Turkey 2016

Turkey 2016

Having heard about a fire in the Yat Marin where we had left White Rose 1, we were not surprised to return to find her grubby.  The local rain drops contain fine orange dust so that mixed with what appeared black sticky soot (a very fine layer) meant a lot of scrubbing for someone.  The inside of the boat was pristine – always good to return to no mould, bugs or dust.

Whilst White Rose 1 was still safely tied up in her winter dock we booked an overnight tour to visit Ephesus, Pamukkale and Heirapolis.

Ephesus

The ancient city of Ephesus had a succession of empires—Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine and, finally, Ottoman.  The city always remained one of the most vibrant metropolises of the ancient world housing nearly 300,000 people at its height in the second century A.D.  Its busy seaport ferried goods from Asia to Greece, Italy and beyond.





Ephesus' greatest claim to fame was its temple to the goddess Artemis.  One of the "seven wonders" of the ancient world, it was almost four times larger than the Parthenon in Athens.  According to the New Testament, the Apostle Paul preached in Ephesus, prompting a riot led by silversmiths who crafted shrines to the goddess and feared for both their livelihoods and the future of the temple.







Today,  a few columns are all that remain of the temple.   At the site is a three-tiered theatre, built into the slope of a hill and once seated 25,000.  Just outside the city stands the Church of Saint John, built in the fourth century over the evangelist's presumed tomb and expanded into a basilica some 200 years later.  Southwest of the modern day city, Selçuk, stands the house where the Virgin Mary is believed to have lived.



Our tour guide brought the city to life with many historical facts and amusing stories.

Pamukkale

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Pamukkale literally means “Cotton Castle” in Turkish. Pamukkale sits on a cliff side almost 200 metres high and overlooks the plains of Cürüksu in South-West Turkey. Calcite­laden thermal springs originating from the cliff have created a series of waterfalls and dazzling white terraced basins. The terraces have formed a semi­circular step­like formation, ranging from less than 1 metre in height to over 6 metres, and contain pools filled with warm 35°C water.

  



Don and I visited the site in the late afternoon and watched the sun go down displaying colourful reflections on the white terraces.  Whilst enjoying the sight a bride, groomsman and photographer appeared – they particularly wanted a photo of the bride in front of the terraces in the waning light with her long veil gently flowing out behind her as though a gentle breeze had collected the fine material and raised it up to float gently back down.  No breeze appeared so Don was organised to do the job (all hand signals from the photographer as they did not speak English).  Being a man Don grabbed two handfuls of the delicate fabric and chucked it up in the air – it was so funny.  The veil fell before Don could get out of the frame and I am sure the photographer had to delete many photos with Don trying to make a hasty retreat.  

Upon returning to our hotel we soaked in the thermal pool, supposedly in health beneficial mineral water – it was wonderfully warm.

Hierapolis

The next day after a huge Turkish breakfast we were transported to the top of the hill and given a talk on the ancient Greek – Roman city of Hierapolis, the name meaning “sacred city”.  This World Heritage site is remarkably well preserved and we spent hours walking around the baths, temple ruins, a monumental arch, a nymphaeum, a cathedral, several churches, a necropolis and the remains of the best preserved ancient theatre in Turkey.  

Hierapolis, founded by the Attalid kings of Pergamom at the end of the 2nd century B.C., at the site of an ancient cult.  Its hot springs were also used for scouring and drying wool.  Ceded to Rome in 133 B.C., Hierapolis flourished, reaching its peak of importance in the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D., having been destroyed by an earthquake in 60 A.D. and rebuilt.  Following the acceptance of Christianity by the emperor Constantine and his establishment of Constantinople as the ‘new Rome’ in 330 A.D., the town was made a bishopric.  As the place of St. Philip’s martyrdom in 80 A.D., commemorated by his Martyrium building in the 5th century, Hierapolis with its several churches became an important religious centre for the Eastern Roman Empire.

The combination of striking natural formations and the development of a complex system of canals, bringing the thermal water to nearby villages and fields, is exceptional. The springs are the source of a hydraulic system extending 70 km northwest to Alasehir and westwards along the valley of the Menderes River. Pamukkale forms an important backdrop to the original Greco-Roman town of Hierapolis and the cultural landscape which dominates the area.

The next few hours were spent slowly wandering down the Pamukkale travines stopping to bath in every pool.  The white was blinding but absolutely spectacular.


Returning to the cleaning of White Rose 1 was a bit of a let down.  A few days later we left the marina and began our lengthy trip of a few hundred metres into the anchorage.  The next few weeks were spent between two anchorages, the one near Yat Marin was peaceful with wooded shore the other was the town anchorage which was busy, lumpy with passing traffic, radiant at night with all the coloured lights on shore and music.  All with the added benefit of shops just a short dinghy ride away.


