Gallipoli100

Kum Beach – Trip to Canakkale & Eceabat

2010-08-28T03:51:00.000+12:00

Our team started the day with a swim in gorgeous clear warm water out to the point and back (3.5-4k). We then unpacked the gear and got out for a good play in the boats, boards & ski’s.

A couple of the aussies had a sneaky ski paddle the 9km to Anzac cove and back.

We relaxed most of the morning, then caught the ferry across the Dardanelle straight to Canakkale on the Asian continent side of Turkey. A great lunch sitting out front of a small local eatery, followed by a leisurely explore of the small cobbled streets. We then caught the ferry back to Eceabat – mimicking the swim route in reverse – and explored a fantastic waterfront memorial park with a full scale model of the terrain, all the battle sites and memorials.

Travel Day – Istanbul to Gallipoli

2010-08-28T03:40:00.002+12:00

Early-ish start – the trip organisers are military men and so we need to be ready on time or the bus will leave without us – however today they could not control the busses getting lost on the way to the Burc Beach Campus – it is in the middle of nowhere…so it was a little delayed…

So we drove in convoy – first bus, car and surfboat, car and surfboat, then our bus – it was really neat looking out the window and seeing surfboats travelling along Turkish roads.

The main feature of the landscape on the way was fields and fields of sunflowers past their best. Their stalks were browning, and their heads bowed towards the ground. It would have been a wonderful sight a month or so earlier. We see a lot of sunflower seeds in the shops – one of my favourite shops has nuts & seeds & many varieties of chickpeas displayed in the cabinets – and apparently a lot of the cooking is done in sunflower oil. We are still curious about the harvesting process and when that occurs – I will investigate.

We stopped in Gelibolu (Gallipoli) town for lunch and an explore, then a stop at the Anzac visitors centre with an initial briefing from Garry with regards to the Gallipoli campaign and he pointed out the major landmarks before we went on a quick bus tour around the battlesites in order to start getting our bearings prior to the big tour in a few days.

Then to Kum Beach Resort for a well deserved swim, dinner, and a cold drink (or few – for some).

Rest Day

2010-08-28T03:21:00.002+12:00

A bit of R&R today after the competition – just typical – the wind has dropped and the surf has gone. Our team is loving the hot, sunny weather and warm water. Our boat was loaded – a little precariously – onto the top layer of a vehicle transporter truck for the journey to the Gallipoli peninsula.

Sorry no pictures of the day although in hindsight we should have taken photos of the transport of the boats. We will try to get some when the boats are loaded for transport back to Istanbul.

xox

Race Day at Burc Beach

2010-08-28T03:00:00.004+12:00

The day broke at 6am with the wind still blowing. The wind had changed slightly but the surf was still big and messy. There were thoughts about how the carnival was going to run and if we should call it off.

We all wandered down to Burc Beach from the hotel in the hopes of getting some time in the surf competing. March past followed by the haka on the beach. The haka was completed beautifully.

The demonstration then moved to water events and the skis hit the water. Mike’s rudder broke and Joe and Corey took out the race but it was hard to find the way out the surf and around the buoys. Kelly was pretty impressive persevering to make it out and back as well,

Then the board race had Mike, Leza, Kelsey & Channie along with a bunch of aussies on the start line. The drift was strong, Mike made it out the back second after Corey and the girls started to get out after being swept quite a way down the beach by the current.

Finally it was time for the first NZ, OZ & Turkish challenge. We had three surf boats lined up – our boys, the uni Turkish boys, & the masters crew from Forster. LBSLSC had a flyer off the start, the turks not far behind, with the Forster crew the first casualty with an early crowd pleasing backshoot! LB made it out the back first, turned the imaginary buoy, the turks 5-6 boat lengths behind. Catching runners back in both crews were looking good, DISASTER for the Kiwi’s, a good little runner suddenly sucked up mean on a sandbar and flung the black boat to the side, the resultant photo sequence ensued. The Turkish boys were delighted to reach the beach first!!!

Unfortunately, this was the only boat race run due to the heavy surf conditions, and so the other crews will have to wait for Kum Beach to check out the competition.

