Tour of Turkey 2005

All Boyz’ Tour of Turkey 2005

This ’90th Anniversary of the Gallipoli Landing Tour’ was the 3rd ‘All Boyz’ overseas trip arranged for MAG Members and their friends. Previous tours have been to China & Vietnam.

The Dawn Service at Gallipoli was an amazing & unforgettable experience. Most of us had tears in our eyes as we heard the oft-told story of the 1st landing on 25 April … but the organisation by the Aussie government was chaotic. OK, perhaps, for the backpackers & Prince Charles, but totally inadequate for Australians over 50 years … and our oldest participant was aged 84. Possibly the worst part was the 5 hour wait for our bus, without seating or shelter from the sun, after the Australian Service at the Lone Pine Cemetery.

Still we survived and I would willingly volunteer to do the trip again, but better, based information learned this time. Gallipoli was not my only highlight of the trip. Others were visits to the ruins of Troy and Ephesus and to so many of the places mentioned in the Book of Acts, the Epistles of St Paul and the Book of Revelations in the Bible. We even visited the home of the Virgin Mary in the hills outside Ephesus. I visited Turkey as a backpacker 25 years ago with only a guide book. The difference this time was we had a most informative guide who knew the Bible stories and was able to make them ‘come alive’ at places like the great theatre in Ephesus where Paul preached and then had to flee the city because of the ensuing riot. All the stories that I learnt at Sunday School at All Saints’ Cammeray about the journeys of St Paul came flooding back to me

. I remembered details that I had not thought about for almost half a century. The more I remembered, the more amazing it all seems. This is the difference between ‘do it yourself’ travel and being in a group with an informed & thoughtful guide and with an outstanding knowledge of the English language.

Our guide was gay as well so we were very lucky.