Turkey turkey gobble gobble - Part 1

Our first bite of Turkey in Marmaris left a distinct Pommy taste in our mouths. During summer this seaside town is overrun by those sunburnt chavs from the Mother Land drawn to the cheap "five course meals", pebble beaches and sports bars named after famous football stadiums. To make transitioning to a crazy foreign land easier, the Turks even offer all prices in Pounds… which really doesn't help all the other non-pommy travellers. All negativity aside, it was here that we experienced our first Turkish Bath. It was time to strip down, jump in the sauna before being rubbed down by burly turkish men, before being fully cleaned with bubbles. We also chose to indulge in some much needed foot care and I continued my love affair with the old school barber shave. Luckily our stay was short lived as we headed further down the coast to Fethiye.

Fethiye was one of the first "must-do's" of our Turkey adventure due to a friends enthusiastic referral. Although not the most happening town, we did base ourselves in a cool hostel and made a bee-line for all the highly recommended day trips. The highlight had to be our visit to Saklikent Gorge where we donned sexy rubber shoes to wade through the icy water. 

Our biggest disappointed of our day trips came when we were informed that OBVIOUSLY Turtle Beach would have no turtles. I guess I must of missed the subtleness in the name… sad face. Luckily our next day out provided the perfect remedy for my blues… a WATER SLIDE!! Because we both hadn't spent enough time relaxing in the sun, we decided to do a full-day boat cruise to the 12 Islands surrounding Fethiye. My only stipulation… our boat had to be the one with a  huge water slide. Winner winner! Good lazy day out. 

From Fethiye we decided to take the scenic route and jump onboard a Blue Cruise and sail our way to Olympos... and by sail, I mean sit on my bum and tan. With a great crew and crazy captain on board we embarked on a few relaxing days skirting the coast. In between swim stops, water sports and extreme relaxation we visited butterfly valley (yes… again NO butterflies), blue lagoon, a sunken roman city, Kas and a pirate cave just to name a few. At night we all got to know each other after a few drinks, games and magic tricks and had many an awkward laugh at our crazy captain. The poor fella has been out at sea too long and needs to work on his Romeo and social skills. The last night ended in drama with Simon from our boat teaching us all how NOT to swim at night, gaining himself 25 stitches and a tea cosy pressure hat in the process. Sometimes its hard to not laugh. The final morning we docked at Andriace harbour before visiting even more ruins on our way to Olympos. 

Most visitors to Olympos are there for the super relaxed hippy vibe and to stay in the treehouse hostels.  Once again Turkey lead me astray with the "tree houses" really being wooden huts… sometimes in the air. I guess In a way they were made from a tree… but I still feel jooped! As you walk to the beach you pass some amazing ruins scattered amongst the forest - pretty cool. Not far form here are the underwhelming natural eternal flame. I was envisioning a flamethrower off the top of a mountain, but alas it amounted to nothing more than a few camp-fire sized bun toasters. Not worth the night-time trek up the mountain.

From Olympos we made the quick jump up to Antalya for a few days. Unfortunately not long after arriving we received the terrible news that Edwina's grandfather Jack had passed away. Plans were quickly re-organised and flights booked for her to head home in a few days time. Obviously this was a very upsetting time for her and the whole family and a very sad ending to an amazing trip. In an attempt to remain upbeat we continued further north to Goreme in the famous Cappadocia region of Turkey. 

This area has many unique geological, historic and cultural features, so with no time to spare we jumped onboard a day tour to let Edwina see as much as she could! I would describe this place as a geologists wet dream... and I should know because I lived with Scrim and Couch Dave long enough to see what got their rocks... okay I'll stop the joke now. Truly amazing country side with amazing mountains, volcanos and odd rock formations. Rock on! (Please delete this paragraph is bad jokes offend)

Highlights included the amazing underground city, originally built to protect the population from invaders, Ihlara Valley, Selime Monastery and Pigeon Valley. It was a big day full of amazing natural beauty. 

We were up early the next day to squeeze in my belated birthday present… HOT AIR BALLOONING!!! It was an amazingly beautiful way to spend our last morning together. Edwina had to then rush to the airport to spend at least one day in Istanbul, where she managed to squeeze in all the "must do" sights. 

After listening to Alanis Morissette on repeat for a good four hours… the lone wolf was born. I guess this marks a turning point, and probably a decline in readers, for this blog. For those dedicated "Team Edwina's" out there, I must remind you that with her departure I now have even more time to come up with the witty humour you all love so much. 

All jokes aside, it will be hard to finish up Turkey without my favourite travel and life companion as this was always meant to be "her country". Alas, there are people, places and pleasures (non sexual) to enjoy to lets get amongst it! I must apologise in advance because editing of the blog was always her role… so good luck reading from now on. 

Anyways, I was lucky enough to have some new friends to keep me company and I enjoyed a lovely last dinner out with Dan, Emily and the Garbarino family. The next day I kept busy on another day trip, taking in the beautiful Goreme Open Air Museum, small local villages, Pasabag Monk Valley and Devrent Valley. We also visited a local ceramics factory where I almost impulse purchased way too many bowls. Close call. 

After more chilling out, I eventually made my way to the airport and did the cross country jump to Izmir. But you'll have to wait to see what all the fuss is about over there... 

My next blog will be the first tale of the lone wolf and his european adventures. Never fear, there is plenty more Turkey to come yet… and it's only getting more moist. On a side note, my good friend Cody informed me turkey meat has a natural sedative called tryptophan in it that makes you sleepy… I sure hope my Turkey blog doesn't contain it to. Gobble Gobble - happy reading.

Greek Island hoping - sun, stones, smiles

Ahoy my potentially pasty readers, this is your tanned captain writing. After a wet (rain) departure from Split, we were glad to hit the heat of Greece. Our first stop was Greece's turbulent capital Athens. We managed to time our stay well with taxis and other transport options striking. Luckily we were only in town for a short while and managed to check out the Acropolis, city centre and a few other random ancient monuments (as you do). From here we jumped a ferry and began our island hopping with a stay in pumpin' Mykonos.

We based ourselves right in the middle of the craziness of the nightclubs at Paradise Beach. Every night there was a top-notch DJ spinning the decks. Unfortunately our Greek dealer was also on strike with his taxi buddies, so we didn't party TOO hard while we were there.

All jokes aside, we did spend most of our time hitting the beach and enjoying the sunshine. We also hired the World's weakest quad bike and explored Mykonos town and a few more secluded and quieter beaches. Island highlights included my four gyros in a day gorge and feeling the wind on my scalp as we prayed our 50CC quad would make it up the hill.

Our next hop was over to the amazing Santorini and another week of relaxation, sun and smiles. We stayed out near Parissa Beach and its scorching hot black sand. During a day trip we got to explore a few of the surrounding small islands, semi active volcano, before watching the breathtaking sunset from Oia (northern tip of Santorini).

Highlight of the day, besides the beautiful sunset, was the interesting donkey ride up the steep cliffs surrounding the island. Edwina enjoyed it so much she had two!

After picking up some fellow Aussie travellers we quickly formed a bad arse quad bike gang to terrorise locals and tourists alike. We had learnt from our first attempt and upgraded to the 220CC bike and tore the island apart! During the day our crew of Brad, Tara, Mel, Edwina and I beach jumped along the island checking out the Red beach and Kamari before cruising into Fira town for dinner.

The next day Brad and I hit up a scuba dive in a near by reef before spending the afternoon napping under umbrellas at the beach. We so bad arse.

It was sad to say goodbye to Santorini and our new pals, but there was no time to wait before we next hopped on over to our final island Rhodes. We were only staying for a short time so we quickly explored the old town, with traditional castle walls, and walked along the waterfront. The island definitely had a very different feel than both Mykonos and Santorini but made for an enjoyable stay.

From here we jumped a short ferry to our next country the delicious, well based and stuffed Turkey!

Ahoy - Sailing Croatia

Ahoy merry readers and welcome to the first of our nautical themed updates. After wrapping up in beautiful Budapest, it was time to once again work on our "brown bear tan" and hit the sand (or pebbles in the case of Europe).

Traveling on what can only be described as a relic from communist eras past, we arrived in Croatia's capital Zagreb. Often missed by travellers making a bee-line to the coast, we decided to spend a few nights to explore the city. Overall a pretty nice city with a lovely main square but nothing to really get the travellers pulse pumping. 