We finally decided to leave our comfort zone and head out for places yet unknown – we set sail for the next bay south to visit Gocek and Fethiye.  This large bay is simply beautiful, hundreds of small bays hidden in pine forests where boats can spend wonderful days.  Islands scattered around with mooring balls placed to enable boats to enjoy the beautiful scenery, calm waters and quiet without having to anchor in deep water.  In the past few days we have been visited by the bread boat,  the market boat, the ice cream boat, watched the rubbish collection boat go past and also the black water pump out  boat – today we watched the pancake boat go past – most of these are small dinghies with an ancient outboard and nan and pop selling goods.  

We could stay indefinitely.

Australia 2015

Australia Dec 15 - April 16

Christmas concert Alannah was the best raindeer

Our time at home was wonderful, fun, exciting, sad and full of cuddles.  A busy time with children, grandchildren and puppies.  I shall allow the photos to tell the story.

Alannah cooking dinner.

Alannah cooking dinner.

Alannah cooking dinner.

Alannah cooking dinner.

Alannah making bread

Charli

Our birthday girl

They make pinatas unbreakable

Our housesit friends

Our housesit friends

Don and Corey  Adelaide

Lia - so beautiful

Lia airborne

Look at me nanny

Poppy doing babysitting duties with his rum and coke

Phillippa and Lia

Another ribbon, congratulations Chloe

Amber-Lee was wet more than she was dry on this camping weekend

Poppy and Amber-Lee just chilling out

Puppies, aren't I cute !!

Puppies

Puppies, dad trying to figure out what it is

Puppies, so who is drinking more than their share !

Camping in Wombat State Forest, Vic

Turkey - 2015

Turkey

We sailed from Kos, Greece to Bodrum, Turkey – literally just across the way – about 2 hours sailing.  We checked in at Bodrum whose marina fees left us floored, understandably we only stayed 1 night, then began exploring South.

We fell in love with Turkey from the moment we sailed into the first bay.  Whilst Greek Islands are amazing we were there during the hottest part of the year which made life uncomfortable – we rarely went exploring ashore as it was too hot – the islands we visited were made up of grey rock with little vegetation so heat radiated, to arrive in a heavily wooded bay with small alcoves dotted around just large enough for a few boats was heaven – so beautiful and it smelled like pine.  


The local “gullets” were hidden in almost every bay – a gullet is a traditional design of a two-masted or three-masted wooden sailing vessel, varying in size from 14 to 35 metres.  Gullets are mainly used in the tourist trade – you can go for a day excursion or several nights to several weeks on these beautiful boats.

Departing from one country and arriving at another is always exciting with a little apprehension thrown in – we had read about severe penalties in Turkey for discharge of black water (toilet) and grey water (shower), a boat must go to a “pumpout” station regularly.  To ensure yachties comply a “blue card” must be purchased upon arrival (fine for not having a blue card is high).  Each pump out is electronically recorded on the blue card which coast guard will expect to view from time to time.  The Coast Guard take note of the number of people aboard, the capacity of your holding tanks and decide how often you need to pump out.  The idea is excellent but unfortunately the rules and fines were put in place before the infrastructure – finding a pump out station that is situated on a dock which can be accessed is not that easy – some bays do not have any facilities at all and will happily process your blue card, take the fee for pump out and send you on your way with full holding tanks – gotta love Turkey.

The next few weeks were spent exploring the Carian coast, Gokova Gulf, Golf of Hisaronu, Sombeki Korfezi and into Marmaris where Yat Marin, our winter marina is situated.

Much to our delight our good friend, Janet, decided to visit us during her tour of the EU.  With all the bad press about Turkey, Janet decided to fly into Rhodes, Greece.  Don and I caught a fast ferry across to Rhodes and the three of us spent 1 day exploring the island before returning to the boat.  Janet did not quite understand the terminology of “our boat will be at anchor”.  We arrived back at the boat currently tied up safe and sound in Yat Marin, told Janet to enjoy her one and only shower, stocked up on fresh food and took the boat out to anchor in the bay.  Once Janet realised we really were going to anchor out in the middle of the bay her face was priceless but being a great sport she began to enjoy the dinghy rides to shore to get groceries, the shower which consisted of a swim around the boat with a quick fresh water wash off – the best was the gin & tonic at the end of the day while watching the world pass us by.

We took advantage of Janet’s visit to book a trip to Daylan.  Unfortunately (for me) the trip was via boat but being large and a calm day all was good.  We stopped inside a tiny island and transferred to a small motor boat then taken along invisible paths through the salt marshes to a beautiful inland town.

  
Further on are the mud baths – you jump into a mud pool, coat yourself with it, wait a while for it to bake on, walk to the communal outdoor showers to wash off, line up to have a fire hose ensure every last drop of mud has been removed then jump into a thermal pool – supposedly at the completion of this exercise you will look 30 years younger – it definitely works – Janet and I were drop dead gorgeous at the end of it all – Don will confirm this.  



