8th May
I headed back out to Lone Pine since I was going to see some of the trenches nearby. When I saw that the car park was free of busloads of other visitors I pulled in. To my surprise there were probably more than 20 motorcycles. It didn't take too long to realise that they were an Australian group on an organised tour. We chatted for a while about their tour and where I had been. It seemed as they were partly retracing my steps in reverse.
Ferris Wheels from Australia were visiting Gallipoli as part of their Turkey Tour.
I spoke briefly with Mike Ferris (Ferris Wheels Motorcycle Safaris) about his tour(s). He has been doing trips to Turkey, amongst several other destinations, for many years. Ferris Wheels is a Sydney based company running several tours every year. His customers on this particular Turkey trip seemed very happy with the way it was progressing on Day 2.
Since the group from Ferris Wheels had moved on Lone Pine was alone.
Lone Pine - crowd free.
A short roll down the hill from Lone Pine is Johnston's Jolly. This area contains many easily accessible trenches. I wanted to gain a little more understanding into what happened where in relation to the ANZAC Cove landing area, the various battle locations and so on.
You can easily see trenches from the roadside that have been heavily worn by visitors day after day. They are relatively wide and smooth.
Johnston's Jolly trenches - next to the road.
I crossed these trenches and continued into the shrubbery and towards the reasonably steep drop-off. I was soon able to scramble up and down several winding and rugged trenches. Further down the hillside the trenches are now heavily overgrown.
The trenches near Johnston's Jolly - less visited areas.
I noticed that the bottom of most of those trenches were roughed-up, almost as though they had been dug over. (I asked later and was advised it was most likely to work of wild boar.) Apparently it is still possible to find spent, and unspent, cartridges and other objects from the war. Heavy rain can also be very revealing - last September a body was exposed after a downpour.
The view down to Ari Burnu (ANZAC Cove around to the left) from The Nek.
I didn't find anything in the trenches and moved on to The Nek which gives a clear view down illustrating the difficult terrain the landing party faced trying to come up and the much more easily defendable position the Turkish had from above.
First dropped bike of the trip - slow speed, parking manoeuvre.
Unfortunately, and possibly an indication of my tiring state, I dropped the bike trying to find a reasonable spot to put the side stand down. Luckily there was a gardener nearby tending to the cemetery and he quickly helped me stand the bike up. I shouldn't say it was bound to happen…….but…..it is a heavy beast and when undertaking slow speed manoeuvres on a slope it can be a fine line between upright and fallen over. At least I was easily able to step out of the way.
I returned to Eceabat for a bite to eat. I chose a small cafe/restaurant near where the ferries dock overlooking the Dardanelles. I had a simple lunch while the Ferris Wheels Group chose the place next door. They were leaving to catch the ferry to Canakkale while I thought I would find somewhere to pay my earlier speeding fine before I reached the border crossing the next day.
I wished them all the best and they reciprocated. I left them to it to find a Policeman to see if I could pay my fine.
The fine needed paying before leaving Turkey.
After showing off my fine to some men at a cafe on the street I was directed to a local administrative building. As I pulled in there were police standing on the steps so I thought I might be OK. After finding the correct office and several phone calls my speeding fine was paid, with a receipt, and the advice not to lose it.
Although poorer for the experience I think it has slowed me down most of the time - I am on a long ride without any real deadlines so what's the rush…..?
I returned to The Gallipoli Houses and prepared for my final dinner in Turkey and some website uploading and updating.
While celebrating my final dinner I set up the camera on the tripod to take a picture…..
Not a good result.
So my fellow guests offered to assist…
Pretty sure this was a slip of the button…..
A much better result was achieved.
Obviously better than my tripod attempt.
Gallipoli had once again proved its value as a destination and in many ways I am glad I saved it for last. Tomorrow I would be moving on to Greece.