Our first full day in Turkey started early with the 4 hour journey out of Istanbul as we headed south towards Australia’s most famous battlefields around Anzac Cove. Our trip was a great change from the plane flights and we were in awe of the geographical and historical significance of this part of the world. Our on-board Turkish history expert Rabia told us that the ANZAC’s definitely were not the first foreigners to try and take control of the Gallipoli peninsula. After a quick toilet stop along the way (where it cost 1 Turkish Lira for a visit) we arrived in ANZAC Cove. We met our military expert John, who will travel with us for the remainder of the trip as he gives a brilliant insight into the facts behind the myths and stories that we have grown up with.
As you can see, the place is busy with construction for the dawn service ceremony in a few days. We will be back here in a few nights time to get an experience of a lifetime. Avoiding all the builders, gardeners, security forces and other visitors, we were allowed to walk along the actual landing beach to get to our first grave site. The pebbly beach has no sand on it (just like Cronulla beaches this week) and the crunching of our boots and the lapping sound of the waves was exactly as the ANZAC’s would have experienced and we all definitely felt we could hear the gunshots, yelling and screams of the original landing.
Time for lunch and after a quick drive out of the battlefields we arrived in Alcitepe. As you can see from image it is a really ancient village with the minaret in the background and they made a fantastic lunch meal. After lunch we returned to the battlefields and walked beside the actual ANZAC beach. It has suffered a lot of damage in recent times with the construction of an access road but it looked so beautiful anyway.
Late in the afternoon we put our bus onto a car ferry and crossed the Dardanelles waterway to the town of Canakkale and to our resort accommodation for the next 3 days. We saw the most beautiful sunset across the water (the Gallipoli peninsula in the background) and that ended a very busy but stunning day that all of us will never forget.
As you can see, the place is busy with construction for the dawn service ceremony in a few days. We will be back here in a few nights time to get an experience of a lifetime. Avoiding all the builders, gardeners, security forces and other visitors, we were allowed to walk along the actual landing beach to get to our first grave site. The pebbly beach has no sand on it (just like Cronulla beaches this week) and the crunching of our boots and the lapping sound of the waves was exactly as the ANZAC’s would have experienced and we all definitely felt we could hear the gunshots, yelling and screams of the original landing.
Time for lunch and after a quick drive out of the battlefields we arrived in Alcitepe. As you can see from image it is a really ancient village with the minaret in the background and they made a fantastic lunch meal. After lunch we returned to the battlefields and walked beside the actual ANZAC beach. It has suffered a lot of damage in recent times with the construction of an access road but it looked so beautiful anyway.
Late in the afternoon we put our bus onto a car ferry and crossed the Dardanelles waterway to the town of Canakkale and to our resort accommodation for the next 3 days. We saw the most beautiful sunset across the water (the Gallipoli peninsula in the background) and that ended a very busy but stunning day that all of us will never forget.