After we eventually pulled ourselves away from Bodrum's Voyage resort Rhi and I said our goodbyes as Sarah and Pete returned to Perth, via London. We decided to return to Fethiye, where we had left the cruise. We checked into a handy hostel there and walked the streets before smashing a night rooftop dinner overlooking the large harbour full of spectacular vessels. The next day we bussed out to Saklikent Gorge. Here we had lunch on the riverbank before tubing down the cold river and stopped for a mudbath. Before heading back we walked into the gorge checking out the cliff faces and top-shelf waterfalls. That night we went to the well known Fethiye fish market. A large rectangular courtyard setup with all the fresh seafood being sold in a building at its centre. You start here by purchasing your choice of catch. They clean and filet it for you and then you choose one of the several surrounding outdoor restaurants which all offer the same thing. They cook your choice of seafood to perfection and then serve it up with salad and garlic bread for all of AUD$3. Very cool setup! The next day was very lazy considering we had 30 odd hours of travel awaiting us on the way to Morocco.
May 19, 2012
Fethiye
After we eventually pulled ourselves away from Bodrum's Voyage resort Rhi and I said our goodbyes as Sarah and Pete returned to Perth, via London. We decided to return to Fethiye, where we had left the cruise. We checked into a handy hostel there and walked the streets before smashing a night rooftop dinner overlooking the large harbour full of spectacular vessels. The next day we bussed out to Saklikent Gorge. Here we had lunch on the riverbank before tubing down the cold river and stopped for a mudbath. Before heading back we walked into the gorge checking out the cliff faces and top-shelf waterfalls. That night we went to the well known Fethiye fish market. A large rectangular courtyard setup with all the fresh seafood being sold in a building at its centre. You start here by purchasing your choice of catch. They clean and filet it for you and then you choose one of the several surrounding outdoor restaurants which all offer the same thing. They cook your choice of seafood to perfection and then serve it up with salad and garlic bread for all of AUD$3. Very cool setup! The next day was very lazy considering we had 30 odd hours of travel awaiting us on the way to Morocco.
Bodrum
The boat dropped us at Fethiye and we bussed 4 hours up the coast to the resort town of Bodrum. Sarah had done some fine homework and she checked us into Voyage. This was my first all inclusive experience. Definitely not my last! We relaxed for just over a day before deciding to lengthen our stay from 3 to 5 nights. This place had all you needed for AUD$75 a day. Low 30's sunny weather, pool (both the table and water versions), ping pong, man made beach, several bars, ice cream freezer, a patisserie, DJ by night and breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight buffets. Helped ourselves to all of these for the one daily price. Proper LIVING it up!
Turkish Cruise
We caught a bus from Olympos along the coast for several hours to our waiting boat cruise. We hopped on and for the next 72 hours made our way along the tranquil south western Turkish coast. They dropped anchor in little bays where we could go ashore and explore the small villages and surrounding ruins of towns of the past. During these pit-stops we swum and were treated to some great lunch and dinners from the young deckboy-turned-chef. Highlights included cruising past the sunken city, exploring butterfly valley and biscuiting behind a speed boat. But the great thing was just to highjack the on-board sound system with our Ipods and just lay on the front deck soaking up vitamin D goodness.
Olympos
We returned to Istanbul for one night before jumping on an overnight bus South to Olympos. We arrived the next day at about lunchtime to this lazy beachside town. This place has an atmosphere and general feel about it similar to somewhere like Hamelin Bay or Gracetown. There is just one main road down to the beach lined with all the accommodation parks and outdoor restaurants. Most of the accommodation consists of wooden style chalet setup (called treehouses) and the restaurants and lounge areas are peppered with shoeless low riding couch bungalow jobbies. Very relaxing place as you can imagine and see in the pics. The road down and surrounds of the beach are full of ancient ruins and the oceanside itself is pebble based with very clear, calm, blue conditions.
After a lazy afternoon and night watching live AFL and playing cards in the bungalows we got active the next mooring and went kayaking along the coast. A very beautiful smooth coast lined with high cliffs made for a lovely couple of hours. We were starving afterwards and enjoyed one of several gozleme's (pancake/pastry folded and filled with cheese, meats and spinach) that the town restaurants produced. These were the culinary highlight of the area along with the twister ice creams that I fell in deep, addictive love with. On our last day here we waited around for the friendly faces of Sarah and Pete (work friends from home) to arrive. They eventually did and we introduced them to both the beach and gozleme's.
