Chris – Page 6 – C J AIREY

Day 4 – Choughin’ ‘Seals

We took advantage of the marginally cooler weather & I for one slept much better. We also had a lie-in & an inevitable subsequently slow start.

I ovened-up some Cumberland sausages, and made a butty for breakfast, while we tried to decide what to do & where to go. One thing that’s proving tricky is finding somewhere to eat. It’s not that there aren’t any, it’s that they’re all booked up for this evening!

Jane took Toby for an ablutory (made-up word) walk, whilst I had a quick shower. As Jane arrived back, she was on the phone to Betty, for Jane an almost lifelong friend, who’s family & hospitality are the reason we know this area so well.

For those not aware, Jane’s mum & dad, along with their neighbours Kath & Colin (who’s son is also my best mate) began holidaying each year at Betty & her husband David’s farmhouse B&B, in the very early 1970s. They all swiftly became more than guests & that friendship continues to this day, despite both Ian & Jane’s parents no longer being with us.

We’ve arranged to go & meet up with them at the farm tomorrow afternoon, and go out for some tea somewhere. It’s been way too long since we last saw them, so we’re really looking forward to catching up.

Back to today, though…

By 2pm, we’d moved no further that the patio (it’s not raining yet), and still undecided where to head. On that basis, we decided we’d do one of the walks that Jane fancied over at Marloes. Romeo was told of our plans, which included not coming home for tea, so his choice was:

A) come with us and get a bought tea
B) stay at home and cook his own tea

He came with us. And boy, I bet he regretted that, later on in the day!

We packed a bit of “day-van stuff”, (lightweight waterproofs, cameras, chargers, Tobys raw meat tea in the fridge, that sort of stuff), and set off the 15 minutes down the wiggly-windies to the National Trust car park at Marloes, briefly confused ourselves as to whether we were at the right car park (we were), paid the ticket & then set off.

It was a 5 mile cliff top walk around the wonderfully Silurian/Ordovician geologic coastline of this particular section of coast. Even Skokholm & the larger Skomer nearby islands throw in some red sandstone that gives a section of the walk a purple rock tinge.

We set off in a clockwise direction, from the carpark, crossing some fields before the overlook to Marloes Beach. An awkwardly accessed beach means it’s not for the lazy, making it a great place, if you can make it down (and back up!).

Hang a right and follow the cliff tops. And then realise that there’s no chance of it raining, and in fact, it’s still hot & sunny, and. It’s not a day to be wearing a black tee shirt (or even worse joggers, a tee & a Moncler jacket, as per Romeo).

Wow! More Chris Packham, than Chris Airey, and my Michaela nailed it with her spotting skills!

Tally was:

Loads of dogs on leads
Cattle & their associated pats
At least 4 Choughs
Loads of black back gulls
Raptor feathers
Loads of European Common Blue butterflies (poor sods will be on the next flight out)
A cormorant or two
Two ravens
15+ seals, of which 2 deffo kids, one young adult.

We’ve never seen so many seals! It was amazing! Some on rocks sunbathing, some asleep on the shoreline. We even heard a little one that was inside a big cave, calling to it’s parents! Fantastic to watch, especially when I’d remembered to take the Zeiss binoculars!

A baby that we thought was dead, did move! (Photo taken through binoculars hence the ropey refraction).

A lesser-spotted Moncler Romeo (a very rare sighting)

Then my knee caved in. Mainly because we were heading home and it was uphill. So we cut the walk short, missing the northern coastline, and trudged up the hill back to the car. Still, it’s miles under my knees, so that’s good.

Plan was to try the Lobster Pot (a local pub), where we’d had good food in the past until we saw their “Apologies. We are not serving food tonight” sign. So we headed back to Little Haven hoping to snag an outdoor table at the St Brides Inn.

We parked up at our cottage and walked down, only to find it was packed inside & out, so we had one last chance. “Let’s try the Castle”. Turning the corner, it looked hopeful. Spaces outside at least. Until we saw the “We no longer serve food on Mondays” sign! Aaaargh!

We turned around and started walking back, but I suggested we had a drink at the St Brides, and say waiting or see if a table came free, on the basis that if not after finishing the drinks, we went back to the cottage & made a cheese & ham toastie.

Thankfully a table became free, we ordered and got served super quickly. (Chicken curry & rice for me).

Turns out there are as couple of missed opportunities in Little Haven. The cafe is closed down & empty, and the pub on the harbour side, the Swan Inn has stopped serving food. I nipped in to suss it out. Not sure that decision is going well for them, as I was the only one there!

Once we were done we wandered back up the road, all of us shattered, and just crashed out. This fresh air and hilly walking is exhausting!

And that’s why I’m publishing this at 8:53am the following day!

Have a good one!

Chris!

Day 3 – Twisted Firestarter

Blimey, what a day (on our scale anyway)!

Reasonable start for Jane & I, both being breakfasted (bacon butties with a fried egg topping) & for me, also ‘caffeined up’. Sat out on the patio again, maybe for the last time in the sun, if the forecast is correct.

Whilst it was early’ish, we decided to do a little loop walk around the nearby section of the Coastal Walk. Up the Strawberry Hill a bit more, and then a right turn onto a section that leads to the path.

