Mr Faulkner entered his name in the ballot and his Sydney-based eldest daughter, Erin Gerard, decided to put her name forward also. Mrs Gerard was successful; Mr Faulkner was put on the waiting list.
"Erin's husband wasn't interested in going, so she asked me if I wanted to go."
Mr Faulkner hasn't travelled much and he jumped at the chance to make the trip.
He'll travel to Turkey with his wife, Margaret, and Mrs Gerard. However, Mrs Faulkner can't go to Gallipoli because each ballot provides permission for only two people to attend the commemorations.
"It's a while until we go, so we haven't finalised our plans yet."
Mr Faulkner said he had been doing a lot of research on travel options and on the history of the area.
"I'm really looking forward to it. I can't wait."
The NZ ballotIt gives a certain number of New Zealanders the opportunity to attend the 100th anniversary commemorations of the landing at Gallipoli.
Numbers are limited because of the lack of space and facilities in the area.
Each ballot provides a "double pass" to attend the ceremony, but attendees must arrange and pay for their own accommodation and travel.
The ballot opened in November and closed in January, and successful applicants were notified by the end of March.
Nearly 10,000 eligible applications were put forward.
About 1000 people from all over New Zealand were chosen as well as New Zealanders living in countries such as Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Afghanistan, Austria, Bahrain, Finland, France, Italy, Niue, Singapore and Switzerland.
Forty-eight were chosen from the wider Manawatu-Wanganui region.
Are you a local person who has won a ballot? If so, we'd love to hear from you. Please contact us on [06] 3490728 or news@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