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rolling out a Goz |
ANZAC Cove
I won't go in to much about the journey out to the Cove other than to say it took all day and that if you ever plan on doing the trip (which you definitely should) sign up with either the Fanatics or Top Deck rather than the cheaper options offered out of London. Anyway, we got to the line outside the ceremony area and you immediately recognise the spooky steep cliff faces that our boys dropped in on. I left the line for a couple snaps of the beach and finally saw first hand where the blood red Poppies originated. In we went and found a place on the already packed grass which turned out quite good really. We were lying in the opposite direction to the hundreds of punters but this allowed perfect drive in style views of one of the big screens which played various documentaries and coverage of the army band all night long.
The weather was perfect! I can imagine just a little breeze coming off the ocean would make the stay a lot less enjoyable (let alone rain) but we had neither. Not much sleep was had though as the documentaries and band were very entertaining along with being surrounded with familiar voices and banter. During the dawn service Rhi and I grabbed a very handy posi on one of the side grandstands. The next hour was something you would fly around the world twice for! Behind the 3 flag poles dimly lit blue lights penetrated out onto the water. Just enough breeze blew to fly the flags and slowly the sun rose. The trumpet played that unforgettable tune, the reefs of roses were laid and even old copper top Gillard got up and sounded decent. Every bloody Aussie and Kiwi there was oozing respect and patriotism and it was like nothing I have seen before. I recommend this event to all and would be glad to do it again. This coming from someone who hasn't got to enough dawn services in the past. This may change I think.
After the ceremony the pilgrimage begins as the several thousand Australian's march up the hills (be that on a lovely paved road most of the way) that the ANZAC's did. The respect and general understanding of what they went through multiples with every step that you take. A couple kilometres up the hill all the Aussies peel off, through the medal detectors and full security setup like the night before into the Lone Pine plateau and the Kiwi's continue on up to their individual ceremony. Lone Pine is a green flat hilltop with 1 big healthy pine tree perched up in its centre. Even with the several grandstands setup for the occasion this place is serious beautiful. A visit to Gallipoli any other time of the year would be just as great. The ceremony and army band transpired and it was as close to home I have felt since leaving almost 1 year ago.

After the ceremony the pilgrimage begins as the several thousand Australian's march up the hills (be that on a lovely paved road most of the way) that the ANZAC's did. The respect and general understanding of what they went through multiples with every step that you take. A couple kilometres up the hill all the Aussies peel off, through the medal detectors and full security setup like the night before into the Lone Pine plateau and the Kiwi's continue on up to their individual ceremony. Lone Pine is a green flat hilltop with 1 big healthy pine tree perched up in its centre. Even with the several grandstands setup for the occasion this place is serious beautiful. A visit to Gallipoli any other time of the year would be just as great. The ceremony and army band transpired and it was as close to home I have felt since leaving almost 1 year ago.
Istanbul
This place didn't take long to make an impression. On the flight in Rhi informed me that 99% of Turkey's population are Muslim. This didn't necessarily make me think anything until we got to the buzzing street that we had chosen to stay on. I certainly didn't expect to see starbucks and burger king. And so Turkey began to surprise me. As it turns out the city is cut in half by a river. The side we first stayed is in Europe, and Asia is on the other, and there definitely seems to be a difference. A very happening bar and restaurant scene as well as all the western style shops lined the main road on the European side. The sheer number of people at all times of the day flowing down the main road reminds me of the royal show.
Being a city of 16 million it makes sense why the street is packed even in the early hours of the morning. You're able to shop on this street until after midnight. The famous religious mosque's and Bazaars (Turkish markets) dominate the Asian side of the river. The famous Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia were impressive but one place that surprised us was the Basilica Cistern recommended by Rhiannon's cousin. This is an ancient underwater storage facility that is open for a small fee to the public.
It is a very large dark underground room dominated with large lit up columns, two of which have the face of Medusa carved into them. The grand bazaar is just that! You locate one of its many entries and then proceed to get lost in this indoor market the size of a small town. If you're just visiting Turkey and have some room in your luggage then this is shoppers paradise. It does however get a tad repetitive and after half an hour I found a cafe strip within to park my arse at whilst Rhi bartered her way around. Earlier that same day we retreated to a large tree, kebabs in hand as the rain came down. I noticed just behind my head was a megaphone roped up in the tree in a ver dodgy fashion. Minutes later after luckily leaving the tree we heard one of the many daily calls to prayer ring around the city. I would describe the sound as a cross between race car driving and cows mooing. It makes as much sense to for us blissfully ignorant visitors. Other things we checked out included the spice bazaar which is pretty much a 200 metre stretch of sampling Turkish delights. Rhi signed up for a Turkish bath called a hamam and found it a ver interesting experience - those of you who have had one will know what she means. One of the more weird experiences in this city was when we got up at sparrows (6am) and caught a cab to our ANZAC tour bus. After days in this densely populated place it was jaw dropping to see the streets so empty.
