ANZAC ceremony

Trip Start Mar 10, 2006
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Turkey  ,
Tuesday, April 25, 2006

I took the 6hr bus ride west from Istanbul with a tour filled with aussies and people like dave and mitch to entertain the crowds with their antics and music. It was strange to be around the aussie accent again. Arrived at ANZAC cove at midnight in quite a weird environment - seemed almost like a carnival with stalls of food, people trying to sell aussie paraphernalia, and so many tv crew and screens around - not quite what I expected for a WWI ceremony. Dave even got interviewed by Andrew Denton for his Enough Rope program (to be screened next year I think!)..then again Dave was the popular boy with the soldiers :P (just jokes davo!) We all found our little posey of dirt - garbage bags to line the ground, blankets and 7 layers of clothes to try and keep the chill a LITTLE out of our bones!

To those that don't know..ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corp) ceremony is to commemorate a bloody fight that lasted about 9 months between the turks and the allies near the Dardenelles to gain access to the maramis sea and proceed into the black sea - giving naval access to a large part of eastern Europe during WWI
01Trying to keep warm with strangers!
01Trying to keep warm with strangers!
. There were many stories of comradeship between the turks and the ANZACS as they fought sometimes in trenches only 6m away from each other. A lot of stories/rumours that left a sour taste about how the British saw the ANZACS as indispensable and basically stuffed up the landing at ANZAC cove. It was lovely to see a picture in the museum over a Turkish veteran and an Australian veteran hugging at a ceremony a few years ago and shows the friendship and respect that has developed since.

The actual dawn service was not as emotional as what I thought it would be. I think Kings Park in Perth is more poignant when you are able to see the sun rising behind the stage as the bugle starts playing. At the cove...the sun rises behind the cliffs....so it doesn't become light until much later after the service. Plus there were a lot of distractions with tv crew and some of the Turkish people talking and mobiling through the 2min silence. However, despite all of that...it was an amazing experience and to be able to put the landscape and history all into perspective was a privilege in itself.

We walked to the Lone Pine Australian ceremony, the Neck (unbelievable cliff area where the ANZACS climbed up amongst the fighting)...but by the time we arrived at the Chenuk Bair NZ ceremony...we were all so exhausted from being awake all night that we crashed on the grass awaiting our bus!

Ferried across to Cannakale to share a room with 3 snoring boys (Dave however made some weird sucking noises as he slept!!)....I felt loved!
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