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

The 8 day tour of Jordan, which was billed as the trip of a lifetime and turned out as exactly that, occured I know in May, but I am posting everything to 1st June as the website is designed to open up in the current month. So here goes with a day by day account of this wonderful trip.

Day 1. Wednesday 24th May.

Ugh, what a start! The alarm went off at 4 a.m. so that we could get ready to leave and be at the car park in Girne at 5.30 a.m. latest. We all traveled to the border with the south in a local coach and Mike & Mary, our tour organizers, had sorted all the passport procedures out and managed to negotiate for the coach to cross to the car park on the other side, where a local coach was waiting to take us to Larnaca airport.

An on time take off at 9.30 a.m. with Jordanian Airways ensured that we landed at Amman after only 50 minutes to be met by our guide for the next 7 days, Sammy.

Instead of going straight to our hotel in Amman we were driven to the Dead Sea. On the way we stopped at the sea level point and got our first welcome to Jordan. From this point as we descended a further 400 meters towards the actual Dead Sea we could feel our ears popping until we eventually stopped at the Dead Sea resort itself. There are a number of hotels along the front of the sea itself and more being built, all offering health spas etc.
There was a large Dead Sea beach area in front of these hotels and in fact the Dead Sea itself is much larger than we expected. The whole is in fact 1,300 square kilometers but certainly at the beach area not very deep. We of course ventured in as that was the whole purpose of the trip today but, ugh, it’s horrible. You just can’t swim in it at all, it is very salty and we were warned to make sure we protected our eyes. No wonder nothing lives in it. At the end of the swim most of us had that sort of “been there, done that” feeling about the whole thing.

Supposedly, on the bottom of the southern part of the Dead Sea, lie the ancient and infamous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, noted in the Bible for lust and vice of their citizens. But after that swim I couldn’t find anybody interested in going to look for them. Maybe old age crept on for us all and all that lust and vice didn’t seem worth the effort.

On the way back to the hotel in Amman we stopped at the inevitable Dead Sea products gift store. An amazing range of products can be derived out of a sea of what is in fact mud and salt. So if you fancy lying around with mud packs of the genuine variety then I’m your man.

Day 2. Thursday 25th May.

Today was to prove to be one of the longest and busiest days of the whole trip. Early in the morning we met up with both Sammy & Moussa. Sammy as I already said was our guide for the whole visit and Moussa was allocated to us as our tourist protection policeman.

The trip was in fact a run down the Kings highway from Amman to Petra, where we were to spend our next two nights. First stop Madaba, the city of mosaics. Madaba lies 33 km south of Amman and was first mentioned in the bible and records show its existence as far back as the second century B.C. There are a great number of mosaic floors in the houses and churches of this city, the most famous of which depicts a map of Palestine & Jordan which dates back to the sixth century A.D.. This floor mosaic can be seen in the Greek orthodox church. It has been preserved and restored after an earthquake did lots of damage all over the region.

Our second stop was at Mount Nebo which is known as the site of the tomb of Moses. The site lies on a mountain ridge overlooking the Jordan valley and the restored basilica dates back to the late 5th century A.D. Lots of very good restoration work has been carried out here also and there was one extremely good example of a Mosaic floor.

Before leaving the area we were taken to a mosaic and pottery school, with of course its own shop, which was set up by the Queen of Jordan as a place of work for the handicapped as a means of preserving some of the traditional skills of the area. Some of these local handicrafts are quite magnificent. Joan in fact fell in love with a large table top in mosaic which would have looked superb on the terrace but would have had to be shipped and customs cleared, which could have been a nightmare here.

Not present on our trip was the well known George. But you really can’t keep a good layabout down!!!

The King’s highway, which runs from the border with Syria in the north, right down to Aqaba on the Red Sea in the south, travels through the grand canyon. This might not be as big as that in America but was a magnificent drive and passed a large dam created to collect water for land irrigation and electricity supply.

Climbing out of the top of the canyon brings you to the city to Mukawir inhabited today by Bedouins and noted for its carpet making. Here Herod the Great had his palace built, which was destroyed by the Romans in 63 B.C. This is also known as the area where John the Baptist was beheaded at the command of Herod. Then from there to the city of Karak and the very well preserved Karak castle. Most of the restored ruins date back from the crusader period and the castle is well situated to protect the area around.

Finally after a very long day we arrived at our hotel in Petra around 8 15 in the evening and a long cold beer was very welcome at this time.

Day 3. Friday 26th May.

PETRA. A 2000 year old city carved out of rose colored stone. There is really only one word for it awesome.

After you enter the visitor centre you can start the first part of your journey on one of the Petra ponies. "Jock" Joan did exactly that and set off at quite a pace down the first kilometer, I think that really she fancied one of the mounted police who parade up and down for the tourists to admire.

After the first kilometer you enter a rift in the mountain which forms the valley a very narrow crevice between tall sided mountains which clearly give a very defensive position for anyone living in the city itself. The walk down this narrow crevice, known locally as The Siq gave les girls every opportunity to natter about the surroundings or maybe just wonder if there was going to be a shoe shop at the other end. All the way down this rift there were small carvings in the walls and we could see a water channel that had been carved out over the whole length, which must have been some 2 miles, just to feed the winter water from the top of the valley, where the hotels are now situated, down to reservoirs in the city itself. One has to wonder about the skill of the Nabateans, a little known culture, who created all this.

At the end of the Siq one gets the first view of this stunning city. The first major tomb carved out of the rock face and probably the most imposing of all is known as The Treasury. It is a magnificent façade of a tomb adorned with columns and statues carved in rock and dating back to the first century A.D.

Most of us had walked, or partially ridden down the valley and this gave an opportunity for a photo of just about all The Gang on the trip. Some who found the walking too far and too arduous had taken horse drawn carriages so as to be able to see the wonderful sights. Inside the entrance to this first big tomb we were able to see the variety of levels of rock colourings in the stone work and again marvel at the effort required to carve out these vast caverns in the solid rock.

The front of the Treasury was guarded, if that is the right word by this very imposing soldier boy. They do say that all the girls love a man in uniform and this guy was certainly done out in his finest and enjoying the adoration.

Everywhere one walks further down the valley of the main city you wonder at the Rock carvings which adorn both sides of the valley. One side is covered in commoner tombs whilst the more regal had more ornate tombs on the opposite side of the valley. There is a high place of sacrifice, but this was 850 steps up the side of the mountain, not something these old legs where too keen on any more. A theatre seating 8,000 people and a lofty monastery, on the top of the mountain. Altogether there are some 800 monuments which have survived and each offers a small piece of the puzzle which is Petra.

By the time we had walked to the end of the valley and the city itself we had had enough of the heat in the early part of the afternoon and decided that the services of a donkey, or in my case a more sturdy mule, were needed to get us back to the cool rift leading out of the city again. Joan didn’t look too steady on her donkey and decided that the earlier horse ride was much better. Biff Bear was only interested in the size of his ears.

I said it earlier and in the interest of repeating myself awesome and we would both like very much to come back and spend more time here but maybe at a much cooler time of the year.

Day 4. Saturday 27th May 2006.

Those of you who remember the film Lawrence of Arabia will remember the magnificent desert scenery and the seven pillars of wisdom. Well these are those pillars sticking up from the desert sand.

We were taken out into the Wadi Rum desert in a group of 4 x 4s which had been pre-ordered by Sammy especially for us as the alternative was some very old and decrepit Land Rovers with no protection from the searing heat. You can see why the other name for this desert area is The Valley of the Moon and also why film makers favour it as a real desert for many scenes. The whole is made up of some weirdly shaped rocks jutting up from the valley floor and you can see how the winter winds can create a sand dune against the pillars of rock.

Apparently some Bedouin tribes still trek across on camels and with their animals and family tents. How they survive when all you see is sand, sand and more sand I don’t know and for sure I would not like to think about getting lost out here.

Almost the entire original tour group went on this desert trip so here we have the gang & drivers enjoying the midday heat. When we did go walkabout with Sammy, Joan left Biff Bear in the 4 x 4 to be guarded by our driver and when we left he was busy showing all the other drivers his charge and then Biff was awarded a desert medal for bravery in the heat, so here is a pic of Biff, Joan and our driver proud of his new acquisition.

After the Wadi Rum we went down further south to Aqaba a resort on the Red Sea, where we are to spend the next two nights.

Day 5. Sunday 28th May 2006.

This was to be a sort of day of rest after Petra and the desert trips. Sammy collected those of us who wanted to go out for a little while, to look along the coast of the Red Sea in the direction of the border with Saudi Arabia. We could see across to the coast of Israel and further south across to Egypt. There is very extensive development going on along the coast of Aqaba itself, with hotel complexes, apartments and private marinas.

