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.
Toby looking thick.
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.
Queue wasn’t as bad as this looks, tbh
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!
Charlie not impressed.
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!
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.
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).
Ghost Town
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…
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).
Like Alan’s. Like what I should have…
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 😉
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.”
Olives on the trees.Hanging grapes. The first I’ve seen since I started using the bidet, coincidentally.
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.
Cheers!
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.
Lamb chops, in ma’ belly
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.
Pat Sharp or Joey Exotic. You choose.
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 settingOink, oink!
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.
Peacock on a bathroom (ex-bathroom)
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.
Summary of the sketch is that a cloud is forecast over a tourist destination, where the rest of the country is “Scorchio”. It brings the tourist economy to a halt. A single cloud. We have two. Apocalypse incoming…
A leisurely coffee & cheese butty for breakfast, whilst contemplating that once again we have no plan. Which is fine.
I do suspect however that after Charlie’s chunder exertions from yesterday, he will be keen on doing bugger-all today.
However, taking into account Kurban Bayramı, and the traffic as reported in yesterdays Fethiye Times, particularly the paragraph about disappointment in Fethiye, as it seemed everyone headed to Olu & Hisarönü, and the fact it’s Market tomorrow, I suggested a mid-avo jaunt into Fethiye.
5km queues into Oludeniz. Ouch.
As we’ve not been, and we have loads of recommended bars & restaurants, it would be a shame to go later in our last week, only to find its worth a few trips.
Jane went down to the pool, but due to all of my snorkelling yesterday, and lack of sunblock discipline, my lower back is, to quote Caroline Ahern, “scorchio, scorchio”. Do watch that clip if you get a chance – it’s a classic! I decided to chill on the balcony instead.
Around 3:30pm we headed down, via feeding the goat in a very Gary Neville way, to the Taksi rank & jumped a Joe to Fethiye centre.
Feed the Goat & he will score. Thanks, Gary Neville…
Dropped off at ‘Umbrella Street’ we had a mooch around Old Town first. Seemed quiet and a lot more relaxed than down at Oludeniz, which I presume is in part due to everyone heading for the beaches during Beyrami.
Not quite Tommy Ducks…
After Umbrella Street we ended up on the harbour front. A lovely, yet very hot stroll around meant it didn’t take long to dehydrate, so a pit stop was required. We stopped at Genis, which, having read the menu would be a decent stop-off for food as well.
Water, water everywhere…And plenty to drink…
Sated, we had another wander around and took a walk through the fish market, past the Reis fish restaurant. The dishes being served looked proper tasty! Another trip required here, methinks! Even Charlie said is smelled really nice. We did give a mention to my little Sis, who with one (albeit very large*) nostril of that aroma, would have made Charlie’s upchuck efforts on the boat yesterday, look Vanerama North League level.
* [Edit: since my sister has now read this, I am reliably informed that the preferred term is “generous”]
Fresh as daisies, just not as alive.
We then headed to Büyükev Bar & Kitchen, where I’d had a tip-off I’d get some decent craft beer & a steak noodle dish that was tidy.
Craft Beer was indeed available, and I can confirm that the Gara Guzu brewery do a fine saison Mayhos(h) – perfect in this heat!
Decent local ale, this being a Saison
We screwed up immediately when ordering food however. We ordered two “beer plates” as starters. Both were sharing plates and each would easily feed 3-4 people. Chips were sacrificed at the expense of giving the mains a decent go.
Now seemingly a complimentary amuse bouch, tonight’s feline offering was a mum, with kittens, plus a bashed-up cat with an ear with erectile dysfunction.
Ear Viagra required
Starters finished and the mains were served. Portion sizes seem to be somewhat “American”, meaning one feeds two, two feeds a hungry three.
All the food was once again really well cooked & very tasty. My steak noodles were as per recommendation, and Jane & Charlie’s Chicken & Beef quesadillas were also really nice. Particularly the chicken according to Mum Cat…cheeky sod!
Cheeky mother feline…
Once done we called for “Hesap, Lütfen”, although I couldn’t resist buying a Gara Guzu glass. Not that I expect it to make it home, as my beer glassware track record is poor at best.
Anyway, hot, full & tired, we returned home early, but we will go back to Fethiye, I’m sure. Tbh, I rate it higher than Oludeniz, mainly because it’s not as touristy & busy though. Each to their own though.
