appreciation of Australiaat war.

The last stop on our personal mili-tary campaign of Sydney was theAustralian National Maritime Muse-um. Everything we had seen so farwas land-based, but Australia is anation that is defined by the sea.The exhibition is outstanding; itcombines the finest aspects of a tra-ditional museum — glass caseschock-full of memorabilia — withthe hands-on features of a “PleaseTouch” display.

Several cases house large-scalemodels of the ships that have heldthe coveted designation HMASSydney; from the World War I-eracruiser that escorted the first AN-ZAC convoy right up to the fourthincarnation, a guided missile frig-ate that helped support sanctionsagainst Iraq. In between welearned the sobering tale of thethird HMAS Sydney, a light cruis-

er that was returning home fromEurope in 1941, only to be sunk bya German raider off the coast ofwestern Australia with the loss ofall hands.

The interactive displays includeone where the visitor plays therole of a submarine sonar techni-cian trying to decipher garbled un-derwater sounds. The playerguesses what each sound repre-sents and is promoted (or demot-ed) based on the response. Wekept at it for some time until wecould finally tell the difference be-tween a group of porpoises and adamaged piston rod.

At this point we had been toenough sobering military displaysfor one day. Fortunately, the Mari-time Museum also has an exhibitdevoted to the nation’s surfing heri-tage. This is the Australia that liveson in foreign perceptions of thecountry. While the typical Austra-lian’s outlook on life is pretty sun-ny, it is a nation that has witnesseddark clouds as well. In one day wewere able to witness both sides ofAustralia. A nation that was forgedon the sands of Gallipoli was laternurtured on the sands of its beach-es to create the vibrant countrythat it is today.

Larissa and Michael Milne are travelingaround the world for a year and will bereporting in regularly about theirjourney. You can follow them atwww.ChangesInLongitude.com.

AUSTRALIA from N1

Information

Sydney sites that salute the Aussie military

A statue of a lifeless soldier borne aloft by women and a child, is the mainfocus in Sydney’s ANZAC Memorial, commemorating losses in the WorldWar I battle of Gallipoli. A disastrous campaign, it nevertheless “madeAustralia the nation that it is today,” said a Korean War veteran. “You can’toverestimate its significance.”

MICHAEL MILNEThe National Maritime Museum combines the glass cases of memorabilia of a traditional museum with the hands-on features of a “please touch” exhibit.

A figurehead of Admiral Lord Nelson coexists with a modern Navy helicopter at the maritime museum. Interactivedisplays include one allowing the visitor to play submarine sonar technician deciphering underwater sounds.

N6 www.philly.com THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Sunday, December 4, 2011

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