It’s a superb section of coastline, with near vertical cliffs, overlooking what looks like a tropical lagoon on a day like today. My only issue with the walk was the state of my knees. They’re knackered (as in Grade 4 osteoarthritis knackered). The uppy-downy bits are painfully hard work. Still, those views were worth it.

At the high point, and where it meets the road & a tiny carpark, we just sat awhile on a perfectly-positioned bench that overlooks the bay. We could see as far as St David’s, and I suspect on a less hazy day, you could probably see Wexford in the Republic of Ireland!

Getting back, we then decided to give my knees a break. No we didn’t, we decided to wander down into the village & back, this mission to be sussing out the ‘Lobster & Môr’, shop.

Wow! What a lovely specialist fishmongers (live lobster & crab only), with a superb selection of local artisan produce. Albeit only around 12:45, they had already sold out, although there was some joking about the fact they hadn’t been aware that there was an RNLI charity fête going on, less that 100 yards away! It also turned out that there’s another reason – no-one is catching crab, they’re in very low supply, possibly due to the unexpectedly warm seawaters.

Didn’t stop us spending a few bob on a couple of mini- truckles of cheese, oh, and a couple of bottles and cans of local ale. Well, what did you expect! But we will be back!

We’re planning on eating in tonight, nothing fancy, just some superbly huge American Hotdogs, but have realised we don’t have onions, and as everyone would agree, that is a showstopper.

Ten minutes over the headland there’s the nearest mini-market, the Londis in Broadhaven 1. So off I set in the camper for an onion. Oh, and get Romeo a frozen pizza in case he bales out of an evening meal. Oh, and get some more bread. And crackers for that cheese we bought…

Broadhaven was busy, as it should be, and the Londis was even busier, with the cold drinks & icecream sections being ransacked. It took ages to get round and pay up, like about 90 minutes of busy 😉

During that ‘missing 90 minutes’ I headed off on a research mission, and wandered over to the Victoria Inn Brewhouse.

On the wiggly-windy, single track journey from headland to headland, it became obvious very quickly that there were some serious fires burning, the worst of which were over past Nolton and some back over my shoulder, more inland.

Arriving at the Brewery/pub, I ordered a pint of session (4%) “New England style” fruity IPA, and a couple of bottles to try later, once the car keys had been hung up.

Whilst sat outside, I watched the smoke billowing on the nearby cliff tops, getting visibly worse. I also watched this beautiful wolf-husky cross watch the world go by.

My route back took me via Nolton, where the road was blocked where it turns north due to the fires, and I went south. Some moments the sky had an orange tinge to it, not from fire, but from refracted sunlight through the smoke. My previous experience of that was on Mammoth Mountain, USA, where the Yosemite wildfires gave the town and Armageddon feel.

Another narrow, winding road journey back to our lovely cottage, and then it was time to get our American Hotdog game on. Onion chopped, frying pan on, pot of water heating.

There’s rain forecast for tomorrow, so we’ve brought all the cushions inside & instead of sitting out in the heat, we’re sitting inside in the heat, watching MoTD2 and an orange moon (I suspect this is again due to refraction through the wildfire smoke!

Anyhow, that was todays round-up!

Night, night folks!

Chris

Day 2 – ‘L’ for Leather

Not the best nights kip, as it was hot & stuffy, so a very leisurely lie-in (watching YouTube etc), whilst Jane dozed on the ‘electric couch’, having abandoned me at around 4am, as I’m apparently “hot”. I’ll take that.

Romeo is still fast asleep, and I suspect we won’t be seeing much of him today.

Jane, Toby & I sat out on the patio, where I had a breakfast consisting of Charlie’s abandoned gammon between bread from last-night. Even straight from the fridge it was tasty! Glad we’ve booked to go back to the Castle tonight, although I will bear their portion sizes in mind this time.

Whilst I sat in the sun and plumbed a few walks into the Outdoor Active app, (which is a brilliant free walking/cycling planner, imho), Jane took Toby for a short stroll down to the harbour.

The tide was out, so Toby had a paddle, and we pondered whether you can walk along the beach, around the headland to “Broadhaven 1” beach. Will perhaps find out later in the week. (“Broadhaven 2” is actually Broad Haven Siuth beach, near Bosheston).

No plans for today, after a long journey for us all, but particularly so for the ever-stressed Toby. He’s a bloody nightmare in cars & vans, bless him. He’s exhausted, so that plus the “in-cred-ible” (read that with an excitable Catalan accent) temperatures that we are all experiencing again (28C/82.4F by midday), and much higher after our dinner.

In the sun admittedly, but it’s 46C in the garden.

When Jane got back, we had brunch (I boiled 2 eggs for a phenomenally long time, due to not hearing my alert), and decided we’d repeat Jane’s reconnaissance and head back to the beach, where 4G-permitting, I’d also listen to the match (City v Bournemouth), and maybe even nip for a pint.

My wishes came true, and I spent a few hours with the most amazing person I’ve ever met, and Toby. We just wandered along the beach, throwing the ball occasionally, whilst Toby ran around wearing his damp-jacket to keep him cool.

I tried to sunbathe then rockpool, but it was too hot and I don’t like doing those things anyway. I tried to feel comfortable on a beach with sand, which is the devils dust &needs unilaterally banning. I even tried to paddle in the sea, where as I walked in, some mollusc-type thing ejaculated what I hope was only sand, up my right shin. After which we headed ashore.

The sun was really shining on me, and totally unrelated, I even managed to pick up a match commentary, before heading back to towards the Castle for sustenance.

(City 1 – Bournemouth 0, 19mins)

A pint of the impressively mundane Birra Moretti, a coke with ice & lemon, a tub of local chocolate ice cream & a mint Magnum, and a table with a sunshade for Toby. Spot on!

A good chat with my dearest, then a chat with Jane, and before we knew it, other than being interrupted to fist-pump the air at 31’ & 37’, it was time for a half-time pint.

(City 3 – Bournemouth 0, 45mins)

Once supped, it was back up Strawberry Hill, to wash Toby down & shower before tea. Table for 4 (3+dog) booked for 6pm so a 5:45 set-off was communicated to all internal stakeholders.

Far be it for me to judge, but from the smell, it seemed that one of the houses upwind are doing some weeding, so I went inside and had a lie down before freshening up.

Last night, I’d surreptitiously timed the (now known) 7:30s walk to the pub, so I knew that the targeted set-off time was 6:45 to add contingency. At 6:45, the shower was still occupied. As such Jane headed off to the pub with Toby, and I waited for Romeo to exit.

After a frisson of tension, I agreed to join asap after my shower, but that they would head to the pub as an advance party. (That last lot of tripe read like a legal statement. Apologies – I will improve my tripe).

Despite my insistence that I didn’t need to order a main based on last nights portions, it was suggested I should. So I did, Chicken Caesar Salad. And then ate Janes remaining mussels, and Charlie’s leftover gammon, onion rings and large chips. Shambles on my part – should have stuck to my guns and saved £14, a load more washing up, and more importantly, wasted food.

Meal over, it was straight up the hill, to another evening of relaxing & enjoying the good weather. And Match Of The Day. The lead game was very entertaining…

Have a great evening folks!

Chris

Day 1 – A Lovestruck Romeo (in Pembrokeshire)

Our son is in love it turns out. A dangerous yet intoxicating drug. One that understandably means a(nother) week away with just his elderly parents & a needy dog, in the countryside, on rural Wifi has all the draw of a Wednesday night in February, playing Stoke away.

It’s a long drive, made longer by the heat. But what a joy it was to see parts of the journey sunlit beyond anything we’ve seen over the last 35-plus years (for Jane much longer) that I’ve been making this journey down to Pembrokeshire, the bestest part of South-West Wales, and one of my favourite parts of the UK.

Setting off (some reluctantly) at around 10:30am, our route is one that is “sat-nav unconventional”, but is one that has been honed by our forebears since the early 1970s. It’s a balance between fastest arrival & most interesting for driver & passengers! Basically, it’s A & B roads all the way from Queensferry.

Mold, Ruthin, and Corwen, where we stopped at the Rhug Estate (think it’s on telly tonight as one of the poshest farm shops), where we had Bison Burgers for lunch (& I bought a couple of bottles of local ale).

Bison Burger – strong flavour and dense meat

Next it’s Bala, Dolgellau, then Machynlleth, on through Aberystwyth (I once knew a girl who wore an Aber’ Blazer, in the Merry month of May, but that’s for another day), Cardigan and then down past our friends in Puncheston, to Haverfordwest* before heading out to the coast at Little Haven.

[*where Jane spent much time in Withybush Hospital one summer in the 80s, after badly dislocating her elbow in a riding accident.]

We’re staying a few hundred yards up Strawberry Hill, from the centre/beach in a newly renovated 2-bed bungalow. It’s lovely! Sprawling gardens, tucked away, out of view, and really well fitted out. Particularly taken with the electronic reclining sofa & chairs with integrated USB chargers!

We only arrived about 40 minutes before our table in the dog-friendly Castle pub was booked, so a quick unload of van & bowel, a change of tee shirt, a splash of cover-up deodorant, and we strolled down the hill to the pub, just about on time.

The Castle is really nice. Friendly staff, great service, nice timing of food (even when rammed full of folk), and the portions are mahoosive! Fish & Chips with proper mushy peas (the ones with pea-wet on top) for me. Jane had a pan-fried salmon with crayfish tails & salad, and Charlie seemed to have ordered a garlic bread loaf, and then more gammon than there is in the House of Lords.

Sated, Charlie beat a hasty path back to the cottage to ‘charge his phone’, whilst Jane & I sat on the beach with Toby & watched the sun set, before scaling Strawberry Hill & crashing out on the electric sofas!

That said, I couldn’t resist trying a bottle of the beer I bought at Rhug, a 5.2% Snowdon Craft ‘Summit’ ale.

Goosed after the drive, so an early one for me.

Night folks, so should I say “nos da”!

Day 15 – It’s Coming Home…

Final day! Home by early hours of Monday, if all goes to plan, so this is an adieu for now post!

Well, we actually got up a bit earlier today! At least Jane & I did. With the “chauffeur” picking us up at 6:30pm, we decided to make a bit of the day, and get one last pool & sunbathing session in.

It really has been a superb holiday, in a great location. We are sold, hook line & sinker on this part of Turkiye & Jane & Gareth’s generosity in letting us use their apartment, has smashed it out of the park. The location & layout has been ideal.

It was aitch-ow-tee, HOT today! Weather app was suggesting 35C, but we saw a few posts on Oludeniz Facebook groups showing pictures of thermometers in the sun showing 45C. It certainly felt the hottest it’s been, although it’s never been below 32C anyway. Certainly will help cope with the forecast temperatures for Manchester on Monday & Tuesday! Thankfully, I’m on holiday Monday, so we can chill & enjoy being home & being reunited with Toby.

After enjoying the pool for a final time, we’d decided to take a stroll back to the Turtle Restaurant for a late lunch, as we weren’t sure when or what would be our next meal.

A couple of Bomonti Unfiltered beers helped with dehydration risks and lubricated the throat, whilst the double cheeseburger & chips (they do make fabulous chips over here, btw!), was demolished.

As some know, I’m an avid Manchester City fan & seasoncard holder. I couldn’t help but notice that the guy serving us had a passing resemblance to one of our players.

It seemed less odd than you may imagine, to see title-winning Ilkay Gündogan cleaning windows in a bar in Ovaçik. I reckon he’s an all round good lad, and would help out like that.

A hot walk back to the apartment and then the clean down & packing began in earnest. Our ‘luxury transport’ arrived bang on time, and we set off on the hour long transfer to Dalaman Airport.

As we were driving in to the terminal, I spotted that there was a military jet on the taxiway, looking like he was about to take off. As we stopped at the departure terminal, there were 3, maybe 4 huge roars as these fast jets took off as if it was a ‘scramble’!

Dalaman is a decent, modern & clean airport with good facilities (take heed Manchester!) and so after a relatively painless bag drop-off, we were straight through security and into the departure lounge. Which had a McDonalds. Which meant an order was placed.

The flight left after a short delay & we headed the 4h10m north west to Manchester.

Where the pre-booked security fast passes didn’t work, so by the time they gave up & just let us through, we were no better off. That was followed by a 30 minute wait for the baggage, but once collected, we headed out, grabbed a black cab & headed home. Which is where I write this from, at 2:31am!

So, the end of another great holiday & therefore my blogs, which I’m sure will delight some!

Hope you’ve enjoyed them in whatever weird way you do. Anyway, it may be that you’ve not long to wait for more, as we go away again in 12 working days (for me at least)! Off to Pembrokeshire for a week, one of my favourite parts of the UK & a place with many, many wonderful memories stretching back decades.

I can’t promise a blog, and even if there is one, it may not be daily, but we’ll see!

Ta-ra for now!

Chris x

Day 14 – Short Lengths

Warning: no idea how, but I have no photos to distract from the inherent boredom of these blogs. Which means I’ve included a video which may get banned. It’s definitely “NSFW”. Reader discretion advised…

The usual start! I was awake from around 7:30am, but couldn’t be arsed getting up, instead double checking pickup times for tomorrows transfer to Dalaman Airport (6:30pm), and researching soap box racer chassis plans, as you do.

Totally Stockport & Kraft Races are organising a “Soapbox Derby”, with the aim of raising money for charities. This is right up my street! Design, build and race a kart down from St Peter’s Square, down to Mersey Square, past the Plaza, 180-right and down to the old Air Raid Shelters. Simple! Haybales & obstacles, but “prizes for showmanship, innovation and best dressed” mean it’s not just fastest first (- it really does though!)

Given we have pretty much the whole of tomorrow, this shouldn’t feel like ‘the last day”, but it’s hard not to get dragged back into reality, as I’ve said before. Must try harder!

Anyway, bread, cheese & coffee on the balcony as per, with the inevitable consequence of that instant coffee following shortly after…

Early on, I explained the toilet situation here, whereby there is a water jet installed within the rim of the toilet, with a tap nearby to allow you to bidet your nether regions clean of even the hardiest of winnets. It’s amazing and I have no idea why it’s not more prevalent. Except when the water supply & pressure drop off intermittently, that is.

The usually refreshing act of jetwashing one’s ‘rusty sherrifs badge’ becomes borderline sadomasochistic, as the pleasure brought, is often switched, when without warning the water jet stops, there’s a huge release of air in the pipes and you are then peppered by an air/water blast right up your ricker!

Whilst I’m discussing my undercarriage, there’s one last thing on my agenda before we go…I can’t not take advantage of a secluded & (almost) not-overlooked private pool, so I intend to go skinny dipping! I promise no photos (- we don’t have a telephoto lens with us, anyway).

Skinny-dipping mission accomplished! After a couple of lengths and a few strokes, I was done, as usual. [Note to self: Review last sentence before publishing] Thats one more point added or taken away on those daft Facebook posts – just need to get arrested & go on a cruise, and I’ll be near perfect!

Some washing of clothing, towels etc ensued around 4pm, with the intention of showering before going out. Sadly, the water-gods had other ideas, so I avoided the sandblasting bidet, and Jane managed a ‘trickle shower’. Definitely noticed a difference since the Beyrami started & influx of people. I think demand is outstripping water supply at peak times.

