Gallipoli 2015

Hi Julie,
We were there early May of this year as part of an Insight tour. Visas for Turkey now are required to be purchased online. We paid US$60 each. If you spend any time in Istanbul, I would suggest staying in the old town as it has more character and places to see than the new town. Are you getting to ANZAC Cove yourselves or as part of a tour? Most visitors spend the night prior in Canakkale from which it is a short ferry and bus ride to ANZAC Cove etc. You may have to walk up to 5 km in quite cold weather so be prepared. Turkey is very tourist friendly and is a wonderful country. If you have the time and opportunity it is well worth visiting other parts of the country. If you don't already have a passport I would leave it until the end of the year or even the beginning of 2015 before applying so that you extend its life as much as possible. When you get your photos done, take the extra photos overseas with you in case of loss or theft of your passport. Take photocopies of all important documentation including prescriptions etc. It is more than $250 for a 10 year passport. Hope this is of some help and not info overload. Jon W

Hi Julie, congrats on getting a bait to Gallipoli. We were there in 05 found it a very
profound experience, as I'm sure you will. No one there much at that time..but you will find it very crowded. If you have any particular questions please ask. You already
have some good advice re passports, visa etc. You could look at a site like Expedia.com for airfares & hotels. You may need to consider stopovers to allow your father enough rest..maybe via Singapore. Make sure you have travel insurance..
cheaper online. Your excitement is well justified ,you will treasure this trip forever..
cheers....oldbaz.

Perhaps share your credit cards with your Dad and vice versa, ie. he carries one of yours, you carry one of his, just in case your purse or his wallet goes astray. Also look at different ways of carrying cards and cash, etc. rather than carrying them in your purse or handbag. Not to get paranoid, but rather just protecting yourself and your valuables.

Along these lines, also consider splitting your clothes into multiple suitcases, eg. half of Dad's in yours and vice versa. Suitcases do go astray (not often), so having some of your own clothes is good compared to none at all.

Travel insurance!!!

Any vaccinations that may be necessary.

As alluded to above, if you have prescription med,s check they are legal in countries you are travelling to and through. Keep prescription meds in their original containers, and if possible with a copy of the original script.

Photocopy important docs, including credit cards, and keep them separate to the originals.

Declare everything when going into a foreign country, and when returning to Oz, even if not sure (often this is a quicker way through Customs too).

Check airline on-board fluid limitations. I know some airlines have relaxed on the 100ml rule, but check to be sure so you know in advance. It'd be a real shame if Dad's duty free grog was confiscated along the way. And airline restrictions may be different to airport security attitudes too, just be aware.

Do your homework regarding luggage restrictions, and don't rely on your travel agent to inform you of differences between international and domestic differences (if there are any). Funny story ... we flew from Melbourne to Vancouver via LAX some years ago, for a skiing holiday in Whistler. Anyway, this was back in the day when international luggage limits to the US were 32KG per suitcase, however we were unaware that there was only a 23kg limit per bag from LAX to Vancouver on Air Canada. Not Air Canada's fault, but jointly ours for not checking and our agent's for not advising. So anyway, after a long haul flight to LAX, little if no sleep, shock horror our bags are overweight, so we have to start repacking our bags at the head of the check-in queue onto Air Canada. I should add at this point that we have our own ski boots, which were at this stage packed nicely into our suitcases. Picture this, and add a bit of stress due to lack of sleep and the hassle of repacking suitcases to equalise weights ... so those ski boots have nice big clips to lock them on, bras have nice little hooks to help hold them in place too. Little hook on bra catches onto fitting of boot ... wife's bra slingshots across check-in area much to the bemusement of the check-in lady, my wife, travelling companions and the queue behind us. Actually the Air Canada check-in lady was really nice about the situation and did cut us some slack with the weights, but we did have to carry one pair of boots as carry-on luggage from that point, no big deal. I can laugh now, after years of counselling :D

Anyway, I digress ...

Actually no, still traumatised .....

Also look at how you can back up photos and/or video that you'll inevitably take. Whether you need to purchase additional storage cards, or some sort of external hard drive that you can backup to on a regular basis. Bugger the camera, it's easily replaced, but not so the photos or video.

It's more about being prepared as opposed to be alarmed. Just be informed ahead of time, and then have fun. I'm envious.

We went to Turkey for 4 weeks in a motorhome last year and stayed for 10 weeks.
The Turks are very friendly people, especially towards Australians.
Make sure you spend enough time to see some other parts of the country too, but don't try to see it all, its pretty big. Buy a Lonely Planet Guide.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome.