Waiting in Fethiye ... Aug 2008

01 - 18 Aug 2008
CLICK ON EITHER PHOTO TO ENLARGE ***Lycian Rock Tombs set in the cliff just behind downtown Fethiye***The culprit watermaker part - lighter is to give some idea of size!!!!***

The good news is that the watermaker part has finally arrived. This little piece of plastic with shipping from Swtizerland (quite close to Turkey!) has cost $295NZD and we will treasure it dearly, lets just hope that when skipper finishes fitting it, we will have freshly made water again and no more big big drips. Latest moral to the story is if you want parts sent to Turkey, well frankly, just try and do without them, or get someone to bring them, or fly somewhere and get them yourself!!! If you really really have to; and you are in Fethiye DONT use DHL, they don't have an office here (besides the marina staff telling us to use them), use UPS or FedEx. So now we have our part but there is a tri nations rugby game on tomorrow between New Zealand and South Africa so we best stay to support the All Blacks, whats another day!!!!

We have actually taken some time out from just waiting and done some more sightseeing. The Lycian Rock Tombs in the photo are just on the cliff face behind the harbour area and are quite impressive for a little excursion. Then a couple of days ago we caught a dolmus (minivan) and went to Kayakoy. In past history this present day "ghost town" of around 2000 stone houses was settled by Ottoman-Greeks who were relocated to Greece after the Turkish War of Independence. This was around 1920 when all the Greek Orthodox Ottomans were moved to Greece and the Muslim Ottomans were moved from Greece to Turkey. The numbers weren't even though and no Muslims settled in this village so over the years it has decayed away, with help from the frequent earthquakes that occur in these parts. It was all a somber sight and well worth the visit. For those of you that have read Louis de Bernieres' novel "Birds without Wings", this was this village that provided the inspiration for Eskibahce the village in his novel. Unfortunately I went out without my camera so the scenes from this haunting location are committed only to memory.

The days don't seem to be much hotter than July was but the nights are not cooling off as much at the moment. Last night saw 32degrees celcius in our cabin at midnight. We have now taken to putting our water spray bottle in the fridge (previously left at room temperature) during the day and when we go to bed we spray ourselves down and turn the fan on full and try to lower our body temperature. Mark is constantly melting, whereby I am still enjoying it especially knowing that for the first time in five years we are going to experience a winter this year, long may the gloriously hot, cloudless, sunny days remain!

It's 18 August today, and we are seriously thinking about leaving!!! We have been enjoying the Olympics, the quaint little port area, the cheap restaurants we have found, plus its a great secure anchorage, but can't stay here forever so maybe today will be the day to leave. Update at 5pm, after a busy morning provisioning we have decided to stay another night!!!!
19 August 12.40pm, sea breeze just kicked in, we are off cruising again at last.
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