Come to Lemnos in 2015! - Reports that Gallipoli Dawn Service Attendance Too Expensive

A Lemnos sunset - viewing Mount Athos from Myrina. Photograph Jim Claven

Media reports today reveal that many Australians who have won tickets in the Gallipoli Dawn Service Ballot are handing back their tickets - with some citing the cost of travel and accommodation in Turkey.

Now is the time for those interested in commemorating our Anzac Centenary and the Gallipoli campaign to seriously consider the Lemnos option.

East Mudros War Cemetery. Photograph Jim Claven

 

For the commemorative traveller, Lemnos has everything:

• As the former base for the Gallipoli campaign, you can walk in the footsteps of the Anzac soldiers and nurses who walked the Island in 1915 and listen to the stories of Matron Grace Wilson, General John Monash, John Simpson, Albert Jacka VC and many others;
• Enjoy the views that the Anzacs did - across the great Mudros Bay, from the Castle in Myrina, of Mudros' great Cathedral, and from Mount Ilias;
• Enjoy a cleansing thermal bath at the Ancient natural springs of Therma - as the Anzacs did;
• Discover the stories of the over 1,200 soldiers and nurses buried in the Island's two Commonwealth War Cemeteries- and the memorial to Egyptian Labour Corps and Ottoman prisoners of war who are buried on Lemnos;
• Enjoy the hospitality of this northern Aegean Island - as the Anzacs did in 1915 - sitting in the tavernas of Kontias, Mudros, Myrina, Portianou and others as the Anzacs did;
• Attend the moving commemorative services to be held on the Island in 2015 - including the visit of the Royal Australian Navy warships in the week before 25th April 2015.

Where the Anzacs and Odysseus departed for Asia Minor - the Bay of Pournia. Photograph Jim Claven

The oldest ampitheatre in Greece - Ifestia. Photograph Jim Claven

In the footsteps of the Anzacs - The view of Mudros Bay from Mt Ilias. Photograph Jim Claven

To look on Trojan times - the ancient settlement of Poliochni. Photograph Jim Claven

 And experience the ancient history of Lemnos, going back to the era of the Trojan Wars, of Homer and Odysseus and Jason and the Argonauts. See its ancient culture - the oldest amphitheater in Greece at Ifestia, the temple of the Kabeiron, Philoctetes Cave and one of the oldest settlements in Greece at Polichni.
And while on Lemnos enjoy its wonderful beaches, its natural environment, great food and hospitality.
And Lemnos can be the beginning of your Anzac tour of Greece - to Gallipoli and Istanbul, to Thessaloniki and northern of Greece, to Vevi, Brallos and Thermopylae, Athens and the Phaleron War Cemetery, the great cities and towns of the Peloponnese and the memorials of Crete.

Come to Lemnos in 2015 and enjoy a real Anzac experience that you'll never forget.

Beautiful Myrina harbour. Photograph Jim Claven

The windmills of Lemnos - now accommodation. Photograph Jim Claven

Walking the Anzac trail on Lemnos - Myrina. Photograph Jim Claven

The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative committee is working to ensure that Lemnos places its role in the Centenary of Anzac. For too long Lemnos' historic links to Anzac and Gallipoli, its memorial and war graves have been overlooked. That's why we have been working with authorities on Lemnos, in Greece and Australia to promote commemorative tourism on the Island and enhance the experience of commemorative visitors to Lemnos and Greece in 2015 and beyond.
For more information on experiencing your Anzac tour of Lemnos and beyond, contact Jim Claven on jimclaven@yahoo.com.au

The War Memorial on Anzac Day, East Mudros War Cemetery. Photograph Jim Claven

Media Report from NineMSN and the Melbourne Herald Sun:

"Anzac Day centenary tickets returned due to high prices - 18 September 2014

Up to 300 people who won a national ballot to attend next year's 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey have handed their tickets, with some saying the trip is now too expensive.
Passes went out to 8000 Australians to attend the Anzac Day ceremony next April, News Corp reports, but many have been turned off by the cost of hotel accommodation in towns nearest to the Gallipoli peninsula, including Eceabat and Canakkale. Some hotels reportedly have raised room rates by 300 percent, pushing the average cost of hotel accommodation in the area to $642 per night.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said some ballot winners said accommodation costs was a reason for handing back tickets but most cited other reasons, including age and disabilities making it too difficult to attend.There have also been several cases where ticket holders have died.
If a primary ticket holder can no longer attend the ceremony their whole double pass has to be surrendered and entered into a second ballot for runners up in last year's main ballot."

Jim Claven

Secretary

Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee