Carolyn Kirkpatrick and her son Liam (9), who have recently moved to the resort, woke early yesterday to get an understanding of what makes Anzac Day so special for many New Zealanders.
Together with Liam's grandmother, Marcia, who is visiting the family from Texas, they went to the Queenstown service mindful of what they had already experienced on the ‘‘sacred ground'' of Gallipoli.
‘‘We stopped off in Gallipoli on our way over here,'' Mrs Kirkpatrick said.
‘‘We were staying with some Turkish people and they said we were on sacred ground.''
They had been surprised by the camaraderie between the Turkish people and people from Australia and New Zealand, when the Turks and the antipodeans had once been such bitter enemies and had spilled so much of each other's blood.
Having been in New Zealand since October, the Kirkpatricks became keen to experience Anzac Day after a New Zealand friend told them about it.
‘‘We didn't know what to expect but it was very overwhelming,'' Mrs Kirkpatrick said.
Like the many other children at the service, Liam thought the firing of an original 25-pounder World War 2 anti-tank gun was ‘‘pretty cool''.