We had been told that the hotel and The hotel beach which we were in fact staying in was to close after we left and be demolished. Across the road and in the beach area alongside, demolition had already taken place to make way for a whole new complex with lagoon and marina. It would be interesting to go back in a couple of years and see what has actually been created. From our hotel beach we could see across the bay to Elat / Israel which was a blaze of lights at night.

As part of the organised trip out we were taken around the harbour area in a glass bottom boat. There were few fish to be seen as the water could have been a little clearer but we did find this fishtank a relic of the war. We are told that the coral reefs which stretch along the coast abounds with coral fish, but this one was found with many friends in a local aquarium.

When we got back to our room, Joan found out that Biff had found a friend. It appears that the guy who was cleaning our room thought he looked a little lonely left behind. Clever stuff.

The afternoon was spent lazing away on the beach and then just for a change from the endless buffet meals, six of us went out to a restaurant in town which came highly recommended for its seafood specialities. The food was superb but don’t think Michael was very impressed at having to drink cola. Moslem country with Moslem rules, except of course in the big hotels.


Day 6. Monday 29th May 2006.

An early start this morning for the long journey back up the King's Highway to Amman. The trip took around 5 hours with the obvious comfort stop on the way at a especially designed tourist stop. Surprise, surprise there was a huge tourist shop selling all the standard mosaics and carpets etc but they also served good coffee.

On arrival in Amman, Sammy took us up to the hill in the centre of the city with its restored citadel. Amman is of course the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and is 3,000 years old, although when King Abdullah took his newly formed government there in the 1920's it was only a village. Now the sprawling metropolis that is Amman is spread over 7 hills. In the heart you can see the original Roman ampitheatre and some of the older properties. Amman is known as the whaite city as all buildings are built from purely white stone and some of the new villas we were shown are distinctly beutiful and clearly show the new affluent society.

Sammy parked us up in the old part of town so that we could go walkabout through the old streets and traditional shops. Guess what, the girls found a shoe shop and fortunately were persuaded to keep on walking. The old streets were decked out as a traditional market, known here as The Souk, and much of the stuff available was much cheaper than in the touristy places.

Day 7. Tuesday 30th May 2006

Our last full day in Jordan. Today we were taken by Sammy to the north of the kingdom in the direction of the Syrian border.

We stopped first in Ajlun in the Jordan valley on the top of a hill where the Rabad castle had been built in the Crusader period. As with many of the historical sites in Jordan more restoration had been done. Not so sure about the floor lighting being available in that period but the work done was quite good and showed the size and some of the original detail. Many of the other parts had just been preserved in their current state as this is supposed to be one of the very few Islamic castles built to protect the country against Crusader attacks.

From Ajlun we went back to the Roman city of Jerash one of the best and most complete ruins of a provincial Roman city in the world. We were told that excavations started in 1925 and that to date only 20% of the original ruins have been exposed. At the entrance to the visitors centre we were mat by the traditional boys selling gifts to tourists and Sammy introduced to one little lad who could take money off you in ten languages.

The whole of this city was really very large and clearly showed a time of affluence. We took a look at the forum or the city square with its pillars surrounding the area, many of which were still intact despite the destruction caused by earthquake. From the forum a street led off to the south theatre where we were entertained by some retired soldiers with bagpipes and drums. the colonade street which was originally named, Cardo Maximus, the main street leading through the city and supposedly full of shops in those days.

We could have spent 2 or 3 hours around this city but at 1 p.m. the old “mad dogs and Englishmen” saying really applied, so many of us retired to the comfort of the visitor centre with its air conditioning and cold drinks. Again one of these places which given more time and a cooler day we could have wandered for many hours.

In the afternoon we went back to our hotel and took advantage of the pool and then packed ready for a very early start on our homeward journey tomorrow. Six of us went to the highly recommended roof top restaurant in the evening and I was able to persuade the waiter to let me out onto the outside area to take pictures of Amman by night.

After dinner, Joan and I went in to the hotel shop to buy a tourist guide book tracing 4000 years of the history of Jordan and on coming out of there we met a wedding party coming in for late night wedding. One assumes that a civil ceremony had been already performed earlier and this was the family gathering for a reception. the bride and groom looked quite happy and the bride even stopped to ask if we had got all the pictures we wanted. Lets wish them long life and happiness together.

