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.

Spring Bank Holiday (nearly)

The weather has been very changeable, one minute sunshine, the next, thunderstorms .... very unseasonable. Last Saturday we even had a sand storm. The sky turned orange/yellow and then it started to rain sand. What a mess. All the swimming pools turned brown and they are still trying to clean them.

We have been quite busy here, as more friends return to their respective villas and find problems, and they turn to us for help.

We were promised our sailboat in three weeks and we took delivery to the day. We called them on Wednesday, just to see how it was coming along. They said it was complete, barring one or two small jobs, so we told them we would hire a car and drive over to Izmir on Thursday to view it. We took Nigel and Yo with us for a second opinion, and when we turned up, there it was fully rigged ready for us to check it over.

Once they had made a couple of refinements for us, they asked us what time we would be home. We asked why, and they said it was being delivered that afternoon. We weren't expecting it till the Friday afternoon. We had intended to browse the Izmir shops, and have a leisurely day, but it wasn't panning out that way. We said we'd be back at 8pm, so they phoned the transport and agreed to that, so we went for lunch on the seafront, and a quick look at the shops, and left Izmir just before 6pm. As we were leaving, we had a phone call from the guy delivering the boat to say he was in Yesilkent. Fortunately he was quite prepared to wait for us, so 2 hours later we took delivery of our new acquisition.

A couple of friends came over to help us unload it, and we parked it up in the drive overnight.

Yesterday morning we tied it to the back of the motorbike, and towed it down to the beach. Another friend, who has a similar boat to ours, helped us rig it, and launch it. A few final touches at the mooring and we were ready for it's maiden voyage.

We took it out using the electric motor, so that we had plenty of empty ocean around us while we struggled with the sails etc. Being new, nothing runs quite as easily as they will once worn in. We also had to tighten up the mast stays and make adjustments to the rigging, so we needed plenty of open water to play in.



Once we'd got the hang of things, we spent an enjoyable hour and a half just sailing up and down the bay. The wind was very kind to us for our first day out, not too strong, but enough to get going. Having said that, it would have been much too strong to have had the canoe out there, especially in sailing mode. This boat, being constructed for the sea, is more stable and better suited. It's double skinned, which means it can't sink, and is more easily righted should it fall over, which we will try to avoid. As you can see from the picture, we also have a little ladder to climb back into the boat in deep water should we need to. The idea is to anchor off-shore to swim sometimes.

Our friends Pete and Ed were also out sailing, keeping a tactful eye on us, just in case we got into difficulties, but we managed to impress them by jybing on our first run. We feel it's like windsurfing for the aged, you can sit down while you sail.

Then we took it to it's new home, the mooring we had spent a couple of weeks preparing, and put it to bed under it's new cover.

Oh, haven't told you it's name yet have we?

GREMLYN

it's better behaved than it's namesake ever was!!

Decisions, decisions

We decided that we needed extra lighting in the kitchen, as Sue was standing in her own light when she was making pastry etc. We had toured various lighting and Diy shops, but couldn't find exactly what we were hoping for, no in our price range anyway, so eventually we decided we get our favourite carpenter, Ali, to build us one. It was done overnight, and this is the result.

We also decided upon the boat. We found a Rotaboat Kirlangic that we could look at, and, believe it or not, it was just down the road. Once we'd spoken to the owner and had a good look at it, we took the plunge. Well if he'd had no problems with it over the last 5 or 6 years that was good enough for us. We ordered it over the phone, and were given 3 weeks as a delivery date .... we'll see!

A phone call the same day informed us that David's certificate for passing his language course would be presented that afternoon at 2 o'clock. A quick change and a dash up to the Belediye to collect that. The press were there, and it's amazed us since, just how many people recognised David from the resulting press photo. We'll put our picture in here, as it's better.

On the 4th of the month it should be recorded that we took our first swim of the season ... a bit later this year than last. Are we becoming wimps? (or maybe we are acclimatising!).

We also took the canoe out, and as the sea was mirror calm, we paddled from Gaye 2 right round the peninsular, past Ladybird Beach, Pine Beach, The police academy, Marti Sitesi and onward as far as Tuntas, which is on the outskirts of Altinkum itself. It took about 2 and a half hours. Having run out of energy, we gratefully resorted to the electric motor to get us back to Gaye 2. During this trip Sue thought she glimpsed a turtle swimming ahead of us, but by the time we had padded to the spot it had disappeared. It is the right time of the year to spot them though, shame we couldn't get closer.

Everybody started to arrive and we were inundated with requests for assistance as friends opened their houses, and found problems after the long winter layoff. We pointed them in the direction of reliable tradespeople and also gave assistance where we could.

We were lucky enough to be invited out by several people for meals at our favourite establishments, such as the Police Academy and the new restaurant that has just opened in Yeşilkent called the Green Park (formerly known as the Medi Pansiyon).

During this time we also had to prepare the mooring for the arrival of the boat from Izmir. This involved going up to Didim Marin to order ropes, chains, shackles, a buoy and various other bits, and making some large concrete blocks, that would be moved into the sea, chained together, and used as the anchor point for the boat. Having made the blocks at home, we then had to tackle the problem of moving them to the sea, and getting them to the place where the boat was to be moored. We scratched our heads and thought about it, and came up with a plan.

We removed the pod from the sidecar chassis, and using a borrowed scaffold plank, we slid the blocks onto the chassis, and transported them one at a time down to the shoreline. Using the plank again we slid the blocks down the steep incline into the water and then dragged them to their final position. Then we joined them together with the vast lengths of chain we had been persuaded to buy and attached the buoy as a marker. Job done, although our sailing friends think we could probably moor the QE2 on our mooring.

Pat and Don kindly invited us to join them on a trip to Bodrum and Turgetries. Turgetries is really beautiful and we had our lunch there in a little restaurant by the sea. We also introduced them to the delights of Koçtaş (B & Q), Kipa (Tesco), Tekzen (DIY chain) as Pat was searching for a barbeque, and we also discovered a large M & S that we didn't know was there. Sue has made a mental note to return later in the year to stock up with shoes and clothes from the Per Uno range.

April showers ... or lack of them!!

We decided to prepare the top terrace for the imminent arrival of the hot tub by putting up a bamboo screen/windbreak. Now all we need is the hot tub up there. Unfortunately it's still in customs in Istanbul.

Sue finished off the decorating. She's done the stairs, hall, landing, bottom entrance hall, kitchen and lounge .... wow!

Various neighbours have arrived for their summer sojourn, and we had temporary neighbours next door for three weeks. Everything seemed to happen to them while they were here .. the water tank on the roof split and had to be replaced. This could have been avoided had the estate agent acted upon our warning in the winter instead of just turning the water off. Then they had no water for a couple of days as the pressure was low and the pump that feeds the roof tank had not been fixed either. Followed by no hot water as the immersion heater that backs up the solar wasn't working and finally the kitchen caught fire because someone had used a cheap adapter to connect both a kettle and a dishwasher to one socket hidden behind the kitchen units. Needless to say it burst into flames, set fire to the kitchen units and the wiring. Fortunately they used the powder fire extinguisher, but of course that left an awful mess, which, as the agent refused, they had to clean up. The poor things were then left with an intermittent electricity supply, which meant they could only run one appliance at a time. Not good with eight people in the house. You'll probably see it featured on "holidays from hell".

Although Easter is not celebrated here for obvious reasons, we held to tradition by having home made hot X buns for breakfast and then having fish and chips in the evening at a newly opened restaurant called the Blue Ocean.

We went to the PTT to get our post as usual, only to find the boxes had been moved. They are now embedded in a wall outside the office, and so are accessible at any time of day or night. So things improve slowly.

We continue to negotiate with the Customs for the hot-tub, but by the middle of the month we have got no-where. We tried to get them to return the goods to England, but they wanted a more detailed invoice and when they had that, they wanted our supplier to send a form both in Turkish and English and stamped by the Turkish Embassy in London to say he would accept them back ... fat chance!.

We continue to act as project managers for friends and neighbours, supervising patio laying, painting and decorating and other maintenance programs. We have also been maintaining the road by weedkilling as necessary, and doing the same for next doors garden as the weeds are coming through their stones big-time.

During the month we have also been preparing the canoe for the summer months by taping up the seams with fibreglass tape and giving it a couple of coats of epoxy resin. Unforunately we ran out of resin, so another trip to Bodrum was called for.
So on the 17th we hired a car, and set off. We stopped off at Güvercinlik, a pretty little fishing village for coffee. From there it was a short hop to İçmeler, to the boat chandlers to pick up the resin, and have a quick browse of the boat-yards.

Then it was back into Bodrum for a walk along the sea-front, and then of course the obligatory retail therapy. Kipa (Tesco) was our last stop, where we stocked up on a few things that haven't reached Didim yet.

Now we had all the materials, we completed the preparation of the canoe, and took it for it's maiden voyage for this year to Konya. No leaks, but very tired arms, as the wind got up, making the return journey very arduous. We should have expected it really as this month has been particularly windy.

Mandy and Lawrence arrived back from the UK and to save them having to worry about shopping and cooking we invited them round for a meal that day. Strangely, Pat and Stuart phoned to invite us to theirs for a meal, so we got them to come and join us instead and a good time was had by all.

Having mentioned the wind we suppose we should mention that rain has been sadly lacking this year and so, even as early as this month, we have had to water both our garden and those of one or two friends. Suppose it's global warming.

Yo and Nigel have settled into their new house now and so we went over to visit and see how they are getting on. Virtually everything is done now, so they'll have a more relaxed summer this year and be able to cool off in their pool.

We expect they'll find plenty to tittivate and that will keep them busy for some time to come, and with many new neighbours to visit, we probably won't see anywhere near as much of them as we did last year.



The motorbike papers were finally returned, much to our relief and so they are in order now, should we get stopped, which is inevitable as the Jandarme have frequent roadside checks.

We've taken more friends up to the police academy restaurant for a meal .... well the view is so special, and the food is good and so reasonably priced.

A lot of the month has been spent catching up with all the returnees, and just generally socialising.

The Turkish language course finished with 2 exams, one of which David passed, but the result of the other, as yet, hasn't been announced. Sometime in the future there will be a presentation of the certificate at the town hall by the Mayor of Didim.

The hot tub saga finished at the end of April .. we gave in. The final straw came when we had decided to pay up the extiortionate sum demanded, 700€, only to be told we had to get a document from the Aydin Agriculture Office, a proxy form stamped by the notary and register with the appropriate Ministry for VAT. We abandoned the pool to Customs. The deal is they get the pool, we don't get a bill. Expect someone will get to enjoy it, but it won't be us.

The Ides of March

And so, did the stress levels recede? Marginally maybe. We still haven't got our motorbike document issue resolved, but it's worse now, because they have got the receipt for the thing as well. This could leave us in a very sticky situation, as we have no proof of ownership at all. We're back to how we started ... Shankes pony or Dolmus, for if we use the bike with no paperwork and we're stopped by the police ... well it doesn't bear thinking about.

We continued our search for a small sailing craft in Bodrum on 15th (beware the ides of March!!!!). We spotted these flamingoes as we got petrol just past the Airport between Milas and Bodrum.
We searched all round Bodrum, going to places we never knew existed. We found loads of boats, but none of the type we were after. You wouldn't think it would be so difficult would you? We found all manner of speed boats (the Turks really like the status symbol of these!). We found yards full of huge yachts for £1,000,000 plus .... probably a little out of our price range, but sailing boats around 4 or 5 metres ---- yok!! (English translation .. none)

The Bodrum Peninsular was very clean and a beautiful part of the coastline. Among the places we visited, apart from Bodrum itself, were Yalikavak, Turgetreis, Ortakent and Içmeler (Bodrum not the one near Marmaris).

We had taken Mandy and Lawrence with us as they are also looking for a slightly larger craft than us, but they had no luck. They had been told there could be one moored at this marina at Turgetreis, but it had already sailed to Yalikavak. we chased it there, but couldn't find it.

Finally we returned home boatless ... perhaps we'll try Marmaris or Çesme next.

The following day we went to visit Yo and Nigel for lunch at their new house. They have finally moved in and wanted to show it to us and Mandy and Lawrence. Very nice it is too. We should have added a photo of it here, but do you know? we forgot to take one ... oh well next time we're over there. Unfortunately, with Akbuk over half an hour away on the bus and us and them being so busy since, we haven't had a chance to catch up since.

Friday, Pat and Don arrived from England for a 10 day visit. It's always like Christmas when they come, as they kindly bring us many of the home comforts we can't buy here ... you know the sort of thing; Cheddar cheese, bacon, sausages, brown sugar, glacé cherries and the list goes on. Having said that, we have found substitutes for many things, but it is nice sometimes to have the real McCoy. Also, every month the choice here gets greater, as the supermarkets realise the spending power of their new customers, the Brits. A shop has just opened in Didim selling British bacon, gammon steaks, baked beans, Bisto gravy, Colman's mustard and many other goodies not usually available. The goods are pricey, as the hoops he has to jump through to get them into the country are phenomenal, but sometimes it's worth it for a little treat.

Talking of jumping through hoops, we've had our own experience of that over the last three weeks as we tussle with customs trying to import a small spa pool we purchased from ebay. IT was cheap, but the duty they are trying to impose on it is three times it's value. Negotiations continue ... we'll keep you posted.

Fitted between going out and about with Don and Pat, overseeing Bob's house painting and other mundane household things, Sue has even managed to decorate the hall, stairs and landing (30ft up to the ceiling) and the entire ground floor. Don't quite know how.

Many of our friends are returning now from the UK to spend the summer in Yesilkent, so some of the time we've been catching up with them, as well as entertaining our long time friends Margaret and Ted who came over from near Kusadasi.

This week the weather had a complete change around and we had gales, storms, and power cuts.
The gales dislodged the lid from the tank that you may recall was recently re-installed after the collapsing framework fiasco. It turns out that in truly Turkish style, when they could only find one hole to screw it on with the installers left it at that. When David went up there in the gales to try to effect a repair he found they had put it on back to front, which is why the holes didn't line up .... hey,ho!!!

