Lone Pine, the Nek, Quinns Post and more - by Lila

More, and lots, of delicious Turkish food greeted us when we awoke this morning: there is absolutely no way any of us can claim to be underfed! But today we needed it, with a massive day of exploring the peninsula ahead.

Our first stop was the wounded Anzac memorial which demonstrated the cameraderie of a Turkish soldier helping a wounded Anzac; it reminded us all of the humanity and compassion that was shown by both sides. The image was also masterfully re-enacted by Travis and Michael to the amusement of us all.

Bruce then took us to Lone Pine and down Artillery Road to Shell Green which allowed us all to collect some more mud on our shoes, as well as showing us the importance of the landscape in the battle. We continued on to North Beach and walked along Anzac Cove, with many people collecting mementos for home and Carl and Bill participating in a fierce stone-skipping competition.

We are all so appreciative of Bruce’s knowledge and expertise, especially when he showed us the subsided trench lines and a tunnel few, if any, of us would have spotted on our own. We then trekked past 4th battalion parade ground cemetery, down along the ridges and through Shrapnel Valley.

I know I marvelled at both the beauty of the landscape and the horrific challenges soldiers must have faced to confront the terrain. We were all pleased to spot a turtle on our way though, something I never knew existed at Anzac.

After lunch we returned to Lone Pine to meet the Australian Consul to Turkey,Nick Sergi. Charlotte and Steph gave us a beautiful and touching rendition of amazing grace in the pillar and Travis and Breanna laid a wreath on the behalf of the group. We then got the chance to hear Sam’s and Clair’s Adopt-a-Digger commemorations which were very touching before chatting and introducing ourselves to the Consul.

We visited the Turkish Cemetery of the 57^th Battalion, a place for us to reflect on the losses sustained by opposition forces. Bruce then showed us Quinn’s Post, the Nek and Walkers Ridge, some of the key places for Australian forces. The boys and “Mel Gibson” (a.k.a Charlotte) re-enacted the final scenes from the movie Gallipoli for us all at the Nek, the slow motion running skills were incredible!

Chunuk Bair gave us a chance to view the Dardenelles and a New-Zealand cemetery, as well as some last minute Turkish shopping for the shopaholics amongst us (cough-cough Otis). And in speaking of New-Zealanders the boys also tricked us into a hilarious performance of the Hakka which got us all laughing. We then headed off to Embarkation Pier Cemetery for my Adopt-a-Digger commemoration and also visited a wreck of a British landing craft near Suvla Bay.

A ten-out-of ten singing performance by Bruce finished off the day. It was a wonderful day full of appreciation and learning and I know we all feel very privileged to be here.

Until tomorrow, lyi aksamiar

Lila