The beginning of an epic adventure

The beginning of any adventure is a mixture of emotions for those brave enough to leave behind their home comforts, friends, family and toilet.  There are fizzles of excitement, pangs of fear, knots of anticipation and sighs of relief.  For many of our traveller’s joining us on Calypso this journey has been years in the planning and now everything that has been researched, saved up for and sacrificed has come to fruition and we are now in motion!

After a swift pre-departure meeting on the roof top terrace of our hotel we ventured out to a lovely Turkish restaurant where we all tucked in to a variety of meze’s, kebabs and baklava.  It was a great way to sit and chat and get to know the people we were to spend the next 6 months with a little better.  David mentioned how strange it was that he recognised most people and felt like he knew them before being introduced because of the many discussions that have been had on the groups FaceBook page! We finished the evening in what had become Spike's local bar for a couple more of the ubiquitous Efes beer.

David, Yvonne, Andy, Julie, Anna, Hayden, Kelly, James, Mahala

Jo, Alex, Pernille, Warren, Lou, Becs, Mary, Fi

Pernille, Spike, Simon, Phil, Lou, Teresa

Phil & Spike with the crew for this epic expedition, Simon, & Teresa

Some of our overlanders arrived in Istanbul a few days before the trip officially departed and had managed to see a lot of the sites.  The Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia, the spice market and the Grand Bazaar which are all incredibly easy to reach with the cities efficient and easy to use tram system.

The Blue Mosque by night

The Basilica Cisterns

The unusual sideways Medusa's head in the Basilica Cisterns

Fishing off the Galata Bridge

The tulip festival made Istanbul even more colourful

The Grand Bazaar

Bosphorous Bridge by night

David at the Spice Market

Pernille, Lou, Fi and Becs at the Blue Mosque

From the hustle and bustle of Istanbul trams we leave our hotel in the decidedly British weather to wait for Calypso to pick us up.

Here she comes - Calypso sporting a rather dashing new paint job!

Waiting for Calypso

Happy to be on the truck

Julie, Andy, Anna & Spike

As we made our way along the coast the roads widened and the traffic all but disappeared. We were heading to Eceabat a small coastal village with a ferry port running regular ferries across the Dardanelles to Cannukale.  Our campsite at the Boomerang Bar was perfectly situated for people who wanted to visit the Gallipoli battlefields or take the ferry across to Cannukale for shopping or walking along the waterfront to see the replica Trojan horse.  Thankfully as we reached Eceabat the clouds cleared in time for us to see the sunset and assured us that tomorrow would be a sunny day for our activities. 

First camp at the Boomerang Bar

Teresa and Simon get some assistance from a helpful campsite dog while doing the tent demonstration!

Our campsite, from a kite!

Stunning sunset

Calypso crossing the Dardanelles

It was a relaxed morning where everyone took it easy and chilled out before the tour of Gallipoli with local guide Hasan.  Everyone enjoyed a pleasant afternoon finding Hasan to be incredibly passionate and informative about Gallipoli’s history.  It was particularly good for Mahala and James who visited Gallipoli once before on Anzac Day. On this one day the peninsula becomes incredibly busy with other tourists on a special pilgrimage to the memorial site.

Anzac Memorial

David

James & Mahala

So far everyone has a great introduction to how Calypso works. They are eager to get stuck in and taking the assigned truck duties incredibly seriously!  Simon starting cleaning windows before we even reached our first campsite, Andy and Julie are keeping the bar stocked, Kelly has made helpful security announcements to ensure peoples tents don’t get infiltrated by the roaming cats, and everyone is happy to pitch in when needed, which makes for a delightful overland crew indeed!  

Our first lunch on the road

James gets to know the truck

Roof and back locker crew hard at work

So from the humble beginnings of a facebook group, this team is ready for anything, which isn't surprising if you were to know how long they have all been wanting to make this epic journey of a lifetime.  Let the journey begin!