The weather is now back to it's best, and we are once more able to eat breakfast out on the patio, and enjoy the warm sunshine at the same time. The spring flowers are in abundance everywhere, so everywhere looks a real picture.

And with these pics we leave you for this month, except to say that we would appreciate the odd comment, then we know someone out there is actually reading about our adventures here in Turkey.

March 2007

Here we are in March and the "stress free" life is showing signs of wear. On Friday 2nd we had to go to the tax office, yes that's right, the tax office to book our MOT or visa as it is known here in Turkiye. We have to take in our current one and our passport. The information is then checked on the computer to make sure there are no reasons we shouldn't be allowed to continue, such as convictions etc. Then we had to pay up front for the visa, which in Altinkum occurs once a month on the first Monday of the month.

Over the weekend we washed and cleaned the bike and checked all the nuts and bolts, brakes, lights and anything else we could think of. We had heard that the queues were likely to be long, so it was up early and a trip to the bus station, where the MOT centre would be set up. It was a fine sunny morning and there were already 30+ vehicles queuing.

We had to wait around for around one and a half hours before the MOT station was opened, wondering just how long after that it would take. We needn't have worried, within twenty minutes it was our turn. How did we get to the front of the queue so fast you ask? We found out. The "MOT" consisted of checking that the engine and chassis numbers on the documents were the same as those on the documents. Unfortunately one of our documents had the numbers transposed, so although we were given our mot, we will have to take the bike on a two and a half hour journey to Aydin, so that the county police can check the numbers for themselves and correct the error.

Stress meter up!!! OOO

On Tuesday we had arranged to share a minibus with four of our friends with the intention of going to Izmir to look at boats. We are all in the market for a boat, but each of us wants something different. Nigel wants a fishing boat, Lawrence and Mandy want a large sailing boat, and we would like a small sailing dinghy. We get three quarters of the way up the motorway, when the clutch fails.

Stress meter up a bit more!!! OOOOOO

We managed to nurse the vehicle to the next exit, which was also the entrance to Ikea. We waited there nearly two hours for a mechanic to arrive. While one of us waited by the vehicle, the others took the opportunity to take a look round the store. The back of the minibus was duly filled. Then we all got fed up, so we went back into the store for lunch, leaving a note on the windscreen for the mechanic to ring our mobile when he arrived. Fortunately we had finished our lunch before the phone rang. It didn't take him long to fix the problem enough for us to continue, although the clutch was still slipping so we kept our fingers crossed it would take us round Izmir and back home before it failed completely.

Stress meter up a bit more!!! OOOOOOOOO

We made our way to Karşiyaka, where the boat yards are supposed to be. We found two, but then they dried up. We hunted all over but no sign; however, we did find a Carrefour Hypermarket, where we stocked up on croissants, which are not available in Didim.

On the way back to the motorway we got lost, and ended up driving through the heart of Izmir between 5 and 6 in the evening ...... horrendous, driving at it's worst!!

Stress meter up a bit more!!! OOOOOOOOOOOO

We managed to limp back to Altinkum eventually.

On Wednesday we woke to the sound of water cascading down the roof. David went onto the roof in his dressing gown, to turn the supply to the solar panels off ... good job it was early. Later he returned to the roof and climbed onto the tank to see if there was a simple solution. Nope! So we decided to call out the men, as it was still under guarantee. Meanwhile we had to return the minibus and complain about the condition of same as well as it's lack of maintenance. The people there apologised and said they would see what they could do by way of compensation.

Back to Yesilkent. The boys turned up to fix the tank ...... climbed up onto the solar units as David had earlier to check out the problem. Catastrophe!!!!! The framework collapsed, almost catapulting the boy off the roof, the extremely heavy water tanks balanced precariously on the glass solar panels and the lid from the expansion tank jetisoned over the roof, and down into the garden, missing Sue's head, 30 feet below, by a matter of millimetres.

Stress meter critical!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The upshot was, that the apparatus was made as safe as possible while the boys went off to get a new frame made. They were back 2 hours later, with it and a man to weld it into place. Then the disassembled system was reassembled, pipes reconnected, and everything checked >>>> it was OK. They left with a large sum of money, and we were left with the clearing up.

Stress meter at danger!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The following day we went back to the car rental establishment to speak with the manager. He tried to blame it on our driving at which point the steam came out of David's ears and all hell broke loose.

Stress meter blown apart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We eventually had to leave with no recompense, but with us vowing that we would make sure everyone would know how REPTOURS treat their customers. It is not the first time REPTOURS have let customers down, and we've now heard several tales about their poor customer care, and the state of their vehicles. Some people even lost their entire days shopping in Kos, when the REPTOURS guy left it on the quayside. Needless to say there was no compensation.

So not the best week really, but we finished it with a walk along the beach and that is always calming, and with the sun shining, and temperatures up in the mid-twenties in the middle of March, we must put things in perspective .... We love it here!!