We made an abrupt exit from Turkey at Finike where we needed an agent to handle the processing - Immigration and Customs told us they were not permitted to handle money! It was a 21 hour motor + 3 hour sail to Girne (Greek Kyrenia), the point of entry to TRNC. Karpaz Gate Marina (KGM) were expecting us but are not yet a point of entry. Almost there!!
Just before we docked we had a text from Alistair and Maureen who, just by chance, had seen us from where they were having lunch. They came to see us next day, whisked us off to a supermarket to provision (KGM are a long way east on the pan handle of Cyprus), and then took us to their super hotel for dinner (The Hideaway).
Next day we motored for 7 hours through an increasing swell to KGM and tied up on the sea wall for water and power. The Marina had suffered a setback and were waiting final tests to put the power and water back on! Alistair and Maureen drove to see us and took us out to the Karpaz, a magnificent wilderness of long sandy beaches, huge sandhills, pristine waters, wild donkeys and the remains of Greek settlements. We passed through two small towns with both churches and mosques and there are small resorts with holiday cabins, but the area is well protected environmentally. It would be exciting to be here in the spring to see the sea turtles coming in to lay their eggs and then two months later to see the baby turtles hatch and make their way to the sea.
We're looking forward to coming back at the end of March and doing some more exploring.
No comments:
Post a Comment