Battening down the hatches......

Phew!  So much has happened since the last time that I blogged that I am not quite sure where to start.  I will try very hard to not turn this into an epic but be warned that you might need a nice cup of tea and a bickie (or something stronger) to get through this one.


When I last left you we were sitting in Fethiye Bay waiting for our visitors to arrive.  We were keeping a close eye on one of our favourite haunts, Yacht Classic, which is an upmarket hotel with a pontoon for visiting yachts which lets you tie up for a minimal fee as long as you eat in the (very reasonable) restaurant.  The hotel has been frequented by Daniel Craig during the making of Skyfall and more recently by Russell Crowe during the making of his current movie, The Water Diviners, but more about that later.  We always think that the location is a lovely way to introduce visitors to Turkey but, alas, on this occasion it was not to be.  The hotel has recently taken on a contract with a charter company which means that their numerous charter boats are parked in the spaces that we normally purloin during our stay and because it is early in the season none of them were out on charter.  Being a little difficult to park sailing boats in a multi storey setting we eventually had to settle for a berth in Ece marina which is also very pretty but much more expensive.


Having already asked Tony and Alie to change their plans for their transfer from Marmaris to Fethiye we headed along the road to Yacht Classic at the appointed time to await their arrival.  Having a few cups of chai in a nearby café was not a bad way to spend the morning and they duly arrived as planned.  Once they were safely ensconced in their new home and had done some unpacking we headed into the lovely town of Fethiye for a wander.  We walked up to the tombs above the town and the ruined castle.  After our wanderings Alie noticed a poster for a concert and I managed to translate that it was on that very evening.  After questioning a very cute Turkish lad lurking about the area we found out that it was free (an even bigger bonus!) and after a light meal in a local restaurant we settled in to a lovely evening of Turkish folk music very professionally performed by a visiting music group from Cesme.  I didn't recognise some of the instruments and was particularly interested in a flute like contraption called a Kaval that is held and blown at a very odd angle. Tony was struggling to stay awake by this time and as jet lag was definitely winning the war with his eyelids we reluctantly left at the interval.



The very talented Turkish folk music group from Cesme who we saw in Fethiye

The following morning we headed back into town.  Tony and Alie were still in Australia time and seemed to be up with the birds (we will have to fix that!).  Mediterranean time entails sleeping until 8.30 or 9am (if not later), eating your evening meal any time from 8pm onwards and crawling into bed around 11pm or midnight.  Craig and I settle into this rhythm fairly quickly whenever we come on board.  Anyhoo......  after a few coffees we were right and a cheerful taxi driver whisked us up to the 'ghost town' of Kayakoy (meaning Stone Village), about 8kms inland from Fethiye.  This is a town which was virtually abandoned during the population exchanges following the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.  Basically, the Christian Orthodox residents living in Turkey were sent back to Greece and the Muslims in Greece were returned to Turkey.  Attaturk himself comes from the Thessaloniki area.  Muslim migrants were initially settled in Kayakoy but they didn't want to live in the mountains and very quickly returned to the valleys below.  It was therefore abandoned for all extents and purposes.  The result is one of my favourite places on earth and is the setting for the Louis de Bernieres book 'Birds without wings' and has recently used as one of the settings in Russell Crowe's latest movie.  You can wander around the 500 or so semi demolished houses and churches for hours before eating in my favourite eating place, the 'Antik' restaurant, where the ladies make Gozleme as you watch and the Ayran is frothy and fresh.

Making Gozleme (village pancakes) at the Antik restuarant



This guy is apparently going to be an extra in Russell Crowe's new movie!

Tony and Alie in Kayakoy

I love this place!

Another interesting part of the day was when I recognised the very colourful drummer from the music group from the night before.  When I approached to congratulate them on their performance we got an impromptu concert all over again with some very Greek looking dancing thrown in for good measure.  We responded by singing Waltzing Matilda to great cheering and good humour.  Maybe they can give us a spot in their next concert for a few Aussie tunes!

Our impromptu performance by the Cesme group complete with dancing!

Reluctantly dragging ourselves away from Kaya, we headed back to Fethiye and wound our way to the fish market.  Here you can choose your fish from the local stalls, take it to a restaurant and have them cook it for you at a small charge.  Our favourite is a small family run affair called Oztoklu which is tucked around the corner near the vegetable market.  In the main area the many, many restaurants drive you nuts by harassing you as you walk past each bunch of tables, touting for business.  It is difficult to tell where one establishment finishes and another one starts and there was nearly an outbreak of fisty cuffs as the owners fought over customers on this particular evening.  The atmosphere was heavy and the other stall owners promptly stepped in to calm the situation down.

The fish market in Fethiye

Our host took us round to a small stall and helped us pick a fish that was large enough to feed all of us.  It was cooked up for us beautifully and was served up with the usual chips and salad.  He looked very sad and when we questioned him it turned out that his football team had lost the final that night to the winning team 'Fenerbace'.  As the evening progressed and our bellies bloated the tension in the square was palpable.  We could hear car horns blaring and people shouting and as we emerged back onto the streets it looked like a scene from the barricades in Les Miserable!  There were people everywhere, standing on top of cars and vans and letting off flares and fireworks.  It was actually quite scary but alcohol is not a massive problem here and most people seemed to be under control.  One man was holding a small child above his head on top of a parked van!  The cause became apparent very quickly......  The Fenerbace fans were VERY happy that their team had won!  With ears practically bleeding from the noise we headed back to Shirley.

The Fenerbace fans celebrating their win.......

Now we know what to do with our out of date flares!

Spot the child........

After leaving Fethiye we spent a nice quiet night on a mooring in Deep Water Bay (another favourite!) before heading to Kapi Creek.  This in one of the many restaurant quays in the multitude of bays in this area.  You have the privilege of tying up stern to with your anchor out front to what is often a rickety old wooden pontoon constructed by the restaurant owners to ensure that you feel morally obliged to 'dine in' at their establishment for your evening meal (and hopefully breakfast, lunch and wine time as well).  They often also supply a lazy line, or slime line, which is a thin piece of line tied from the pontoon to a concrete block further out in the bay which you haul up and tie onto your boat to hold you off the pontoon.  This helps reduce the risk of crossed anchors if multiple boats are in a U shaped bay.  The meals in these restaurants are often extremely expensive for this part of the world but one has to remind oneself that everything is brought in by sea.  The restaurant owners and their families and staff often live in shanty type dwellings in the bay and we have also seen hoards of children sleeping peacefully on fishing boats on the pontoons.

We had spent a lovely afternoon with the local Imam on a previous visit to Kapi Creek and Alie was keen to meet him.  We duly headed up the hill to the village (about 5 houses and the mosque which had acquired a shiny new minaret since our last visit) and after a few passes of his little house we spotted him and were invited in for chai.  There was another Turkish man present and during their conversation it appeared that they were discussing a medical issue.  As Tony is a doctor we asked some more questions.  Although the Turkish medical terminology seemed to be slightly different we managed to work out that the Imam had just come home from a 3 week hospital stay in Ankara and seems to have fairly severe problems potentially requiring a bone marrow transplant and ultimately not looking good.  Halfway through our visit he rose gracefully and wandered up to the mosque to deliver his call to prayer.

The back yard of the Imam's property with the mosque in the background

The kilim which the Imam's wife is currently working on

The Imam and his beautiful wife who patiently fed us cup after cup of chai

It was one of those situations in life that really humbles me.  Here was a good man with a serious health issue who had just returned to his family after a lengthy hospital stay, but he still had the time (and the inclination) to offer hospitality to virtual strangers.  We sat for a few hours drinking chai made by his beautiful wife, discussing world politics and our mutual family lives.  I bought some lovely hand made wooden spoons that he had crafted and will cherish them.  I left there with a heavy heart.......





Leaving Kapi Creek

We had an eventful trip the next day in very heavy, sloppy seas.  We were heading towards Bozburun and managed to sail under genoa for quite a while.  Craig and I had committed the cardinal sin of not checking our main sail out properly after re-rigging it for the season and I wasn't keen to raise it in the heavy winds and slop.  As we reached the approach into Marmaris bay Alie had developed a severe bout of sea sickness and we decided to divert course into Netsel marina.  Thankfully back on terra firma and familiar territory we caught our breath, checked out the main sail and spent a few days recuperating and catching up with friends.  The Thursday was the 1st of May and we had been told that there would be labour day celebrations in town.  We chattered into town excitedly a few times but the place was as quiet as a grave.  Even the normal lights and music 'dancing' fountain show wasn't on.  We found out later that the Turkish prime minister had banned all celebrations countrywide as there had been riots the year before which had resulted in a teenage boy ending up in a coma after being hit by a tear gas canister.  He subsequently died in March resulting in more riots and this years bans.

The non dancing, non musical fountain in Marmaris on the 1st of May

Our usual close scrutiny of upcoming weather changes had indicated that we should expect some very heavy winds over the weekend.  Out usual tactic in these situations is to hole up somewhere as safe as possible and stay put.  We headed back towards Bozburun once again and after an aborted attempt at swimming stern lines ashore in Elbow Bay (another cold dip for Craig!), we finally dropped anchor for the night under the castle near Orhaniye.  The next morning we booked into Marti marina and after turning down a few options, we finally moored up in a happy place for the anticipated winds.  It looked so calm that our crew were very dubious of our forecasting of wind.  It was almost a relief the next morning, therefore, when the winds came through exactly as foretold around 4am.  The boys spent an active morning running around retrieving prizes from the briny.  We collected a fender, a brand new piece of rope still in it's packet and a dan buoy which just needed some batteries added to make it operational.  We clocked winds of up to 52 knots on board and figured that it reached 60 - 65 knots out on the bay.

My brave skipper retrieving a fender during the storms at Marti Marina, Orhaniye

The 60 knot winds whipping up the water on the bay

We finally got to Bozburun on Monday 5th May.  I had been hanging out to see our friends, Lynn and Osman, at Osman Gordon restaurant.  We are always guaranteed some good company, a great cup of coffee with a piece of home made cake and fantastic food here.  The real reason for my excitement, however, was that I got a four legged friend fix when I was reunited with their floppy dog Bonnie.  Bonnie is one of those dogs who seems to have not quite grown into her paws.  She has a penchant for stealing shoes and if a shoe is missing from the dock, Bonnie's house should be your first port of call.  She has been hit by a car twice and has survived a close call when she ate some poisoned bait.  Lynn has lovingly nursed her back to health on each occasion.  She flopped back from a stroll absolutely covered in mud and immediately hurtled through the restaurant trying to curl up on her favourite chair.  I told you I love dogs more than humans!

Shirley Valentine on the town quay at beautiful Bozburun (left of the picture)

Gorgeous reflections at Bozburun



Isn't she adorable!  Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth......

Our main purpose of heading to Bozburun was to book out of Turkey using the local agent, Lodos yachting, who have efficiently carried out this annoying task for us in previous years.  On this occasion however we discovered that the facilities for this still weren't open for the year (more local politics!) and we would have to head to Datca.  Ah well, another box to tick as we hadn't been there before.  After another reluctant parting we set off the following morning.  Leaving special places and people has become an inevitable part of our lives.  We meet people, get along like a house on fire, then have to leave them.  More often than not with a heavy heart carefully balancing our happy memories......

We arrived in Datca mid morning and tied up to the town quay.  After visiting the local agent to arrange our check out proceedings we hailed a local cab which took us up to Eski Datca (Old Datca) up the hill.  There is always a slight reluctance involved with leaving passports, boat papers, insurance papers etc with a total stranger however we have never had a problem when we have used an agent.  Eski Datca proved to be a pleasant place to pass the afternoon and we had a lovely lunch in Ede Restaurant after wandering around the village.  Many of the old buildings are being renovated and we saw a group of men digging the foundations of a house by hand!  In the middle of the town there was a strange dwelling with locked gates, security cameras everywhere and what looked like a smashed grave stone inside which puzzled us.  Apparently it was the house of an (obviously controversial) Turkish writer/poet called Can Yucel.  After his death, he was buried in the grounds of his property and vandals raided the place resulting in his widow having to turn the place into a mini stronghold. 

Craig at the top of the summit above Eski Datca

The decor at the lovely Ede Cafe

 On return to Shirley Valentine our agent returned with all our paperwork completed.  It cost us 100TL for this service.  We then had an interesting hour or so watching a poor chap on a Ukrainian boat try to do a stern to mooring.  He must have had about 20 attempts and eventually managed to trawl up the anchor of a French boat who was quietly on anchor in the bay.  It was so frustrating not being able to help him.  We had also watched him do the same think in Bozburun the day before.  You had to give him 10 out of 10 for trying!  He eventually gave up and anchored in the bay and there was a collective sigh from the twenty or so boats who could now settle back down to drinking their evening beers once the danger had passed.

At 2.30am the following morning we finally farewelled Turkey for this season.  I try to never think that I will not return to a place so it is usually more a case of bye, bye for now.  However we are not sure when we will be back in Turkey.  There is still so much of this beautiful country that we want to see but with the equally beautiful Dodecanese islands beckoning we headed off towards Kos........

Leaving Datca and Turkey for 2014.  Not sure when we will be back.......

So for now, go and have a cup of coffee and a breather while we head to Greece.  More soon.......



Musings on travel, road trips and off to sea!



 Hi everyone


Well, our life over the past few weeks has been extremely busy.  We never seem to have a spare moment.  To all those people who ask us 'what do you do all day?' I would like to testify that we somehow manage to fill all the hours at our disposal.


Lately I have been doing some musing over the question of travel......  I have some educated friends who think a lot about their blogs.  One friend is focusing this year on how travel is changing him, another constructs her blog creatively around sketches that she does on her travels, while I just potter along blabbering about what we have been up to (if you want to read some of these more educated blogs, let me know and I will forward you the link).


To me travel is an individual affair.  Each to his own as they say......  and we have come across all sorts of travellers on our journeys thus far.  One thing that perplexes me is that some people pay a lot of money to hop on an aeroplane to be propelled across the globe and then seem to expect it to be just like home only with sunshine, or snow, or whatever.  There seems to be a proportion of travellers who still want the same food, beer, TV shows etc that they get at home and can't seem to manage without them.  Whilst I miss my home comforts and family and friends dreadfully, one thing that I love to soak up is the 'differentness' of every new environment.  In my opinion, you also have to leave a certain part of your value system at home.  For example, in my experience a 'zebra crossing' means that traffic stops to let you cross the road.  Over here I am sure that they are just there to keep someone in a job and to decorate the road surface a little.  Crossing a road means taking your life in your hands and playing a type of frogger as you try to leap across.  The best bet is to follow a woman with a baby in a pram as they seem to have more respect for them than an old hag like me...

The other thing you have to leave at home is your recipe book.  I quickly learned that you have to construct your menus around what is available rather than what you want.  I recently had a comment from a family member that she doesn't like to go to the supermarket when she is overseas.  To be honest, if we didn't do that we would starve!  We would also have to go without boat parts, repairs, maintenance, hotel rooms, etc, but more about that later......


Also of note (just to belittle my character a little more!) is that I am terrible at remembering details of dates of battles, who conquered who, who ruled from this era to that era and so on and so forth.  I sidle up to information signs at museums and try to look interested as my eyes glaze over after the first few lines.  I am much happier clambering about ruins and trying to use my imagination to picture what went on in the area.  I actually get frustrated as I want it all to come to life in front of my eyes.  Although some reconstructions can be a little tacky at least they give me some idea of what life was like for the locals in 'ancient' times. 


We like to think of ourselves as 'immersion' travellers of a sort.  We are not actually living in an environment for long, however we have to deal with the locals and a lot of places that we visit are fairly remote with no-one around who speaks much English.  To be frank, this is the sort of place that we prefer. 


