Frank and Joan's news for 11 July 2008 in Northern Cyprus

Frank and Joan's Adventures in Northern Cyprus

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

We met up with our friends, a guy I used to work with and his wife who suggested the holiday in the first place. We all decided that a boat trip was the way to see things and to relax for the day. We selected one of the smaller boats and ended up with only six of us and the captain on board. We left the harbour at Kas about 10.30 a.m. with the promise of a number of swimming stops and lunch on board, for what amounted to £20.00 per head.

From the boat you can get a view of Kas and you can see the development that has gone on, around what must have been originally a very small fishing village.

Our guy stopped in a couple of places he knew were the water was incredibly clear, so excellent for snorkeling. Later when we were on our way to the lunch stop, we came across one other boat that had engine troubles. Our man said it could happen to me one day, so threw them a line and towed them to a quiet spot, where there was no swell so that they could work in comfort. Later when

we checked back with them they had solved the problem and got going again themselves. With that sorted out, we then moored up in a super cove to swim in and this turned out to be our lunch stop also.

Mustafa, our captain had done a super job so far and now acted as chef and cooked us some sea bream on the bone, served up with a huge tomato salad and fresh rolls. It was absolutely glorious washed down wth a couple of cold drinks, just set me up for the afternoon nap.

Later we moored up in another bay for an afternoon swim and had settled back on board for some fresh fruit. Melon, pears, plums etc when this beautiful vessel came in to the large bay and dropped anchor. This thing must have been at least 150' long and looked almost brand spanking new. Fancy state rooms, a couple of speed boats in davits and a uniformed crew of at least 10 that we could see. We later learnt that a couple of Hollywood stars had been seen around Kas, apparantly Naomi Walsh and a David Fisher. Being a real film buff, I had never heard of them. How the other half live, but we six reckoned that we had much more fun with our crazy captain for the day. We sailed right around this vessel to get a closer look and discovered that it was registered in Georgetown and called Athena.

We went slowly back in the direction of the harbour with Joan just catching a bit more sun and then the captain said that if they had mermaids on the front of their boat, then we could have mermaids too. I was just happy to relax at the end of a super day out. Joan and the captain got us back in the direction of Kas and we moored up again at around 6 p.m.

Back to the hotel, a long cool shower and then a couple of drinks in the town followed by a very light meal later. A really great day which I reckon Joan and I will try to repeat towards rhe end of the summer.