On the go Journal

Sultan Hassan Mosque

Posted By Simone | 31st Aug 2010

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Sultan Hassan Mosque and Madrassa (religious school) in the ...

The Sea of Galilee

Posted By Chihiro | 27th Aug 2010

After a bit of a drive north from Amman, my tour group reached Umm Qais, a black basalt Roman City. ...

Time Travel in Egypt

Posted By Samantha | 26th Aug 2010

Would you like to travel back in time? Well, unless you’re Marty McFly from 'Back to the Future, a ...

China Beaches

Posted By Miles | 25th Aug 2010

Nobody ever thinks about China for its beaches. There are, however, some good beaches in China if yo ...

Inside a Soviet Bunker

Posted By Di | 24th Aug 2010

Imagine yourself in Russia during the cold war, I did when I visited Moscow recently and did the “ ...

Alex Market

Posted By Prudence | 23rd Aug 2010

If you're winding your way up to Alexandria next time you're in Egypt don't miss the chance to see a ...

Modelling in China

Posted By Misha | 19th Aug 2010

We happened to visit Beijing during the big celebration of 60th anniversary of the founding of the P ...

Russia

Posted By Hollie | 18th Aug 2010

Growing up I had only ever heard about Russia as the USSR and lets be honest there wasn’t much goo ...

Made in Jordan

Posted By Prudence | 17th Aug 2010

I had the privilege of travelling to Jordan this month and whilst I was there I visited a great shop ...

Holi Festival

Posted By Cherylyn | 16th Aug 2010

One of the best festivals I have been to has been the Holi Festival, which is celebrated at the end ...

Beautiful St. Petersburg

Posted By Charlie | 13th Aug 2010

St Petersburg, a city of Tsars, violent history, stunning Baroque building and the incredible Hermit ...

Zanzibar Dreaming

Posted By Clare | 12th Aug 2010

I topped off my safari in Kenya and Tanzania with 5 days of bliss on the gorgeous island of Zanzibar ...

Camping in Africa

Posted By Cherylyn | 11th Aug 2010

The most important lesson I learnt when camping out in the wilds of Africa was not ‘the proper way ...

Culinary Magic in Morocco

Posted By Charlie | 10th Aug 2010

Marrakech conjures up images of a spicy, colourful, exotic city and it certainly is. I was lucky eno ...

Dining in Dubrovnik

Posted By Kelly | 9th Aug 2010

If you like a glass of wine with dinner, you are in the right place in Dubrovnik. Going out for dinn ...

Wadi Rum

Posted By Prudence | 6th Aug 2010

Image camping under a blanket of stars surrounded by a sea of red sand and silence! Well that's the ...

Goa Beaches: helpful tips.

Posted By Cherylyn | 5th Aug 2010

Headed to Goa for some relaxation but cannot afford to splash out on that nice beach front resort? W ...

The Russian Banya

Posted By Ashley | 4th Aug 2010

The simple Russian banya (sauna) was a perfect escape from the extravagance of Moscow. In the tranqu ...

something I always wanted to do ...and now have. Firstly I must warn everyone that this is not an easy thing to do. We were there to pay our respects, and in a way this is the Australian and New Zealand version of a pilgrimage. Something all Aussies and Kiwi’s must do at least once in their lives.

We set out from Istanbul (one of my favourite cities on the planet with its alfresco dining, great seafood and Europe-meets-Middle-East feel about it) early in the morning on the 24th of April. It takes about 4.5 hours to get to the Cove so it is wise to set out early. After arriving and having to deal with security, who seemed mostly confused by the whole affair, we made it down to The Cove.

Because we arrived so early we managed to get the best position possible, front and centre. It was several hours before any others were allowed in, giving us a great opportunity to explore the area. It was also a beautiful day, so those that didn’t want to explore were able to lie on the grass, read their books and lap up the sunshine. Eventually others were let through and we all settled in for the long, cold night ahead of us.

The Dawn Service was a deeply moving experience. Many people were cold, miserable and hadn’t slept, but at least we didn’t have bullets and artillery coming in all around us. After surveying the hill the Diggers were eventually able to ascend and capture, I came away with a real appreciation of how hard it must have been. I found myself picturing Turkish machine gunners and riflemen all over the place picking off Aussies and Kiwis like fish in a barrel and began to truly understand what a nightmare of a place this peaceful beach must have been. They really did build them tough back then. The whole experience was incredible and I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t been and think they understand what it’s all about. They don’t.

Click here for more info about ANZAC Day.

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Dead Sea experience

Posted By Prudence | 2nd Aug 2010

The Dead Sea is a great experience not to be missed if travelling in Jordan. If you were to fill a g ...