The road down to Gallipoli is soooo beautiful, very green with fields and forests, especially in the afternoon sunlight. By the time we arrived it was actually dark, and freezing cold already.

I put on as many layers as I could wear and a group of the 6 Aussies and a few others headed down the road past the long line of tour buses and into Anzac Cove. We went through security checks where they made us throw out our bottles of water (no alcohol allowed), but they did give us linen bags with goodies inside like a poncho and the order of services. We couldn't believe how organised the whole thing was - the stage complete with lighting rigs and big screens, and huge grandstands all around. The place was already packed, but we managed to find 14 seats together high on one of the stands at the back. By the time we were settled it was about 1:30, and a cold wind was blowing, but once I got into my sleeping bag and snuggled up I felt a lot better.

Through the rest of the night, the band played at times and other times they had interviews with historians or clips from "Australians at War". We tried to sleep propped against each other, wedged in our chairs with people all around us - I think I might have got a maximum of 10 mins at any one time.

At 4:40am, a presentation started of the Gallipoli Symphony - an original composition by an Australian composer. It was really beautiful, and was followed by a list and a reading of the names of many soldiers who died there. Many of them were only in their 20s.

There followed 30 mins of complete silence and dark. We weren't sure what was going on, but read later in the programme that it was a time for reflecting. Everyone was very quiet and patient while we listened to the small waves on the beach and the birds singing. I wondered if it was so peaceful there in 1915.

At 5:30 the dawn service began - much the same as a service at home but it included New Zealand and Turkish references. As the light got brighter we were able to see the sea for the first time, silvery and like a mirror in the pre-dawn.

Once the service was over we packed up our sleeping bags and started to peel off layers, and slowly got out of the Cove and up the steep hill to Lone Pine Cemetery, stopping at other small cemeteries along the way. It was a perfect, blue, sunny morning, and very quickly got quite warm in the sun. Once we'd trekked the 3km uphill to Lone Pine we decided it would have been pretty horrible terrain to have to fight in.

Lone Pine looks like it would be a spectacular location, except that it was completely surrounded by grandstands so you couldn't actually see the view at all. I'd love to go back there one time when there is no-one there just to see what it looks like normally!

We sat in the graveyard area in the sun for the Australian service, since there wasn't a lot of room left in the stands. This service was pretty much exactly like the services at home, and made me quite homesick.. or maybe it was sitting in the hot sun and the lack of sleep that did it ;)

We had another 2km or so walk down the road to the museum to meet up with the truck, and it was a scenic walk down with a view over the scrub and coves. We had planned to go to the Turkish service but it started only 30 mins after the Australian one finished and we didn't get out of there until it was too late.

When we rejoined the truck, everyone was lying around in the sun, so we joined them and slept for a good hour or so until it was time to leave. I haven't really managed to sleep much yet since I have a nasty cough at the moment, but hopefully tonight will be okay. We drove to the end of the Gallipoli peninsula and got the ferry over to Çanukkle, then headed offroad and found a nice campsite where I think a lot of us will have a very early night.

On the whole I really enjoyed the services, although I can probably do without staying up for a dawn service again! This time was great compared to a lot of services I've been to before in that there was a lot of information about the campaign and the history available, so people really had a better understanding of what had gone on there. I was very impressed with the whole production and the behavior of the people there.