A personal account of the author's visit to Turkey, offering practical advice for the thousands of Australians who dream of making the nostalgic journey to Turkey and Gallipoli, coupled with a short history of the area and its role in WWI.
Tony Wright stuffs a copy of his great-uncle George's Gallipoli diary into his backpack and sets out from Sydney to discover how and why thousands of young Australians and New Zealanders make the trek to the Gallipoli Peninsula every year.
Armed with a pile of notebooks, he plans to travel alone. But he keeps meeting and befriending people-a young Turkish archaeologist who reveals the secrets of Istanbul and the Turkish heart; a Turkish boy in Cappadocia who speaks English with an Irish accent; and an enterprising girl paying her way to Gallipoli by selling Anzac study holders.
And then there's Tom, a 21-year-old leprechaun with the soul of a poet, who teams up with the author to walk the battlefields of Old Anzac, sail the Aegean in a barely seaworthy ferry and mutter prayers to the souls that inhabit the ridges of Gallipoli.
Anyone who has ever dreamed of travelling to Turkey and taking part in the Gallipoli experience will find this book a moving, inspiring and occasionally hilarious roadmap to the heart of both Australia and New Zealand in an ancient land. It is likely that before you have reached the last chapter you will feel like packing your own bag, because this is a travel adventure so entertaining and informative that it wills the reader to follow the author's every footstep.
