Craig Roach or more commonly known as Roachie, has wandered the secluded and stunningly beautiful WW1 battlefield of Gallipoli for thirty years. In that time he has seen nature slowly taking back the scars and tragedies of war. Roachie, has always been an avid artist and has passionately devoted his life on creating an artistic legacy of this tragic but beautiful place.
The hills, gullies, old trenches and beaches are littered with the remains of WW1. A hundred years on and there is now an artistic marriage between man and nature.
If you'd like to visit this place then Roachie will take you off the beaten track, show you the best place to paint, draw, sit in solitude and maybe share a bottle of wine. You can check out my exploits if you search for The Gallipoli Artist, on the web or Facebook.
See you there,
Roachie - The Gallipoli Artist
Istanbul and Gallipoli Turkey
https://www.gallipoli-roachie.com/craig-roach-battlefield-guide/gallipoli-art-war-and-wine/
Gallipoli Art, Wine and War
8 Days of Istanbul, Nature, Gallipoli, Art and Wine.
16th to 23th May 2020
Over a hundred years ago a battle raged along the shores of the Aegean Sea. As wars have raged here for millennia. But as men and weapons come to wreak havoc on each other there is always a winner and it’s neither side…… it’s nature. The Gallipoli battlefield is one of the most isolated and interesting WW1 battlefields in the world. Most of it remains as part of a national park. A place of natural beauty that witnessed the sorrow and carnage of man-made war. Whether it was Achilles, Agamemnon, Mustafa Kemal or Ian Hamilton, they all came and went
In the 21st century, nature is winning the war….. slowly it is reclaiming this place. Somehow this natural peace and quiet make the cemeteries a much more serene place. A place that lends itself to the hands of an artist, or the artist inside us all.
This 8 day tour will take you through the ancient streets of one of history's most famous cities and then onto the Gallipoli Peninsula. We’ll visit the cemeteries and memorials, we’ll meet some of the colourful locals, and if you feel like it, you can paint the landscapes and vistas from the beaches, the heights, the gullies and the trenches in the footsteps of those who came before.
We’ll meet our colourful historian/artist ‘Roachie’, who will fill us in on the history of the campaign as well as the best place to sit and paint, or sample some great local wine. You don’t need to be an artist, or even a budding artist, you can just come along for the spectacular journey.
This is just one of a series of ‘art inspired’ collaborations between Craig Roach (Roachie) and Experta Tours and Events. It not only combines the historical in-depth information on the Gallipoli Campaign but also the time and opportunity to soak up the natural beauty of this place.
Day 1, ISTANBUL, 16 May – Arrive at your leisure in the great city that spans two continents. We can arrange a private transfer or make your own way to our hotel in the Old City, Sultanahmet. Tonight we’ll meet and discuss our wonderful adventure, then hit the streets for a local dinner. (D)
Day 2, ISTANBUL, 17 May – Today we’ll take in the highlights of the Old City and we’ll gather some great artistic inspiration before we head south to Gallipoli. (BL)
Day 3, ISTANBUL – GALLIPOLI, 18 May – Check out of our hotel and drive out of Istanbul towards the Gallipoli Peninsula. On the way, we’ll stop for a unique experience at a new winery where we’ll enjoy a barrel-tasting with the winemaker, then enjoy a great lunch. We can stock up on much-needed wine supplies for the next few days before heading for the sleepy, seaside hamlet of Eceabat. Tonight we can catch a ferry across to lively Canakkale, lot’s of great dinner options. (BL)
Day 4, GALLIPOLI, 19 May – Today we’ll take a full tour of the battlefield, including the landing beaches, cemeteries and heroes of the 8 month campaign that helped to form the national psyches of three countries, Turkey, New Zealand and of course Australia. We’ll end the day wandering the pristine beaches of Suvla Bay. (B)
Day 5, GALLIPOLI, 20 May – I know you’re biting-at-the-bit to hit the brushes so today we’ll work around the best light and create some of our own masterpieces. Nature is winning the war started in 1915 and to take in the best that nature has on offer……. Beaches, cemeteries, shipwrecks and old cannons. It’s also Spring so the area abounds with beautiful Wild Iris, brilliant Red Poppies, Rosemary and Wild Thyme. Gallipoli is full of local characters and not many larger than life than the owner of the world-famous Boomerang Cafe. We end the day, finishing some paintings, chatting and enjoying a local barbecue with Mesut on the shores of the Dardanelles. (BD)
Day 6, GALLIPOLI, 21 May – Today we’ll do a drive around the Cape Helles Sector of the battlefield. For a special treat, we’ve invited along the seasoned and eccentric Ms Sera Sekitmen. We’ll walk down to Gully Beach and W Beach, where we can sketch or paint a shipwreck or two. Tonight can be spent at your leisure in Eceabat or across the waves in nearby Canakkale. (B)
Day 7, ISTANBUL, 22 May – We’re pretty flexible today. We’ve got time to go back to any of your favourite haunts of the past few days before driving to Istanbul. We may have time to visit some post-war bunkers nestled in the vineyards of Gali Winery, and might even arrange a tasting of their famous Gallipoli Centenary Reserve….what a great collector’s item!
