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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
  
The weather changed a little today, the clouds came across for the first time since we arrived and in fact produced a little rain during the day. Not enough to spoil this last day on our boat however.
We moored up slightly upstream from the hire company offices this evening, much nearer the town. We then prepared our packing etc ready for an early start tomorrow and then went to a highly recommended gourmet restaurant in the town. What a glorious meal, it is really good to spoil oneself now and again, hang the expense, it was worth every penny.
We returned the boat just after 9 a.m. packed all our things and then set off for our new gite in a place called Chez Bouche, which is close to the A10 motorway so convenient for a little sightseeing. This gite is quite new and set in a lovely garden setting and we were made very welcome by the owners, John & Siobhan Liddleton.
By the time Joan had made good use of the washing machine facilities, after almost a week on the boat, we just settled down to a quiet evening, a bottle of white and dinner.
Boy did it rain hard last night, not the sort of weather one wants on holiday. Consequently it was very black and a little cold this morning, so we decided to take a trip further south to have a look around the Aquitaine area, Dordogne and the river Lot. The whole day was very overcast and a little cold so having walked around a couple of small villages with markets, stopping for a nice meal in the middle of the afternoon, we just headed back to our gite, a good book and a nice bottle of local white. Lets hope tomorrow is a little better.
A little better weather today, at least it is dry and around 20 degrees, a bit less than we are used to but nice enough to get out and about.
We decided having examined the possibilities in the area to go north of Royan, which is on the Atlantic coast and have a look at the zoo in Palmiye. This place has a good reputation and in the summer season is incredibly busy. Entrance fee was not too bad considering what we have paid in other places, 14 Euros per person. As we entered we were first faced with a stone waterfall and a large flock of beautiful Flamingos, then some well signposted paths that led us all around the zoo. Joan found a Giraffe that just loved popcorn, enough to eat it out of your hand, so that kept her occupied for some time. All the animals, despite being caged appeared in beautiful condition, witness this Tiger and this very beautiful and contented Leopard.. One of the animals that I found to be most endearing was this Snow Leopard, just looked as if you could stroke it like our cats, but guess not such a good idea. If anybody knows how to doctor this pic by removing the wires please let me know, I will send it immediately. The Polar Bears had this huge swimming pool and enclosure and one of them had its own party piece for the visitors, the Polar Bear back flip, tremendous fun to see.
After this initial excitement of wandering round, we stopped at a sort of café place where they served a large hotdog with mustard and a beer for 3.50 Euros each, yummy. Just as we finished our snack there was a call to the Sea lion show. Normally if you are in this sort of place you have to pay extra for these shows, not here, all inclusive. We obviously missed the feeding time for some of these animals, but this guy certainly didn’t miss his diner and afternoon nap. What a lovely beast. There were too many animals to include photos of them all on this site but who could resist this pensive looking guy. He was looking in the direction of the Lions and had the sort of look that said; let’s just sort out who is really king of this jungle.
A super zoo, spotlessly clean and all the animals looked to be in superb condition, well worth a visit if you are in this area of France.
From the zoo, were we were surprised to find we had spent over four interesting hours, we went back south along the coast to a place called St-Palais-sur-Mare and strolled along the seashore area. There were many guys fishing off the beach here and also dozens of these strange huts with nets suspended on cranes. The weather was quite stormy so nobody was actually fishing with these, but they sure are odd looking things. The souvenir shops in the town were full of models of these, so clearly quite a unique thing to the area. After a bracing walk, it was back to the gite and dinner washed down with a bottle of the local stuff. Every place you go you can buy Chateau bottle wines direct from the vineyards and many are quite delicious.
This morning it still looked a bit ominous out there so we studied the tourist guides and made a decision between going in to Bordeaux, where knowing it was Sunday, most things would be closed but very little traffic, or a trip down the Gironde Estuary area. Finally after bacon and egg, a couple of mugs of coffee, all the time watching the clouds, we plumped for the Gironde area.
We finally set off around 11 a.m. taking the little country roads out of the hamlet we are staying in. We came to a village called St Ciers with a Sunday market on the village square. Apparently these farmers markets are quite common with lovely fresh produce at way below shop prices, a very popular alternative for many.
We then went further south to Blaye, where there is a well preserved Citadel, built in the 1600 hundreds, originally to keep out the English. From the walls the views over the town of Blaye itself were lovely and within the walls there were many well preserved buildings, including this one with a beautiful garden. After stopping for hot chocolate and coffee we drove further along the coast to Bourg, another historic town on the Gironde estuary. Her we found a marina with some quite modern boats and this one old coaster that had clearly been sunk some considerable time ago. Around 4 p.m. it started to look a little black overhead so we headed back to a good book and another glass of wine, with the promise of steak and trimmings later.
Not much to report except for two days of rain. A bit unfortunate really as there are things to see and places to go, such as Bordeaux, which is only about 45 minutes drive but who wants to wander round historic sites in the persisting rain.
We have been driving around a little to see what we could but have also been doing the obvious, catching up on some reading with a glass or two of vino.
Last night we went to Jonzac, where we had spotted what looked like a very nice restaurant and were not disappointed, so that made up for being confined to barracks a little.
Let’s hope that tomorrow is a little brighter as it is our last full day
As the weather was a little unsettled and we are flying back from Poitier to Stansted tomorrow, we decided to move on further north so that we could maybe have a look around the town in the morning.
We found a Chambre de'Hote in the village of L'Abiye, right on the village square. We were offered a large family room to spread out in, with a nice big bathroom. Clearly it is end of season so the owner, Dean was happy to have guests. When you look at all the old stone buildings around the square you would not realise that the hotel garden was such a superb tranquil place at the rear. Dean is obviously very proud of his efforts and was very happy to let us wander at will.
Joan found a cuddle puss who belonged here also. All she wanted was to be picked up and made a great fuss of. What a beautiful Siamese.
The booking was B & B, so Dean told us to go across to the village Auberge on the other side of the square for dinner. There for 12 Euros, we had a three course meal that was superb, probably the best value for money whilst we have been here.
Well we made it back after two uneventful flights. One real cheapy from Poitier to Stansted and then the 7 hour haul back from UK after a night in a hotel at Stansted.
The washing machine hasn't stopped going yet and it looks like a busy week ahead with all the mail on the system for both of us. One disadvantage, maybe, was that we were unable to get internet connection whilst we were away, so now I have to find time to play catch-up on the website.
For those of you who have been waiting for the latest news, I'm sorry but my feet have not touched the ground since we got back. Anyway the rest of our French adventures are recorded in the September diary, plus a week early on here in October.
Now I also have been able to get the Cyprus Today and try to see what news is being reported.
First the bypass. Once again there is a small snag with cash to finish this off. The TRNC government says it will finish off the existing bit, if there is no more money coming from Turkey, but that it will not have the money to complete the link onto the existing Lefkosa/Girne road.
The North Cyprus Tourism Centre is demanding £70,000 from the Greek Cypriot government. This is to compensate for the expenses incurred when the Greek Cypriots succeeded in getting an exhibition cancelled at the Bull Ring in Birmingham, by lobbying the owners of the Ring. Clearly these things help relationships at this time.
There is considerable unrest about Central Bank statements concerning loans made to builders on land and property which has been sold to expats and others. We all know that things have slowed down, so builders are struggling to repay loans and the banks have issued a warning that suggests that homeowners could lose their homes if the banks are holding the deeds against these loans. Akan Gurkan, one of the leading solicitors here, says that it would not be easy for home buyers to lose their property and they could take the issue to court. He blamed the banks for allowing mortgages on land that they already knew had been sold on to home buyers.
Last Saturday, our first day back, we went to the BRS blood donor session at Girne hospital. Today the paper reports that the number of donors reached a record total of 111. The first time they have ever exceeded the 100 mark.
Well now it's back to the regular things for us. Last night we had Atay and Akille, Turkish Cypriot friends, for dinner. Guess they enjoyed it because it was 1 a.m. when they went home after a lovely evening together. Today we are off to have dinner at Anne Lloyd's and after last nights late one a welcome invitation.
Latest news, being told by us, before the blog sites start to spread rumours. Yes we are leaving the island but for very personal reasons.
We have had seven very enjoyable years here and the lifestyle has been superb. The social life here is second to non and we shall dearly miss that, when we eventually move away. We have made many friends, resident here and through this website and they shall all be missed, but we have recognised that it is time to move on.
Why you probably ask? Well those of you who know us, also know that we are just two. We are both war babies so to speak, with no brothers or sisters and no immediate family left and unfortunately we were never able to have children of our own. We are either already 70 years old or fast approaching this age and are likely to be in need of European type medical help in the future. Medical facilities here on the island really require you to go across to the mainland for any expertise, which is expensive, or even back to UK, heaven forbid. We have therefore decided to relocate to France.
During our working years we made many friends in UK and in particular in Holland, where we have a sort of adopted family that we have watched and helped through the last 35 years. France is a car drive or a cheap flight away from both these places and the climate in and around the Charente region is almost as good as here. Very important for the old bones and this complete retirement plan.
So if anybody wants to buy a villa, where the deeds are all in place and there is even a real telephone line, take a look at the website links to Estate Agents and tomorrow I will also put the detail and some pics on this site.
A sad day but we believe the right decision and I have also decided that I will keep the adventure going on this website. Too many people are involved in our life.
Joan has gone off to a SSAFA coffee morning. Anne Lloyd our friend has been involved with SSAFA for many years and now that she is on her own over here she has started to get even more involved. The object of the exercise is to raise money that can be used to help local ex soldiers when needed and start up a TRNC bank account for the organisation.
I am told by Joan on her return that they managed to raise over 500 YTL by selling homemade cakes and having a raffle. Joan in fact won the first prize in the raffle, but as it was the prize we had donated, she gave it back.
We have had any e-mails saying how much people will miss the website and how enjoyable it has been. We are very grateful for all these messages which are clearly so sincere. The bad news folks is that we have to sell the villa first so you will probably get a few more months of diaries yet.
We have put the villa on with multiple agencies to try to reach our asking price of £229,950. But of course if you come direct, I don't have to pay them so there can be room for negotiation in there. For those of you who don't know our home a brief summary.
It is 230 sq meters in total living space on two floors and is on 1.3 donums of land with all the deeds etc in our names, electric, water and even a telephone connection are all in place. The villa and pool are situated on a quiet road, what the French would call a Hamlet, that goes nowhere, so little through traffic. The gardens are easy maintenance and mostly drought free planting. There is a large terrace with a 10x5 overflow swimming pool, a superb outdoor dining area with BBQ and an underground water tank for domestic water that contains 7 tons, absolutely ideal in the present climate. Just in case you didn't see the first pic here is another view, which in fact shows you the big patio windows in the lounge. In fact the lounge is L shaped as you can see from another view and leads off a large hall and in the L shape there is a study/office. Off the lounge is a large breakfast room leading to the kitchen which of course comes fully fitted. Off the hallway is a separate dining room and side entrance in to the garage with a marble clad spiral staircase leading to the three large bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs. The master bedroom. is positively huge and has a fully fitted dressing room and the en-suite is to die for.
We will be sad to leave it but for good reasons we believe, so come on folks show some interest and help us to continue our dream in retirement. I promise that I will keep up a diary so that you can all see what happens in our new adventure. Oh yes, anybody coming from UK to buy, there is an 18 month old Honda Airwave estate car that can be included as part of the deal.
We had the first viewing on our villa this morning. A bit quicker than expected but suppose the luck of the draw. Suppose we will have to wait to see if there is a second viewing to assess if they liked it a bit.
This afternoon, Joan and I went over to Nicosia to see a a couple of friends there and tell them about our intention, then we crossed over the border to do first some shopping and then to Larnaca airport, to collect Arie, who is arriving from Holland. This is his sort of annual holiday which he uses to wind down for a couple of weeks and who can blame him, with a 13 year old son and 16 year old daughter to bring up on his own.
Traditionally, his Amsterdam flight always arrives at around 8.30 so that we can make it back here to Ezic Chicken for a very late dinner. Oh boy, this time he didn't land until almost 10 o'clock. We were all starving, so by the time he got his luggage there was only one place to go, under the big yellow M on the south side. A definite reminder as to why I never normally eat a Big Mac, or anything resembling it, but when you are very hungry it sort of satisfies a need.
Remembered to take the clocks back one hour this morning which was very welcome after the late night Friday and me needing to get up early Saturday to take the Bosch boys out to Esentepe.
Sat in bed to read the papers this morning before getting up to be breakfast chef, Arie has been waiting for his full English breakfast since last year.
Most of the paper is full of the same sort of thing that you are all reading in UK. Financial crisis world wide. Some senior bankers here are suggesting that the TRNC is slightly protected by its isolation, but we of course use the Turkish currency so money converted from pensions etc is of course subject to exchange rate fluctuations. The Turkish Lira went to 2.75 against the pound on Friday, bad for the economy, but a good day to draw money out of our UK account.
A leading TRNC banker is being highly critical of the government policies to claw back it's budget shortfall. He is suggesting that they are adding to the economic woes by increasing tax on everything to cover their budget deficit. I can't agree more with his findings, but as no member of government or the opposition has any experience in running anything how are they going to get it right. They still refuse to bring in any outside experience so guess they are going to stumble on and hopefully learn by their mistakes.
Here is an example of the sort of thinking we get. You will be able in future to get a discount on your vehicle road tax annually. How? Well if you are a good driver, with no motoring offences in 12 months you can get a discount of 10% and 20% if this applies for 24 months. In addition if your vehicle is between 5 and 10 years old you are entitled to a 15% discount, 10 to 15 years gets you 25% and over 15 years 30%. This came out of the department responsible for economy and planning. Should be good for the sale of 20 year old Renaults.
The two presidents are continuing to meet on a regular basis but now it is reported that TRNC President Talat has asked the leader of the South to stop calling him "Comrade" in meetings. Now how important is that? I still don't hold out much hope for these two without some serious external intervention from the rest of the world. Why does Europe or the rest of the world not ask the Turkish Cypriots what they want? For that matter why does the Turkish Cypriot propaganda machine not seem to be able to get through to the rest of the world.
Meantime, here on the island we continue to sit in the sun and enjoy the warm weather and outdoor eating and all the other things we have enjoyed for the last 7 years.
We are still receiving some very nice e-mails from people who have been reading this site for a few years. They all say, sorry to see you go.......but we have not gone yet, so keep watching for news of any sales progress. We have had one viewing already but didn't hear back from the agent so guess that one went away.
Anyway the other news is that the weather has changed. We took Arie in to Nicosia to look around the shops there, because he usually buys himself a couple of pairs on jeans every year, when here. We found a shop a couple of years ago, where one of the owners speaks Dutch, so of course have to go back there. We all three went across the border at the new checkpoint in the middle of Nicosia. This brings you straight in to the shopping areas in South Nicosia. We had a brief look around and then came back North to sit outside in the old town and have a doner kebab. We were just finishing this when it went suddenly cold and windy and very black. Made it back to the car just as the heavens opened and from then on in, right through the evening and the night, we had rain, thunder and lightening. Suppose it is my fault really as we went down to have the car washed yesterday.
The heavy rain didn't prevent "Boys Night Out" from going ahead as usual, we just had to run a little harder between the car and the Ravine Bar.
Started off very black this morning as a follow on from yesterdays much needed rain, but as the day progressed the weather cleared up quite a bit. Arie and I went down town and booked, weather permitting, for him to have leap off the mountain with the paragliding people. This should happen on Saturday morning, so you can expect some pics.
By the time we got back to Lapta the day had improved considerably, the sunshine is back to normal and the rain clouds have gone away.
This evening, Pat and Bryan cooked dinner for the three of us. A lovely beef and mushroom pie with of course all the trimmings, yummy.
Arie and I took a trip down town again today, me to go to the bank etc and Arie just for the trip out and a wander around the shops in Girne. He did manage to buy a Kawasaki jacket for his son, which will go down really well when he gets home.
This evening, seven of us went to the old Rendezvous restaurant, which is now renamed The Grape Garden. Guess they were quite pleased that we turned up, as apart from some local family, we were the only customers. The meal was very good with some meze dishes being served up as a starter, a nicely cooked main dish and a plate of fresh fruit with coffee and brandy to finish. With the beers and wine etc that was drunk by us all the bill came out at £14.00 per head, not bad value for money.
The whole family Rodd, who have a villa in Catalkoy, are over on holiday and had called us to say they wanted to come and catch up on the news. We all met at Ezic Premier on the new bypass, a sort of half way house for us all.
They wanted to hear about our French adventures and to tell us that they are also planning to come over here permanently by next July. We can expect them over again in February to do a little more planning.
A nice evening and as always the food there is of a high standard.
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