Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....

What did I say yesterday about going down for some more roof tiles, well this is where the gazebo once stood. Today we had a total turn around in the weather, it has been blowing a hooley all morning and when I picked Joan up from school, I said lets hope that all the roof tiles have stayed on the gazebo this time. We got home to see almost all the tiles blowing around the garden, as the wind got stronger, so now you can select your own anglo-saxon words to go with my comments. The wind was in fact incredibly strong and getting so gusty that it was even difficult to stand up. We took the shopping up to the kitchen and just as I was standing at the window, to survey exactly how many roof tiles had gone, the whole gazebo lifted into the air, almost level with the upstairs window. It then disappeared over the swimming pool, clear over the rose garden and smashed against the front wall, a distance of some 80 to 90 yards. Most of what ./photos/enlargements/was%20a%20roof.htm"> was the roof finished up on the road and in the field beyond, the remains of the timber framework was snapped just like matchwood. Clearly a tornado or whirlwind, call it what you like, had just gone through our garden areas, because we also lost a few ridge tiles off the roof and the Chandlers, next door, lost both their solar panels, off the water tower. We consider we were lucky that the gazebo just went through the gap, next to the house, or it could have done lots more damage on the way. Some of you will remember that we had a 3 x 1 meter wrought iron table, under the gazebo, covered in floor tiles. It took 4 guys all their time to lift this off the truck and put it on the terrace, not an effort for this whirlwind, it picked it up, turned it over and dumped it half hanging over the pool. I am so glad that it didn't actually end up in the pool, because I don't know how we would have got it out of there. I am also so very very glad that neither of us was outside when any of this was happening, material damage is repairable!It remained windy and gusty for a while, then we went outside to start clearing up the mess. This was when we found out that we had not come off as badly as Michael and Barbara Smith. They had lost their entire pergola roof over the kitchen terrace, some of the outer skin brickwork had also been brought down and their air conditioning unit ripped off the wall. The stonework pillars that support the pergola had just snapped off at balustrade level and fallen down into the garden below, a major rebuild job for the Australian Construction boys I think. Strange but true, Michael's gazebo, which was almost the same construction as ours just stands unscathed in his garden. This totally convinces me that it must have been some sort of whirlwind, that was selective on its way through