Day after Anzac Day

Grey and breezy. Took mum up to the Ataturk memorial today - a pretty good climb for an 83 year old! Shaped to represent the crescent moon and the five pointed star of the Turkish flag, it gleams white on the hill.

Kemal Ataturk's famous words (1934) are inscribed; although we now think that what he actually said is a tad less poetic - these words are cool:

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours... You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

Greg and Rowan came too - this is the party at the memorial overlooking Tarakena Beach and out to Cook Strait. The site was chosen because it resembles the landscape of the Gallipoli peninsula. There's a bit of Anzac Cove under the star, too.

Stopped in for a black pudding brunch in a Seatoun cafe, then got mum to drop me off in Johnsonville so I could walk it off the loooong way back home, 2km uphill all the way.

Then I made fudge!

Anzac Day 2015

Thousands of people heading to services and memorials across Australia and New Zealand, and, of course, Gallipoli. An emotional day in the colonies, one hundred years on from the debacle of the Gallipoli landing.

Ness, Mark and I went into the dawn service in the city, along with the rest of Wellington. Well, it felt like everyone was there - the count was about 30 000 people. An astonishing number of people walking in  from nearby suburbs - Hataitai, Newtown, Mt Victoria. We were way back and watched and listened to speeches and songs on a big screen. A big, quiet, standing crowd. No photos, no phones.

The NZ GG and the Australian GG were there, and the Turkish envoy - 'your sons are our sons'.

We were home having poached eggs for breakfast when we saw GG Costello fly out in an air force plane for Canberra; our GG Sir Jerry Mataparae flew over later. It has been a day of solidarity, a real Australia-New Zealand day.

Walking the dogs with Mark and Ness after breakfast, still early. Looking south across Miramar to the harbour entrance.

Saturday on Matiu/Somes Island

And what a lovely day it was. Gillian was in town and the three of us spent a few hours on Wellington Harbour's main island. That's a 20 minute ferry ride from the city. It has been a quarantine station, for animals and people, and a military lookout as it is directly opposite the harbour entrance. Now it is a wildlife sanctuary.

Wandered around and had a picnic lunch at the highest point. Didn't see much wildlife - wheeling gulls, one giant weta, no tuatara (NZ's dinosaur relic lizard), lots of kakariki (endangered parrot). But it was fun!

Back at Queen's Wharf, had a drink at one of the bars and a pot of mussels cooked in white wine yum yum, home for a rest then out to Greg and Rowan's for delicious chicken dinner. They beat us at Articulate (how did THAT happen)?! That's a cool word game for language lovers.

Another great day today - shame Mish has to work on these warm calm autumn days. Watched niece Liz run at an athletics carnival and took Gillian for a stroll up to the Ataturk memorial. Nice day for a kayak - wish I had one...

Three photos follow, they're looking a tad patchy to me. Like they are over sharpened, but they are only lightened a bit. Will investigate.

 

On Somes, looking back to the city.

 

Radiata pine on Somes, showing the way the wind blows - norwest.

 

Container ship coming in; looking south out to harbour entrance.

Hobbit update

The film site across the harbour is now looking like a town. We scanned The hobbit, as the memories needed a refresher, and found reference to two towns in the novel: Dale and Estragoth. Smaug detroys Dale and has a good go at Estragoth. It's got to be Estragoth going up over there, although it has an odd Spanish look to it. We know that digital technology will change its appearance to make it look like a Middle Earth town. No night filming yet, but a cherry picker is hovering above the 'town'. They will be filming during March and April. We've got a cool view of that set on Miramar peninsula; shame we'll miss most of it!

Beautiful day yesterday, so we went over to Miramar and had a walk on the other end of the peninsula, facing Cook Strait. An Irish guy was swimming it yesterday, as you do - 12 hours plugging away, no thanks. Had a couple of tres tasty fish sandwiches at the Chocolate Fish cafe and walked up to the Ataturk memorial.

That's a pillar of white tiles, with a cresent shaped top, that commemorates Kemal Ataturk's magnificent words at the end of WW1 - re your sons are now our sons and they rest in friendly soil. Only the founder of modern Turkey put it much better than that. The same ANZAC quote is on the Ataturk memorial in Canberra.

Found it:

Heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives. You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

We sat up there for a bit,  watching ferries and container ships and planes coming and going. South Island very clear - that's the kind of day you want for a ferry crossing.

 

Looking south east from the Ataturk memorial