The beach events followed with LB clubbies featuring in the results of all racing and taking out the grand finale Chariot Race.

The beach party that night was super fun with a Hawaiian style wedding and some pillow diving antics. We also had the heaviest rainstorms in 5yrs on the walk home – everyone instantly drenched – super refreshing and helped the sobering up process !!

xoxo

Mike just before his board race
Channie waiting for her board race.
A collage of the men's boat race. Including the conclusion of the race.

Race Preparation Day

2010-08-23T18:09:00.008+12:00

We woke this morning to a day that is fairly typical for us. A 20-25 knot northerly. The difference here is that the Northerly is an onshore wind generated by Russia. The wind has whipped up a big wind chap of about 2 foot with steep faces and a big shore dump.

Our boat had finally arrived the night before so we were able to unload it from the container amongst much debate as to the best way to unload. We ended up taking the boat off the trailer first in the container then lifting the trailer out. Thankfully there were many hands to help. The guys did a great job of loading the boat, skis and boards, they were all intact!

We also had the arrival of Charlotte and Matt from TV3, who managed to deal with the heat in their first day and get some good footage. For them there was an adventure into town and trying to get back here to the university without arranged transport...I think they said they caught 8 buses.

After refamiliarising ourselves with the black boat we went back to our accommodation for a relaxing afternoon.

The guys crew looking sharp in our racing uniform. Mike is also on the board next to the boat trying to beat the black boat out.

The ships in the background in the photo below are in the parking lot waiting for the pilot boat to take them through the Bosphorus strait. Our first day here there were about 50 boats waiting to be piloted through.

Mike having a quick break before taking the ski out.

One of the ships that are close to shore.
Chantelle assessing the conditions before taking a board out.

Mosques, markets and more heat

2010-08-23T17:00:00.009+12:00

Friday was our touring day. The tour was focused on the big sites of Hagia Sophia, Topkai Palace, the blue mosque and the Grand Bazaar.

Amazingly all four are located within walking distance, although it seemed a lot further when we were walking in 40 degree heat, some of us wilted badly, others stepped up to the challenge.

Below are some of the photos of the sites that we saw.

St Sophia

Jimmy (Guneye) our Turkish guide. The Turkish Government requires that every tour has a Turkish national with them. Jimmy has been great and tells some fantastic stories, some true and some not...

Catherine just outside Hagia Sophia.

Dyl looking cool with Kelsey, Corky and Brad.

Burc Beach in the morning

2010-08-20T03:49:00.002+12:00

At last we have arrived

2010-08-20T03:10:00.005+12:00

After many hours of travel 30 + I think, we have arrived in Istanbul and made our way to Bosphorus University and Burc beach.

Amazingly there were no hitches or problems during our trip, no missed placed passports. THe guys from Military History Tours did a superb job with the Dubai stop over. We had about 8 hours on the ground in Dubai and so we went to the Jumeriah Beach Hotel for the morning. Great for a bit of a chill out and the most wanted thing - A shower!!

Dubai has to be one of the most incredible places, everything thing is huge,

the airport, all the buildings, the cars and the boats. We saw some amazing building designs that would never be approved in NZ.... It was very warm too. I think that when we left at midday it must of been in the forties, although that can't be proven as we didn't have a thermometer, the aussies were wilting as much as we were.

We arrived in Istanbul at 5:30pm local time and all that we wanted to do was to get some proper sleep. Fortunately dinner was waiting for us when we arrived at Burc Beach and the university campus. So a quick meal with many trying not to dip their heads into their plates we headed to our rooms for some much needed sleep.

When we woke this morning it was to a lovely calm day. There is a lot of haze and just off shore are hundreds of boats that sit waiting to be escorted through the strait by the pilot. I have attached a few of the photos taken this morning.

We have spent the rest of the day at the competition location, very nice area and gee do the turks know how to set things up for people using the beach - big bean bags and lounge chairs and umbrellas everywhere.

We have been in and out of the water all day. A bit of rowing training, a team swim for about 1 km. We will be having a team swim every day I think. It makes so much of a difference to have warm water.

Not many photos from the racing that happened at about 3pm so I promise to post some more later. The tour of Istanbul is on for tomorrow and we will be starting nice and early. But before that can happen we need to unload our boat which is arriving tonight at 11 pm (what a long day for us).