With this in mind, we have tucked a few road miles under our belts over the past few weeks.  We had booked a trip to northern Turkey from the 14th to the 21st of April and were tossing up what to do in between.  To while away the time we decided to head east down towards Finike, mainly to try to catch up with a friend who had lost her husband and also to see the area in between.  What an amazing part of the world this is!  We pottered along through Fethiye to Kalkan where we had booked a hotel for three nights.  When we arrived, there was a note in Turkish asking us to phone a local number.  The lady who answered the phone spoke even less English than I do Turkish but between us we managed to ascertain that she was expecting us and that she was coming.  What followed over the next few days was a lovely pantomime of communication between us.  We managed to be fed and watered however and our room was delightful......  what more can you ask for!


Our travels took us to Kekova Roads (famous for its sunken city on Kekova Adasi), Kas (pronounced 'Cash'), Saklikent Gorge, Finike and various ancient sites such as Xanthos and Patara.  We also came across an amazing sandy beach at Patara which is the best we have seen in the Mediterranean. What surprised us the most was the amount of farming which is carried out in this area.  Valleys are filled as far as the eye can see with the Turkish version of glass houses which are actually 'plastic' houses.  Many seem to have heating built in, presumably to facilitate nurturing of plants during the harsh winters.  The people watching was fantastic.  I plucked up the courage to ask a few people if I could take their photograph rather than my usual furtive dash behind a tree trying to look inconspicuous.  A few refused but I got more nods of approval than I expected.  One old shepherd let me take his photo then dragged me behind a bush!  I wondered what was going on until I realised that he was insisting that I take a photograph of his sheep too!  We stopped in a few villages for market day and bought some local produce at what were obviously 'yabanci' prices, but we didn't mind as they are still ridiculously low compared to what we pay at home and most things are organic.

There is no such thing as covering you load here!

'Plastic houses' as far as the eye can see

Looking out over Kas with Kastellorenzion (a Greek island) in the background

My friendly shepherd and his mate.......



.......and his sheep!



Sarcophagi line the shore line at Kekova Roads

The sunken city at Kekova Island



Sunset on day one. One of the nicest road trips that I have ever done.



Saklikent Gorge

The beach at Patara

Xanthos...... spot the local wildlife!

On our return to the marina, I started rehearsals for my proud debut with the 'Abdominal Spasm Band and Bits On The Side'.  I think I was a bit on the side, but we had a real fun night performing in the marina restaurant and sang a few good old classics such as Waltzing Matilda and The Pub With No Beer.  One of our English friends even had a didgeridoo to accompany us.  What a great night!  The same evening I did a short presentation on first aid at the weekly marina 'Skippers De-Stress' meeting which was well attended and (I think) well appreciated.  The local pharmacy did brisk business with us all updating our first aid boxes.  Medical supplies and pharmacy items are extremely cheap and many drugs which require a prescription in Australia are available over the counter at ridiculously low prices, so it is a good place to stock up.

David from Milliways and I doing our impressive rendition of a pub with no beer

Our planned trip to northern Turkey soon came around.  This was another surprising, amazing part of this country of contrasts.  We flew to Ankara (the capital of Turkey) after a short bus trip to Bodrum and had a few days there.  The contrast between the country areas and cities in Turkey seems much more magnified than it does in Australia and the UK.  There are even a few American Embassies in Ankara (Starbucks!) and that good old famous Scottish restaurant, McDonalds, to make you feel at home.  In Ankara we visited Ataturk's Mausoleum, the old castle area, a few museums (including a modern industrial museum) and had some free time to potter about the shops.



A corridor at the Ataturk Memorial site in Ankara



The changing of the guard

Me and Ataturk

Ataturk's mausoleum

A street scene in the old part of the town near the castle

From Ankara we drove to Amasya. We visited Bogazkale (Hattusas National Park) on the way which is the modern name for the ancient Hittite capital city of Hattusas which dates from 1600BC.  It is pretty awesome (even for me!) to be in areas that were established so long ago and the remnants of the civilisation make you realise that we didn't invent everything in this day and age. 

Me on some font of knowledge or something at the Hittite city......  it didn't work!

