Dalyan – 1st & 2nd November

I was surprised to learn it was Caroline’s birthday on Wednesday 1st November. Not only had she arrived a week earlier than we thought she would, but I would not get paid for 10 days and even then it was only half the pay I had planned for. Ironically, we had a very full fridge, freezer and cupboards at home as I was expecting not to be going out too much in the lead up to our friend’s visit. I didn’t hear from Captain Caveman or Caroline first thing as I let the dogs out then fed them and made a cup of tea. Norman was cute when I got my cuppa as he wanted to go upstairs ‘back to bobos’. We sat on the sofa for a bit of an extra sleep until it was time to go for a walk. I did my measurements to find my bust was the same but I’d lost 4cm from my waist and 3cm from my hips. This looked promising for Carol’s scales at Fat Club later. I worked in the morning and then I made my taster session food for Fat Club. I made the flour-less syn free muffins which look terrible but taste quite nice. Captain Caveman popped round and he’d been out with Caroline last night for drinks then food. Captain Caveman was very hung over and there was still no word from Caroline. I suggested we go to one of our favourite restaurants tonight for Caroline’s birthday and invited my parents too. It turns out that Captain Caveman and Caroline had been drinking at Bistro Blue last night but we would still go again tonight for an impromptu birthday meal. I left Jamie’s place and the pooches to go to Fat Club. I was disappointed to only have lost 0.1kg (0.2lb) but a loss is a loss, as they say at Fat Club. I couldn’t share the lentil soup that Carol made or the fritters by Janice, as they had chillies in but I did get the recipes to make my own without the heat. I couldn’t eat the fishy offering either but I did try and I enjoyed the mushroom paté as well as the hummus. My berry and banana ‘muffins’ were tried and people agreed they weren’t quite as terrible as they sounded or looked.
Jamie was back by tea time and he’d unfortunately inherited a street dog on his complex who some holiday makers had brought home. He asked me to take the dog back to bar street as they aren’t allowed to have them wandering around the complex. I did, and the dog seemed genuinely happy to get back to his fellow pooches for the night.
That evening, Captain Caveman had said he would pay for our meal so I didn’t even take my purse to Bistro Blue or Tez bar, where we started the birthday celebrations. My parents danced with some of the other Tez-pats to ‘Sweet Caroline’ as a thoughtful birthday treat for our friend. Caroline was happy to meet Tez who was going to help her organise a motorbike for her adventure tours to Şanlıurfa and Cappadocia next week. We had some amazing food at Bistro Blue although I noticed Caroline didn’t eat all of her’s. She said she felt unwell so she left before we had finished our drinks. When we came to pay Captain Caveman didn’t have enough on his card and I hadn’t brought any way of paying with me so we had to borrow the money from my parents. It was 1,740 lira including wine, which was just over £50 and not an expense I had budgeted for this week. The food and service had been great and I’d really enjoyed it but we now needed to make sure we stayed in to eat what we had at home.

While Captain Caveman went Bumming on Thursday 2nd November, Caroline had a lay in. I popped to the shops for sanitary towels and milk which cost a total of 36.75 lira (£1.08). Surprisingly, milk was more expensive than sanitary towels in Dalyan and it’s not usual or easy to find tampons in Dalyan supermarkets – they can be purchased at the pharmacy. When Caroline got up she had a banana for breakfast as she doesn’t eat breakfast and then went to ask Tez about hiring the motorbike. She was heading over to see the famous archaeological sights at Göbeklitepe, Şanlıurfa, and wanted to do it on a big motorbike. Both Captain Caveman and I do like to plan things but Caroline had said she was much more of a non-planning type of traveller. Her mission on this trip was to ‘search for people’s truth’ which I was sure that I fully understood.
Captain Caveman and I had a walk to the water company to get his deposit back from when he had the water in his name, unfortunately they didn’t understand our English or my Google translated Turkish, which was convenient for them!
At 2.30pm Captain Caveman and I met up with Caroline at Kaunos tea gardens where I had a double çay and a chicken döner, Caroline a juice and a chicken döner and Captain Caveman had an Efes beer and a mixed toasted sandwich. I paid the 305 lira (£8.97) but I did say we would be eating in tonight as we were on a budget and I was meant to be on a diet!
My words fell on deaf ears as we bumped in to Kaan at Tequila Bar and joined him for a drink, sat in the sun. Captain Caveman and I just had beer but Caroline, who was on her holidays, had a couple of Aperol Spritzes. Another stray dog or two joined us, one was particularly cute but a bit smelly. When the sun went in, Caroline decided she needed some white tops ready for her motorbiking adventure. We popped to the shop where she picked up a couple of t-shirts/sweatshirts. On the way home we stopped at Tez bar to finalise the bike arrangements for tomorrow and for Captain Caveman and Caroline to have a beer.