Washing machine on, a cold beer, telescope out and some stargazing and even a little astrophotography on the house telescope, before an early night.
Obvious blue tinge to the moon…
The plan for tomorrow is to plan the planning for tomorrow.
And to the sound of calling peacocks and a Beyrami celebration Spotify playlist in the distance, I bid you adieu for another evening!
Although I was awake, Jane’s alarm went off at 8am. Think there was an element of doubt about the boat trip, purely because of having to be up at that time. Bless.
I headed downstairs, made a coffee, and had some bread with jam – rumour has it that at least jam tastes sweet on the way back up!
My confession being I get seasick in the bath. Thing is, I also know from experience that I’m fine when a boat is under power in most circumstances. It’s just when it stops & bobs around. Maybe a touch of apprehension on my part, but I’d rather risk that than miss out on what sounds like a superb trip out.
Charlie was not enthusiastic at all when I knocked on and gave him a 30 minute warning before “doors to departure”.
Just after 9am, we left the house expecting to head down the hill so that we were in position to meet Captain Tommy Ozturki, who was picking us up. Except he was waiting for us at the apartment! The VIP treatment! We jumped on the minibus, and Tommy led the way on his moped. After a few stops, the minibus was full and we headed to the boat.
Pirate boats (foam, loud music, packed)
The boat holds 40, but there’s only around 20 or so of us onboard. Really nice boat, and a nice amount on – not like some of the “party boats” we’ve seen, packed to the rafters, foam parties and music you can hear from miles away. Not our scene. I’d add “anymore” to that except I’m not sure it ever has been our scene, tbh.
We set off from a choppy beach, out into the bay. I sat central, but at the back, facing forward and without a backrest so I could ‘gimbal’ myself.
Charlie on the other hand, sat for about 5 minutes before his first trip to the ‘heads’ to blow chunks.
As he was down there so long, Captain Tommy asked if he was ok. I explained it seems he’s sick.
Solution from Captain Tommy:
“How old is he? 16/17. Ah. Hangover, seasick or both? Ok, so I pour him a lager shandy – chug it down in one. Burp up or throw up the gas. He will be fine”. Then Serves him two half pints of shandy to chug. Charlie made one.
Too late we found that for Charlie the better solution was to stand up at the back of the boat and focus on horizon. By the end, Charlie reckoned it would be a perfect job for him ?♂️
Between those two points wasn’t fun for Charlie, making a number of lengthy trips to the heads. For Jane & I however, it was brilliant! Multiple stops at little coves, beaches & inlets. Plenty of time to snorkel.
Plenty of time to get Efes foisted on you by Mehmet, Tommys brother.
After one stop, Tommy passed the helm to Mehmet. As the boat whizzed along, a few things got underway. The smell of chip fat from the galley (on a rocking boat). Tommy sat on the rear platform casually BBQ’ing a tonne of onion, chicken & fish for lunch.
Captain Tommy BBQ’ing off the back of the boat
The food was superb! Really well cooked chicken for Jane & I (Charlie abstained), with salad, potatoes from Tommy’s mums, home-made coleslaw, and a tonne of spicy tomato spaghetti. Brilliant!
And incredible value. Hence a decent tip at the end. £20/person for a really good day out, fabulous lunch & transport from your accommodation. Drinks & snacks on top, all at perfectly fair prices. Top bloke, top trip!
It seems that the Eid celebrations & festivities have brought the posh folk out. In many of the places we stopped, we were surrounded by fancy Yachts. Really fancy. “Barstards” says Tommy, clogging up his routes.
More stops, more snorkelling, then a choppy head back to Oludeniz for the excitement – getting off the boat! I should have taken a photo or better a video, but it was so fraught with tension & jeopardy. That boom, up, down 4 or 5 foot out of the water, when down and on the beach, you’ve a 20 second wave-window to get to ‘Omaha’ before the next surf partially submerged the boom & anyone on it, before swinging up another 5 ft in the air!
Once on to Omaha Beach, the to climb the 40deg slope of shingle bare foot (we had a tip-off & beach shoes on), whilst each foot down sinks in 4-6 inches, like a pebble version of quicksand. Exhilarating on our scale of holidaying!
Olu was bonkers busy, with big queues at both the Taxsi & Dolmus ranks, due to the festivities. We walked out of Oludeniz up the hill a bit and jumped a cab to save the queue and the crawl out.
