Today we awoke to the ship
silently cruising toward our only stop for the day, ANZAC Cove .

 

The cove is 600 metres long
and is bounded by the headlands of Aryburnu to the north and Little Aryburnu
(also known as Hell Spit) to the south. The beach became the main base for
Australian and New Zealand
troops during the eight month Gallipoli campaign during World War 1.

 

Due to the significance of
the area, the Captain, crew and passengers participated in an ANZAC service. At
8am the ship was stationary overlooking the cove and service started. Some of
the veterans on board read poems/passages, while the passenger choir sang
several songs, including the Australian and New Zealand national anthems and
Amazing Grace. A floral wreath was thrown overboard and the last post was
played. Because this stop was advertised as a stop in our original itinerary,
many of the veterans on board had bought their service medals with them and
spent the service and some of the morning walking around with them proudly on
display . The service was a popular activity and for most passengers it was
standing room only.

 

Once the service was
finished, we began our scenic cruise past the various memorials while eating
some ANZAC biscuits – in an interesting turn of events, the recipe was sourced
from a Brit and baked under the instruction of our Italian chef. After an hour
of scenic cruising towards the Dardanelles, we
turned south east and begun our journey to Santorini.

 

The rest of the day was
spent watching the various islands go past, interjected with the occasional
unintended nap.

 

Interesting fact:

On ANZAC Day in 1985, the
name ‘Anzac Cove’ was officially recognised by the Turkish government.