Gallipoli trip for Anzac birthday girl

LUCKY DRAW: Brenda Cameron will be attending the centenary commemorations in Gallipoli on Anzac Day. PHOTO/ALISA YONG

For one Masterton woman, Anzac Day this year will be doubly special.

This year, which marks the centenary of the Gallipoli landings, Brenda Cameron will be spending her birthday - which falls on Anzac Day - by attending the commemorative service at Gallipoli.

Ms Cameron who, according to her father, was born at 5.25am to the solemn notes of the Last Post, said she usually attends the dawn service in Masterton but decided to try her luck in the Gallipoli ballot for the centenary.

"Over the years I've thought it would be great to go and then when the ballot came up and it was the 100th anniversary I just thought 'yes, I"ll put my hat in the ring and see if I get a pass'."

She was not eligible for a direct descendent pass and so entered the public ballot in November 2013.

It was a shock to find out she had been awarded a pass, she said.

"I was amazed. When I read it [the email], I thought this will be a 'no' and then it said I'd been successful and I thought cool! I rang my mum and dad straight away. So it was really quite exciting.

"It's great to have the opportunity to be there, especially for my birthday ... it's pretty important to New Zealanders - it always has been and it always will be, so it's just great to have the chance to be there. It's a real privilege."

Since telling her parents, she has also discovered a family connection to Gallipoli - her great-uncle fought and died at Gallipoli.

"It's only since I got this pass that it's come out about my own family history. I was quite amazed and a bit proud."

Ms Cameron has other connections to the military, having spent several years working as a housing officer for the army in Waiouru.

Her father has also worked as a non-commissioned officer for the the army.

Ms Cameron sets off for a month's holiday today, stopping off in Singapore and the Greek Islands before arriving in Turkey.

Once in Istanbul, she will join a tour group that will escort her to Gallipoli the night before Anzac Day.

She will then attend the dawn service at the commemorative site before walking about 6km to the New Zealand service at Chunuk Bair.

With temperatures dropping overnight and about seven security checkpoints to pass through to gain access to the site, visitors were warned to prepare carefully for the long evening outside, she said. "Every month we've been getting emails with newsletters telling us what to prepare for and what to take because it's an open air site and there's no facilities and no power there ... we've had instructions for the last year on what to take."

While at Gallipoli, Ms Cameron hopes to try and locate her great-uncle's grave. There are 124 people from the Wellington region attending the Gallipoli service this year.

-The Times-Age production editor, Christine Dornan, will also be attending the Anzac Day service in Gallipoli.