Dalyan – 29th to 31st October

We had a nice relaxing day on Sunday 29th October. Captain Caveman got his bicycle wheel fixed for 135 lira (£3.96) which he was pleased about. We shared a sausage roll and a cheese & onion roll each for breakfast and both agreed they were lovely. For lunch I had cheese spread and bread but I decided to make a vegetable curry in the slow cooker for dinner. While I was chopping the veg, Captain Caveman got a call from our friend Caroline. We know her from Phong Nha, in Vietnam, she lives in Hoi An now and is Australian but had been in Greece for the last month. Caroline had made loose plans to see us in Rhodes but they never materialised so she would like to come and visit us in Dalyan…. tomorrow! Her flight would land in Dalaman airport at 3pm so it was all systems go to make up the spare bed and get the house clean for our friend’s arrival.
We had the veggie curry with steamed rice which was delicious and, of course, we had some spare. We had a few grapes after and wondered how long a visit to Dalyan Caroline was planning.

I worked from 8am until 5pm on Monday 30th October and this would be my last week of working 16 hours. I’d already done some extra from last week so it meant I’d definitely be finished by Tuesday. I had Yorkshire tea and buttered wholemeal toast for breakfast. Captain Caveman went dogging, he likes to walk the dogs at the dog shelter so sometimes he goes up there to help out. He was back for lunch so we had leftover cauliflower mac and cheese.
As we knew Caroline was arriving this afternoon, we asked the taxi to take her to Lukka bar, where Captain Caveman would go to meet her. I would finish working and then join them.
As I was getting changed to go meet Caroline and Captain Caveman, I saw a post on Facebook reporting a dog that had turned up at someone’s house in Dalyan. It looked similar to Debbie (Darling)’s Brinny but had a different collar on. I messaged Debbie (Darling) who said it was Brinny’s sister, owned by a Turkish man.
I also had a message from Kelly, back in the UK, the girls were hoping to be able to book their holiday to Rhodes for next September and had a few questions. It was a long way off but I hoped I’d be able to join them for a holiday.
I met Caroline and Captain Caveman at Lukka bar, she looked well and was dressed for winter despite the warm weather in Dalyan. We had a beer together and she told us a bit about her trip to Greece and Sweden. We couldn’t sit about as we had a night out to get to so it was back home for curry before heading out to Sofra bar. The Bengisu Boys were playing a gig and they are great musicians so it turned in to a good night. By 10pm both Captain Caveman and I were on the Sofra ‘dancefloor’ giving it what-for! Caroline was too cool for dancing with the ‘olds’ but was testing out the drink menu and being acquainted with our friends.
VLS arrived and I did a karaoke song with her. It was awful and I could see that Şükrü would never let me put in another request! By 11.30pm Brinny’s sister, the escaped dog, had found us and was keeping us company. The walk home, at just gone midnight, involved several stray dogs escorting us home and Caroline tried not to get attached, as she loves dogs.

On Tuesday 31st October Captain Caveman went off to Bridge so that I could work in peace, leaving Caroline with me. I had plans at lunch time to go over to Jamie’s as I was looking after his cute little dogs, Norman and Edna, for a few days. It turned out I’d got confused about the amount of hours I needed to work this week as my boss only wanted me to do 8 per week with immediate affect as from last week, so I’d already worked them. It was going to be incredibly tight for money for the next couple of months so it’s a good job we don’t do Christmas presents or celebrate Christmas out here, in Turkey.
I left Caroline to her own devices following a discussion about the use of psilocybin mushrooms for trauma. I packed a bag and headed over to Jamie’s, taking my lunch with me.
Around 1.15pm I was just getting a nice feta cheese salad ready to eat when Captain Caveman arrived at Jamie’s. He was meant to have been going back home to see Caroline for lunch but shared my salad. I sent him over to look after our guest with instructions to keep in touch while I looked after Norman and Edna. I didn’t see or hear from Captain Caveman or Caroline again that evening so I had a lovely quiet one with a leftover chicken and veggie curry. I obviously stayed over at Jamie’s and the pooches wanted to come upstairs to bed with me. I told them they had to sleep in their own bed downstairs and gave them a kiss. I didn’t have any alcohol, it was Fat Club tomorrow and I was only on 273 syns for the week. The Fat Club meeting tomorrow had a taster session that we all had to take something for so I’d brought over my ingredients to make something in the morning.

Dalyan – 19th October

I’d previously been invited, but declined, an invite from Kate to go on a 12 island boat trip from Fethiye on Thursday 19th October. At the time of asking I’d not known when my residency renewal appointment or me having to leave Turkey date would be so we couldn’t commit.
My parents, on the other hand, didn’t have these problems and had said they were going and were being picked up from Lukka bar at 10am.
More recently, Jamie had invited Captain Caveman and I on Drew’s private boat trip for his brother’s birthday and we had agreed. This one was with Ünal, Sioned’s husband, on Duran Duran boat. My diet started badly with a homemade (by Sioned) Welsh cake and a cup of tea as we set sail and got introduced to everyone. There was Jamie, Drew, Robert, Lucie, their 2 (well behaved) teenage children, Ann, Sharon, Ali and us two. Drew’s family were lovely and we all had an absolutely fantastic day out with excellent company and amazing food. I ate fresh bread, courgette fritters, şakşuka, spinach, pasta, green beans, carrots, chicken, meatballs, chips, red cabbage, couscous and more bread! I pushed the boat out a bit and had a beer (just the one) too.

We all went swimming, walked on the beach and generally had a really good laugh. There was numerous stops (beach and the lake), there was crab fishing, which I didn’t do but all the crabs caught were females so they had to be put back in to the sea. Ünal really spoiled us in the afternoon with fruit platters and a delicious cake. We sang Happy Birthday to Robert and I probably should have said no to finishing off Captain Caveman’s piece of cake too.

When we left the boat, everyone went back home but we reconvened at Lukka bar, where there was another surprise singing of Happy Birthday. An impressive chocolate cake was shared out and I managed a slice. Norman and Edna had joined us and wondered why they didn’t have such treats.
I didn’t need any dinner that night and we were quite sensible with an early night. My parents, on the other hand, were still giving the ball a right kick!

Lindos – 12th October

The breakfast at Lindos Athena on Thursday 12th October was pretty good and I enjoyed it. My parents sunbathed by the pool, Captain Caveman kept covered up and out of the pool due to his rash. I did a bit of work and organised for Steve and Michelle to come over later on.

When Steve and Michelle arrived they gave my parents a lift down Cardiac Hill, in to Lindos town, while Captain Caveman and I walked. My parents had a look over the edge to the sea, next to the bust of Ionnais Zigdis, a Greek politician. We walked to Mario’s as we were off to introduce my parents to the curry sauce. It was very busy, we ordered drinks and food. Dad had pork with curry sauce which was a normal size but Mom had a huge pork chop. It was so good and we got given free shots from the owner at the end of our meal. After our meal we had a walk through the streets of Lindos, calling at Pals for a drink. We bumped in to an old friend and ex-colleague of mine, Elaine. She was in Rhodes, staying in Pefkos, with her hubby and friends and we had been trying to meet up for a few days. Steve and Michelle had work the next day so couldn’t stay out out but they kindly dropped my parents back off and picked up some luggage to take back with them to Lardos, where we would be going tomorrow. We had a couple of drinks at the bar before going back to our rooms for the last sleep at Lindos Athena. It was a lovely hotel but not one of us had been in the pool which was a shame. We managed to pay our bills for drinks and breakfasts, which came to €135 (£115.81) for Captain Caveman and I on our room for the 2 nights (not including the accommodation). Our last round of drinks for the evening was €36.50 (£31.31). Tomorrow we would be up early and off to Lardos but at least we didn’t have to carry as many bags on the bus.

Dalyan to Lardos – 6th October

I was awoken on Friday 6th October by my phone. It was 5.50am and it was Fikri calling to say he was outside. He had also seen me last night, several times, as guests booked him to go home. He knew I was one of the last to leave and was concerned I might overlay. How kind is that! He got me to Ortaca bus station early enough for me to buy a bottle of water at the small shop before getting on the first bus to Fethiye. I was surprised to see it so busy and hoped I would get to the ferry port in time, which was a good 10 minutes drive from the bus station after this bus journey. The taxi from Dalyan to Fethiye was too expensive for me so I chanced the bus and it paid off. It was a bit of a rush really, especially with my wheelie case and the extra taxi to the port. I got on the ferry without taking my seasick pills and was feeling somewhat fragile as I joined Rachel, her mom and 2 little kids. They were off for a short break in Haraki, Rhodes, and I know Rachel from my Turkish classes. I could have done without having to be sociable and even a Turkish tea didn’t sort me out but having friends to chat to kept my mind off feeling rather fragile.
By 1pm I was sat waiting in the Rhodes Town MacDonald’s for Steve and Michelle. They were coming to pick me up to go back to Lardos, where I was staying with them for the weekend. I had a cheeseburger and a coke which cost €5.20 (£4.46) so it wasn’t cheap but seemed to be a good enough hangover cure.
When we arrived, I logged on to the internet on Matt’s laptop and said hello to Bob, the cat, and Xena, the dog. It looked to be quite a lively weekend as tonight we were off to Flyer’s, in Pefkos, for one of their Greek Nights.

Having been before with Captain Caveman, I was ready to do it all again and this time we were taking it steady as I was still flagging from last night’s shenanigans. I had Milokleftis cider and we tucked it to a delicious feast of pitta, tsatziki, feta salad, lamb, pork, chicken and french fries. There was live music, singing and the Rhodian ballet with dancing, which we were encouraged to join in on.

Michelle and I took to the floor for a bit of dancing, as you do, but the real stars of the show were the male volunteers. It was a fantastic night and we really enjoyed one of the last Greek Nights of the season.
Back in Lardos, we called for a nightcap in Cuckoo’s Nest where we bumped in to Bob, the cat! I’d survived until midnight but I really was begging for mercy and needed my bed.

Rhodian Ballet

The audience participation was great

Dalyan – 5th October

Captain Caveman and I had both been invited to a wedding on Thursday 5th October. Of course, Captain Caveman was in Italy and couldn’t make it, but he’d also got shingles and wouldn’t have been there anyway. I had accepted the invite and needed to take it steady as I had a ferry to catch to Rhodes early the next day. Our initial plan for my parents and I to meet Captain Caveman in Naples had been scrapped, not just because of the shingles. Dad was waiting for an eye appointment and didn’t want to be in Italy when it came. Instead, we had agreed to meet in Rhodes Town on Monday (9th), where we would all spend 6 nights in Rhodes together.
I worked for a couple of hours in the morning, packed for my Rhodes trip and then had some leftover food with rice.

The wedding of Bill and Jaxx took place on a boat so we met at Paradise Hotel to get on the boats, where there were some familiar friendly faces. When Bill arrived he was having the 2 dogs, Big Boy and Lucy, with him for the ceremony. He’d also supplied some punch for us to have on the journey to pick up his beautiful bride.

Jaxx looked like a beautiful little doll in her wedding dress and the 2 boats sailed together to a spot for the ceremony. I had a couple of the punch drinks which I was convinced was made from cherry and vodka but my fellow guests said they didn’t think it was alcoholic and had quite a few.
There was a female celebrant who did a rather unique service and speech which everyone enjoyed.

The sun was shining and it was a beautiful wedding, followed by a dinner and party back at Bill and Jaxx’s lovely villa, with the bar and garden kitted out for the wedding party. We had a great time and my plans to not drink too much went out of the window as the champagne was poured. Dinner was served quite late so I was rather trollied as we enjoyed the steak dinner followed by some gorgeous cheese. One of the wedding party even shared her port with us and I, of course, made some new friends who were absolutely lovely.
I vaguely recall getting in, after a lift in to town with my new mates, setting the alarm for 5.30am and hoping I didn’t sleep through it. Fikri’s taxi was booked to pick me up at 6am and take me to Ortaca so that I could get the first bus to Fethiye.

Dalyan – 1st to 4th October

Sunday 1st October had some of my favourite things; dogs and curry! I had to wake the dogs up at 8.10am as I needed a wee. We went for a little walk and they shared water when they got back as both were thirsty. I had left over chicken tenders for breakfast and then had a bad stomach! By 11.20am I was feeling a bit better and had started catching up on my blogging; Edna was helping, while Norman snored away from his bed. Edna soon got bored as there was no juicy gossip and had a snooze. It was raining before 2pm and both dogs were snoring away as I typed.
That afternoon I got some bad news from the computer repair man. My laptop was going to cost too much to fix and would be better to buy a new one. I took the dogs on a reluctant but short walk in the rain and then gave them their dinner – they love meal times.
I couldn’t be bothered to cook and I’d not been to the market so I decided to order a curry from Spice Garden, as a treat. I decided to go for the chicken set menu which was 445 lira (£13.28) and included the following; Chicken Tikka starter, Chicken Masala main, Saag Aloo side. For a bit extra I also added in a garlic and cheese naan bread and then would split the whole lot over 2 meals. The food is obviously not prepared or cooked by Indian chefs but it’s as near as I was going to get in Turkey and it tasted great. At bed time Norman and Edna were the first to go to bed, not leaving me much room on the bed!

I had another day off on Monday 2nd October so that I could go back to the Fethiye office to complete my residency renewal by taking a copy of my water bill, in my name. I was still looking after Norman and Edna but Jamie had said they would be ok left after their morning walkies and breakfast, as he was due back around 1pm. I decided that it would be a bit irresponsible, should he get delayed for any reason and I’d be all the way in Fethiye on a bus so I arranged with Vanessa to get the 2pm bus.
I also got a message from the computer repair man to say he had found me a potential new laptop; a Toshiba i5 cpu 8GB RAM 240GB SSD with an English keyboard. I know nothing about laptops so I sent it on to Captain Caveman to check out and see if it was worth the 7,500 lira (£220) it was priced at.
At 3pm we were in the Fethiye office, where I saw the same lady. It turned out she spoke English and didn’t remember my application. I helped her find it on the pile, gave her my paperwork, which she copied. She then passed me the paper to say I had renewed residency for just under a year. My card would be posted within the next month and I’d been in there less than 3 minutes. I was so relieved but couldn’t help thinking that all this extra expense and stress could’ve been avoided!
Just 14 minutes later, Vanessa and I were about to tuck in to a Big Mac meal each in MacDonald’s. By 4.15pm we had decided to walk it back to the bus station as it was glorious weather. It was great to have had Vanessa there with me and it made a nice afternoon. It was late by the time we got in to Ortaca, where we decided to have an ice-cream as we were peckish and thirsty. Michelle messaged to ask if I would buy her some vitamins which are expensive in Rhodes, but we had already left Fethiye by the time I got the info. We walked out of the bus station in Ortaca to find a Gratis pharmacy, and they had 3 bottles left. I bought 2 at 99 lira (£2.91) each and with discount. We were late getting back to Dalyan so I warmed up some curry for dinner about 9pm at home. I lit some candles and relaxed – my residency renewal was finally done and I could relax until August next year!

