Day 3 - cool, misty morning with sun breaking through, perfect weather for a tramp - but first its over the Dards to Eceabat and a quick whip round Cape Helles. We stopped first at the new Observation platform on the hill called Archi Baba - to take a good look at the entire southern peninsula. This was the high ground that the British never managed to capture after 3 major battles. Lot of Kiwi boys got killed down here during the 2nd Battle of Krithia. You could see why the Brits wanted this hill - from here with a few big pieces of artillery you could command the entire area. You could even see as far as Troy over the other side of the entrance to the Dardanelles. Then we drove on to V Beach where the Brits rammed an old merchant ship (the River Clyde), packed with troops, on the beach. Most of these troops got slaughtered (of the 1st 200 soldiers who landed only 6 made it past the machine guns). It was chilling to stand their and know that the sea had turned red for 50metres offshore.
On we rolled - with a couple quick visits to the British Monument and to see the Kiwi bots buried at 12 Tree Copse Cemetery. Then it was into the village of Krithia for a coffee. We are all taking a liking to Turkish coffee - short, hot, sweet and very strong. Our team sat around with the Turkish driver and guide - learning about life in Turkey and their old stories from back in 1915.
Then it was back up to Anzac Cove and the tramp start at # 2 Outpost. The day was bright and sunny and the mud from yesterday’s rain had died up. We wandered up the ridge between the valleys of Chalaik Dere and Sazli Dere, over Table Top and on up Rhododendron Ridge to Chunuk Bair - all famous names in Anzac Day folklore. It took 1hr 10min - bottom to top, no one shooting at us - but you could feel how vulnerable you would be if there were a dozen or more Turkish snipers doing the business with their Mauser rifles.
At the foot of the NZ Monument on Chunak Bair Jeremy pulled out his whisky bottle, glasses (plastic) and we toasted the Anzacs, the Wellington Regiment, Malone, and the NZ Mounted Rifles. It was Chivas Regal and the bottle was empty by the time we left.
Then it was a long haul back to Istanbul - and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. A very good day.