Gocek to Kekova Roads and the Connollys visit
Merehbah
Wrighteau Rant nbr 2, and you may be quite justified in thinking we had fallen completeluy off the radar. It has all been go go go and the thought of embarking on my second Wrighteau Rant was a daunting task, compounded by the heat mostly around 35-40 degrees, one day 45, which impaired my concentration and motivation somewhat.
Our next big event after my first rant was to welcome the Di and Trevor Connolly aboard. We opted to give them a first class first impression and they joined us at D Marine in Gocek, arriving from the airport at Dalaman at around 10.30 pm with a Margarita sitting on the bar awaiting their arrival. Joe and I had already consumed a couple before that, so things soon became a bit hazy.
Needless to say, proceedings were slow in the morning, with some provisioning to be undertaken, the Connollys beginning to adjust to the heat after their time in wet and cold Britain. After a beautiful lunch on the seaside, we dropped mooring lines and edged out, even having a chance to raise a sail. It was a very short hop to Tomb Bay where there were plenty of parking spaces, not exactly where we would have preferred, but with our new boat boy Trev on the windlass controls, Di assisting with swimming out with the stern lines there was no mistake. And as it happened in the night the wind suddenly wooshed up to maybe 20 knots crosswind, a big big launch beside us were still up drinking at 3.30am, we noticed, when they were almost upon us, their skipper having to drop their lines and go to the other side of the bay and re anchor. They were clearly dragging their anchor, which when it is a cross wind and one is anchored to the shore, just drags one straight onto the rocks. There was a big strain on our port line, but in the morning it looked as it did when we set the anchor, so a pass for all the crew. We then set about training for the climb up Kilamanjaro that Trev and Di are doing in December I think it is, but our navigating was asking for some improvement, as we tackled a challenging route, up to the Tombs. It is one of the joys of travelling like this to meet folk form far away countries, at the Tombs we met a group of Russians. They showed such excited enthusiasm, as so many do, when they learnt we were from NZ, just as Trev was asking us the question from time to time, “why would Europeans want to come to NZ when they have all this close to home?”, a question we also ask ourselves. When we navigated ourselves on a safer route back down, we allowed ourselves a small refreshment in the little restaurant before pooping around a couple of corners to settle into Wall Bay, we got a prime spot, after the gusts of the previous night we insisted on getting every metre of our 80 metres of 10 ml chain, the precision can be tricky, so we ended up quite a way from land with the anchor-well emptied out, but we slept securely!!!! We dined in the restaurant that night and had a jolly time. The problem with eating out in the remote bays of Turkey is that everything is fairly standard and just simply LARGE. Their mezes, little dishes which precede the meat dish, comprise of such things as a yoghurt creamy dish, sometimes with cucumber in, seaweed which is a bit like spinach, kidney beans, chilli tomato dish, eggplants, just all sorts of tasty dishes. Then comes the main meat of commonly chicken, lamb or beef kebabs, or skewers, grilled most meats, fish, mostly farmed and can be a little tasteless. We aim to share a meal, Joe and myself, but they take a dim view of that. So at Wall Bay we marched up to the cooking shed and chose our main, went back to our seaside table and drank merrily and waited to consume the multitude of calories once more.
On, (well hell, can’t remember what day we are up to, days mingle one into the other without warning over here), next day we set out on our next Killy training day, walked around the track past the Wall (hence Wall Bay) to Ruin Bay where the Lycian Ruins of which were Cleopataras Baths, are waiting for us to discover. We swam around them, took a walk past the hoards of Gullets and day tripping boats lined up along the bay before returning to Wrighteau for lunch and more swimming.
From Wall Bay the next stop was only around the corner. From the well oiled organization of Wall Bay we pulled up the front stall at Regups again at 22 Fathom Bay, and the total chaos it presents, even Regup looks chaotic. It was a nice contrast. The restaurant is kind of on a floating boat, cooking is done at the other end of the bay, and the tables are arranged haphazardly just off the bow of the yachts. Again there are plenty of swimming opportunities, the water her crystal blue and clear like everywhere.
