The End of the Golden Weather!

Well some of us are now back in good ol' NZ and some are further afield.
We sadly packed our bags, loaded them into the car ( bit of a tight squeeze) and set off in the fairly early morning before the heat, across the Island to Larnaca which we hadn't visited except passing through on our first day.

As we had done previously we stayed on the secondary roads instead of the motorways (absolutely fabulous by the way) but boring, and wound our way along the coast through little villages and citrus and banana plantations, stopped in at a beach resort - the last word in luxury and peopled by Russians, and Northern European holidaymakers as opposed to Coral Bay peopled by British tourists.  We didn't stay long as it is not really our scene and pressed on past Aphrodite's birthplace - one of three islands around which you have to swim three times in the full moon in order to get your man!!!   Helloooooo!!

We passed through the British Army Base - houses built in English style, playing fields, and village greens all surrounded by barbed wire - a reminder that this is not altogether the peaceful island it appears - it is of vital importance and immensely strategic in location to a great many interested countries.

We found a lovely little cafe on the edge of a village - local cuisine cooked by the owner and we sat under a tree and enjoyed a spectacular final lunch before pressing on to the Airport where we dropped Annie and Bet off to catch their flight to UK mid afternoon,while the rest of us made a quick sortie into Larnaca, found the waterfront and enjoyed a wander along through the bazaars and had a cool drink in one of the many cafes on the beach.  We also visited the Church of St Lazarus - Greek Orthodox with its spectacular icons  and his stone coffin in the crypt under the elaborate altar. Down the road and across from the immaculate church was a very old mosque - one of the first in Cyrus - being renovated and closed to the public and worshippers at this stage. Both seem to illustrate the differences between Western Christianity and Islam.
We dropped the car as instructed at the airport and checked in only to find that the flight was delayed and finally left Cyprus and our holiday about 10pm....
This meant we arrived into Dubai at 3am - overnight hotel and out again at 6.30am to fly to Melbourne where we turned around and landed in ADELAIDE!!! to spend nearly 4 hours sitting on the tarmac waiting for fog to lift in Melbourne - NOBODY lives in Adelaide - there was not a soul around on that Sunday and we were not allowed off as there were no international facilities available there.

Consequently we finally arrived into Auckland in the evening and missed our connection to Wn and Pat and I had to overnight in Airport hotel before getting into Wn late morning Monday. Tricia was picked up to go to Tauranga Monday morning.

Quite an inauspicious end to our wonderful odyssey but it in no way detracted from the thrill of the trip - the fun we had and the absolute memory of places and people who live in a completely contrasting world to ours.

The privilege of seeing and experiencing their world was all ours!

The Beginning of the End!

Following on from our visit to the Troodos Mountains we thought it a good idea to take a formal tour over to the Turkish side so once again up at 5.30 to catch the Tour bus from Coral Bay for the very long trip to Famagusta along with forty other people mostly Brits!

The cross over was interesting – uneventful - while taking possession of our passports we were warned not to take any photos whatsoever of the border control – ignored by one of us although we think that it is a bit un necessary considering that it was all a big bore!  

We didn’t get lost that day since we were on a tour bus and had to do what we were told once again !

Turkish Cyprus is much less interesting than the Greek side and far less tourists although we were welcomed and enjoyed our time there – yet more ruins of which we are more than slightly tired but one place really offended Lorraine and that is the once beautiful Cathedral – now a Mosque with all the fabulous frescoes of early Christians whitewashed out. This gorgeous structure was designed by the  Frenchman who designed Notre Dame in Paris. It is now drably covered in carpets all set up in rows and is decidedly musty and neglected. A huge contrast to the monastery we visited in the Mountains.  In the courtyard was  a tree – a ficus – 600years old!!

Visited St Barnabas’ church in the countryside and his tomb and sampled the Cypriot Delight and apricots on offer in the courtyard.  We had a fun meal in the old city centre and visited Othello’s castle – the setting for Shakespeare’s tragic play of the same name although we understand he never visited there!

A very long day following which we learnt to relax and swim and eat all the next day by the pool as the temperatures have climbed and make movement in the middle of the day decidedly unpleasant.

We also visited Nicosia – the old city within the ramparts – very interesting tiny alleys and shops and we again did our bit for the economy but found the temperatures – 40degs plus too much for us although we managed to visit the Byzantine Museum and Art Gallery.  We would have liked to cross the Green Line within the city but found it too hot and difficult as it had to be done on foot, so gave that a miss. On the way home we stopped at the beautiful little village of Lefkara where lacemaking and silverware are the focus.  Lovely stuff and could have spent a good deal more time there but browsed and purchased before driving home in the late evening and falling into the pool under the stars.

We drove over the hills to where Aphrodite bathed in a little Grotto beside the Mediterranean sheltered by an ancient fig tree and where she was wooed by Adonis who fell under her spell. We also visited Lara Bay where the Leatherback turtles come in to lay their eggs before returning to thesea and leaving their babies to hatch and take their turn at running the gauntlet of predators to grow to adulthood.  We understand that only about 2% of all hatchlings survive. The beaches in this area are very stony but the water is crystal clear and warm and very good for swimming.  We found little cafes right on the beach at which to dine and watch the sun go down blazing over the horizon.  

We have pondered our trip and together summarised some of the highs and lows:-

The watermelons of Jordan and Cyrus - delicious

Coming to grips with the rich history of Egypt – challenging and overwhelming –in particular the amazing Sphinx – 20 Mtrs high,70 mtrs long  a sight to remember – Tricia.