The traffic queue heading into Oludeniz was huge & more or less at a standstill. It went back all the way up the hill to just before Hisarönü. That’s a way. [edit: since found out it was 5km of standing traffic!]
Back in Ovaçik & dropped off at our local mini market, we nipped in to get Charlie something to eat. “I’m starving”…
Now the challenge became getting anyone in the mindset of going out for tea. Charlie bailed, still feeling gippy, so Jane & I made use of the 33% extra bill.
We walked past Turtle from Friday night and went to the quite upmarket ‘Karizma’, although ‘Cat-Rizma’ may be more appropriate at the mo – 4 “cute little kittens” playing in the olive tree next to our table for two, which meant it became a table for 6.
Had a readily good meal, albeit we shared a starter, had a main each, & couldn’t finish either. Fine dining it is, refined portions, it’s not! Relatively, it’s towards the top end price wise, but that’s all relative – £40 all in with drinks & fabulous service.
The walk home was a bit of a tough one – left knee is playing up again, so a bit ‘grindy’. Anyway I’m home.
I’m writing this bit as I wake up. It’s 7:30am, and the room is heating up already. The aircon may get a blast shortly.
All is quiet, all is still. All through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Outside however, the hoarse Cockrell is clearly pissed off with the peacock, because his piping up has woken the deep-voiced dog. I’m not arsed though, whilst now I’m awake I can hear it, it’s not disturbing anyones sleep, and it’s not even the tiniest bit irritating.
This place has basically zoned me out – I’ve tried CBD oil to help me sleep (didn’t do a thing, it’s a total waste of money, imho), but this holiday is making me feel how I hoped the CBD would have made me feel – I have a zen-like calm.
The only issue with the above is that it’s having the same effect on two of the most laid back people I know. And it’s definitely had the same effect! They are now so laid back there stood up again! There’s not a chance I’ll see Jane awake until at least 10am, and as for Charlie…
Yesterday, as I mentioned before, he only surfaced at about 3:30pm yesterday. We got back after tea at about 10pm, maybe a touch earlier. He went straight to his room & balcony, but I know he was ‘lights out’ at 11pm. Up less than 8 hours in the day! WTFlip!
GPS accuracy puts me right at the pool bar…
On the basis that we need to leave the house tomorrow at 9am and will be out for likely over 12 hours, sailing, swimming, snorkelling, island-hopping, beach-combing, turtle-spotting, tea etc, the chances of me getting these folks to leave the locale today are now slim to none!
Oh! Should have put in yesterdays post, we met our neighbour Mustafa yesterday just as he was setting off to work (Taxsi driver), so I dropped him that bottle of Red I’d bought at duty free, and as best as I could explained it was nice to meet him and that the gift was to apologise for any disturbance we cause (we won’t). He was very lovely and wished us a happy holiday, and if we need any help, to just ask.
That was as we left yesterday. On arriving back, there was a large bag of fruit tied to our door handle. Which bearing in mind is surprisingly hard to get in the supermarkets, was a lovely gesture. What a nice chap!
One thing we are aware of that may affect plans so we are taking into account, is that there is an extended public holiday here as many celebrate Kurban Bayramı, or in Arabic, Eid el-Adha, the most important religious festival of the year. This year it starts today, running through to the 12th July, but there are additional public holidays tagged on, so we’ll assume the rest of our time here. It’s likely to be very busy as I’m advised by Google that many wealthier Turks travel here to celebrate, and why wouldn’t you!
So to my Muslim friends & colleagues, I bid you Eid Adha Mubarak!
Anyway, let’s see how today pans out!
[Time passes ?]
It’s now 11pm and the day is more or less done.
Jane & I went down to the pool at 12.30, just after I’d found out that John Gwynne, the incredibly charismatic Darts & Football commentator, (whom I’ve had the pleasure of being in the company of as he compared the Turkey Supper evenings), had decided he’d shown who’s the boss and after 18 months of bossing, he moved on from his battle with cancer. Rest in peace John, the sports world is poorer without you.
Charlie at least made it to the pool today, albeit at 3:10pm!
By 5:30 we realised we’d enjoyed & relaxed another day away. So the plans (what plans?) evolved into a walk down to a local bar for tea.
We arrived at the ‘K Bar & Gastrolounge’ to another warm welcome. Genuinely can’t think of a more welcoming area/country that I’ve been to!