Janet was flying out of Istanbul for the next leg of her holiday so we all jumped on a local plane and spent 2 nights in Istanbul before we parted company.  It was a quick tour of Old Town, Istanbul. Janet’s friend had visited the area a short time ago and sent us a list of what to see.  What a wonderful day –

Blue Mosque – The temple is stunning with its six minarets and enchanting Iznik tiles. There are over 22.000 pieces of blue hand-made tiles decorating the interior walls of the mosque.

Hagia Sophia & Museum – one of the biggest temples in the world for nearly 1000 years.

The dark curves of the dome meeting the bright gold of the mihrab in a space so expansive I had to marvel at the mathematics or engineering or whatever it was that kept the dome from caving in on my head.   Originally built as a Greek Orthodox Church by the Romans, the massive temple had been the biggest Christian church of the world for centuries.   Saint Sophia is one of the very few places in the world where you can experience the marvellous Byzantine mosaics along with the mysterious Islamic calligraphy.





Basilica Cistern - Underground Cistern: Sunken Palace
The enormous underground cistern was built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527 – 565).  With marble columns rising from the water level it was nick named “The Sunken Palace” by the public.  The cistern is 140m in length, 70m wide and a gigantic rectangular shape.  It contains 336 columns at 9m height each.  The ceilings weight is distributed to the columns through arches.  The cistern has a  capacity of 100,000 tons of water storage.  Two Medusa heads are used as plinths and are surrounded in myths as to why they are placed there.
This underground water cistern was the major water reservoir of Constantinople. The water was transported from the Belgrade Forest by the immense Byzantine aqueducts.

Grand Bazaar – A paradise for shoppers with its 66 streets and over 4000 shops. It is the biggest covered market in the world.  We didn’t get lost but in hindsight probably stayed in one corner of the huge shopping complex, very close to our exit.

  

Hippodrome Square -   It is very much like an open-air museum with various monuments from different eras. Hippodrome was originally the stadium where Roman chariot races took place and proudly displays a 3500 year old Egyptian Obelisk.


Topkapi Sarayi Palace
Construction of the Topkapı Palace begun in the year 1460 and completed at 1478.  Palace was built on a 700,000 square meter area. Topkapı Palace, was the administrative, educational and art centre of the Empire for nearly four hundred years since Mehmed the Conqueror until Sultan Abdulmecid who is the thirty-first Sultan. Although the Palace was abandoned by the Ottoman Dynasty during middle 19th century, Topkapı Palace has preserved its importance.

After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, Topkapı Palace, was transformed into a museum in 1924 and was also the first museum of the Republic of Turkey. Today Topkapı Palace Museum covers approximately 400,000 square metres.

We had a wonderful time with Janet on board and really appreciated her taking the time to visit us.

As with most countries in this area, we are allowed to visit for 90 days then must leave for a minimum of 90 days.  Turkey offers a “Residents Permit” which allows yachties and expats to stay in Turkey.  A requirement of the Permit is health insurance which is expensive.  We decided to go home instead so tied White Rose 1 securely in a berth in Yat Marina, Marmaris.  This marina was the most popular for many years, we were told about its extensive social life over winter and many yachties had returned each year.  Sadly the marina put their fees up which excluded normal yachties whom went further down the coast to Finike – seeing the results of their 200% price hike the marina dropped their price again.  There used to be over 250 liveaboards in the marina each winter – we found 5 and the marina only filled to 60% capacity.  Staying in Yat Marin was like living in a boatyard – noisy with the travel lifts constantly lifting and splashing boats, the enormous boat yard is mainly dirt/dust which blows over the boats tied to the docks.  Boats are squashed in very tight so your neighbours are one fender away – that equates to about 30cm between boats so no privacy, it is difficult to even wash your boat down without wetting your neighbour who no doubt has hatches open and washing on the lines.  The bonus of the marina is it was very well serviced by the local dolmus (mini bus) and a 8 km trip into town costs $1.50.

Marmaris town is vibrant, touristy and fun – during winter it closes down almost completely.  It is a popular holiday destination for the Brits – Thomas Cook flys direct from UK to Dalaman, the airport that services Marmaris – these flights stop early October and all the hotels and tourist shops close at the same time.  Another bonus with our marina is “tin plate dinner”.  The marina has a large canteen which offers cheap meals to the workers – guests in the marina are also welcome to attend.  The marina does boast a restaurant, swimming pool, bar, reading room etc. but we loved tin plate dinners.  The menu is printed a week in advance in both English and Turkish even so the meals are open to interpretation – a “roast chicken dinner” is not what we are used to.  The meals are dished up on very large tin plates with dents for various foods – soup, salad, main and the usual dessert is yogurt.  Tea is available and as much bread as you can eat – the meals were filling and plentiful and no washing up !