Athens to Gallipoli via Kavala

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Athens to Gallipoli via Kavala

Our journey led us along Greece’s coastline, where we drove past Spartan Thermopylae & Byzantine Thessaloniki. It was in this region that 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians fought against Persians to defend their country’s freedom – being asked to give up their arms, Leonidas replied with the heroic phrase ‘Come and get them ‘.
Past Mt Olympus, we made our way to harbourside Kavala to camp for the night.
It was 15 Euro each for a tourist visa to enter Turkey, although Poms, Kiwis and Germans entered without a fee, while Canadians paid top price of 45 Euro each! (ridiculous)
The coach meandered us along the Sea of Marmara, where we reached ANZAC Cove to view the historic Gallipoli battlefields where so many soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice. It was a very emotional day, with many of us having relatives that fought here. Sheree in particular could not believe the terrain and disadvantage her Arden relatives had faced in the Australian Light Horse.
We made a visit to Lone Pine Cemetery, to the New Zealand memorial and then headed back to camp again to get a little sleep before our big day of travel towards Istanbul.

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