It's been a few days now since I visited the Gallipolli Peninsula and the things I got to see and experience are still bouncing around in my head. Hard to believe, but originally in my plan for Turkey I wasn't going to visit the site, but I'm so grateful now that time became tight and I took a much shorter route down the west coast but was able to pick up Anzac Cove and its surrounds. Standing on Anzac Cove was incredible. I was trying to imagine what it must have been like for the soldiers when they first landed here in the early hours of the morning in a foreign country on a beach that didn't look at all like expected. Considering I still get a little tense when I hit a new city and the hostels are booked out I can't begin to appreciate what those guys must have gone through. I was also lucky enough to have the details of a relative (first cousin, three times removed) who fell during the war and had an individual plaque in the Lone Pine memorial (thats the main AU/NZ memorial) - thanks Mum and Unc(le) Micheal for that. I was the only one on our tour bus of 30 or so who had someone to look for and quite a few others took an interest in my searhc. As soon as we could get out I bolted over to the main plaque and began to search. After some fairly thorough searching I could not find the name anywhere. Dejected, I sat down and considered looking amongst the smaller individual plaques that dotted the ground, but with a couple of minutes to go I knew time was against me. What I didn't realise was that half the bus began searching the plaques after I stopped looking on the main wall. As I began taking photos I heard a 'Found it!'. I saunter over expecting a Hodgeman or Hodgkinson and there it was, Harry Hodgman, fell 25 April 1915. Made me appreciate that most people are nice people, something I was starting to doubt after months of being around other tourists. It was definately a unique day as far as the stuff I've done so far. I won't say solemn or moving - thats not really the right word for it. I'll just leave it as unique - thats the best this Engineering Graduate can some up with.