Sat 11 Jun 2016. Fanari (Greece) to Seddulbahir, Gallipoli Peninsula (Turkey)

Sat 11 Jun 2016. Fanari (Greece) to Seddulbahir, Gallipoli Peninsula (Turkey)
Sunny morning but slept in anyway after two long days driving. Filled washing barrel to keep on top of dirty clothes. Got our ID cards back at campground office but took inordinate time to find "right" receipt book (do they cook books here??) and then charged €19.50 for no electricity, no mown site, no hot water in ladies shower, no laundry. It appears they have just opened for the season. She said "see you next time" (not likely dear!)

Fuel and water at servo, Greek on tractor yelling at us to move away from bowser rather than pay. Stocked up supplies at Lidl supermarket, our friendly family there again wishing us safe travels in Turkey. Sad infrastructure in towns so far, cables pulled out, pipes not connected, abandoned houses and shops - looks like many businesses closed/ crashed in Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Greece is known for its ancient ruins, sadly there are plenty of modern ones now. Highway to border in excellent condition, good clean pedestal toilets (recent ones we’ve used have been "squatters") - more UN money?? Pretty blue of Mediterranean, hazy views over olive groves as far as eye could see. Absolute minimum vehicles on road, both going to and coming from the border. It's a major border so can't be closed for weekend surely? So few business trucks, vans. Has tourism really dropped off that much, or is it too early in the season for holidaymakers??

Greece side of border control no waiting, very quick, minimum check, passports only. No mans’ land pretty over river, rice crops, water birds, cattle - but armed Turkish soldiers every 100mts, most very young. No smiling, no cameras, somewhat scary. Turkish side asked for car document (rego, green card) one window, passports and visas next window. Customs next, opened doors and lockers for inspection - “alcohol?” (no, lucky we drank it last night) “cigarettes?” (no, we don’t smoke, only 2 small packets pp allowed according to sign).  A truck one lane over was having its fuel dipped and checked. They take customs seriously here. Parked just past the checkpoint, to go into shop to get initial Turkish currency. Drove into Turkey, smaller towns and villages, houses less close together. Could not understand why there continued to be so little traffic past the border - it's a Saturday afternoon, 3pm was a bit late for siesta, Ramadan means no one in cafes or taverns, but plenty of people working in fields, on roadworks etc, tractors, horses and carts, but so few cars. Is this country not well off either? 

Turned south towards Gallipoli peninsula. Had beautiful sea views at one side then the other - hard to believe that just ove 100 years ago such a peaceful place was once the setting for such dreadful loss of life, and for so little gain from an Allies point of view. Road followed coast into town of Gallipoli, then down to Eceabat, where we wanted to check ferry times and conditions in case we needed to pre-book passage across the Dardenelle Strait. Photographed timetable and watched one come in - there'll be no problem accommodating our size. Walked around the open-air 3D display of all the battle sites on the peninsula, the memorials, canons, bomb casings, and busts of prominent figures including Attaturk. Understood better that there was no distinction between empathy given sculptures of Allied troops as opposed to Turkish figures when we read Attaturk's words:

As it was getting late we drove on down to the bottom of the peninsula to Suvla Bay, through the township of Seddulbahir, and parked on edge of water on V Beach. Our plan is to start exploring from the bottom tomorrow and make our way back up slowly through the sites. Walked over stones and pebbles to waters edge and found water warm enough to consider a swim when there are less people here in the morning. Made sausages and salad for dinner, then FaceTime-d Boomers who've been chasing us for 3 days, they are heading south to Spain tomorrow. FaceTime-d son Justin for his birthday, he proudly displayed Scarlett's first WaterBabies swim certificate. In between spoonfuls of cereal our first granddaughter delighted us blowing kisses and waving. Then Justin showed us Scarlett's new picture book "I'm going to be a big sister!" Yay - got it! What wonderful news of a second baby for them at Christmas (after poor Jo’s morning sickness wears off!) and goodness, our seventh grandchild - more knitting for GirlRob....

Watched beautiful colours change in the twilight over the Bay as ships continued to ply the channel. A nice young Turkish couple came up to chat, look inside - he said he'd been trying to talk her into doing what we were doing. Turned out she'd gone to uni in Sydney. The nearby tavern owner came down on dusk and said we had to pay “maybe €15” to camp in his carpark - thought it a cheek given the public have been using it to park and swim and leave, plus no toilets/ showers/ water etc. We packed up and moved right down to far end of beach outside his carpark, hopefully not having to pay anyone in morning. Became cooler as night fell - once mosquitoes had been sprayed in cabin, we settled down for night. Even rotating strobe light from lighthouse guarding this end of Dardenelles didn't keep us awake.