Kiwis at Gallipoli: Shivers before dawn

As the sun set over the Aegean Sea hundreds of Kiwis filed into the Anzac Commemorative site at Gallipoli ahead of the Dawn Service.

It is now just after 9pm at Gallipoli, pitch black and 14 degrees. In just a few hours the 100-year anniversary of the Anzac landings will be marked.

Kiwis travelled for hours and days to get here, mostly on packed tour buses. They will now wait outside on the exposed peninsula for dawn to break, and the commemorative service to begin.

Neil Sharpe and Sheree Thomsen were among the first to arrive. Cloaked in a New Zealand flag Ms Thomsen, from Hastings, told the Herald walking into the hallowed site was "surreal".

"It was poignant, it was emotional," she said.

She found out she had won a pass in the public ballot in January, just after she started a new job.

"I'd only been there for two weeks and I was asking for time off. They agreed, it was quite a unique opportunity."

Mr Sharpe, from Wellington, said the atmosphere was outstanding.

"There is a great sense of comradery with everyone here. Everyone is here for the same reason."

Mr Sharpe anticipated the night and official services at ACS and Chunuk Bair to be moving.

Pilgrimage: Ben Cuff and Kelly Coppin

"The Last Post, when that plays - that will be emotional."

London-based Kiwi Grant Dixon and his British partner Clare Minto also arrived early.

Mr Dixon is an Afghanistan veteran and was thrilled to win passes in the ballot.

"It's moving when you get here," he said.

"You see pictures but to stand in front of the graves and look at how young these guys were it's really moving."

Warkworth pair Karenza Harris and Chris Murdoch were rugged up and ready for the chilly night ahead.

Mr Murdoch served in the Navy and said he couldn't really explain what it was like to be at Anzac centenary.

"It's not something you can really look forward to, it's hard to. It is going to be one of those really emotional journeys... as one of the tombstones we saw said 'deeds, not words.' That was so cool."

Ms Harris said she got teary while visiting the Beach Cemetery on the way to ACS.

"We walked around and just saw all the rows of graves... you get shivers."

Wellington man Ben Cuff, currently in the Army, said it coming to Gallipoli was "like a pilgrimage" for a serving officer. He has two great great uncles who fought in World War I at the Somme and felt a personal connection to the battlefield.

He was at Gallipoli with Kelly Coppin, whose great grandfather was supposed to go to Gallipoli.

"But he had syphilis so he ended up staying in London," she said.

"Walking around taking a look at the graves - so many of of them are younger than me. THe oldest one I saw was 42, that's so sad."