On Tuesday 3rd October I had 3 days left in Dalyan before I went back to Rhodes. The plans to join Captain Caveman in Italy had changed as it turned out his rash was shingles! Instead, he and my parents would meet me in Rhodes in 6 days time.
I had fresh figs, peach and strawberries for breakfast then got on with work. For lunch I had cheese on toast, done in the Airfryer. It was a lovely, sunny day but I was indoors working, after being off yesterday. Steve sent me through my ferry ticket which was only €25 (£21.60), with discount. It did mean getting up at 5.30am on Friday morning though. For dinner I put the leftover chicken tikka starter in to the saag aloo and had that, very nice it was too. Fat Club was probably not going to see a loss from me tomorrow, but I had definitely drank less alcohol as I couldn’t afford to go out now!

It was weigh-in day on Wednesday 4th October and I wasn’t optimistic. I took my measurements to find I had put on 4cm on my bust but lost 4cm from my hips and 2cm from my waist. I worked for a couple of hours in the morning and I was quite enjoying the red keyboard of Matt’s laptop.
At Fat Club, Carol’s scales showed that I had put on 0.3kg (0.7lb), which wasn’t ideal.
I decided to make a stir-fry for dinner which I ate with steamed rice and it was delicious. I worked a few more hours later on then, around 9.30pm I spoke to Captain Caveman who was now in Turin but suffering with Shingles. I had an early night as tomorrow I had something exciting planned for my last day in Dalyan.

Dalyan – 30th September

I packed my bag on Saturday 30th September for a 3 day dog sit at Jamie’s, as he and Drew were off on a romantic break away. I got there about 9.30am, Norman & Edna were pleased to see me and Edna was hoping we would be going down the pub to see Skippy. We had some cuddles and some fun outside in the sun before an afternoon walk. I was tempted to take them to Rehab bar to see the pool gang but decided it might be better for them to stay home, as Norman loves an afternoon/early evening nap.

I walked in the sun to Rehab bar where I met up with a few of the regular attendees, most had already gone home as the pool match was coming to an end. Someone left their sunglasses on the table so we all tried them on and I posted on Facebook so the owner might notice.

It was getting a bit chilly and almost time for me to get back to feed the pooches so we had a quick refreshment in Aşkın’s bar on the way home. Vanessa was still out, Matt had gone home earlier so she was going to Fry Box to take him back some dinner. I’d never tried it but a few people had said how good it was so I decided to go along and get some too. It was certainly not Slimming World friendly and I knew I’d regret having it. I took it back to Jamie’s and fed Norman and Edna before I ate my KFC style chicken strips and chips with BBQ sauce. It was very nice but as I was eating it, I did wonder if my stomach would be able to tolerate the fried food. That night the dogs insisted that they come to bed with me and we were all settled down before 11pm.
September had been a busy month, however, October wasn’t about to get any quieter.

Dalyan – 21st & 22nd September

My first day back in Dalyan on Thursday 21st September should have been a quiet one and, as I’d been away for a while, I had a few errands to run. The first job was bank related to sort out stuff for my forthcoming residency renewal meeting, the second was to contact Sonuç to ask if he had got my appointment date yet. It turned out that he had not been able to go any further with that while I was out of the country, because I had not yet paid for my health insurance for next year. I asked for a price and to get that sorted so we could proceed then went to the supermarket and bakery to get some provisions for breakfast. Here’s what I bought and the prices back in Turkish lira:

Fresh loaf of bread 7.50
1 punnet of plums 27.14
2 Quark 35.90
Total spent 70.54 Lira (£2.11)

I was surprised to see that Quark prices had increased, but good that plums were in season now and really cheap.
By the time I got home I had a price of 2,100 lira (£58.78) for a year’s insurance so I arranged to go in to the office and pay it. I also popped to the photographer for new passport sized photos at 200 lira (£5.60), again for the residency renewal application.
At 5pm I met Sonuc, and Leanne, at Lukka bar where I gave him my passport photos and signed some documents. He told me I worried too much and to stop taking any notice of what other people were saying about the renewal process and people getting rejected as I would be fine.
By 7pm I had popped round to Jamie’s to give him his birthday wine and the bottle of Tanqueray gin then accidentally ended up staying to try pineapple gin with diet lemonade which Jamie was having. It went down very well and I got asked to stay for dinner – a delicious veggie pasta bake with cheese. It was a lovely night and I was a bit tipsy when I got home. Drew was leaving for the UK the next day so it was good to have a bit of an impromptu send off session.