Having previously booked a table at Shiraz for 7pm, we left the apartment in reasonable time to walk down & settle in. I’ve had it in my head all holiday, that I’m going to challenge myself with the “Megasarous [sic] T-Bone Steak, served with fried mushrooms, onions, egg & handcut chips”. Had to be done!

Prior however, was a very nice starter of a local dish, Borek. It’s a filo pastry roll, with minced beef, onions and cheese (I’ll email Greggs now). Don’t get hung up with the beef/cheese combo, on the basis that if this were a round of Masterchef, it will described thus:

“Yeah, hi Greg. No, it’s not a kilo of chocolate cake, it’s a modernist take on a deconstructed cheeseburger with a doth of our olive headwear to the ancient Ottoman Empire, yet still appealing to your shepherding roots”.

Mains! Mahhoosive T-Bone, which I’ve never had before. The fillet was incredibly relaxed & juicy, and the strip (the bigger side of the ‘T’) was a totally different texture. I’d ordered medium rare as always, but I can’t help thinking that if order again or cook that, I’d actually head to medium as the strip could have broken down more.

Jane had the seabream which looked stunning served and even better as Jane started eating it – not over or under done.

Charlie ordered what he had last time. And with good reason! The Steak Pegasus was superb! The beef was like butter, and marinaded presumably for ages, in a quite spicy mix.

It’s a warm one tonight, as after a really nice farewell to the folks serving, we headed back up the slope to the market to grab a few final bits, but good grief, I perspired! I know at present, I’m not at LEJOG levels, but there were moments where it felt like someone had displaced Angel Falls to between my shoulder blades. It’s a good job I was once a Glass Blowers apprentice & know how to mop sweat from crevices.

We’re home. We’ve had and are still having a fabulous time. But I’m done typing for today, as I’ve now replaced heat sweats with meat sweats, so the ‘bidet of doom’ calls.

Ask about back-farts btw, if you ever meet me. It’s something I think I’ve invented, but happy to be corrected. I’ve a video [which due to aforementioned technical issues, I’ve had to resort to posting]. It’s a hidden talent I never know I had, when you mix me with a cool tiled floor. But that’s for another blog (the “Only Fans” one).

Forgive me Oni Wan, for I have sinned.

Jane is distraught that I just uploaded that, but as a kid trapped in a badly worn (and worn out) adult body, it needed presenting. In my head, it did. Maybe not yours.

See ya!

Chris x

Day 13 – Dirty Stopouts

Oof, a late one tonight!

Before I begin, I should have shown you this boat that was in Fethiye harbour last night. No idea if it’s posh or not, but they certainly know how to push kerb/mooring appeal or it’s watery equivalent! I also liked the resourcefulness of a) the bait fisherman using the light to guide his rod, and b) the cats that casually sat around him, looking for his cast-offs.

An early-ish stroll down to the shop and again, a lovely, friendly welcome from the chap that runs it – a very cheery “good morning”, followed by a wholesome handshake & a quick chat about the holiday.

Bread and more horrible Haribos for Jane. Vicious!

Another day practicing for our return to the UK Heatwave, having now had 13 days consecutively of 31C plus heat, although it’s somewhat conflicting for me today.

Sitting here on a sunbed, slapped up in Factor 30, and dipping in the pool before getting back to sunbathing. And as I type that, my mum is being picked up by my sister to get taken to St Helens Hospital for a skin cancer operation & resulting skin graft. Her op is 2pm UK time so hoping to get updates later today.

Various discussions were had about where to venture for tea, given tomorrow (our last night) is booked at Shiraz, a short walk from the apartment, and we’d been to Fethiye the previous evening. Hisaronu seemed the easy, logical choice, but there’s a village we’d yet to visit, Kayaköy.

Jane, having now joined every possible Facebook group relating to this area, had seen a few really good reviews of a restaurant down there, called Rokka.

Automatically fulfilling my ‘organiser’ duties, I went on their Facebook page, clicked the WhatsApp link, and messaged them asking for a copy of the menu, and their availability this evening.

Within minutes, I was sent the full menu & pricing, along with confirmation that they had space. We had a look through the menu (extensive, varied, decent enough pricing, nice views), and agreed it was worth a punt.

Messaging them back to confirm a booking, we were asked our hotel. I sent them a WhatsApp ‘location’ link with an address, stating it was an apartment. They messaged back saying they could also pick us up at 6:30 if we liked. Which we did.

A WhatsApp call at 6:30 from the restaurant was a bit garbled but basically the driver couldn’t identify where we were. This call was interrupted by another call, showing a similar name (including the restaurant name), so I answered that. A subtle midlands accent , female said thought she was nearby but a chap was helping her find us.

Bless, turned out our neighbour, Mr Retail, was in the car trying to work out the WhatsApp link. They were a street down from where we were, and it clicked when she asked about a goat, dog & peacock. “That’s the one”, I replied.

Moments later, we thanked our neighbour for his help, and jumped in. Had a good chat with her on the drive, but missed getting her name, doh!

