The Ballot - Greeks, Turks, Last Post and those Marbles

[amaroo]

This one was an extra course ... our waiter really likes Aussies he was very generous with the pours and doubled up on quite a few Great guy!







Another course added by the most generous waiter you'd ever meet

 

[amaroo]

Finally - after two extra courses and about 4 extra glasses, the meal was over. The best meal of the trip (so far) it was late and our new friend made sure we were as full as a tick! Really impressed with Turkish wines. I'll be tracking a few down when we get home. This place is special and is a must for your "eat here" list.

One last view from the terrace



We were feeling terrific and ready to take on Istanbul however, it was late and we had a 6.30am bus ride booked for our 5 hour trip to Gallipoli ... time for sleep.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Mikla looks fantastic - I am sorry we didn't go now!

 

[amaroo]

06:30 and we're in the bus ... the little bus. Given the numbers and the narrow lanes of the old city the tour company has arranged a fleet of shuttles to deliver the pilgrims to the larger touring rigs.

Eventually everyone arrives and we begin the convey ~ 5 hours later we arrive in Eceabat ... our base for the next 3 nights http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eceabat

We used RSL tours. They have the major hotel in Eceabat. We selected their four day tour - so we'll be seeing some of the sites before the Anzac Services.

View from the hotel terrace - the Dardanelles







HMS Bulwark crew coming in for a practice run

 

[amaroo]

After lunch we hit the deck running.

Beach Cemetery

This is one of 40+ CWGC sites http://www.cwgc.org

John Simpson is buried here.

 

[amaroo]

Anzac Cove



This is where they landed.



Crude example of what it looked like ... the road cutting has changed the layout a little.



View of what they faced once off the beach.

 

[amaroo]

Lone Pine was the next stop.







The View



For the special ones ... they really should have locked them

 

[amaroo]

Turkish Memorial









View back to Lone Pine

 

[amaroo]

The Nek

The Trenches

 

[amaroo]

The Nek memorial





The view down to Suvla Bay





Whatit looked like in 1915

 

[Mattg]

Fantastic TR so far. Amaroo, I see you are using RSL Tours. You didn't get Yusuf by any chance did you? (I got him last year, great guide.)

 

[OATEK]

The then and now photos do give a real perspective of how in many ways (the odd road cutting apart) little has changed in the landscape. Thank goodness it didn't become a "leisure" coast or similar with hotels everywhere.

 

[amaroo]

Can't wait to see the photos of the food and wine for this meal, amaroo - and your commentary on the wines . Not so sure I'd be hungry after reading "bird****" paste was going to be on my tenderloin

Had a great laugh with our friend about the bird**** ... it tasted pretty good. Must be some sort of marketing ploy

 

[amaroo]

The next stop on the tour was the NZ memorial (Chunuk Bair) - very moving place. Stupidly I didn't take any photos

IMO the Turks have encroached on the Kiwi site ... they must be p$ssed they were the only ones to achieve their objective - even if it was only for a day.

Image lifted from the net. The statue is Ataturk ... the kiwis in our group were not impressed!

 

[amaroo]

Mikla looks fantastic - I am sorry we didn't go now!

Wonderful trifecta of food, wine, views... I'm sure you would have loved it!

 

[pagingjoan]

Wonderful trifecta of food, wine, views... I'm sure you would have loved it!

Mikla certainly provided the complete package when we were there last year. The tasting menu and matched wines were a winner, after the mandatory coughtail on the rooftop.

 

[amaroo]

Finding suitable accommodation on the peninsula was always going to be a problem as most of the hotels were booked years in advance.

I started the process of booking immediately after being notified of the ballot win. Limited options were available that suited our timetable, so the larger tours were ruled out. I settled on RSL Tours due to the tour (4 days) and the fact they could secure accommodation.

They had a few options from shared to multi bed rooms. The only demand we had was private accommodation with private bathroom.

We got the keys around 8pm and the shuttle buses started dispersing people all over Eceabat. Eceabat is a small village of 5k people - so you can imagine the quality of houses.

A 1/100 year event is always going to create opportunities, and the good people of Eceabat took full advantage!

I don't know the stats but most of the locals must have left the area and let their homes out ... ANZAC Day had created a mini rental boom for the locals.

Our house had two rooms with 5 beds + another 3 rollups ready to go ... we could have doubled our money. With so many beds we didn't bother making them and hopped in a new one every night





They must have left in a hurry!







Although the accommodation was raw and $$$ (€250/night x 3 nights) we're grateful that the locals got involved and opened their homes. Although we paid for 3 nights we only used the room for two (the third was spent sitting in a plastic chair waiting for the dawn service) ... another win for the locals.

The second day I had to purchase some essentials .... FWIW a packet of 10 rolls of toilet paper (apparently not included in the €750) cost $1.25 AUD.

We were lucky - most people didn't have hot water!

 

[amaroo]

After our early morning wake up call (call to prayer) we headed for Suvla Bay.

Hill 10 Cemetery http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/2visiting/graves/g_hillten.html

 

[amaroo]

Suvla Bay - peaceful, beautiful!

 

[amaroo]

Embarkation Pier Cemetery

http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/2visiting/graves/g_embarkation.html



Next on the itinerary was a cruise off Anzac Cove.

Driving by the Sphinx



This was the first balls-up of the tour.

Due to the naval parade http://turkishnavy.net/2015/04/26/naval-parade-to-commemorate-the-gallipoli-wars/ the cruise was held up for a few hours and then changed. No cruise off the cove for us ... new plan will be a cruise around Cape Helles and up the Dardanelles to Eceabat.