Next stop took us a little further, about 16 miles to Cold Water Bay, a tiny bay in which we booked an anchoring space before we arrived, and Ali came out in his runabout to have us drop the anchor where he said, to make the most of the tiny space. The first inkling that there was going to be trouble was when the neighboring yacht full of Austrians started drinking sangria, with a chorus I can’t put into words, just kind of an ascending “whooooooah”, to go with every glass. One of the girls even swam over to our yacht to give us one for a try. Then the pancake boat arrived and we enjoyed the most delectable pancakes with honey and banana we have ever enjoyed. The old Turkish lady rolled and filled them and then the old husband lovingly turned them on the hot plate. This all adds to the character of these places, in Tomb Bay, though we had a bulging fridge, there were a couple of things we forgot, so we made use of the floating Market, which I discovered seems to have absolutely everything on it. It is always fun when the ice cream boat comes around.
So I guess as we were helped in to the reserved spot, it means eating in their restaurant, so up the hill we traipse but this time Di and I shared a fish dish. We sat beside the Austrians which was a dangerous move, as they had moved on to Raki, and were leading us astray with them. It was somewhat of an entertaining return to Wrighteau, but enough said about that one.
We had arranged with the Austrians to walk up the hill with them at 7am in the morning, more training for Killy, it was quite a climb, but at the top we looked down the slope on the other side to Kayakoy. As recent as 1922 this village called Levissi changed hands from the Greeks to Turks, and the Greeks were all misplaced. Problem was that, being farmers, the Turks didn’t like living on the slopes, so the buildings now lay abandoned.
We returned to Gocek Harbor, a lovely gentle sail, nobody could seem to make a decision this evening on where to stay, we had the choice of swinging on a buoy or going to the pretty bay of Sisala where we pick up a lazy line. Nobody would make a decision so Trev came up with the idea of paper scissors rock game, where on the count of three we blurt out a place, it turned out it was to be Sisala. The small draw back was that it was another night eating out. Sisala is such a pretty little bay surrounded by Cyprus trees, all smelling so cyprussy. The meal was the usual feast, time for a diet, we need to find a little bay and hold up there for a while.
Last day, time for the Connollys to depart and head out to Cappadocia, so we motored in on the glassy water to Fetiye where we tied up at Yacht Classic, a sophisticated establishment, where we don’t pay if we EAT, oh dear more eating, and swim in their pool and facilities. They are friendly staff and remembered us from last year. Di and Trev shouted us to lunch before boarding their taxi to the bus station.
One of our days here we walked into Fetiye, we had some business to do, and after failing to do that successfully we took ourselves to the fish market, which is always a fun event. We chose our fish in the market and took ourselves and our fish to what used to be Jimmy's, but now it appears to be his brother's, and he cooked up the fish for us.
The weather forecast I was reading, Wind Guru, indicated that we had 4 or 5 days of wind around 30 knots, which on the face of it, 30 knots seems perfectly manageable in NZ, but over here when they talk of these levels of wind, it could mean anything, with choppy seas, and if it turns out to be on the nose untenable. And at the end of the day we are here on holiday, not chasing challenges. We think we have got off lightly with the winds so far, as the Meltimi winds in the Aegean seem to have been as bad as they have ever been, on listening to people who have been out in the Aegean, so we took this warning fairly seriously, so we stayed put for a day or two, just to find out that Wind Guru had it completely wrong, the wind came to nothing.
So we cast off and headed down to a bay near Olu Deniz, and then on to Kas. Kas has a harbor that seemed to be pretty chaotic with too many chances of crossing anchors with the big Gullets, so we settled in to the shiny new Kas Marina around the corner. Last year it was 35% full, it certainly looked very empty for our visit. We got a 2 for one night deal, so our 4 nights only cost us 60 euros, so that was pretty good value, with a pool, supermarket and all the necessary things.
Kas is a lovely little town, it is more frequented by Turkish tourists, we learnt that beautiful little Kalkan where we visited 10 years ago is now 80% British inhabited, we went on our day jeep tour through Kalkan and it has grown like Topsy, and not in a very pretty way.
We were going to leave Kas after visiting the Market on Friday but we didn’t get off the dolus, (mini bus), and decided to fossick a little more around Kas. Quite by accident I decided to do a paragliding trip off the mountain. It was amazing, and I don't know if it was because I convinced myself out of nerves, or if it was just that easy, but I blindly ran down the hill and off the mountain, and suddenly I was flying, with wind rushing through my hair, all round views with nothing to hinder, no windows or fuselage, just me and Silan. I had a great pilot, he soared us up with every updraft, we were way the highest of all the 5 gliders we were. Phew, I am hooked now. Yes you will have to come back for a try Di. Silan used to work on the big one at Olu Deniz which we saw when there, and as a passenger taker, he and his comrade also up in the air with us, prefer Kas, as they can go up and down, the big one is too high, so it is pretty much just a glide down. I must admit I loved whooshing up and down, and coming down over a lovely town. Joe was waiting for me on the ground, I think he was more nervous about my jump than I was, he had to have a beer to get control of his nerves.
After that and a big walk, we ended up at Nur Hotel where we had a most beautiful meal one evening, where they replace the dining tables with lounge chairs and towels, we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, with a gorgeous salad to help us along. What a wonderful day. We needed to find the right Dolmus to return us to the Marina, they seem to stop anywhere for passengers, I flagged one down after she had left the bus stop, she can't quite have heard me correctly, she said she was not going that way, so we proceeded to the bus stop, and suddenly we noticed she had backed up the 50 metres to tell us she was going our way. And in the butcher shop while we selected our cuts, we were given a cup of tea. This happens a lot. The Turkish people are so hospitable and just go that extra distance for us.
We were now in the swing of sightseeing, so we booked ourselves onto the Jeep with Latebreak Tours. They collected us from the Marina, and off we went. First stop Xanthos. This had the most amazing history, the Xanthos people had a most successful city which was invaded by the Romans. Instead of becoming the property of the Romans, the Xanthos men tied up and locked up the women and children in the acropolis and killed them and jumped off the arena to their death. But some of the Zanthos folk who were out on ships or out of the city eventually came back to reclaim the city, and then 40 years BC Brutas came and the same fate presented itself to these poor people, and again woman and children locked inside, and the men jumped to their death. It was nice walking around the city, we could see a damaged but in tact acropolis, the two monuments were replicas, the originals being in the British Museum, we walked down the main street that was once lined by shops, and a very large church at the end. Just beyond that we compared ancient with modern, looking down on the hundreds of acres of greenhouses, this is a very big growing area for tomatoes, peppers and more, for exporting to Russia, Europe and Ukraine, and all over.
We then visited the Saklikent Gorge, where we first of all had lunch, we found our own little Turkish summer house sitting over the little river. Grilled chicken kebabs were sumptuous, and Joe really enjoyed his trout, this was all included in the price, which for the full day was only $40. We then embarked on the treacherous clamber up the gorge, it was huge and magnificent. Along the way people were basking themselves in mud baths, I declined that one. At the top the finale was a waterfall with fantastic force.
Last stop a beach stop, a 6 mile sandy beach called Patara. Patara was the capital of the Lycian area and the first Parliament building in the world was here. The ruins of the city still exist, and the parliament building was taken down block by block, and it is being re erected piece by piece in a perfect replica, and future European meetings are going to be held here.
Back to the beach, they go nuts over a beach over here, it costs 5 euro each person to enter the beach, and another 5 euro if you want a chair, and they all line up like soldiers, it is crazy stuff. We had a small swim in the water which seemed to us to have rips going north south east and west, then sat and watched the multitudes of extraordinary people buzz about like bees.
So That was Kas for us, now we are down at Kekova Roads. We are amazed at the lack of boats around, it makes it very easy to get around, and not have to be ahead of time to get a parking space for the night.
So now we finally get to the end, I apologise for the length of it, it seems to have cooled down slightly so I will endeavor to get the next rant out before so much time elapses and you won’t be subject to such a marathon.
