Water Features

We do like water features, but this one is a little nuisance. Way back last year we had a leak in our top bathroom under the floor. To fix it required us to dig up the bathroom floor, locate the leak, repair it and replace the floor with appropriate tiles. Well, the leak re-appeared again this week, so out came the shower, up came the tiles, and lo and behold the pipe was leaking from a different junction. The plumber, bless him, has taken out as much of the original pipework as he can without having to dig up any more floor. Well the leak is fixed and we are just waiting for it all to dry out and then we will have to find some matching tiles if we can to repair the damaged ones.

We were invited by Yo and Nigel to join them to celebrate Yo's birthday on Friday the 8th. They had hired a car, and were going to visit an old village in the mountains which had been previously been inhabited by Greeks, but after the exchange of populations following the Turkish independance in 1912, the village had become derelict. However, a few of the properties have now been renovated, so there is a nice mix of old and new. The renovations have to be in keeping with the original style, and so the village is really picture postcard.

Sue managed to damage her knee earlier in the week through a combination of events, each making the knee worse ... you know how it is, the injury acts as a magnet for every knock you encounter, so moving through this pretty village was a painful experience for her as it was cobbles and hills all the way, but she made it. There are many more pictures of both here and our visit to the millipark (national park), which was also fabulous, to see them, click here.

While we were there, some wild boars and their piglets that have obviously become used to humans, came running up for food. A bit perturbing at first, but nevertheless quite fascinating.

After our visit to the millipark we headed back to Söke and we stopped at the Turkish equivalent of a fast food joint, where we had çöp şiş. This is a variety of meats on skewers, served with bread, fried peppers, fried spicy onions and salad, plus soft drinks and followed by coffee or tea. It was delicious and a perfect end to a perfect day.

Apart from playing with our boat, we have also been helping a friend take her grandchildren to the aquapark. She needed someone to take them on the flumes and other features. Oh well .. you're only young once, or in our case twice!!

We were exhausted after the 10th go on each attraction, whereas the youngsters were still raring to go,so perhaps we're not as young as we would try to delude ourselves.


Yesterday we were invited by some of the Turkish residents on Gaye 2 to go on a "charabang" trip with them. Well that's the closest we can describe it.

We all piled on the minibus, and set off for Izmir and Çeşme. We stopped on the way for çay at what one mıght call a "Little Chef". It was very pleasant under the trees sipping our drinks. Then it was on again, plus the obligatory sing-song between each stop.

The Turks were very kind to us and tried to include us in everything, although, with the language barrier, sometimes it was difficult.

We stopped many more times for refreshment breaks, and travelled through some truly amazing scenery. When we got to Çeşme, it was too busy to park, so we went on to a smaller resort, for another refreshment break, and Sue and I also managed to fit in a swim.

Then it was on to then next refreshment break.

We were getting to the end of the day by now, but the ladies on the bus decided they wanted to travel the coast road between Çeşme and Kuşadasi. It's a long, windy but quite striking part of the coastline. By the time we got to Kuşadasi, the sun had set, and it looked quite beautiful as we drove down into it with all it's lights glittering off the sea. We were given 3/4 hour to stretch our legs, before we piled back on the minibus for the journey back home. We had set off at 7.30am and finally got back to Yeşilkent at 11.30pm .. a very long day, but well worth it, and we made several new Turkish friends on the way.