Her & her other half used to run one of the beaches on the Blue Lagoon, but when their lease ran out, they decided to try something else & took on the restaurant. Frustratingly for them that was December 2019. Refurb sorted, we went into lockdown. Devastating.

Anyway, we arrived in this beautiful little ‘village’ of Kayaköy and turned into the restaurant carpark to an amazing view (my photo does it no justice).

Above the village is a ghost town, an abandoned hillside full of houses, all now part of a museum, because of the history. The village dates back over a thousand years, but it’s relatively modern history is the more relevant.

Although I don’t remember the “good old days” before the ghost town, I do know that it’s ancient Greek in origin, so is also known as ‘Livissi’, the religious leanings shifted to Christianity, or rather ‘Greek Orthodox’ and their Turkish, Ottoman governors got on for many hundreds of years.

Then it kicked off a bit! The Turks massacred the Greek Orthodox Christian’s during World War 1, including a chunk of the Kayaköy locals, and almost all of the rest fled or were kicked out. A Greco-Turkish war in 1919-1922, didn’t help! Basically the outcome was that Turks got booted out of Greece & Greeks got booted out of Turkiye.

It was about his time that the Turkish field marshal, and revolutionary Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was quoted as saying that “this town, is coming like a ghost town”, after which it was redeveloped as a sort of poor-man’s Busch’s Gardens. So I’m told by those ITK.

Anyway, back to present times.

We were greeted by (presumably) the lady’s incredibly charismatic partner., who asked us to relax, take a look around or just sit and enjoy the view.

We chose to sit & chill for a while before going to our table, and watched a horse have a dust bath, revelled in the bush next to us because we were sure it had fruiting pomegranate on it, and debated as to whether Riyad Mahrez is a valued player or a show-pony.

A beer (shocker!) was served and after a while, to our table we went. The menu is pretty big, but eventually we made our decisions, and albeit Mr Charisma declined Janes order of Hummus, and suggested instead on the Mezze Platter, food was served and all of it was lovely.

Main course, I went with a traditional Shepherds (no, not pie) clay-fired, sort of lamb stew. It was bloody tasty, if a touch too physically hot for me for about half an hour!

Then the cats arrived. A white one with a hole in its back end, and not the one it’s supposed to have., was quickly followed by a massive chunky Ginger, and a couple more. Cheeky buggers!

A couple more beers, with Charlie seemingly now looking to prove his maturity, my matching me bottle for bottle. Oh, dear. Never going to end well. The upside to this was he said more in the next hour that he had done all holiday. A bit of ‘beervado’ kicking in.

After the food, we paid up & the owners sorted us with a ‘cab’, one of their vehicles, who took us to Hisaronu.

Duly tipped, we left and walked into the pedestrianised zone & headed for Fez Bar. No wonder it’s a favourite for a few of my friends that have been before us. A chat with most of the staff/team & Serdal, the owner, some birthday cake (a lad around the corner, who was celebrating his 16th birthday & Serdal sorted out a surprise cake for him), and a beer, although we called time on Charlie’s libations. He’s still yet to realise that when you stop drinking, you still get an increase in effects as the alcohol slowly enters the bloodstream. He’ll learn as we all did/do.

We bid Fez Bar farewell for the last time, and headed back up the strip. Jane managed to get a selection of ’Evil Eyes’, and I got her to get me one for the brewshed.

A short taksi ride later, and we were home – for well beyond 12am! Dirty stop outs!

Final full day tomorrow, before a Sunday of chilling, then Airport etc.

So it’s a goodnight from him…and a goodnight from me!

Chris x

Ps. Mums op went well & plastic surgeon is happy, so we’re happy…

Day 12 – as Tock follows Tick

The longer we are here, the more we unwind. I thought we were done, but this morning I realised there been a couple more ‘ticks off the spring’. I’m like an old watch that’s not been wound up, where the second hand pulses, and then very occasionally moves a little bit forward, and at the same time the mainspring unwinds just that fraction more. As tock follews tick…time unwinds, just that little bit more.

All that said, it’s getting to that point in the hols, where the odd thought is about the return to reality. Will the flight be on time? Will Manchester Airport do it’s worst or best? Could we possibly pick Toby up before going to bed? (Answer – No!). Has my beer exploded? Has my brewshed exploded? Will Toby ever forgive me? To the nearest 100, how many work emails will I simply delete?

Pushing those thoughts to the back, as best as, we pressed on with the job in hand – doing nothing.

A wise man said to me once “It’s the most relaxing or energetic holiday, loads to explore or everything you need on your own doorstep or within the garden walls”. He’s not wrong!

Jane & I are returning to Fethiye today, as apparently there’s a yarn/wool shop, and Turkish wool is really good quality at a great price. I may offer to ‘mind the bags’ in the place opposite, the Büyükev craft ale place (https://buyukevpubkitchen.business.site/) from the other day! And Charlie? Who knows!

As regular readers can anticipate, it didn’t quite work out like that. But that’s not to say it wasn’t positive. That 4/4:30 became 5/5:30, and Charlie did indeed deign to accompany us.

Taksi into Fethiye, with my muttered directions to our host being “McDonalds, teşekkür”. Despite Charlie & Jane’s faces lighting up, that direction meant we were 50ft across and 4 storeys away from the Cafe Park Teras. Another great shout from the “best private holiday rep”we’ve ever had!

