It was good to be back in England. I am not sure how it happened and it seemed to be not long after I had nodded off with Jack Johnson in my ears as the fast catarmaran left Rhodes. A cursory glance at the passport control and we were quickly out of the port terminal and looking for a taxi.
It was good to see that all signs on shops, cafes and the like were in English and that Zorba the Greek, although good listening at times, was no longer the music of choice.
As with back home in Kiwi land, the taxis drivers here must be on 457 visas. Most of them seemed to be Turkish and they were keen to help get us to the hotel. So it was not long before we were checked into our international hotel and enjoying our international fare along with others in the large buffet dining area.
We were blending in well with our other slightly over weight guests, about the right age but we could do with a tatt or two to really blend in.
After dinner we took a stroll along the seaside promenade where we walked past quite a few hotels, many remarkably similar in presentation. And as with our hotel, the staff were mostly foreigners. Where are we?
The next morning after our international breakfast we took a walk along part of the 11 kms of boardwalk heading back towards the port area. We were looking for the point where we would rendezvous with our gulet the next day. We debated whether we should return later to watch Hamilton versus Dundee United at one of the many waterside bar but decided against that. That done, we returned to our hotel.
Yvonne did remind Randall that it was not so long ago that he often expressed a desire, especially during busy working times, to just take a break and find a nice resort with good facilities, a pool and space to just veg out. This is one of the places on the planet where this can be easily done.
Randall was due for a haircut. Yes, there are a few hairs left on the head! And whilst Yvonne enjoyed a cup of very hot but pleasant tea watching the event, the hair was trimmed, as were the Howard like eyebrows, ears and nose as he had the works done like never before. Just a few moments of wonder with the tearing off the once hot wax used before Randall emerged a new man.
Whilst here we managed to re watch the movie 'Titanic' as part of our pre sailing training programme and we are now ready to find 'Vesta 1 Sevil' , a boat of just 32 metres, and to meet our shipmates and crew.
Randall reflected that tonight he is missing a re-union with old school friends which is a pity. One of the many choices we make as life presents itself.
As with most missions, it is time to go incognito and to adopt silent running communication techniques. We should be able to resume our blog maybe after next weekend.
By
then we should have found Turkey.
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