From here we boarded a more comfortable train and headed for the coastal city of Split. With pirate hat packed the next day we took off on the adventure that would be forever known as, Pogled: the little boat that could - The Sail Croatia story.

After eventually finding our little boat Pogled we set sail for our first port, Hvar. A few of us took a little while to find our sea legs, but did arrive safe the first night without any men (or women) over board. In Hvar we had a quick swim before hitting up some dinner and drinks before bar hopping the night away. It was with heavy hearts later that night when we had to board our little dingy instead of the multi-million dollar super yachts parked beside us. Cruel. 

The days were spent lounging on deck chatting with the crew and catching the rays. At night we would stop at different ports and have some time to check out the different islands.

We took off in the morning for our next stop Trstenik…. but we ended up spending most of the day at the petrol station! Woo petrol party! Our little boat was having a tough day so we got to take in the beautiful sites surrounding the petrol pump, stock up on snack food and practice our boat diving. Eventually we did get back under way and make it to port. 

The following day was definitely a highlight as we sailed into Dubrovnik and had the afternoon free to explore. After checking out the amazing old town, we sweated up a storm and walked the few kilometres of city walls which surround the entire old town. The views were unbelievable!! We finished off with a quick dip in the ocean as we watched the crazies cliff dive. 

After a quick spruce up back at the boat, the whole boat crew got together and hit the old town and tore it apart. Many buckets of booze and late night hot chips were consumed. There was also matching t-shirts and a sneaky floor/vomit straw sipping. My rock paper scissor skills came in handy to avoiding losing that bet and drinking!

The next day we travelled to the smaller island of Mljet for some more relaxing. We decided on a slightly "quiet one" and enjoyed Chefs amazing cooking skills for dinner. Still amazing how that man managed to cook anything in a kitchen the size of a cupboard. He also managed to be a deck hand, DJ, bar tender and first aid medic. What can't he do?!

Anywho's, the next day our crazy captain avoided all sensible advice and pushed our little boat through some crazy arse waves while the bigger better boats stayed in port. Poor Edwina spent more than a few hours hugging the toilet bowl and praying for calm waters. I believe at one stage she may of been hit on the head by the toilet seat… poor thing. I fared better but did remain stuck up on top deck of the boat by myself, chilling out and rolling around on the floor to avoid flying overboard. BUT WE MADE IT!!! There were high fives… tears… champaign. Well okay not really, but we were all very much glad to get there in one piece.  

After arriving at the birthplace of Marco Polo (Yep… as in the awesome pool game and some explorer dude), we swam and explored their old town (Everywhere in Europe seems to have an "old town").  We had another lovely family dinner before we went back to the boat for a few sneaky pre drinks. This ended up in an epic few games of Kings with people drinking out of shoes on top of a garbage bin and drinking jager shots filtered through used underwear. Keeping it classy! 

I then got dragged into a quick 5 minute game of "7,11, doubles", the most potent drinking game ever, before we all hit the town. Somehow we all made it  to the local pubs and the night disintegrated into a one litre cocktail blur. At one stage I convinced the bar tender that we had an arrangement if I returned my giant cup, I'd get a shot. He agreed. It was a bad decision on my behalf. Fail. Good times were had though! Unfortunately a few of the crew suffered some party injuries, but thankfully we all managed to be on board to leave the next morning. What troopers!

The final and one of the most beautiful islands we "hopped" to was Makarska. Highlight of this place was definitely the footpath drinking games (once again keeping it classy) and the Deep nightclub, which is INSIDE A CAVE!! Right on the waterfront, it offers beautiful views and other cave-like scenery. Was definitely something different and a lot of fun. 

We then finally returned to Split where we had to say goodbye to our new friends. Super sad face. We managed to squeeze in one final family dinner before we all had to go our separate ways. Lots of good eggs on that boat, which really made all the difference. 

We may not of had the best looking boat, but the people on board definitely made the difference… and by that I mean we were all ridiculously good looking. It didn't hurt that we had the 1st runner up of Ms Croatia 2011 on board. Unfortunately for the single fellas she was the captains girlfriend!

Anywho's Edwina and I had a few more days in Split to explore before we flew out to our next nautical adventure, the Greek Islands! I'll get working on the next blog, and my tan, right away.