Being a city of 16 million it makes sense why the street is packed even in the early hours of the morning. You're able to shop on this street until after midnight. The famous religious mosque's and Bazaars (Turkish markets) dominate the Asian side of the river. The famous Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia were impressive but one place that surprised us was the Basilica Cistern recommended by Rhiannon's cousin. This is an ancient underwater storage facility that is open for a small fee to the public.
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inside the blue mosque |
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inside the Basilica Cistern |
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apple tea at large tea house (their equivalent to the pub) |
May 16, 2012
Final Thoughts on Italy
People
Great! They love you trying Italian though so make sure you learn the basics. In most places other than the South many people speak great English. Maybe It was that it was not yet the busy season and the locals were right up for some foreigners but we found them as a whole, very helpful. I can imagine in the middle of summer they would get sick of us visiting in droves, and fair enough.
Great! They love you trying Italian though so make sure you learn the basics. In most places other than the South many people speak great English. Maybe It was that it was not yet the busy season and the locals were right up for some foreigners but we found them as a whole, very helpful. I can imagine in the middle of summer they would get sick of us visiting in droves, and fair enough.
Places
You see a lot in Italy in 6 weeks let alone just Rome. Its landscape is full of beautiful variety from the coastal towns that seem to have grown out of the cliffs, to the bustling cities oozing architecture and art from the ages. The Colosseum was a highlight for me because it is the one single thing I have wanted to see with my own eyes ever since seeing the great film that bought it to life and even with all this expectation it did not disappoint. Florence and Michelangelo statue of David were up there as well. This city has a youthful charm that the large number of university students portray and the aperitif was awesome. As for the statue, it will out do your expectations, simple as that. We had a great time in Sicily, both in the city of Catania and also its North Eastern islands. Catania's markets are something to behold and the islands have that island feel about them. Of course the coastal towns were beautiful - the Amalfi coast and Cinque Terre are two favourites that come to mind.

Food
Well if you visit Rhi's Facebook page she has a photo gallery dedicated to the things we devoured whilst in the country that founded fantastic food. It was simply amazing! As lovers of Italian food Rhi and I spoilt ourselves rotten with arancini, bruschettas, pastas, pizzas and gelati. The only negative I can say about the food is that the people in Italy are stubborn and don't see the point in trying or offering any other cuisine. If you don't love Italian food you will struggle to travel here for as long as we did. There were a couple times where all i wanted was a stir fry. This being said, I was always happy to settle for an Italian dish cooked with italian products, by and Italian, born in Italy. Buonissimo!

You see a lot in Italy in 6 weeks let alone just Rome. Its landscape is full of beautiful variety from the coastal towns that seem to have grown out of the cliffs, to the bustling cities oozing architecture and art from the ages. The Colosseum was a highlight for me because it is the one single thing I have wanted to see with my own eyes ever since seeing the great film that bought it to life and even with all this expectation it did not disappoint. Florence and Michelangelo statue of David were up there as well. This city has a youthful charm that the large number of university students portray and the aperitif was awesome. As for the statue, it will out do your expectations, simple as that. We had a great time in Sicily, both in the city of Catania and also its North Eastern islands. Catania's markets are something to behold and the islands have that island feel about them. Of course the coastal towns were beautiful - the Amalfi coast and Cinque Terre are two favourites that come to mind.

Food
Well if you visit Rhi's Facebook page she has a photo gallery dedicated to the things we devoured whilst in the country that founded fantastic food. It was simply amazing! As lovers of Italian food Rhi and I spoilt ourselves rotten with arancini, bruschettas, pastas, pizzas and gelati. The only negative I can say about the food is that the people in Italy are stubborn and don't see the point in trying or offering any other cuisine. If you don't love Italian food you will struggle to travel here for as long as we did. There were a couple times where all i wanted was a stir fry. This being said, I was always happy to settle for an Italian dish cooked with italian products, by and Italian, born in Italy. Buonissimo!