So this is Wrighteau signing off, Gorojurus
ps, we thought we were warm swimming in 33 degrees, but down here at Kekova the water temperature is over 35. It sometimes feels like a bath, but fortunately we momentarily go through a chilly spots to keep a balance and some refreshment
Wrighteau Rant nbr 2, and you may be quite justified in thinking we had fallen completeluy off the radar. It has all been go go go and the thought of embarking on my second Wrighteau Rant was a daunting task, compounded by the heat mostly around 35-40 degrees, one day 45, which impaired my concentration and motivation somewhat.
Our next big event after my first rant was to welcome the Di and Trevor Connolly aboard. We opted to give them a first class first impression and they joined us at D Marine in Gocek, arriving from the airport at Dalaman at around 10.30 pm with a Margarita sitting on the bar awaiting their arrival. Joe and I had already consumed a couple before that, so things soon became a bit hazy.
Needless to say, proceedings were slow in the morning, with some provisioning to be undertaken, the Connollys beginning to adjust to the heat after their time in wet and cold Britain. After a beautiful lunch on the seaside, we dropped mooring lines and edged out, even having a chance to raise a sail. It was a very short hop to Tomb Bay where there were plenty of parking spaces, not exactly where we would have preferred, but with our new boat boy Trev on the windlass controls, Di assisting with swimming out with the stern lines there was no mistake. And as it happened in the night the wind suddenly wooshed up to maybe 20 knots crosswind, a big big launch beside us were still up drinking at 3.30am, we noticed, when they were almost upon us, their skipper having to drop their lines and go to the other side of the bay and re anchor. They were clearly dragging their anchor, which when it is a cross wind and one is anchored to the shore, just drags one straight onto the rocks. There was a big strain on our port line, but in the morning it looked as it did when we set the anchor, so a pass for all the crew. We then set about training for the climb up Kilamanjaro that Trev and Di are doing in December I think it is, but our navigating was asking for some improvement, as we tackled a challenging route, up to the Tombs. It is one of the joys of travelling like this to meet folk form far away countries, at the Tombs we met a group of Russians. They showed such excited enthusiasm, as so many do, when they learnt we were from NZ, just as Trev was asking us the question from time to time, “why would Europeans want to come to NZ when they have all this close to home?”, a question we also ask ourselves. When we navigated ourselves on a safer route back down, we allowed ourselves a small refreshment in the little restaurant before pooping around a couple of corners to settle into Wall Bay, we got a prime spot, after the gusts of the previous night we insisted on getting every metre of our 80 metres of 10 ml chain, the precision can be tricky, so we ended up quite a way from land with the anchor-well emptied out, but we slept securely!!!! We dined in the restaurant that night and had a jolly time. The problem with eating out in the remote bays of Turkey is that everything is fairly standard and just simply LARGE. Their mezes, little dishes which precede the meat dish, comprise of such things as a yoghurt creamy dish, sometimes with cucumber in, seaweed which is a bit like spinach, kidney beans, chilli tomato dish, eggplants, just all sorts of tasty dishes. Then comes the main meat of commonly chicken, lamb or beef kebabs, or skewers, grilled most meats, fish, mostly farmed and can be a little tasteless. We aim to share a meal, Joe and myself, but they take a dim view of that. So at Wall Bay we marched up to the cooking shed and chose our main, went back to our seaside table and drank merrily and waited to consume the multitude of calories once more.
On, (well hell, can’t remember what day we are up to, days mingle one into the other without warning over here), next day we set out on our next Killy training day, walked around the track past the Wall (hence Wall Bay) to Ruin Bay where the Lycian Ruins of which were Cleopataras Baths, are waiting for us to discover. We swam around them, took a walk past the hoards of Gullets and day tripping boats lined up along the bay before returning to Wrighteau for lunch and more swimming.
From Wall Bay the next stop was only around the corner. From the well oiled organization of Wall Bay we pulled up the front stall at Regups again at 22 Fathom Bay, and the total chaos it presents, even Regup looks chaotic. It was a nice contrast. The restaurant is kind of on a floating boat, cooking is done at the other end of the bay, and the tables are arranged haphazardly just off the bow of the yachts. Again there are plenty of swimming opportunities, the water her crystal blue and clear like everywhere.
