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T he sea gleamed, the waves slowly
moved in and out, barely creating a
ripple, like they were rocking the cradle that
held all our boys. What had I expected? A wild
raging west coast surf and an angry brooding
coastline? So this beautiful tranquil place was
“Anzac Cove”! It cloaked me with a feeling of
profound peace, even though it is for us all, a
place of great sadness, young lives lost.
We had driven there by ourselves, caught the
car ferry from Çanakkale, where we had stayed
the previous night, to Eceabat and then driven
on to the western shore, stopping first at the
information centre and to visit the Çanakkale
Epic Presentation Centre museum.
This was very interesting, although for us Kiwis,
we find the focus is more on the Australians
and the Turks. There is a display of each of the
uniforms – Turkish, Australian, French, British
and New Zealand – and bullets fused together
on impact, so ferocious was the fighting. Parts
of letters written
that never made
it home – a very
poignant place
and a great way
to start your visit
to the Peninsula
battlefields,
armed with a new
vision about what really happened here.
Battlefields that have now become beautiful
cemeteries (there are 21 in the cove area), with
well tended plants between each headstone.
Monuments honouring both sides lead you up
the hills to the battlefields of significance.
There are a few Kiwis at Lone Pine, but our
main cemetery is at Chunuk Bair, with a lovely
tall monument in amongst the trenches, which
were our soldiers’ homes. We met others and,
like ourselves, they wandered amongst these
tributes to the fallen, silent, filled with respect
that there is peace with all those countries now
and that we can all mourn together.
Most tours of Turkey include a visit to Gallipoli
at the beginning or end of their itineraries. You
can visit Gallipoli every day except Anzac Day
and early August. (It was on 8th August 1915
that NZ forces captured Chunuk Bair. An official
remembrance service will be held this year and
there is a special Commemorative tour.)
It is possible to take a return day tour from
Istanbul (approximately 11 hours) or from
Çanakkale, a pretty coastal town and worthy of
an overnight stop. Tours can be 1, 2, and 5 to
14 days, dependent on what else you choose
to see and do in Turkey. A Gallipoli Battlefields
Visiting
Gallipoli
BY MONETT JOHNSTON
Travel Director at Travel Options
United Travel in Whitianga
16 COROMANDEL LIFE 2015 LATE SUMMER/EASTER
Traditional carpets
Modern rugs
Decor pieces
Cushions
Runners
Textiles
SHOWROOM OPEN FOR VIEWING
10am to 4pm the last Sunday of every month
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The Talk of Turkey Carpets
129 Ocean Beach Road, Tairua
07 8649846 or 0216670808
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