Day 8. Wednesday 31st May 2006.

A 3 a.m. call for the start of our journey home. Not really something that you want to know about apart from a funny story to complete our adventures. I got up first and made us a cup of wake up coffee and then went for a shower. Joan by now reasonably awake also went off for a shower and then I heard her saying, why is there no water? I could hear water running, so turned to go towards the bathroom only to see water pouring under the bedroom door from out in the corridor and quite a lot of it too. I paddled out and peered around the door only to find the whole corridor flooding quite rapidly. After an urgent call to maintenance a man came up quickly to our 5th floor, opened a cupboard in the corridor and was instantly soaked from head to toe. Only one thing to do, get dressed quickly, grab the suitcases and paddle down to the lift, leaving the man to sort out the problems.

A well organized final day meant that we were home here in TRNC by early afternoon. Well done Mike and Mary, our BRS organizers, you excelled yourselves this time, so where to next year?

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We have actually been back here for more than a week now but this website has been an absolute nightmare during that time. The server that I use, via a landline, keeps throwing me out, then we either can't receive or send e-mails and when I call them up I get the sort of shrug of the shoulders that you expect from people here, you can sense it even over the phone.

Those of you who have endeavoured to follow our Jordan adventures will know how many photos I have put on there for you to see and I have to say that some of these photos have been taking 15 to 20 minutes to load each, if they didn't throw me out half way through. Anyway enough of our problems and suffice to say that I have already ordered a broadband installation, but it may be another 4 weeks away.

Since we got back on 1st june we have had a very busy period with forward planned installations of kitchens and furniture then on Saturday evening we were invited by our builder friend Sekan, to the formal opening of his new furniture shop. Dilegno is the name of the manufaturer and the owner and his wife were present. Serkan gave us an opening speech which thanked all present for there attendance and even suggested that some of his many English villa buyers had contributed unwittingly to the building of the shop. The actual ribbon cutting was performed by the mayor of Alsancak, where the shop is situated.

As Roger and Gill were also invited we all four went to the Safron restaurant to catch up with news, after the ceremony. Roger and Gill had been in UK for 3 weeks prior to our trip so there was a good 5 weeks of gossip in there somewhere.

There was a big article in the Cyprus Today about channel 5 pulling the program they had scheduled on the building of a house in Kyrenia. Clearly the Granada TV company has been put under pressure by Greek Cypriot propoganda again, when will the media learn that they should not pander to only one side in these arguments but provide a balance which allows the viewers to make their own choice.

Water shortage is another main headline. The situation is now becoming quite critical and many homes survive only by having tankers deliver to them regularly. Couldn't possibly be anything to do with uncontrolled building with absolutely no forward planning. Alongside the article about water shortage is a series of photos of the new Kyrenia WATER fountain with varying coloured lights. See what I mean about planning control........

Another great planning episode. The new speed cameras which are to be installed to control traffic are to be delayed because of infrastructural problems in some areas, such as no electricity to run the cameras. See what I mean about things like forward thinking, there is non.

There will be no resumption of talks on the reunification of Cyprus , UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said in a letter to President Talat. The current conditions are not of a supportive nature for letting me reactivate my goodwill mission he said. Think that that one was becoming increasingly obvious.

Another building company to be avoided I think. Capstone construction had promised completion of a number of villas in Alsancak by March 2005. One couple had been promised final completion by May, but when they arrived they found no roof, no water, no bathrooms, no electric. They finally moved in August 2005 but still nine months later are without electric, but it is always promised for 2 weeks time.

Standard for the week was a night out at L.D's. This time with George and Susan and with Fiona who is over from UK for a couple of weeks. It was in fact Lorraine's birthday so a good night to go and visit.

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Still struggling a bit with computer speed so must put an entry in the diary to go and chase up the internet company that have promised me broadband if they can get a signal at our villa.

This evening Joan and I went down to The Silver Grill with Michael and Barbara. It is now warm enough to be sitting outside until quite late so we had a very pleasant evening chin wagging and sampling the excellent food that always comes out of their kitchen. Since The Safron opened we seem to have neglected Ali and his wife a little, which is very wrong, because they serve up some really good fresh food at excellent prices.

All this occured of course after the football. Englands first performance against Paraguay was not the most inspiring despite the win in the end. Lets hope they improve or they just might be on for the early trip home.