Next stop took us a little further, about 16 miles to Cold Water Bay, a tiny bay in which we booked an anchoring space before we arrived, and Ali came out in his runabout to have us drop the anchor where he said, to make the most of the tiny space. The first inkling that there was going to be trouble was when the neighboring yacht full of Austrians started drinking sangria, with a chorus I can’t put into words, just kind of an ascending “whooooooah”, to go with every glass. One of the girls even swam over to our yacht to give us one for a try. Then the pancake boat arrived and we enjoyed the most delectable pancakes with honey and banana we have ever enjoyed. The old Turkish lady rolled and filled them and then the old husband lovingly turned them on the hot plate. This all adds to the character of these places, in Tomb Bay, though we had a bulging fridge, there were a couple of things we forgot, so we made use of the floating Market, which I discovered seems to have absolutely everything on it. It is always fun when the ice cream boat comes around.
So I guess as we were helped in to the reserved spot, it means eating in their restaurant, so up the hill we traipse but this time Di and I shared a fish dish. We sat beside the Austrians which was a dangerous move, as they had moved on to Raki, and were leading us astray with them. It was somewhat of an entertaining return to Wrighteau, but enough said about that one.
We had arranged with the Austrians to walk up the hill with them at 7am in the morning, more training for Killy, it was quite a climb, but at the top we looked down the slope on the other side to Kayakoy. As recent as 1922 this village called Levissi changed hands from the Greeks to Turks, and the Greeks were all misplaced. Problem was that, being farmers, the Turks didn’t like living on the slopes, so the buildings now lay abandoned.
We returned to Gocek Harbor, a lovely gentle sail, nobody could seem to make a decision this evening on where to stay, we had the choice of swinging on a buoy or going to the pretty bay of Sisala where we pick up a lazy line. Nobody would make a decision so Trev came up with the idea of paper scissors rock game, where on the count of three we blurt out a place, it turned out it was to be Sisala. The small draw back was that it was another night eating out. Sisala is such a pretty little bay surrounded by Cyprus trees, all smelling so cyprussy. The meal was the usual feast, time for a diet, we need to find a little bay and hold up there for a while.
Last day, time for the Connollys to depart and head out to Cappadocia, so we motored in on the glassy water to Fetiye where we tied up at Yacht Classic, a sophisticated establishment, where we don’t pay if we EAT, oh dear more eating, and swim in their pool and facilities. They are friendly staff and remembered us from last year. Di and Trev shouted us to lunch before boarding their taxi to the bus station.
One of our days here we walked into Fetiye, we had some business to do, and after failing to do that successfully we took ourselves to the fish market, which is always a fun event. We chose our fish in the market and took ourselves and our fish to what used to be Jimmy's, but now it appears to be his brother's, and he cooked up the fish for us.
The weather forecast I was reading, Wind Guru, indicated that we had 4 or 5 days of wind around 30 knots, which on the face of it, 30 knots seems perfectly manageable in NZ, but over here when they talk of these levels of wind, it could mean anything, with choppy seas, and if it turns out to be on the nose untenable. And at the end of the day we are here on holiday, not chasing challenges. We think we have got off lightly with the winds so far, as the Meltimi winds in the Aegean seem to have been as bad as they have ever been, on listening to people who have been out in the Aegean, so we took this warning fairly seriously, so we stayed put for a day or two, just to find out that Wind Guru had it completely wrong, the wind came to nothing.
So we cast off and headed down to a bay near Olu Deniz, and then on to Kas. Kas has a harbor that seemed to be pretty chaotic with too many chances of crossing anchors with the big Gullets, so we settled in to the shiny new Kas Marina around the corner. Last year it was 35% full, it certainly looked very empty for our visit. We got a 2 for one night deal, so our 4 nights only cost us 60 euros, so that was pretty good value, with a pool, supermarket and all the necessary things.
Kas is a lovely little town, it is more frequented by Turkish tourists, we learnt that beautiful little Kalkan where we visited 10 years ago is now 80% British inhabited, we went on our day jeep tour through Kalkan and it has grown like Topsy, and not in a very pretty way.