Top floor views over the harbour incited a cold beer order (Bamontis Filtresiz). A few marginal, grunted conversations with Charlie, mainly around Man City transfers &/or possible formations & tactics for next season, and then we headed to yarntown.

Absolutely confess that my relaxation levels were now on hold, but only because it was assumed my role was to be satnav. I will say however, it is a forte of mine. Knowing roughly where it was in relation to other now-known landmarks, I was like a walking version of Waze. Wool shop found!

To find they didn’t have the ‘cakes’ that Jane was after (space?). Oh, well, there goes my chance to sample the Gara Guzu Porter.

Next stop was the cafe we stopped in the other day, Genis. It’s a really nice stop-off, right on the harbour side & right next to the ‘moped/electric scooter’ path (coutures blue).

Jane & Charlie ordered a sharing plate of ‘meats’. I wasn’t ordering a starter but did indicate I’d sweep up remnants. Blimey! Going to be honest, at £12, it was a stretch. I recognised the meats, as I’d been buying them in the local shop for our butties. Aye, we’ll. I ate the walnuts and raisins that they were dressed in.

The mad thing is that the next courses were fab & also really good value. Jane & I on the Seafood tagliatelle & Charlie on a Margarita pizza (that he then picked the tomato off! WTFlip!)

I’d recommend going for an evening meal if you don’t order the meat platter, as beyond that, it was great & we did leave a decent tip.

A mooch along the harbour and then through old town, and we were about done. Which paled into insignificance when judged against tonight’s traffic. “Huge Queues”.

So we walked out towards the edge of town, and hopped a cab that was in clear traffic and headed home.

Back. Commando with airflow shorts on. Wind beneath my…wings?

Cloud-laden sky and folk on social media laughing at how people wasted money on going abroad in a UK heatwave…chancers. Ill have an evening dip in the pool, whilst the aircon chills my linen 😉

Nighty night!

Chris x

Day 11 – Nothing to see, move along…unless you like a Mullet

Routine seems firmly set now, with ambitious targets being set and consistently not achieved. (I’ll continue to blog, but feel free to call it a day, if you fancy).

Todays only ambitious target was to get a cab to Hisaronu at 4:30, mooch & a meal. We headed out around an hour after target.

Prior to that however, I wandered to Ovaçik Market to get bread. It had just arrived & the bread cabinet was not only full, it was full of a freshly baked & still warm assortment of bread! So much so, it had steamed up. I plumped for our reliable ‘fat baguette’, but threw in a tear & share type daisy-shaped thing.

Back to the apartment & I couldn’t resist the bread. The tear & share was fab – light, airy, poppy seeded bakery heaven.

Jane joined & tucked in as well, having a breakfast that also consisted of her weird semolina-esque yoghurt.

Usual format from there. Down to the pool. I’ve yet to mention but even the walk to the pool is relaxing. Out the door, turn “Sa”, hello to Felix, through the olive trees, another “Sa”, past the grapes and down the steps. “Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed.”

Hanging grapes.
The first I’ve seen since I started using the bidet, coincidentally.

Jane reads, I listened to a podcast, which then led me to watching a YouTube vid of Stewart Lee talking about Top Gear, and specifically Hamster Hammond. Well worth a gander…

So, a cold beer was had, swims were had, waboba was thrown. The usual. No sign of Charlie however. Definitely missing having a mate with him or being home – a ‘single child’ challenge.

Having missed the only target we set for today, but us all having had a shower, a shave and a sit down, we walked down to the Taksi rank & headed back to the Fez Bar in Hisaronu. I know I’ve said this in many of these, but once again, the welcome & the familiarity was superb. I have much ‘trip-advisoring’ to do when home, all of which is very positive. You’re made to feel special when you go to any of the places we’ve been lucky enough to go to.

Examples of the above:

We arrived, we’re warmly greeted & served quickly & with a relaxing good humour.

Jane & Charlie both asked about linking to my personal hotspot as the “Mr Dongle wasn’t working”. I whatsapped Ozzy asking for a data top-up, he responded almost instantly, and then within minutes the data plan had been topped up at no additional cost. Mega service!

Big Dongle service! Sub-5-minutes & topped up

Then, whilst at the table, we realised we’d forgotten to book in to Shiraz for our final meal, whilst at Sandinos last night. I WhatsApped Suat, asked for a reservation and again within minutes, we had confirmation& a very friendly reply.

After a few beers (Frederiks IPA), and a pink gin for Jane, we headed back to The Hidden Gem (of Lamb Shank fame). Yet another personal welcome from the owner & the guys that served us last week, and a nice table at the front of the balcony overlooking the street.

Jane & Charlie tucked in to a tapas smorgasbord (mixed cultures, but let’s not fall out over that) of hummus, chicken wings, chicken skewers, squid, bruschetta, along with balloon bread, whereas I couldn’t resist ordering the grilled lamb chops. Oh. My. Word. They were (and this is a high standard) almost as good as those at Lilac Cottage Tapas & Wine Bar in Prestbury.

