Day #6: Monday, 18th April
Gallipoli/Cannakale/Troy/Cannakale: Overcast, approx 10 degrees....
Today we farewell the Gallipoli Peninsula. We've all fallen in love with this place and is going to be really hard to leave. We travelled to Shrapnel Valley for our final commemoration (Martin's) and our farewell.
Today's ceremony was a different version of those that had been help up until now. Dave started the ceremony as usual, Hadley played the Last Post, Tom played Waltzing Matilda and then the entire group of kids sang 'I Am Australian'. If not for the fact that I was recording the ceremony, I would have been on my knees crying. Once again hearing the mournful notes of the Last Post is bad enough, couple with Waltzing Matilda echoing across the graves, but then all of the kids singing together? It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. (Hopefully I can figure out how to You Tube the footage and re-post it here).
It took us a long time to gather ourselves and to leave the cemetery. Just before we started our commemoration, a van turned up with doof doof music blaring from the car's speakers. Australian backpackers? Nope! Turkish gardeners who very kindly waited for us to finish our ceremony before coming in to look after the cemetery. In every cemetery we visited, the grounds were immaculate! The grass perfectly mown, weeds non-existent, flowers and shrubs carefully tended to. It's a strange/beautiful thing that the people whose country we invaded now look after our dead so very carefully.
I found it very hard to leave Shrapnel Valley. It is a beautiful place and I found myself taking more and more photos of the different graves. The epitaths that I was photographing seemed to sum up my feelings about the place. We've been on a tight schedule so far and we usually get the hurry up from Bob or Bruce so that we can get to our next destination. In this case it was the ferry to Cannakale. However, we all seemed reluctant to leave the valley. When I looked around, we were all still wandering around looking at the graves or staring of into the distance. I tried to burn the image of this place into my memory. Even as we were walking to the bus, I kept turning around to see one last glimpse of the place. I just did not want to say goodbye.
I came from the dream-time, from the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame.
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come.
For forty thousand years I've been the first Australian.
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
I came upon the prison ship, bowed down by iron chains.
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I'm a settler, I'm a farmer's wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man, I became Australian.
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
I'm the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road
I'm a child of the depression, I saw the good times come
I'm a bushy, I'm a battler, I am Australian
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
I'm a teller of stories, I'm a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira, I paint the ghostly gums
I am Clancy on his horse, I'm Ned Kelly on the run
I'm the one who waltzed Matilda, I am Australian
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
There are no words of comfort that can hope to ease the pain
Of losing homes and loved ones the memories will remain
Within the silent tears you’ll find the strength to carry on
You’re not alone, we are with you. We are Australian!
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
There are so many heroes whose stories must be told
They fought the raging fires of hell and saved so many souls
From the ashes of despair our towns will rise again!
We mourn your loss, we will rebuild. We are Australian!
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
I'm the hot wind from the desert, I'm the black soil of the plains
I'm the mountains and the valleys, I'm the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky, the rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land, I am Australian
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
I am, you are, we are Australian!
We are one ….. We are many ….. We are Australian!
Lyrics by Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton, written in 1987; music by Bruce Woodley
A comment from our troops when they were pulling out of Gallipoli: "I hope our mates can't hear us go". The withdrawal from Gallipoli is seen as the most successful part of the campaign. But as Bruce mentioned, the Turks were not going to put themselves in danger to attack as if we were leaving. Dummies were used as were the ingenious water guns (the triggers were fired after dripping water into a can. When the weight was heavy enough, the trigger was fired.) Many of the men were unhappy to be leaving their mates behind. At the end of the withdrawal, there were 60 men left at Lone Pine holding off the Turks. One of the last things that was done was to blow a mine under the Nek. Something that the Turks are still quite bitter about. We were leaving, so why cause more devastation?
On the way to the ferry to Cannakale (which means 'clay pot', this area is famous for their ceramics), we did a quick tour of Sel-el-Bahir (Lock of the Sea), a castle located on the banks of the Narrows. By this stage, the wind and rain had picked up and as the castle was closed, we decided to head to the ferry.
