This is most
definitely something that every Australian should do at least once in their
life, whether they visit the site or sleep over and attend the dawn service as
we did. We don’t even have family members in the war (that we know about) and
this was still so moving and unforgettable.
We spent the day before exploring the
sights of WW1 and trying to calm our excitement for a gigantic outdoor slumber
party. Its one major rat race to get the best sleeping spot and Fanatics
definitely owned the joint, especially with their strategic yellow t-shirts,
beanies and hoodies flashing everywhere.
However in order to get such a good possie it takes some dedicated
waiting time. We waited at the at the front of the North gate for about 4
hours, passing time by playing cards, meeting and greeting other travellers,
sharing the same travel stories, checking out the beach and drinking Turkish
tea. Finally, by 6pm we got through and set up camp right near the spot where the
Australians landed.
During the day we had sprinkles of rain and
begun to worry that we would have a horrible night sleep however whilst waiting
to get in, the temperature was so hot that we knew we’d be in for a good night
and a long night it was. Documentaries were played to help pass time as well as
all the little stalls such as kebabs, chips and hot soup to keep our bodies
warm and very slowly throughout the night we all added those extra layers as the
temperature dropped. It turned out to be good weather, we only needed roughly
2-3 layers and the temperature only dropped to 10 C which apparently was the
warmest it has been in years and not only that but…. We got on TV!! Channel 7
news filmed us screaming and yelling whilst holding the Aussie flag- which our
tour guide chose to dub as a ‘super happy bonus surprise’. We haven’t seen it yet but a good friend of
our’s Kim Knight saw it and uploaded a screen shot to our facebook pagesfor all
to see! (Were on a mission to find it so keep a look out!)
Finally, morning came around and we all
woke each other up just as the dawn service begun. This was so moving and even
though we had no one in the war we still felt that that Aussie pride and couldn’t
help but imagine what it would have been like for all the soldiers who fought. Its
hard to compare our day to how we would generally celebrate or commemorate the
day at home (beers and 2up with half of the eastern suburbs) but the dawn
service in Gallipoli started the day with not only a memory we will cherish
forever but an experience to compare with those previous and those to come. Once
this was finished we made the 3km walk up a steep hill towards the Australian
service. Once everyone got there we had at least an hour until it started and
they made it a mini show, getting an Australian choir to sing popular Aussie
songs and pulling audience members out of the crowd to talk. Julia Gillard even
went around and did a meet and greet. She’s not really a favourite of ours but
she said some really lovely words on that day.
We then made our way up to the New Zealand service which was another 3.2km and in the heat it all seemed too much so we took the easy way out and managed to hitchhike a lift, lucky enough it was from a Turkish official so it was a nice, air-conditioned car-just perfect!
We then made our way up to the New Zealand service which was another 3.2km and in the heat it all seemed too much so we took the easy way out and managed to hitchhike a lift, lucky enough it was from a Turkish official so it was a nice, air-conditioned car-just perfect!
By the end of the day we were all exhausted
from little sleep, such beautiful services and the extreme heat but although we
were tired and got back to the hotel late we all pulled up for some beers and a
interesting version of two-up (if we still call it that?)
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