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Joan had a call earlier in the week from Hayran about a rather special wedding invitation for today. A young lady who has been working for Mark & Hayran for a long time now had got married to the love of her life, against parental wishes; and now wanted to try to mend bridges on all sides.

She had asked if they could possibly use the school to have a small celebration with parents and friends and because of her loyalty to Mark & Hayran for so long they said OK, but we will organise it for you.

It was a complete but happy surprise for them to find themselves being transported in a horse drawn landau to The Colony hotel. The small ballroom was decked out for the wedding celebration and there where some forty friends, work colleagues and aquaintances present to make the occasion something special for them. They loked quite stunned for a little while by the whole thing but soon entered in to the fun and as bride and groom walked the room to the applause of us all.

There was an excellent four course meal laid on an abudance of wine and beer and live music to top off the afternoon and evening. There was the usual Turkish Cypriot pin on ceremony, where all the guests either give presents or pin money on the ribbons hung round the shoulders of the bride and groom. Finally the wedding cake ceremony where the bride and groom feed one another with the first bite before we all get to taste.

A great celebration and one which the young couple will remember for the rest of their lives together.

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In the news this weekend was a disturbing headline about the slump in Tourism here in TRNC. Cyprus Paradise agency say that their numbers are down at 2002 levels, some 40% down on last year and many hotels are at 10% occupancy which means running at a loss. This is atributed to a number of things, not the least of which is the very high cost of flights, one would have thought that the government could have stepped in to this area of cost. There is of course World Cup fever and maybe the fact that the TRNC is now one huge great building site.

Heard a depressing story today, not in the news yet. A friend who was having a drink in a local hotel left his mobile phone on the table where he was seated with his wife and other friends, whilst going to the toilet. Later he realised that his phone was missing. The following day he asked if it had been handed in and when he was told it had not been, he arranged for the police to attend and then asked for the CCTV footage from the evening before to be available. Guess what, three people involved in the theft, all English, complaining that they did it because they were short of money. I would suggest that a short sharp visit to the local jail, a sentence of a few more months and then instant deportation, with maybe the UK authorities being forewarned of their arrival. We don't want this sort of riff raff here.

It would seem that the permission to buy permits are still in a backlog, with permits taking two years to come out of the system. The government department responsible is dealing with a backlog dating back to mid-2004 but of course without this vital document you cannot legally own your home. The Home Buyers Pressure Group has been in touch with the department responsible and assures everybody that work is proceeding and that people should just remain patient, the forms are not just being ignored.

At a recent meeting of the above mentioned group people were advised not to go just for the cheap option when buying as there were often hidden costs within the purchase price. For example providing water and electricity to properties can be very expensive and many buolders try to pass this on to the customer as an extra. Be aware, what you automatically expect in UK is not necessarily true here, so get these things written into your contract at the outset.

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Fiona is still over here on her own so we decided , together with George and Susan, that she should be introduced to The Saffron restaurant. Why do we continue to tell everybody about the best restaurants, they just fill up too quickly.

A fun evening as usual, lots of good laughs and lots of good food.

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It is getting close to 1st July when the next event in the Road Safety Awarness Campaign set up in memory of Rachel Rhodes, the 20 year old from Lapta who was killed in April.

This event is at The Palmera Rouge Restaurant in Girne and will include a buffet, disco, Elvis impersonator Danny Fisher, and an auction. Tickets for this July 1st event cost 25 YTL and are available at LD's bar, The Castle Pub, Shakers or Bormat Estate Agency in Karaoganoglou. Money raised is to be used to create a better awareness of driving safety here on the island.

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Joan has had a very full week this week, so to ease things a little I met up with Andy and Kim Coster and there daughters, Collette and the twins Victoria and Rebecca. Where does all that energy come from? We visited furniture stores, curtain shops in both Girne and in Lefkosa and then their villa, nearing completion in Arapkoy. They were left with lots to think about and hopefully when we introduce them to LD's tomorrow evening they will have some idea of their needs.

This evening of course I met some of the lads down at the Celebrity to watch another unconvincing England performance. I suppose that as current leaders of Group B they are guaranteed to go forward to the knockout stage, but unless they improve somewhat there wont be too many more evenings out with a beer and the lads.