An uneventful ferry crossing, except for the souvenir sellers doing a great trade in keyrings, had us across the Dardanelles at Cannakale. On the way over, quite clearly on the hillside there were two 'memorials'. The first one was of a Turkish soldier and the statement "Halt traveller: Be aware this land you are passing was where a generation was lost". The other was for 18 Mart (March), 1915". This was the day that Allied warships entered the Dardanelles and fired on the Turkish gun placements and forts on the Asian and European sides of the Straits. The Turks remember this date as a victorious one as the Allied warships were defeated. Waiting for us on the other side at Cannakale was the Trojan horse used in the movie 'Troy'. Total cheese!
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| Seyyit makes another appearance....on the right... |
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| Looking back to Eceabat.... |
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| Facade of building in Eceabat with Ataturk... |
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| The Dardanelles Straits.... |
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| Halt traveller: Be aware this land you are passing was where a generation was lost.... |
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| Sed-el-Bahir to the left of the photo.... |
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| Remembering the 18th of March, 1915.... |
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| The Hollywood Trojan Horse.... |
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| On the ferry.... |
Passing through Cannakale, we headed towards Troya (Troy) to look at the ancient ruins. We were very fortunate to have as our guide Mustafa Askin who is a well respected Turkish historian....with an awesome English accent!! The story goes that the wind brought wealth to Troy as the wind and tides pushed ships to Troy's shores where they could tax travellers. The Trojan War was more about economics than a beautiful woman, Helen. In fact, the Gallipoli Campaign is often referred to as the second Trojan War.
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| The cheesy, touristy Trojan Horse....which of course I climbed to the top of!!! |
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| An ancient column.... |
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| The walls that surrounded Troy.... |
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| Mustafa Askin....our guide and brilliant historian.... |
The land we walked around covered Troy I to IX as there were different civilisations built and rebuilt over the same land. Troy I dates from 3000-2600 BC; Troy IX from 1st century BC. So pretty bloody old. The shot below gives you an idea of the landscape looking our over to the Dardanelles....
The photo below shows the original foundation stones belonging to the fortification wall and towers of Troy II and III.....
The next photo shows the different strata of Troy. Up on the top left you can see the remains of Troy IX, diagonally down from that is the Troy III strata and diagonally down again (the yellow marker) is Troy II. Pretty groovy!!
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| A well built in c. 300 BC!!!! |
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| Just behind me are the gates where Hector and Achilles fought....according to Homer.... |
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| David asked me if I was touching history or if it was touching history....good point.... |
The tour to Troy wasn't on the itinerary, and it was a great surprise to have the opportunity to visit this place. Having Mustafa as our guide was also brilliant. If we had of walked around the ruins on our own, it would not have made a lot of sense. He really made Troy come alive for us. And he very kindly signed his books 'Troy' and 'Gallipoli: A Turning Point' for me. I'm looking forward to reading them both as he was a very entertaining guide who put things into everyday language. Troy really came alive for us!!
Back on the bus and back to Cannakale. Tonight we stay at the Grand Anzac Hotel. We checked in and then went for a walk around town. Thanks to Evan's golden tongue, we were allowed entry to the 'Nusret', a mine laying ship replica that had been used during World War I. We were treated to a tour by the ship's captain, a electronic diorama representation of the ships in battle and a short movie on the 'Nusret' and it's involvement in the war.
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| Replica mines on the 'Nusret'.... |
Then it was free time in Cannakale. The kids went off to practice their Turkish (some very good linguists in the group!!) Somehow we seemed to end up in the equivalent of Turkey's Starbucks: frappes and the like on the menu. Bet Starbucks doesn't bring you lokum with your coffee though!! There was bread aplenty to buy and we found dodgy souvenirs and a greengrocer with the plumpest and reddest strawberries I've ever seen!
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| Clock Tower in Cannakale Town Square.... |
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| All kinds of tempting breads.... |
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| The commercial giant in Cannakale.... |
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| BAKLAVA!!!!!!!!!!! |
Up early tomorrow for our flight back to Istanbul....