On Friday 22nd September I had more excitement in the diary; after a breakfast of fresh bread with butter and a cup of Yorkshire tea then a lunch of Toblerone and plums I was ready to get picked up for a quick trip out of Dalyan. I was going with a friend to Fethiye to run an errand. It went as expected and we even had chance to stock up on sea sickness tablets and some migraine tablets for a Dalyan dweller who was having trouble finding them locally.
Once we had done the task we went for, we had a cup of çay before coming back to Dalyan.
For dinner I made a Slimming World chicken and chickpea curry with steamed rice and it was rather good.

Rhodes, Fethiye & Dalyan – 19th & 20th September

On Tuesday 19th September Michelle made us all a sausage and mushroom breakfast wrap which was so good, then we got on with work. Steve booked in some training so that he could give me a new task, working on UK social media. Because he and Michelle were playing catch up on work since their holiday, they were busy with lots to do.
For my last night in Rhodes, Michelle made a delicious veggie curry and I went to the shop for some ciders. €8.70 (£7.63) for 6 Milokleftis was much cheaper than going to the bar so I was happy with that. It did mean that this week I had consumed 227 syns and had very little chance of having lost any weight on weigh-in day tomorrow! I’d enjoyed my stay looking after Xena and the cats – I’d finally remembered all the names of each cat now, much to Winnie’s disgust that it took me so long!

It was time to leave Lardos on Wednesday 20th September and I was ready to get back to Dalyan. I love looking after pets, especially as we aren’t able to have our own, but I was definitely looking forward to having a little break from it, maybe even that elusive lay-in on a morning. I got on the scales to find I had lost 0.2kg this week, not bad considering the booze I’d had in the last 2 days. My measurements were also good; no change to my bust, 3cm off my waist and 1cm from my hips.
I had 2 options to get to my ferry but I chose to take the bus. It would have been almost a 3 hour round trip for Michelle to drive there and back, during the working day and she was pretty busy. I decided I would get the 10am bus which takes 2 hours to Rhodes Town and then take my time getting to the port.
I said my goodbyes to Steve and Michelle as well as Xena and the cats that were around, before walking to the bus stop in the village square. The bus was due at 10am but it didn’t arrive until 10.13am and the journey cost just €5.60 (£4.91). The bus wasn’t too full and the AC was working so it was quite a pleasant journey and we arrived in Rhodes Town at noon.

I walked, in the hot sun, towards the port, taking a diversion in to the old town to go get some lunch. I decided to go to Nimmo’s where I’ve been before and isn’t too far from the port. I had a litre bottle of water as I was pretty thirsty when I got there, then ordered a pork souvlaki for lunch as it would be the last time I ate pork for a few weeks. I decided to have a glass of red wine to wash down my lunch and this is what I paid:
1l water 3.90
Pork Souvlaki 10.60
1 glass of red wine 3.10
Tip 2.40
Total spent €20.00 (£17.53)

My ferry was at 4.30pm but I had to get there an hour before to collect the ticket, the crossing was fine and took around 2 hours in total. I bought Jamie a bottle of Tanqueray Gin as they didn’t have any sherry for another friend and it’s much cheaper than in Dalyan. I’d arranged to meet Stef at the Erasta shopping centre in Fethiye when I arrived so I walked to the big Migros, stopping to get some Turkish delight on the way for less than £1 at Tuğba.
Stef was in good spirits and we talked about me setting up my own business over a hot beverage in a café. I eventually got the bus back to Dalyan and was absolutely exhausted by the time I got home at 11.45pm.

Rhodes – 17th & 18th September

Xena and I had our last walk together on Sunday 17th September, she was feeling better but I threw away the pork bone from Valantina’s as I didn’t want to chance giving her it. After my bran flakes for breakfast, I spent most of the morning getting prepared for Steve and Michelle returning that night. At lunch time I ate the macaroni cheese snackpot, some pitta, hummus and Baba Ghanoush before taking myself off for a walk. It was too hot for Xena’s paws and quite warm for me but I went to Alapou wine store. I had 1 glass of great wine from the taster menu and also bought 2 bottles of wine to take home with me. One was a present for Steve’s birthday, a nice Merlot recommended by the owner, the other bottle was a cheaper rosé wine for me to drink, also recommended.
On my way home I bought a big sandwich and a cheese pastry from the bakery at a bargain €3.70 (£3.24) – that was my dinner with half of the bottle of rosé!
Steve and Michelle arrived back from an amazing time in Switzerland and we had some nice cheese, charcuterie and, of course, more wine. Xena was so pleased to have her parents back too!
Steve and Michelle had bought me gifts; a bottle of Black Sheep Greek red wine and a giant Toblerone which was very kind.

