Istanbul to Gallipoli

Well the trip from Istanbul to Gallipoli was very challenging indeed. Fortunately Jim had learnt some road skills from the Turkish taxi driver! Looking at the map it was just a matter of following the coast road from Istanbul to get us out of the city and so much more interesting than going on the freeway - so we thought. After many wrong turns and going in the wrong direction twice, with the help of the locals we finally were sent in the right direction.

Lots of rain on the way and a bit of splash through the front window added to the excitement. Fortunately the rain cleared as we headed further west and we were able to enjoy the scenery of fields of canola and grain crops - everything was very lush and green.

Poor old “George” is being tested on a daily basis with rain, mountains and freeways but is going well.

We had the day to explore the sites around Gallipoli which have been very well maintained by the Turks. It is hard to imagine that such a beautiful place was the site of so much sorrow. We visited Lone Pine Cemetery and saw, along with many others, the wreath layed by the Collie School in Western Australia.

The next morning we packed up camp and had a photo shoot with all the vehicles at Anzac Cove before leaving for Greece. We have enjoyed our stay in Turkey and found the people to be very friendly and helpful.