Frank and Joan's news for 11 February 2007 in Northern Cyprus

Frank and Joan's Adventures in Northern Cyprus

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

Lazy morning in bed with the papers and a mug of coffee. We are normally early risers so this 9 o'clock stuff is s change for us. My turn to do the bacon & egg breakfast, but then somehow or other it nearly always seems to be my turn.

Big moan about the massive increase in car tax and postal charges. 20% on car tax and 25% on postage. That means that it is going to cost almost £40.00 to tax my car this next time. Not a lot you say but to the locals with their very low incomes it is too much. This government seems to have made a habit of increasing every tax in sight, way beyond the level of income increases. Maybe they have been talking to Gordon Brown, with his tax them until they sq

ueek attitude.

Joy for home buyers. The Homebuyers Pressure Group claim a "breakthrough" with the government in improving the lot of foreign buyers here. A new steamlined process to clear the backlog of 2,000 permissions to purchase by June and a commitment that the process will only take 3 to 4 months to complete afterwards. Now call me an old cynic if you like, but were have I heard all that before. One of these days maybe all these promises will mean something. If they do stick to their promise then that will be a great relief to all of you who have waited for a couple of years now.

There were reports and pictures of the widespreadfloods which occured last weekend. Torrential rain caused areas of Nicosia and Famagusta. There is much work going on to lay storm drains everywhere but this is going to take time and money and of course there has been little or no maintenance work done on previously laid drains so these have silted up. If you happen to be out and about in your car when these huge downpours occur, you are very soon driving through mini lakes.

This evening, Joan and I went to Haci Ali's restaurant for dinner here in Lapta. We enjoy this place and the food quality is good at a very reasonable price. It is a great surprise that more people are not using the place, although the waiters tell us that weekend lunchtimes are quite busy.