Who are we?

There are 30 of us on the Gallipoli Volunteer program for 2014:

4 leaders and 26 volunteers

24 from Australia and 6 from New Zealand

The Kiwis come from North and South Islands, from Northland down to Otago. (Maybe we will find some Aussies who were born in NZ and claim them as well!)

The Aussies come from all over too, from Darwin down to Tasmania.

Amongst the 30 are a mother and daughter, a father and son and two sisters.

16 women and 14 men (if I have counted correctly). Not everyone has divulged how old they are! but it looks like a wide spread of ages, and one person has said he'll be celebration his 61st birthday on the trip.

Some of us (not many) have been to Turkey before; only a few have been to Gallipoli.

There are nurses and teachers, health workers, army and air force officers, a solicitor, an occupational therapist, a social worker, an aeronautical engineer. Some are retired. Many are involved in volunteer work.

Many of us have a personal connection to World War One through a grandfather, great-uncle or some other relation who served overseas, either at Gallipoli or on the Western Front.

It sounds like a great group full of friendly, enthusiastic and interesting people, and we'll all be looking out for each other at the airport in our blue "Gallipoli Volunteer" polo shirts as we head off to Turkey next week.