We’d gone to bed at gone midnight, Steve and Michelle were back in their bedroom and I was on the comfy sofa bed in the living room. At 2.30am on Monday 18th September Bob, the cat, decided he was going to start climbing all over me, then he sat on me and just stared. I did eventually get back to sleep but then I was awake once everyone else stirred.
We all worked that day and, while Steve and Michelle went to the bakery for their lunch sandwiches, I had hummus, pitta and Baba Ghanoush at home. We finished work before 6pm then Michelle drove the 3 of us to Flyers in Pefkos. I was also tagging along on the big shop near Faliraki, about an hour away in the car. I decided to use the cash machine to get out some euros so that I could buy some provisions and maybe some pork products to take back to Dalyan. Unfortunately, I didn’t realise until later, but the machine kept my card – great!
We did the big shop, I spent €17.44 (£15.29) on cheese, salami, gluten free pork sausages and coconut milk powder while my hosts bought a massive trolley full of stuff, including lots of pet food.
On the drive back we stopped at Gyros & Burgers in Afandou. Steve had a burger, Michelle and I had the Pork gyros and all the food was super tasty and they have ultra clean and well decorated toilets.

Lardos – 15th & 16th September

I don’t know if it was because Xena knew that Captain Caveman was leaving or that she had eaten something she shouldn’t have, but we were woken up at 4am on Friday 15th September with her being sick on the bedroom floor. She seemed fine after that but I decided to keep my eye on her today and not give her any of the leftovers or the bone from Valantina’s. At 6.30am we were at the bakery getting a sandwich for Captain Caveman to take with him on his 2 hour bus ride to Diagoras airport in Rhodes. The bus was at 7am so we said our goodbyes and, of course, I was sad to be parting ways again but it made sense for me to stay in Turkey while Captain Caveman spent the rest of his 41 days out of Turkey. Money was tight and I needed to work so there was no point me going with Captain Caveman, spending more money.

I took Xena for a walk, she was a bit sad and didn’t want to go far so we just did the short walking route which Steve had suggested. I had grapes, a peach and some yoghurt for breakfast and then worked from 11am to 4.15pm with breaks in between. This meant I had already worked a bit of my time from next week.
When I went to take some washing in, I noticed that someone had put some discarded takeaway food on to the terrace for the cats to eat. It looked greasy and smelled disgusting so I removed it and threw it away. Apollo was not happy with that decision and had a face on with me. When I fed the cats the Friskies, they went mental for it, apparently it’s got something in it that makes it very moreish. For my dinner I made egg fried rice which I had with some left over pork, onion and potatoes – it was very nice. Xena had snuggles as she was missing Captain Caveman and we had a quiet Friday night in. She wasn’t sick again but I wanted to stay in with her, just in case.

I was looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday 16th September but at 4.15am Xena was sick again. Trixie knew Xena was out of sorts so we all got on the sofa in the living room for cuddles. It was just bile but I was worried and decided to just walk her a short way around the block at 7am. By 7.30am we were back and Xena was hiding behind a tree in the garden while I watered the plants. Before 10am I had a video call with Captain Caveman who was concerned if Xena was ok too and came on the phone to talk to her.
Later, I decided to nip to the shops to stock up on things to take back to Turkey, as well as a few provisions to tide me over at Steve and Michelle’s for the next few days. I spent almost €18 (£16) on Teriyaki sauce, Sweet & Sour sauce, bacon lardons, cereal, pitta bread, crisps, plums and snackpots – using the rest of the cash Euros I had left. Aside from that quick shop, I stayed close to Xena and kept an eye on her.
For dinner I ate the mushroom snackpot, some crisps, bran flakes and a couple of plums. I watched a bit of TV but had an early night.