We were going to leave Kas after visiting the Market on Friday but we didn’t get off the dolus, (mini bus), and decided to fossick a little more around Kas. Quite by accident I decided to do a paragliding trip off the mountain. It was amazing, and I don't know if it was because I convinced myself out of nerves, or if it was just that easy, but I blindly ran down the hill and off the mountain, and suddenly I was flying, with wind rushing through my hair, all round views with nothing to hinder, no windows or fuselage, just me and Silan. I had a great pilot, he soared us up with every updraft, we were way the highest of all the 5 gliders we were. Phew, I am hooked now. Yes you will have to come back for a try Di. Silan used to work on the big one at Olu Deniz which we saw when there, and as a passenger taker, he and his comrade also up in the air with us, prefer Kas, as they can go up and down, the big one is too high, so it is pretty much just a glide down. I must admit I loved whooshing up and down, and coming down over a lovely town. Joe was waiting for me on the ground, I think he was more nervous about my jump than I was, he had to have a beer to get control of his nerves.
After that and a big walk, we ended up at Nur Hotel where we had a most beautiful meal one evening, where they replace the dining tables with lounge chairs and towels, we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, with a gorgeous salad to help us along. What a wonderful day. We needed to find the right Dolmus to return us to the Marina, they seem to stop anywhere for passengers, I flagged one down after she had left the bus stop, she can't quite have heard me correctly, she said she was not going that way, so we proceeded to the bus stop, and suddenly we noticed she had backed up the 50 metres to tell us she was going our way. And in the butcher shop while we selected our cuts, we were given a cup of tea. This happens a lot. The Turkish people are so hospitable and just go that extra distance for us.
We were now in the swing of sightseeing, so we booked ourselves onto the Jeep with Latebreak Tours. They collected us from the Marina, and off we went. First stop Xanthos. This had the most amazing history, the Xanthos people had a most successful city which was invaded by the Romans. Instead of becoming the property of the Romans, the Xanthos men tied up and locked up the women and children in the acropolis and killed them and jumped off the arena to their death. But some of the Zanthos folk who were out on ships or out of the city eventually came back to reclaim the city, and then 40 years BC Brutas came and the same fate presented itself to these poor people, and again woman and children locked inside, and the men jumped to their death. It was nice walking around the city, we could see a damaged but in tact acropolis, the two monuments were replicas, the originals being in the British Museum, we walked down the main street that was once lined by shops, and a very large church at the end. Just beyond that we compared ancient with modern, looking down on the hundreds of acres of greenhouses, this is a very big growing area for tomatoes, peppers and more, for exporting to Russia, Europe and Ukraine, and all over.
We then visited the Saklikent Gorge, where we first of all had lunch, we found our own little Turkish summer house sitting over the little river. Grilled chicken kebabs were sumptuous, and Joe really enjoyed his trout, this was all included in the price, which for the full day was only $40. We then embarked on the treacherous clamber up the gorge, it was huge and magnificent. Along the way people were basking themselves in mud baths, I declined that one. At the top the finale was a waterfall with fantastic force.
Last stop a beach stop, a 6 mile sandy beach called Patara. Patara was the capital of the Lycian area and the first Parliament building in the world was here. The ruins of the city still exist, and the parliament building was taken down block by block, and it is being re erected piece by piece in a perfect replica, and future European meetings are going to be held here.
Back to the beach, they go nuts over a beach over here, it costs 5 euro each person to enter the beach, and another 5 euro if you want a chair, and they all line up like soldiers, it is crazy stuff. We had a small swim in the water which seemed to us to have rips going north south east and west, then sat and watched the multitudes of extraordinary people buzz about like bees.
So That was Kas for us, now we are down at Kekova Roads. We are amazed at the lack of boats around, it makes it very easy to get around, and not have to be ahead of time to get a parking space for the night.
So now we finally get to the end, I apologise for the length of it, it seems to have cooled down slightly so I will endeavor to get the next rant out before so much time elapses and you won’t be subject to such a marathon.
So this is Wrighteau signing off, Gorojurus
ps, we thought we were warm swimming in 33 degrees, but down here at Kekova the water temperature is over 35. It sometimes feels like a bath, but fortunately we momentarily go through a chilly spots to keep a balance and some refreshment