If time permits we’ll stop in on the family for a cup of tea in Tekirdag before our final night on the town in Istanbul. We can arrange some last-minute options like a Bosphorus Cruise or Whirling Dervishes Show. (B)
Day 8, ISTANBUL, 23 May – Free time or last-minute shopping etc before your private transfer to the airport. We can arrange onward travel arrangements if you want to continue your fantastic art inspired journey in Turkey. (B)
Cappadocia Extension contact us about our fabulous extension following the tour to the geological and historical masterpiece, Cappadocia. Taste the food, walk in the valleys and fly above them in aa hot air balloon. Stay at the Sofa Hotel which is the home of one of Cappadocia’s finest artists, Muharrem Gurdal.Every room is his own work of art, check it out! http://sofa-hotel.com/en/
www.experta.com.tr
https://www.gallipoli-roachie.com/craig-roach-battlefield-guide/gallipoli-art-war-and-wine/
The ‘Rusty Boats of Gallipoli Beaches’ series
By Roachie - Gallipoli Adventurer
Recently I’ve been a bit fascinated over the remains of old bits and pieces left over from the Gallipoli campaign along the beaches. So I decided to extend that fascination to actually painting some of the rusty boats that litter Gallipoli’s beaches.
There is a time of the year when the tide literally goes out for an extended period. During this time the sea reveals the secrets of the shallows, as if a new ghostly force has arrived and landed on our beaches. They stretch from the very northern point of Gallipoli at Suvla Bay to the very southern at W Beach….. and everywhere in between.
So I’ve painted a series called ‘Rusty Boats on Gallipoli Beaches’ which will feature separately at my exhibition at the Tusan Hotel in Canakkale over the Anzac period from 13th April until 30 May….. drop in if you’re in the neighbourhood!
Cheers,
Roachie #GallipoliArt
Suvla Bay wreck with the Greek island Samothrace in the background
W Beach wreck, one of my favourites!
Wreck in the surf of Gully Beach
W Beach wreck
Sunken barge off Anzac Cove
Landing boat of Anzac Cove
W Beach wreck from a different angle
Gully Beach and waves crashing on wrecks.
W Beach wreck, different view
The Loch Ness Monster of Gallipoli, as I called it, this huge winch controlled the Submarine Net stretched across the Narrows. The net had steel strands 2 and half inch thick and dropped 200 feet to the sea floor. It remained near the surface until very recently.
The ‘Beetle’ landing craft. The predecessor to the craft that landed at Normandy in WW2. Held 500 men and kit, armoured and bearing machine guns. Worked great in the August Offensive, would have been great back in April!
Plugge’s Plateau – Nature and the futility of war, all in one sad but beautiful place
By Roachie - Gallipoli Adventurer
My friends keep saying to me…… ‘Not another cemetery painting!’ Well unfortunately, to document Gallipoli, you can’t just stick to the pretty flowers and stunning vistas. This place has a tragic history combined with incredible natural beauty. Slowly nature is reclaiming the scared and bloody landscape. Few places represent this transformation as much as Plugge’s Plateau.
The fact that I paint lots of the memorials and cemeteries in this place is because I feel that as the world turns and constantly changes, we risk forgetting the bloodshed, heroism, fear and their lasting effect on our psyche. Artists landed with the first troops in April 1915. They documented the men in their uniforms and trenches in a battle where we, the Allies, the Anzacs invaded this peaceful peninsula. Not to occupy it’s farmlands, not to colonise it’s cities but as part of a plan to eventually end one of the most horrific events in our history, the First World War….. The ‘Great’ War…… The War to End All Wars! Sadly and in the words of Eric Bogle “It all happened AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN”
Never has there been a greater example of the futility of war. And as the world changes once again, world leaders seemed determined to perpetuate this sad history.
So a couple of weeks ago I had the great opportunity to once again walk the steep 600 metres from Shrapnel Valley to Plugge’s…… This time not by using a nice but steep walking track but by taking the route taken on the first day, in the dark hours past dawn, that the ANZACs took.
My friend Uwe Richter and I eventually cleared the scrub at the top of Plugge’s. As usual we were the only living humans present. There in front of us is the cemetery where only 14 graves lie. Charles Bean wrote of this place and these very men who lay mortally wounded, the medic telling him to save his water from his canteen because it would serve him better than these poor suffering wailing brave souls, so close to death.
Plugge’s is unique that there are only 14 souls buried here, they are all identified. The ground of the cemetery is laid with white pebbles instead of the normal green turf, simply because of the inaccessible nature of the place.
I hope that one day soon, before my old knees pack it in, that I can make this journey again, with you, the people who take an interest in my paintings, my passion for Gallipoli and as a lasting legacy into the futility of war.
Roachie #GallipoliArt
