prayer from the town mosques.
We motored 45 miles in next to no wind, knowing that we'd be tied up in
port by the time the local afternoon breeze would start – but that is
the nature of a rally schedule. Grin and bear it.
On arrival at Kemer marina we were pushed and squeezed into Alchemy's
old winter berth, but only got halfway in as there wasn't quite enough
room. We tied up as best we could and can climb over our neighbours boat
to the dock. They really know how to pack a lot of boats into all
available spaces here. It was searingly hot, 31 degrees now, so we are
swimming every day now, even if the water is a little bit chilly.
This evening we had a group meeting to be informed of the schedule for
the next 3 days, and what is expected of us. Then followed by a cocktail
party hosted by the marina, with free drinks for several hours. Lovely
Jubbly.
There was little food, so Stu cooked up some pasta later with fresh
herbs that we picked on the walk in Kekova. We both woke up next morning
covered in allergic hives which still persist 4 days later. That will
teach us to try and get free food!
First activity of the day, outdoor games, consisting of skipping
contest, balloon run, egg tossing (uncooked), pass-the-line-and-shackle
through your clothes, and tug-of-war. We were all competing in our
groups, designed as a little team building exercise I imagine. Stu and
John, our group leader won the egg toss, but yellow group lost most of
our other events, so much for the team building!!
John, our 'yellow' leader
That night was our first posh rally dinner at the Turkiz hotel on the
beach front. It was a gorgeous setting – and we had to be in our best
bib and tucker. It's amazing the frocks that people keep on board small
boats! Stu was then given the news that he is the only token kiwi in the
rally this year, so he gets to be a flag officer at every formal event.
This means that we have to carry an enormous kiwi flag and pole on
board, and present it at every function and Stu has to say thanks for
your hospitality on behalf of NZ. He is learning it in Maori to impress.
I think it might be the only Maori he has ever spoken. Each rally dinner
is attended by the sponsors and owners of the marinas, and often the
local mayor or town representative, so these flag ceremonies are taken
very seriously.
Normally the flag is passed from boat to boat of each nationality to
share to burden, but as the token kiwi he gets to keep to honour for the
whole rally.
There are several tours organised at each stop. From Kemer we took a
heavily subsidised trip up the Tahtali cable car, to the top of the snow
capped peak we have been looking at all winter from Finike. Next year,
we aim to walk up it before the snows start – it is 3000m! Anyone want
to join us?
After the cable car we went to Phaselis, an old Lycian town and later
Roman port where ships were built. It was founded in 690BC, and became
an important trading town visited by Alexander the Great in 333BC and
Emporor Hadrian in 129AD. There are impressive remains there today,
though a lot of people had trouble concentrating on what the guide was
telling us for some reason......
Trilingual signs in Turkish, English and Russian demonstrate that the
Kemer area is very popular with rich Russian tourists. One of the rally
boats had their credit card ripped off and cloned (from a high street
bank ATM). By the time they could report is missing in the bank the next
day it was already in Moscow, and had spent 1800 euros.
I've included some pictures here of nearby Olympos, an idyllic and
relatively unexcavated Lycian city with a beach front location, and the
Chimaera, a bizarre and unique phenomenon where a mixture of combustible
gases leak out through holes in the rockside, and ignite on contact with
the air. What the ancients thought of this, one can only imagine. It has
been burning continuously throughout history. When covered and
extinguished it will spontaneously re-ignite again on contact with air.
There are no barriers, you pay your 3 Lira and walk up a track for a
couple of kilometres, and you can sit right in front of the fires, just
like in your living room! Just imagine how many people through the ages
have warmed themselves in this spot, and camped by a natural gas flame.
We visited these sites earlier in the year, but they missed the earlier
blog.
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