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Well we introduced Andy and his family to what he termed "The Holy Grail" LD's bar and restaurant. Guess it went down well as even the girls consumed all before them and they where full adult portions. They are all heading off home Saturday but there will be lots odf communication by e-mail to get their furniture etc sorted out.

On out way home at 10 p.m. Joan and noticed a few familiar cars in the car park of The Cabin. Low and behold a nice warm evening for sitting outside and most of the layabouts are gathered there. Roger B is supposed to start playing there on Fridays soon, so guess that we will all be back on a regular basis then.

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Headline news in todays Cyprus Today and clearly the reason for all our problems. "Bungling workmen sever internet connection to the outside world". Apparantly when they decided to move a security barrier on the road from Girne up towards St Hillarion they managed to sever the fibre optic cable under the surface. I know there are lots of things one can say about plans showing where this sort of thing is located and adequate protection for the cable etc but then it just doesn't happen here.

We hear that the TV show on Channel 5 called Property Developing Abroad and specifically about TRNC was finally shown on Tuesday last after being postponed due to Greek Cypriot intervention. The news I get is positive about the whole show, maybe if somebody has made a video recording and is visiting they would be so kind as to lend it to me so that we can see.

On the subject of road safety again it appears that the police are once again doing regular roadside checks. Last Tuesday they stopped 845 vehicles, arrested two people, impounded one vehicle and fined 211 drivers. Maybe more police and more actions like this are needed.

There are so many opinions in the papers about Turkey and its obligations viz-a-vie its desire to join the EU and the implications for the TRNC, that life gets very confusing here, but one must I think realise that they are what they are, journalistic opinions. What worries me personally and this is of course only an opinion again, why is it that this lot believe that joining the EU is the beginning of the fantastic new life. Strikes me that there is even more political brainwashing going on or the local politicians cannot see beyond the end of their noses. Why cant we just have a civilised divorce and let the North be independant. According to Tom Roche a newspaper columnist, the Czecks and Slovaks, Slovenians and Croatians and now Montenegro and Serbia have succesfully done it so why not us.

A final insert for the week in to the website. As you know Joan and I are members of the British Residents Society (BRS) and this week I had an e-mail from Mike Maternaghan, the chairman, saying the committee had asked that their newsletter be put on our site in future, so here is you first installment, enjoy and be aware that they are an absolute fund of information if you are planning to come over here.

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This afternoon George and Susan had a BBQ with just a few drinks for many of their friends. Normally Susan will do this on the 25th and call it her half way to Xmas BBQ, but as we are all going out on a boat trip next Sunday the date had to be brought forward. George did lots of sausages on his BBQ and I must say that with the soft white rolls they made lovely sausage butties. Roger went to get lessons on how not to burn the bangers.

Some of the girls were in the swim as it was a very hot day but the rest of us just stayed in the shade and enjoyed the liquid nourishment.

Lovely way to spend a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

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Again a very busy week and a chance to meet more new people who have bought over here. This is the one major advantage of doing the things we do, we get to make lots of new aquaintances.

Roger and Chris Naylor are over this week from Nairobi, as they are buying a house from Greatstone Construction here in Lapta. They have ordered their kitchen equipment so that I can advise the builder about what is required and spent time with Joan looking at furniture. Their villa is not due for completion until September/October so they have time to make decisions yet.

This evening we introduced them to the delights of L.D.'s. Roger found the sausage and mash very much to his liking.

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I hardly dare tell you this, but after a very busy day and in my case quite a long one, when Susan called and said they were going down to L.D.s did we want picking up, there was really only a very small hesitation before I said "of course".

We did have one good laugh on the way down town when we saw this sign saying walley. We know the lady who has opened this business up so Joan called her next day to say there had been a slight error by the advertising company. Soraya said " and I took so much care in spelling out the English words for them" She could hardly believe they have got it so wrong.

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The day of the annual BRS Dinner Dance which of course The Layabouts have to attend. The functions like this which we have attended over the last year or so are in aid of the BRS Hospitals fund. We heard tonight that over £40,000 has been raised so far and the money is going to a special childrens ward and some to the A&E department here in the Kyrenia local hospital. There is to be a special opening of the new ward next month so I will make sure to attend and take some pictures for the site.

This evening, apart from the food and wine there was a lucky dip basket with prizes at varying values. Joan was lucky and won a £10.00 voucher to Malley's boutique. No prizes for guessing where she will be going next week. We also had the inevitable raffle, which is always a good fund raiser and we heard that with the two events that an additional £700.00 had been raised tonight.

