Dream realised in voyage to Gallipoli

Reina Del la Varis. Photo / Ruth Keber

Reina Del la Varis is set to sail to Gallipoli to attend the Anzac Day dawn centenary service and honour those who fought in the campaign.

The 20-year-old will join about 30 other young people on the Young Endeavour sailing from Cannakale, Turkey, on April 24 to the Gallipoli Peninsula.

She will go on to complete a sail training programme on the Aegean Sea, before sailing through the Dardanelles and across the Sea of Marmara to Istanbul.

The boat then sails to Southampton.

Miss Del la Varis said the sea was where she felt most comfortable.

"When I was 6 years old I saw Titanic for the first time, and that is where it all started.

"The opening scenes of the greatest ocean liner of its time meant nothing to a child other than beauty and dreams of sailing - fading into a deep blue abyss."

She was selected to sail on the Spirit of Adventure while she was in high school but unfortunately could not afford the trip.

Leaving high school, she joined the Royal New Zealand Navy where she sailed on board HMNZS Canterbury from Wellington to Auckland.

The opportunity of sailing with the Young Endeavour was life changing, she said.

"This opportunity has given me a new dream and something to aspire to - a chance to go to sea, have an incredible time, make new friends, travel and, most of all, remember those who paid the ultimate price and who were lost at Gallipoli."

Miss Del la Varis' great-grandfather Sergeant Victor William Eather died at Gallipoli. He was in the Auckland Infantry Battalion and later the Anzac Provost Corps and served at Gallipoli from June 8, 1915, to September 25, 1915.

"Being ex-navy makes me far more appreciative of what those who have gone before us sacrificed," she said.

"Last year I attended my first Anzac ceremony in uniform and it definitely changed the experience for me, for the first time I truly reflected on the sombre significance of this remembrance service."

The Young Endeavour's history

* The Young Endeavour was a gift from the United Kingdom to the Government and people of Australia to mark the bicentenary in 1988.

* Construction began on the ship in May 1986 in Lowestoft, England, and on August 3, 1987, she began the long voyage to Australia with a crew which included 24 young people from Britain and Australia.

* The official handover ceremony took place on January 25, 1988, in the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales in Farm Cove, Sydney Harbour.

* In his acceptance speech, the ship was pledged by then Prime Minister Bob Hawke to serve Australian youth.

* The Government decided the Royal Australian Navy would operate the ship, and the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme would be set up to manage the associated sail training
programme.