The wonderful first sight of the Pyramids on arrival in Cairo - Pat

The Frescoes of Abu Simbel – extraordinary – Betty

The Skill of th e Ancients in construction – fabulous

The re-location of the Temples up the banks of the Nile was mindblowing – Lorraine

Wonderful refreshing Lemon/lime and Mint iced Juice

Pat stopped photographing everything for a while due to photographic memory byte lapse – somewhat of a relief to everyone else!!!

Cruise up the Nile was pure luxury – The Fellucca sail around the Islands of the Nile was an experience not to be missed culminating in a visit to a Nubian primary school and dinner in a Nubian Family home.  This gave us a unique insight into the life of the local people - an extraordinary glimpse of life in a poor community on the Nile. We are concerned for the people who rely heavily on donations from visitors just to furnish their school with the basics. We learnt our names written in Arabic!!!!

A night in the Sinai Desert in Bedouin Camp /Bedouin wedding in the desert to which we were invited to participate.

Beautiful children everywhere – much loved by everyone and displayed proudly for us to greet.

The food – African, Nubian – high , International – both high and low

The gorgeous city of Petra.

Local  fish in Cyprus – at least some of us loved it – trout , Sea Bass, Octopus – yum!

Low – chips every  meal!!!!

Pastries and breads  - fabulous in Cyprus – not fabulous for the waistline!

Fresh orange juice in Cyprus

Horse and Carriage, donkeys, camel, hot air balloon, felucca, cruise boat, crappy old Ferry where we were "upgraded" to Distinguished class!!!! and the good old buses – some better than others!

Driving in Cyprus on the same side as us although road signs are perplexing to say the least – not only because most are  in Greek – and as Bet says “What road signs?” but we have managed to get ourselves around with a lot of “help” from 4 passengers who point in all directions at the same time!!!!!!

We’ve seen enough old rocks to last a lifetime, especially in this heat and all are “ruined” by the sight of yet more ruins.

 We are not planning a continuing education course in Archaeology of any sort!

R & R in Cyprus

    Above is our first attempt to include a photo taken of course in front of the Pyramids – that’s how long it has taken to suss out the advantages of downloading the photos onto the Note book. We will include more photos as we sort them.

We left Amman at 4.30 in the breaking dawn – no problem – although eating breakfast at this hour is a challenge! It is a big city and while two of us decided to keep running on the tourist circuit others had more brains and stayed put by the pool as it was VERY hot. We enjoyed a night out at one of the restaurants in the CBD – huge meal excessive food but wonderful flavours of the East. This is where we farewelled the Aussies to Israel and the next morning our  two lovely  mates Ann and Janne set off for their respective destinations – UK and Home to Wellington NZ.  We will miss them and their contribution to our sevenontour!

 The flight for the rest of us was fast and uneventful and we marvelled at how one hour’s flight could show such a difference between the chaos and clutter of the Middle East and the relative orderliness of the Cypriot Mediterranean although their entire history suggests otherwise. We took all day to reach our Villa as we took the secondary roads and avoided the motorways.  We had been advised not to arrive before about 4pm so enjoyed the country roads and admit to having got lost a few times but picked up gorgeous strawberries and melons on the way and encountered a lovely Cypriot lady in a tiny sandwich bar in the middle of nowhere next to a cement works who gave us a drawn map to get to the villa on a secondary road called the Tomb of the Kings Road. . Villages were worth winding through especially the ones with the extraordinary bakery in the middle of them!  The villa was worth waiting for – lovely and cool, spacious, well appointed and with a lovely swimming pool. We have relaxed for a couple of days swimming and resting but feel ready now to continue  playing tourists and plan to visit Troodos Mountains, Nicosia and hopefully cross over into Turkish Cyprus although we have been told that we cannot take a rental car over there – don’t know why!!!   We have enjoyed relaxing, finding cute little tapas bars at which to watch the sun go down over the sea   and plan to take a bus tour to the Turkish side of the island as it seems to be easier than trying to do it ourselves.

There are Brits everywhere – you can get everything that you can get in Britain – even mushy peas and get your hair done in London based salons – as they say you don’t need to even leave England – everything from there is supplied – can you imagine that – not even trying the local cuisine!!!

We have been out in the car looking for local eateries in villages to try and they are there if you look hard enough. The beaches are very beautiful  - clear warm water and golden sands.

We went to the Troodos Mountains yesterday – well worth the visit although a very long drive and visited Platres which was the skiing playground of the wealthy Cypriots and even King Farouk of Egypt had a villa there for visiting in the Winter.  Very gorgeous - and further on over the mountains to the Monastery of Kikkos where Archbishop Makarios is buried high on the mountain top.   The Monastery is an amazing place – Ostentatious and almost vulgar in it’s presentation although The Museum with its Byzantine Icons and history of the Greek Orthodox religion is very interesting and informative. Built 900 years ago the Monastery has 22 monks in residence and is a beautiful example of Cypriot architecture although it has been rebuilt several times over that period. It has one of only three icons in the world of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child on her right arm (instead of the left arm!) reputedly painted by St Paul who couldn’t look at her radiant face and painted her reflection in the pool at her feet.  Tricia thinks this is aligned with Aphrodite arriving in a clamshell to woo Adonis but its all good for the tourist so that okay!!! The faithful believe this icon heals barren women – none of us have felt the need to worship it and find out!!!

Will keep you informed!!!!