Time for me to sign off now as there is a bit of a line to email home. xoxo

Close to Departure T minus 90 minutes

2010-08-17T16:16:00.002+12:00

Here we are sitting and standing around at Auckland Airport. We have most of the team members are here. Still waiting for one member though. Delay is apparently because of traffic - who would have thought there was traffic in Auckland!

Thanks to NZ Surf Lifesaving for the shirts and bags - the team is looking very smart.

Its raining here in Auckland and we can see plane on the tarmac. The A380 is definitely a monster plane.

So that's all for the update at the moment. To see the link from the news article from Sunday night click below...

http://www.3news.co.nz/NZs-oldest-surf-lifesaving-club-celebrates-centenary/tabid/423/articleID/170747/Default.aspx

Finishing Touches

2010-08-14T08:24:00.006+12:00

Time has flown over the last few months, and here we are 3 days form when we leave.
Everything has started to come together now, we picked up our uniforms this week, our haka is looking pretty good, and my fitness is at the level I wanted.
This week we were sent a newsletter from when 2 sweeps went over in June to start teaching the Turks to row surf boats. The conditions seemed amazing and apparently the Turkish picked up surf boats quickly, it should be great when we get over there. The photo below shows one of the Turkish crews training at BURC Beach, which looks like it is a great place to row.

PS: It has been consistently hitting over 30 degree's, so I am sure we will not have to worry too much about the cold.

100th Birthday Party

Tonight is the Club's 100th birthday party which is doubling as a farewell event for the team. Following that tomorrow we have some training and photos being taken at the beach from about 12.30 and will attend the Club's 100th AGM at 2pm.

Following that it will be packing time (which for me, despite my best intentions, will be Monday night and Tuesday morning) then on the plane to Auckland on Tuesday at 11am.

Countdown time

2010-08-01T16:22:00.002+12:00

Here we are sitting in the Number 2 clubhouse about to start Haka practice. Its pouring with rain and howling with wind. We have been fortunate with training up to this point in time and the weather has been very kind and we have been able to get out on the water. Today not so lucky.

Tonight is our final organised fundraiser with the movie night at the Empire Theatre. Timing of the movie has been great with the very recently released Inception. The latest Leonardo di Caprio. A lot of interest and tickets oversold!!!

Thank you to all who are going and supporting us in this final fundraiser.

We have just wrapped up practice and are about to depart for the theatre.

See some of you there!

The final month

2010-07-20T21:13:00.003+12:00

It has really started to sink in how soon we are leaving for Turkey. It is now under 1 month until we leave. What has made this real particularly are learning the Haka last week, going out to a team dinner at Cafe Istanbul, and today receiving our tickets for the Emirates flights to Turkey and back.

Training has been going great, the boat is feeling really good with the guys in it, all our swimming is coming along and the quiz night was a complete success, thanks to all who came, especially to Catherine for organising it.

The next step will be our team uniforms arriving in the next few weeks.

Just a reminder to everyone Lyall Bay Surf and Life Saving Club is having a centenary party and farewell for the Gallipoli team at the Feathers Bar on Featherston Street on Saturday 14th August, if you are interested in coming, let Tanya Turchie know, or comment on this post.

Thanks,
Arie (on behalf of the Gallipoli 100 team).

2010-06-05T20:01:00.004+12:00

Tuesday 01 June the Black Harp was loaded into the container to start her journey to Turkey where we will join her in August.

Since the selection of the team it has been very busy with a lot to do to prepare the boat and select the boards and skis.

For those of you who don't know we will be gifting the boat, boards and skis to the Turkish people. This is something that is amazing to be able to do to try and grow the sport in Turkey.

So we have sanded the boat down, had it re-painted, repaired the trailer and ensured that the skis and boards were in tip top condition.

There are many people that we need to thank for there expertise, assistance, labour and support over this time and we wouldn't have been ready now if it weren't for those people.

Below are some of the pictures that were taking while we were sanding and washing the boat. They say many hands make light work and this couldn't have been more true. And we were very fortunate with the stunning weather we had that day...