Sandy, one of The Layabouts, one the top prize of a airline ticket to UK but as because of recent family reasons she has been in and out of the UK about 14 times over the last year, she decided I don't want to go again so asked the chairman to auction the ticket. Because Joan and I have decided that we would like to go over this Xmas and the money was going to a good cause, I ended up adding £200.00 to the nights hospital fund. Hopefully this is cheaper than the regular price at Xmas and anyway better to give the money to the hospital than direct to CTA.

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I have been having some serious fun with a broadband internet provider during the last few weeks. I signed a contract with Extend, otherwise known as Ayzanet, before we went to Jordan. They were supposed to test us for signal strength within two weeks from 19th May. Despite numerous promises to come last week, this week etc. I still had to go in to the offices again yesterday and try to get them to come out to Lapta. In the meantime I had, via a friend obtained one of their dishes that he no longer used so that their excuse of, we don't have any equipment unntil it arrives from-----wait for it-----LATVIA! Yesterday the general manager said we will come out and install today or tomorrow for certain. Guess what, this morning a phone call saying we need to collect that equipment you have and test if it is still suitable, then install next week. I might be getting older but certainly not getting any more stupid. So I started to ring around and checked with a few friends who have contracted with "The Internet Club" and found that they were very pleased with the service provided, so I geve them a call. They happened to be in Lapta this afternoon at a customers, so came round to see our site. Initial installation cost is a little higher but the speed offered is much better and they seem to have an attitude that says customer service is of paramount importance, add to that the fact that they can instal on Monday and its Bye Bye Extend. The results will be interesting so I will keep you posted.

After that fun lets see what todays paper has to say of interest.

Angry sceenes outside the Kyrenia court this week when a group of angry Alsancak residents confronted their former builder after taking legal action against him. Apparantly the builder is accused of selling some houses twice, renting out to third parties houses already bought, failing to provide water and electricity and charging for extras not agreed. Builders like this one give others a bad name, the case continues next Wednesday so the outcome will be interesting.

A British man, Graham Iddison, who has been found guilty of stealing from more than 14 houses and businesses has been given 30 months in the local prison and deportation at the end of it. Good riddance I say.

A report that Easyjet start up has been delayed until July 12th will be of interest to many. Easyjet say anybody who has booked and paid for tickets between June 29th and July 12th will be upgraded to alternative airlines or refunded the full value.

The TRNC will never be sacrificed for the sake of the European Union, the Turkish prime minister said on Thursday. Many were worried about the pressure being brought to bear as the result of Turkeys application to join so this is reassuring news.

Tomorrow is election day here in TRNC. All bars and restaurants will be closed and barred from selling alcohol until after 6 pm. We The Layabouts + others, are getting on a boat around 10 a.m. and sailing out east of Girne. Don't know where the duty free zone starts but guess about 300 meters off shore should just about do it. Report with pics to follow in a couple of days.

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For the last few years we have traditionally got together a group to go out on a fun boat trip from Kyrenia harbour. All of us enjoy this day out and say we should do more often and why wait for an excuse such as my umpteenth birthday.

We set off nice and early with our regular captain and crew, went east towards Alagadi and there anchored up for a nice long swim. The water is by now getting nice and warm and it is just great off the boat away from the beach. The girls tried their hand at synchronised swimming amid much laughter.

Lunch was as usual extreemly good, with fried chicken and fresh grilled tuna, which the captain caught the previous afternoon. All this served up with the usual meze dishes that you regularily get over here. Very tasty especially washed down with a couple of beers. After such a blowout there is only one thing to do, have an after lunch snooze. Guess George did not know about this pic and I promise not to be critical mate.

Great day out enjoyed by all.

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Well true to their plans the boys from The Internet Club turned up with mast and all the gear to set us up with a nice quick internet link.

They did have some problems getting a signal because we are very low lying here and they needed to put a 4 metre mast above our water tower to get up high enough. A real struggle for them, but have to say that they kept at it to ensure we had something a.s.a.p. It is not a bit like the UK where you can easily get fast broadband links.

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Lots of birthday cards from friends today and then the day rounded off by an evening out for Joan and myself at The Saffron restaurant. Lovely piece of steak, the first time I have actually eaten steak there and have to say one of the best here.

Stop saying how good it is Frank, everybody will want to go there.

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