Beers & food ordered, (steak & chips, pizza for Jane), we settled back and watched the ‘roadies’ set up a stage for live music. Beer came. Then cats came. One floofy one, one sleek & all ‘black panther’. Both with seemingly feline intuition that food was close to arriving.
And it did! Crafty & manipulative as cats are, it took them about 5 seconds to figure out that Charlie was the weak link. And another 5s to suss out you could kill me with cat or rabbit hair.
Defying a certain, slowly-asphyxiated death, I continued my meal despite the constant meowing every time I raised a fork of steak to my mouth. Blimey, were they cocksure little pussies! Most annoyingly, they weren’t actually annoying, and it was quite a laugh. (For those that know me, my allergic reaction means I’m not a cat fan, so this is a big statement).
“Your steak, or your throat. Your choice”
Food eaten, and the true cat emerged. “No food? No friend. I’m off”.
Live music started up to a Dire Straits “Sultans of Swing” intro as he was tuning up. This chap has cajones to set the bar that high (irrespective of whether you like DS or not, that’s some guitar to try to emulate).
Turns out he’s:
a) a neighbour,
b) bloody good at the singing malarkey,
c) even better at the guitar stuff
d) plays Oasis…(amongst other things)
“Top, sorted ar kid, Emre”!
He took a break after lots of decent tunes, so we took that as our opportunity to head home. After all, we have to pack for our Moby Dick adventure tomorrow. At 9am. Charlie will be a zombie until minimum midday, I reckon unless I push him overboard.
Oh! And I see clouds. First this hols. They lasted minutes.
Boy, this will be a short one today! We’ve done loads. But it’s load of one thing. And that thing was doing nothing but chill out…
My turn to hunt and gather today, so it was a walk down to the local shop before anyone else was up, for me.
As I was at the bread cabinet, I noticed what looked like pancakes, one of which had spinach in it. Not quite brave enough for the green flecks, I took one of the plain ones. At least I though it was plain!
On return, and when Jane surfaced I fished out the massive pancake which we split between us. Turned out it had feta & mint in it, and wasn’t even really a pancake – less eggy and a touch on the bready side. It was really nice, really filling & really cheap!
After a while of sitting on the balcony & staring out over the really nice views of the mountains, and doing a bit of birdwatching (some sort of jay, plenty of cheeky collared doves, and a good few housemartin type birdies), we heard the prayer call, which we now observe, by turning it into a pool call.
We packed the pool bag and went and sunbathed. Until I got bored and turned to the GoPro, setting on slow-mo.
Top Bombing!
One bit of “top-bombing” later, and having checked that Jane survived the tsunami, I began a bit of video editing – “Fatbombing” coming to a Facebook post soon!
More sunbathing before another break. This time behind the pool bar, but only to test my beery knowledge with a found card game. It was a beer identification card game called ‘All the beer, No idea’ – 80 Beers from around the world. 32 identified without clue, 25 should have got, but no one to read clues. 20 not heard of. 3 beers MIA.
25 beers I should have got right.
Jane retired to the balcony & I had another swim before packing up & heading upstairs.
At one point, the plan had been to go into Fethiye, but on the basis Charlie only surfaced at some time after 3pm, and hadn’t eaten, that got scrubbed for today.
Instead we decided to visit one of the more local bar/restaurants & keep the whole day low key (& lower cost, after Charlie’s fashion shopping yesterday!).
We walked the 15 minutes up to the Turtle Bar on the old road, to suss out their menu first, with the intent of walking a bit further if need be to Karizma Restaurant. Didn’t need to. Menu & prices were really good.
Prawns in a creamy garlic sauce for my starter, followed by a chicken shish served with rice, salad & a few nice chippies! And the obligatory cold beer, of course. Tonight it was a bottle of the Bomonti Filtresiz 5% unfiltered pale lager.
Charlie made a friend, although she dropped him like a stone as soon as he stopped feeding her a couple of little pieces of chicken.
On the way home, we called in for supplies at the local Carrefour Mini, and we stocked up on a few things, including beer. Charlie enjoyed being pack mule, once I’d loaded his rucksack. His reward being a bottle of the Frederik Yakima IPA. Suspect as I’m typing this, he’s on his balcony, in a beanbag, reading & supping his cold beer. He’s had worse holidays!
