“G’day cobbers, howzitgoin’?” Our guide Burak bounds onto our minibus with a rousing welcome in a strain of Strine rich enough to make Darryl Kerrigan weep with pride.

We “cobbers” are a group of dozen or so Australians and Kiwis – and a few ring-ins – on a day tour of Gallipoli.

Burak is clad in an Australian Anzac-themed windcheater topped by a Ngai Tahu-decorated cap. After 15 years of delivering this and other nearby tours to antipodean pilgrims, he can deliver any Aussie cliche you’d like to mention and also break out a few phrases in Maori if required.

Beyond that, he’s an absolute wealth of information about this site that is so sacred to many from Down Under. He’s a master at his job.

“I have friends in Canberra, at the Australian War Memorial, and friends who are war historians in England,” he tells us.

He’s also an avid reader and collector of his own information on the topic.

Anzac troops at Gaba Tepe (now Anzac Cove) on April 25, 1915. Photo: Archives NZ

A dawn start

Our day began hours earlier, with an early-morning pick-up outside our Istanbul hotel.

With limited time, we’ve opted to visit Gallipoli on a day trip from the Turkish capital. But it’s going to be a long day.

It’s a four-hour drive along multilane roads to the tour’s start in the town of Eceabat, on the eastern side of the Gallipoli Peninsula. It’s somewhat poignant to note swathes of red poppies on the roadside and in fields – they seem to get bigger and more prominent as we get further south.

Mid-morning, there’s a stop at a roadside service centre for an uninspiring breakfast (at our own expense, but not choice) and there’s an equally ordinary early lunch (provided in the tour cost) in the town of Eceabat before we head off to Anzac Cove.

Burak, who lives across the Dardanelles Strait in Canakkale, comes on board at this point and the tour proper begins.

In Anzac footsteps

It’s a glorious day, with the Aegean Sea sparkling against shining sands under an azure sky. We can hardly be the first to think it unimaginable that such horrors have unfolded on this strip of land.

But it’s undeniable. Even more than a century later, the signs are everywhere – from the wreck of the British steamer SS Milo clearly visible in waters off North Beach, near Anzac Cove, to the trenches that straddle both sides of the modern-day road at Johnsons Jolly. Even the place names are reminders.

Burak’s humour and sense of timing are a perfect foil to what could otherwise sometimes be a maudlin journey back into the bloody follies of war.

He busts a few myths along the way.

“Who has seen Gallipoli, Mel Gibson?” he asks.

“Fiction!”

Churchill’s Gallipoli campaign was all about control of the crucial Dardenelles. But the sheer hopelessness of the plan becomes only more apparent as the afternoon goes on.

Our minibus chugs up a steep road carved out of the hillside by the Anzacs more than 100 years ago.

At the top is Lone Pine, where 2000 Anzacs (mostly Australians) and 7000 Turks died in days of heavy fighting in August 1915. As is common across the peninsula, many of the bodies were never recovered.

“It is impossible to walk at Lone Pine without walking on graves,” Burak tells us.

Just down the road is Chunuk Bair, from where we can see the Aegean glistening far below to the west, and a bulk carrier speeding south through the Dardanelles to the east. It’s easy to see why this strategic landmark was such a target.

NZ troops took it in August 1915 but Turkish troops rallied under Ataturk and beat them back.

Not long after, the Anzac campaign was declared lost. Evacuation of the area began in December, with 36,000 troops shipped out over four nights.

The last British and French troops left in January 1916 and the campaign was over. Not a soul was lost during the evacuation.

Anzac graves at Gallipoli. Photo: Carley Olley

Need to know

This is a fabulous trip, almost exclusively popular with Australians and NZers. Our group includes a Mexican mother and daughter – we never do find out what its appeal is for them.

Istanbul to Gallipoli is about 300 kilometres, so – even with good roads – it’s a long journey and a big day.

Other tour options include single and multiday tours. These also take in other historic sites, including Troy, and are definitely worth considering if a 16-hour day doesn’t appeal.

Check out Crowded House Tours for more information.

Beyond that, Turkey is a fascinating country with incredible history. Small group tours with boutique operators such as NZ-based Heart of Turkey Tours can be a good way to take in more.

The author travelled at her own expense