Yesterday, as we joined Joanne, Tom and 3 of their friends on a boat, travelled down the Dalyan river through the reeds, past the fish gate, watched a tour operator feed a giant Caretta-Caretta (Loggerhead) turtle blue swimmer crabs and then went over the bar and out to sea, I thought I should share with you some of our experiences in living in a village in Turkey. We went along the length of Turtle Beach (protected as the last beach used by Carettas for laying their eggs), grounded on a small sandy beach in a sheltered bay, swam, drank, ate our bbq fish and swam again before coming home. On the way back, we passed a large 3 masted sailing boat on a Mediterranean cruise and 4 large boats that had made the 3 hour journey ... read more

I left off with the camera full of Permukkale water! Six days in a sealed container of rice and 2 days drying in a warm room with an occasional blast of hot air from a hairdryer worked magic and the camera seems fine. The long term story may be different but I'll worry about that later. We are just back in Dalyan after a great visit to Cappadoccia in Central Turkey. No driving this time. We went by dolmus (mini bus) to the local centre, a bigger bus to Antalya, a plane to Kayceri, a luxury pick-up car to Goreme and then a variety of mini buses to see the area over 3 days. It is quite spectacular – luna and eerie with thousands of houses , monasteries and churches carved into the rocks. Traces of ... read more

Turkey... how can we give you an idea of this diverse and fascinating country? NUMBER ONE: Turks smile broadly when they find out we are Aussies and then tell you about their aunty in Sydney, uncle in Melbourne or girlfriend in Canberra - that's before they try to sell you something!! But they do it so nicely.... PRECONCEIVED IDEAS: The little we have seen has been amazing and we keep learning new things as we go. For instance, we always thought it a dry country, but Turkey exports lots of water to arid neighbours and in the south we got used to seeing standpipes near roads pouring water all day and night - to release the pressure apparently. Closer to Istanbul we saw many green and verdant fields with fat cows and goats. As drought conditions ... read more

I added a short video ( to see if I could) and to show you the waterfront at Hvar below the castle. Your virtual trip are getting more realistic all the time!! Fom Hvar, we went by fast ferry to Split on the mainland and to Diocletian's Palace. What an amazing place, over 18 centuries old. Our apartment, on the top floor and on the edge of the Roman palace, faced the water with foot thick walls on 2 sides. We picked up a car the next day and drove up the coast of Croatia to another Roman town, Zadar and through mountainous country into Slovenia. On the second day we did a quick circuit of the capital Lubjianna and onto Bled, a fantastic lakeside town. After the mountains and rocky hillsides, the water and the ... read more

In the two weeks since we left Sydney we've seen and done a lot. In fact this is the first chance I've had to take breath and write about our journey so far. Our first stopover was in Dubai for four nights. It was hot (but not as extreme as it can get in summer) there but well airconditioned -even the bus stops are cooled. Our accommodation was great. We had decided against one of the high rise tower hotels that abound in Dubai and booked into the Orient Guest House, a B&B in the Bastakiya area of Dubai. It was south of the creek that divides the city, in the oldest part of town, in an area settled originally by traders in the 1800's. The Dubai government had restored the original buildings across about a ... read more