Part 24 : ANZAC Day

I woke up the next day feeling pretty relaxed and really just wanted to chill out a bit. My body was still climatising to the weather as it was easily 15 degrees cooler here then in Thailand. So I awoke around 11am and looked around and saw that my entire dorm. all 36 beds were empty. All the guys I hung out with last night all were leaving at midday and I was all of a sudden hit with a realisation that maybe, just maybe I had read the email wrong on my tour booking. I knew that the time said 12:00 but I wasn't sure if it was midday or midnight.

I got my lappie out, went up to reception and checked my booking email. Yep I had misread it completely. It clearly stated picked up 12:00, then followed by 14:00 stop in for quick meal break.!!!!! doh FML. it was now 11:25 and I had less then an hour to pack all my stuff back into my bag and get my self ready for Gallipoli. I went back to my room and OMFG all my stuff was everywhere. To this day that is the quickest I have ever packed my bag.

After a quick rush and dropping my bigger bag off in the storage at the Orient and another reorganising of things that I need I ran across the road to New Backpackers where I had to wait for my pickup. Here I ran into Maxine and Paul again from last night and while we waited Tom showed up. Another Aussie that would continue partying with me for the next couple of days. Tom had just finished a Top Deck tour of europe. Once on the bus we met Drew, another Aussie who had literally just came over from a few months in South America. (Mental Note: do South America trip :D)

We kept each other company over the 5 hour trip to Gallipoli and ended up at Eceabat for a few hours and waited at The Crowded House hotel who were the company who we booked the tour with. There was a time in which they let all the buses in so we cruised around Eceabat and got some local food and stocked up on supplies. At this point in time, because I hadn't prepared myself for a night out on the hill, and I was expecting to rock up at some stupid hour like 4 see the service and leave, I didnt really bring adequate clothing of materials to keep me warm. Neither did drew since he came from SA and so I didnt feel that bad but no I had to invest into something that will save my life.

After eating and seeing the miniature model of the beach and war sites we invested in some local blankets. Some of the girls from our bus also bought some and we haggled in a deal a 4 for 60 TL, 15TL each. ooh yeah. Note that this blanket surely was the best buy of the night as meat pies were 10TL. I thought I had enough as I couldnt see sleeping bags anywhere and later wish I didnt get the blanket and got a sleeping bag for 20TL, but we eventually got back on the bus and made our way to our resting place for the night. On the bus came the final member of our possie, Jimmy. A army chef who unlike the rest of us stayed in Taksim the night before rather then Sultanamhat.

Once I got to Anzac cove I was surprised over a few thing.
1. The massive stadium seating and entertainment screens/podium.lighting rigs.etc etc. It really felt like I had just come to a big day out. There were the obvious police checks for drugs and weapons and in the back of my head a memory about alcohol being banned from the celebration. fair enough too because Aussies would take it waay to far but it really was very very tame.

2. No Alcohol

3. The Fanatics / Top deck people. To say anything about Aussie pride would be sacrilegious on ANZAC day but the fanatics IMHO were all wankers.

4. How fricken cold it was

Once we were in the core of the hub of people between the two big screens and surrounded by a mass of people we soon realised that all the good spots (on the ground) were all taken. We had been let in too late and now we had to take a seat in the stands. We based ourselves to the back left of the middle sections and allocated ourselves sufficient seating for ourselves and our gear. We would have arrived around 8pm and got comfortable, then checked out the food options and toilets as you do. As the night went on the presenter would play some clips and movies all ANZAC related of course and go through some of the major events that happened during the 8 months they were camped there. Around 11pm it was time to get some rest and the cold was becoming relentless.

The blanket I had bought, along with the 2 singlets (lol) shirt, hoodie and rain coat, (only had jeans and sockets doh!) were no where near sufficient to keep me warm. The blanket was inferior to a sleeping bag because no matter how you had it wrapped around you there was always a little gap that the wind could sneak in and your body would then drop in temperature quickly. Around 11:15pm I got some sleep, laying down on the wooden boards below where our seats were. Jimmy and Tom had found some isolated place up the back to rest as me and Drew stayed and looked after the gear.

Then at 11:30pm some crazy woman start yelling from directly above my head, yelling at the whole course of people because everyone was trying to sleep and that we were taking up all the room. There was actually sufficient room she just wanted to sit in our section. It wasn't even a nice complaint, or asking anyone if they could make some room, she just started yelling in a sarcastic bitchy tone about "well if all the people here weren't taking up and the room, sleeping on the ground then maybe we can get a seat somewhere". I know that it sounds a little selfish and that sure we could have made some room for her, but at the same time she was such a bitch about it, and I was woken up by this (we all know how pissed you get when someone wakes you up, especially when its 0 degrees) but the reality is that we had to face that same problem a few hours ago. It;s not a ticketed system its a first in best dressed system. We missed out on the premium grass seats and she now misses out on the premium stadium seats. She could easily have gone and sat on the many seats to the left or right.

After that Jimmy and Thom came back and me and drew sat up. A guy behind us started arguing with her and I was relieved because I would have told her to fk'off which wouldn't have done any good other then start her arguing. Then she cam back with one of the festival guys and he had to ask us to all sit up. lol. Someone yelled out "Theres actually alot of seats at the back" and so she went up about 8 rows and well whadda know. there were alot of seats up the back. soo annoying. We ended up freezing our asses off for till around 4am when I finally just kind of collapsed on the floor and passes out for a bit. Then after half and hour the speaker told everyone to wake up for the ceremony.

Even though I was cold and freezing and ill prepared. I think that its probably the greatest respect that you can give to your fallen ancestors. They had to come out here at the same time of year with equipment that was even more inferior to our Gortex jackets and sleeping bags, under the rain of fire from Turkish machine guns nested high in the hills surrounding the beach and for them to still fight on through 8 months of hardship is amazing. One night for me to spend out there wasn't going to kill me and it would be my honor to do it again. Next time I think I will take my kids when they are like 15 or 16 and with a super duper warm sleeping bag. :D

It brought a tear to my eye being able to sing there with the many other Aussies and Kiwis the National Anthem and take pride in being Aussie. Mental note. need to learn the second half of the Anthem. oops

Song: Not original music of my creation.
"Lest We Forget"
please purchase if you enjoy it.
cheers