Our group at the Lion's gate

Our group trying to emulate the rock carving on the wall

Amasya itself is a fairly large city stretched along the banks of a river between almost vertical mountain ranges. There are tombs which were built for the Pontic Kings carved into the limestone cliffs and a castle perched on the hilltop which was the original Hittite fortress.  The highlight for me in this area was our visit to the Large-Doored Seminary dating from 1488 where Koranic students (boys of 14 years upwards) undergo the same rigorous training that has been carried out for two or three centuries.  I was amazed that we were permitted to wander amongst the boys and photograph them while they were studying.  Also of great personal interest to me was a visit to one of the first ever mental asylums where music and water therapy was carried out to calm disturbed patients.  The origins of the asylum date from 1308. 

The happy students at the theological school in Amasya

Deep in thought!

In the mental asylum!

Beautiful Amasya

And some more........

The Pontic tombs above the town

Our hotel was perched on the opposite cliff to the tombs and the view was breathtaking.  We seemed to be the only foreign tourists in the town and one of our group, Phil (an Australian with a white beard and a big bush hat), was constantly being approached to have his photo taking with young, giggling, teenage Turkish girls.  He hated this of course!!  The Canadians in our group were particularly infamous for their loose connection to Justin Bieber.  The Turkish females seem to be avid fans.

The view from our hotel window

Phil with some Turkish girls who asked to be photographed with him

We dragged ourselves reluctantly from Amasya to head to Sinop on the Black Sea via Samsun where we visited an old ship and got some more Starbucks coffee!  Sinop is a coastal town and seemed to be a fairly bustling, happening sort of place.  The hotel we stayed at was magical.  We were right on the beach in a sleepy, bordering on tacky, little suburb of the city itself but the location was picture postcard perfect and the sea didn't look very black to me. The sort of place you could curl up in for a week with a good book, but the next morning saw us taking off to explore the local prison which was one of those places with a chequered history that goes back for centuries and was used up until the 1970's.  It was used to house pirates, political prisoners, dissidents and poets and even had a children's wing!  Bit of a morbid place but everything looks better with the sun shining......

Sinop. The view from our hotel

Our tour guide, Tas, in chains at the prison in Sinop

Edward waiting for a visitor!

The abandoned cells

Dragging ourselves once again from this magical spot we headed towards Safronbolu.  As the name suggests this area is of note for it's abundance of saffron.  We headed initially to an old town outside of the city where we were greeted by peasant women peddling the usual dried herbs, gourds, fresh produce etc.  The homes were of Ottoman origin and were constructed of wood and plaster.  We were shown through an original dwelling by one of the locals whose family owned the house.  This is the sort of history I like best!  Followed by a foray through the tacky tourist stalls we escaped to make our way to the labyrinth of streets that make up the market town of Safronbolu itself.  What a great place.  If we didn't have luggage limits on planes I could have gone nuts in the shops here......  After lunch we headed to some local caves and then to an area of basalt columns where we pottered around taking happy snaps.  With muddy shoes and grubby clothing we came to our last nightly stop at Bolu.  To be honest there isn't much to say about Bolu.  It just seemed to be a convenient place to spend the night and the hotel was pretty awful to say the least.

Our hostess for morning tea in the old town of Safronbolu

The Ottoman style houses, Safronbolu

Just in case you wanted to know, this is where you tie your horse up!

The old communal laundry

Inside a renovated home in old Safronbolu

Outside the mosque, Safronbolu

Street scene, Safronbolu market place

Some colourful gourds. I want one!!!

Glass blowing, Safronbolu market place

We pottered homewards the next day via the Turkish version of the Lake District and apart from a few tacky tourist traps the scenery was nice and the waffles in the café were to die for!  After our return flight to Bodrum from Ankara we arrived back on board Shirley Valentine very late at night, exhausted and all museumed out, but with many pleasant memories.

Mesut (our driver), Phil, Tas, Maria and Craig at the Turkish Lake District

A beautiful holiday home on the side of the lake

We finally left the marina in the middle of the morning on Wednesday ready for this year's sailing season and the adventures to come.  We holed up in our favourite spot in Deep Water Bay near Gocek for a night to catch our breath and are now on anchor at Fethiye waiting to pick up our first guests for the year tomorrow morning.  Watch this space........