We got over to gallipoli and arrived about 4pm. they werent opening the commemorative area till 6pm so we had to do a loop around the national park in the bus. we stopped just near Quinns Post and took some photos and then walked up to the Turkish Memorial where they were having a small service.
There were alot of little turkish scout kids who mobbed us. they wanted photos and asked our names and couldnt get enough of us.. we were like celebrities haha.
We finally got down to Anzac Cove and set up 'camp'. We were given the idea to get lilos to sleep on so our whole group sat there blowing up lilos for quite a while. as soon as the sun set it got really cold. I ended up wearing 8 layers of clothes and cocooned myself in my sleeping bag for the night.
During the night they had documentries, speeches and music going all night, which was probably good for the poor people in the grand stands who wouldnt have slept.
Id say I got about 3 hours of on and off sleep the whole night which was alot more than i thought i would get.
They woke us up at about 4.15am and told us to get ready for the dawn service. The service started at about 5.00am. It was the first dawn service i had ever been to and it was so amazing. you could feel the emotion in the air.
After the dawn service we trekked up a rocky dirt track to Lone Pine. we got there quite early and had to sit around for a while before the service started. It was an amazing service which was alot less relaxed than the dawn service. There were people singing, speeches, stories and more wreath laying. i loved it.
When the aussie service ended quite a few of us headed up to the new zealand service at Chanak Bair. We got there right before it started and so we had to sit on the hill outside the area, we got to see the service on screens but couldnt hear very much.
A few days later on our way back to Istanbul we got to go back to Gallipoli where we saw everything without the crowds. It was definitely worth it to go back so we could see everything.
Anzac Cove, Lone Pine, Turkish Memorial, Chanak Bair its all so nice.. We saw the youngest registered soldier that died - he was 15 years and 10 months. so sad.
The whole thing is so sad to me, because the ANZACS fighting the turks was so not necessary. It was all British fighting the germans, the turks sided with the germans and then obviously the anzacs were on the british side so we fought them for no reason really, it wasnt our business and nothing to do with us yet we lost so many lives. stupid. and so sad.
The whole anzac day was so amazing. I absolutely loved it, i really want to do it all again next year!
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