Mullets. A lad walked in with his family, and brought on by Charlie mentioning his mate has a ‘mullet cut’ in a positive manner, he had what I would recognise as a mullet. Horrified, Charlie confirmed that todays definition is different from that of the Barry Venison & Pat Sharp ilk & explained that his mates mullet did not involve hair you could have pig-tailed.

The plan was to head back to Fez Bar, but I confess I did get lured into the shops. £40 lighter, and 4 (decent quality) tee shirts ‘better off’, some of which have a brand on them I’ve even heard of.

My 15 minute commercial dalliance over, the penance was duly & swiftly served. “Want to go home” was grunted. Charlie concurred. (Joke!) So Taksi home rather than a social interaction with other like-minded holidayers.

Today was won in straight sets and without any deuces. So I’m going to sit here on the balcony, drink a couple more cans of Efes ‘Run Like A Tap’ Malt Ale (4.8%ABV) before retiring unless the wild pigs return.

Oh! The wild pigs!

They just returned
They were here last night

I forgot to mention earlier! Here’s (blurred) photo proof that the little oinkers do exist, taken last night around midnight:

‘Fraid I don’t have a night-vision setting

Night folks!

Chris x

Day 10 – Empty Tanks

Another slow start today, despite being awake at 6:30am. I think that the pattern has been set & I’m now assuming that nothing is happening here until beyond midday, for the remainder of our hols.

We just keep looking at each other and smiling, as we are constantly being reminded as to what a great holiday we’re having!

I know everyone has had a stressful few years with the pandemic & I’m no different. Certainly hasn’t been helped by working in a business that is dependent upon global hospitality, that’s for sure! So it’s been the first time in a very long while that I’ve relaxed as much as I have this last week or so. It’s a hugely restorative couple of weeks.

We have literally done nothing today, by the way! So this could be the shortest most mundane blog yet!

Up, sit around. Coffee, bread & jam. Bit of a read (struggling with the LEJOG book still – it’s a good book, but an emotional read for me).

A nibble through a few of our snack supplies, including “Turkish Leys”, baharatli (spicy) flavour crisps. Apparently the mixed spices usually contain black pepper, coriander, paprika, cardamom, nutmeg, cumin, cloves, and cinnamon. To be honest, they just taste of lightweight/mild paprika. Still, enough to munch on!

Jane is deliberately buying snacks & sweets that she 100% knows I don’t/won’t like, so I’m having to keep sneaking in Lays Original (plain crisps). The little bugger.

Even the choice of haribos was strategic

Down to the pool with the Mr Dongle, a cold beer (Efes Malt in can, and yep, I now know about ‘Efes Tummy’, so that bidet contraption is earning its corn), some Cornettos for the bar freezer, & a downloaded BBC podcast about one of Man City’s new signings, Erling Haaland.

A quick dip, followed by a long-pig basting in factor 30, and a snooze. Charlie surfaced just after I’d started the podcast, so around 4:15pm. He’s getting worse!

Cornettos downed, and another quick dip to cool down. Feels hotter today, and that’s even with a slightly stiffer breeze.

Eventually, Jane & I succumbed and retired back to the balcony. Charlie lasted a bit longer, having a bit of a swim before coming back. I have to confess, I was so warm, I just lay on my back on the apartment floor, as the tiles were really cool. Charlie said it looked ridiculous. Which it did.

Having been the first of the pack to hit the showers (& I made sure mine was cold), it meant I ended up sitting on the balcony, waiting for the others, with another Efes Malt, and watching one of the male peacocks strut it’s stuff on the remains of the now-demolished Poseidon Hotel/soon-to-be new apartments.

With once again, almost zero dynamism between us, we plumped for a walk back the the Indian/Thai reataurant, Sandinos as the food we had the other day was magnificent!

This time, Charlie, after learning a valuable lesson last night about ‘being present/in the moment’, managed not to step square-on in dogturd (despite being told seconds earlier to watch out). Still not 100% sure why it was me that ended up jet-washing it off with a hosepipe once we got back to Felix The Goats “crib”, though.

By the time we’d walked down, it was heading towards 8pm – a “dirty stop-outs” evening at this rate! Anyway, we got there! Eventually.

Different choices for some this eve. I had the very nice onion bhaji to start followed by the Thai Ginger Chicken. Which I know is switching styles mid meal, but Jane went a step further – thai green fish curry with garlic naan! She switched it up mid-course! Apparently also very nice!

Hard to tell on Charlie’s choices (hot chicken wings, then the same as he had last time, sorry can’t remember). But basically, he spent as much time on his phone as he did eating. Suspect he’s missing his mates, tbh.

Starting to think this might be the last “all three abroad”. Which is sort of sad, and then I remember that means we can go away whenever we want and don’t have to stick to term times! Or pay for a third adult!

Jane I’m sure will be “don’t say that!”. Which I get & sort of agree with, but when it’s time, it’s time – he’ll only be a couple of months off being 18 this time next year.

A meander back, and weirdly, having done nothing, we’re all tired. I think the more we’ve relaxed, and boy have we relaxed, the more our spent-reserves are showing – I think we’ve been running on fumes.

Time to fill up those tanks again!

Night folks!

Chris x