There had been trouble between drunken tourists and locals in previous years so this year we had to line up and be patted down and have our bags searched because they had banned alcohol. Even arriving as early as 6.30pm we struggled to find a nice big area on the grass. Once we did though we laid out our sleeping bags to mark our space and organized dinner while it was light. Viv and I shared a veritable feast of dolmades, aubergine, taziki, salad, and crouton bread – it was yum! The area around us filled up so quickly, there was a constant stream of people coming in for hours!
Surprisingly the night passed fairly easily, there was a huge sense of anticipation, so many people all camped out together like that. Every hour, on the hour they showed a small documentary or the band played or something to keep everyone a bit entertained. Andrew Denton was there interviewing people and there were addresses from John Howard and Helen Clarke. It was really, really cold though. I had jeans, socks, thermals, 2 tops and a jumper, jacket, scarf and gloves on as well as being in my sleeping bag! It was quite funny to look out over everyone crammed together in sleeping bags, we kept being told by the MC to sit up to make room for others. At about 1am he said that there was 3km of buses still to come in, we thought we’d do the right thing and sit up but then the new people came in a laid down behind us! It really did make us wonder what the point of getting the early to get a good spot was all about! Numerous snacks and cups of very nasty coffee (the Nescafe 3 in 1 packets – coffee instant milk and sugar) kept us going throughout the night.
The build up to sunrise started at about 4.30am, the actual service started at 5.30am. We were all asked to stand, but it was still so cold and windy that everyone in sight stayed standing in the sleeping bags, hoods drawn around their heads. We heard speeches from dignitaries including Michael Jeffrey the Governor General.
The most poignant moment for me was as always the reading of the Anzac oath and the playing of the last post. It was so scary and yet amazing to be there standing on the very ground where Australian and other men died 91years ago. I was beyond angry when a NZ girl’s mobile went off in front of me during the 2min reflection time. How incredibly rude!
The cliffs at Anzac cove are huge looking at them from the beach, you can (almost) imagine what it would have been like to land there and have to attempt to climb them. The sphinx especially looked impossible. It wasn’t just the height and steepness of them though, they were covered with scrub, which is thorny, and back then would have been nigh on impenetrable!
The dawn service finished and there was a mass exodus from the Cove area to head up to Lone Pine for the Australian Service and Chanuk Bair for the New Zealand service. The girls I was with and I stopped to pay respects at the wreath memorial and to have a look at the beach of Anzac cove first.
The walk to Lone Pine was quite steep at some points, barely more than a gravel track through the bush really. It took about 45min all up to get there from the site of the Dawn service. I was lucky enough to be spotted by Michelle on my way into the Lone Pine site so I caught up with her while we waited, for the Australian service didn’t start until 10.30am. I was really impressed with the Lone Pine service, it was somehow more special feeling than the Dawn one, maybe because it was aimed specifically at Australians. The minister for Veterans Affairs gave a really moving speech, which included a story about two brothers in different regiments. One died and the other had to pick up the pieces (literally) in order to bury him. I cried at this point, it was the best speech that I heard throughout the whole day.
After Lone Pine I said goodbye to Michelle and started to walk up to Chanuk Bair. It was quite a steep walk, past a whole heap of cemeteries, monuments, the Turkish Memorial Service and even past old trenches at what used to be the frontline! I say about half of the NZ service and then met up with Viv and some of the others to wait for the bus. We were absolutely exhausted by this stage; no sleep and quite a bit of walking certainly did me in!
I got dropped off at the Gallipoli War Museum to wait for a Fez Bus. That came at 5pm adn then we drove to Selcuk, arriving about 2.30am. We all colapsed into bed at Attilla's Getaway.