Pescara
A whole day of driving saw us head east and south along the ocean to Pescara. Rhiannon's Nonna's cousin(?), Inessa and her husband Rocco welcomed us at her door and before to long Lorenzo and his mum were around. Lorenzo is Inessa grandson and recently visited the family in Melbourne to complete some English lessons. He spoke very good English but made funny mistakes that we loved. We returned the favour with some terrible Italian over the next couple days. He took us on a day trip into the surrounding mountain areas (National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise) where he and his dogs hunt down truffles. At between 8 and 13 thousand Euro's a kilo its not a bad business to get into. During this day trip he took us to his friends restaurant. We were the only ones in there for lunch. A lunch neither of us will forget for a while. Out came two massive antipasti platters for the three of us with bread naturally. Lorenzo and Rhi ordered truffle ravioli's and I went for my new favourite, the wild boar pasta. It came to dessert and unfortunately Rhi and I waved the white flag. I say unfortunately because Lorenzo ordered and devoured one of the best Panna Cotta's I've ever seen. Again I found myself in deep need of an espresso before being able to navigate a car safely. The food won the battle though as a couple hours later I had to hand over the wheel to Lorenzo to avoid nodding off at it. I did not nod off. Lorenzo being the true Italian sat for the next 30 minutes on an average speed of 140km/ph weaving through endless trucks in our precious V.W. That night we got the full Nonna dinner experience and I managed to flog Rhi and her at Italian cards before the day was out (little note from Rhi: of course it was the first and only time he has won, hence why you're reading about it!). The next day Lorenzo showed us where Rhi's grandparents and Dad use to live and then took us to his friends clothes label warehouse. This is the way to shop! I walked around picking what I liked off the Small to Large ordered shelves and then paid half the price. Cha Ching! We returned to Nonna Inessa's for a final fabulous meal before slurping another coffee and then slumping into the V.W for the drive back to where it all started, Rome.
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Lorenzo's extremely discipline truffle hunters |
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R-L - Sheila, Self, Lorenzo, Rhi, Inessa, Rocco |
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In the mountains surrounding Pescara |
Cortona & Arezzo
This little town perched on top of a hill in Tuscany was the place where they filmed 'Under The Tuscan Sun' movie. We checked into the local convent run by a few South African ninnies. Bloody great value massive room. We strolled through the quaint town exploring the restaurants and shops. The next day we travel about an hour to the larger city of Arezzo. This is the set for one of the best films ever made in my opinion. When you get to the main square you will soon recognise it from the opening scenes of 'Life Is Beautiful'. The weather wasn't crash hot so we wondered as much as possible around this large tuscan town before heading back to Cortona. This whole area is patchwork fields with the majority of houses perched up on any rising in the area. Tuscany was all I imagined. Perfect scenery and some handy wild boar parpadelle.
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Cortona |
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Arezzo |
San Gimignano
We had a bit of fun finding our pre-booked accom but its hard to get frustrated when your driving a nice car through the rolling green Tuscan surrounds. Eventually we bumped into Fulvio outside his stunning homestead. We settled in and then headed for the nearby San Gimignano. Luckily he lent us an umbrella as the weather went to shits as we arrived in the small town. We walked up the main streets before resting in yet another restaurant and then predictably followed it up with some gelato. The weather wasn't improving so we headed back to the dry farmstay down the hill for a nanna nap. That night we got the full on Italian dinner treatment. We shared several courses with an elderly french couple and the more wine I drank the more I seemed to understand the frenchy. More guests returned after their dinner excursions and for an hour there was people from all over the world speaking all sorts of languages around the large table. My favourite was an Italian that now lives in Scotland. He would go from sounding link Billy Connolly to Mario. The next morning we got stuck into the kitchen for a full on cooking lesson from Fulvio and his niece. The pics are up on my flickr and Rhi's F.book. Several pastas, a meat dish, tiramisu and bruchetta's amongst the menu. After cooking and consuming all this I needed a proper espresso before hopping in the car again.
Pisa
After an easy drive from Cinque Terre we arrived at our Pisa hostel and unloaded the bags. We headed straight into town to the touristica centre (as they call them) and naturally got plenty of leaning tower pics. Later we headed back via some boot shops for Rhi and had a stella pasta that she conjured up. That was it for the short stop in this fairly plain city.
Chique Terre
We weaved our way down to the coast and unloaded the car at Monterosso after finding some handy accom in the most western of the 5 terrace towns. We walked through the towns tiny streets and over all its boardwalks before stopping for dinner at a very reasonable oceanside restaurant. After a good nights sleep we jumped on the train and caught it all the way to the other side of the Cinque Terre and started our walk back home along the cross country path. Two of the paths between the 5 towns were closed due to the remaining damage from the 2011 landslides that hit the area. The towns are small, colourful and full of handy helpings of food to help you with your walk. Not to mention the limoncello offerings along the way. The walk is fairly easy going and if you get tired you can just jump on the train that travels hourly through the towns. The weather was patchy but improved which made for some good pic opportunities. Its a great thing to do if you like the oceanside and countryside as you walk in amongst peoples small little pieces of paradise. After the walk we enjoyed dinner at a small but popular little eatery and headed back up the hill in the VW the following morning.

for all the pics follow link below
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