Lardos – 14th September

It was Captain Caveman’s last day in Rhodes on Thursday 14th September, as he was catching a flight to the UK tomorrow. He would spend a month in Europe, seeing family and friends and I hoped to meet him in Italy if work and funds allowed. I still had another 5 days in Rhodes then I was going back to Dalyan. He took Xena on her last morning walk with him and I knew they were going to miss each other.
Our first job of the day was to go to buy the pet food. I’d consulted with Steve who had told us which ones to get. The big supermarket they go to, near Faliraki, has it much cheaper than a local supermarket but we had no option as there was very little left.
At ABC Supermarket we bought the following:
Fairy Liquid 2.79
2 x Dog food 3.74
2kg Friskies Cat food 10.70
Total Spent €17.23 (£15.04)

After shopping, we saw Mark and Maria, in Memories bar sat having a coffee so we went to join them. I ordered a juice but Captain Caveman ordered an Alpha beer! By 12.30pm we had been for a walk to find the house Captain Caveman had booked for us and my parents when they come to visit next month. It was very close to the village centre and looked like it would be a lovely Airbnb so I was pleased. Next, we went to Cuckoo’s Nest for coffee (I had water) with Louise and Mark. It was Steve’s birthday today so we took a photo to send to him. Captain Caveman had been trying to have pistachio ice-cream since being in Lardos but they never seemed to have any. Today they did, on his last day, so he had one and I had a lemon sorbet.
Back home we had bread, hummus and Baba Ghanoush for lunch and we had plans to celebrate our last night together for a while, with a meal out. We didn’t have much money between us so we didn’t want to go mad. In Rhodes I can’t change lira and some places won’t accept my Turkish bank card.

We started our evening out with Mojitos at Cuckoo’s Nest and for some reason my Turkish bank card does not like the machine there as it wouldn’t work. Captain Caveman had to pay using the last of our cash Euros, aside from his bus fare to the airport tomorrow. We had a gorgeous meal that evening at one of my favourite restaurants in Rhodes, Valantina’s. Here’s what we had with the prices in Euros;
1 cheese balls starter 7.50
1 Moussaka 11.50
1 Tomahawk pork steak 15.90
2 Carafes of red wine 16.00
Total spent €50.90 (£44.43)

My pork steak and all the trimmings was amazing and I think Captain Caveman wished he’d had that, even though his moussaka was nice, just not as big a portion. Valantina’s was definitely on the list for when my parents visited Lardos too. The complimentary pomegranate ouzo shots went down well and we wandered home feeling satisfied, with some leftovers for me and Xena. We decided to finish off the night watching a bit of Jimmy Car on Netflix but Captain Caveman fell asleep.

Photo credit – some photos by Captain Caveman

Lardos – 13th September

I’d done all my working hours for the week so on Wednesday 13th September I had the day off. Both Captain Caveman and I went on the walk with Xena. She was getting a bit better at walking on the lead with us, she still pulled me quite a bit and I’m sure she would have no recall whatsoever if we took her off the lead. Captain Caveman had wanted to take her with us to the beach but it would be too hot and we didn’t really know how she would behave if it was busy. We had not been on the beach yet so preferred to explore by ourselves first.
As it was Fat Club day, both Captain Caveman and I had got on the scales to see how we were doing. I was 1.4kg lighter than last week, had put 2cm on my bust, 1cm on my hips but had lost 1cm from my waist. Captain Caveman had lost 0.6kg so we had both done well and it showed that we had been eating healthier meals and drinking less alcohol, on the whole.
We had the rest of the tortilla for breakfast, just before 8am but then decided to have a second breakfast when we got to the coffee shop on the way to the beach. We both had a chocolate croissant, Captain Caveman had a double espresso and I had an earl grey tea. The total cost for this was €11.50 (£9.97) but it was very nice.

By 11am we had walked along a very shingly beach and had a paddle. I had sore feet so we decided to stop for a drink and a sit down at Kanaloa Beach Bar, Lothiarika, which looked a bit fancy. They had a sign saying you could use their comfy looking sun beds and order food and drink from the beach waiters for a service fee of €14 (£12.13) and I made a note that this might suit my parents when they visited next month. We ordered 2 mojitos which were very well made and refreshing at a cost of €16 (£13.86) for both.

Our next stop off was a short stroll inland to a local Greek restaurant called Taverna Periklis, which probably had the cleanest toilets I had ever been in. We had a lovely lunch and here are the prices we paid in Euros;
1 bottle of water 1.90
1 Alpha Beer 4.10
1 Fig, walnut & pomegranate salad 9.40
1 Beef Stifado 15.90
Total Spent €31.30 (£27.12)

Captain Caveman had planned a bit of a treat after lunch and had decided we were going to walk a different route back, but one that would incorporate a trip to a wine store. Obviously, I was definitely up for a visit to the wine shop which sold wine by the glass too.
As those of you are familiar with Captain Caveman’s walks will be, it was not straight forward. Within 20 minutes we were lost and he wouldn’t admit that the road on the map was not actually a road, it was barely a path and the amount of sleeping goats and their droppings were evidence enough to me that we were not on the right track. Our first argument in Lardos was quite a big one while I stood under an olive tree, trying to get some shade in the height of the afternoon sun. Captain Caveman walked around the perimeter of the fenced field we had found ourselves in and I applied sun cream to my face, neck, arms and legs which were already covered in dust from the ‘road’ we were walking on. He came back and explained that he was definitely still correct with his directions but as I was complaining so much we would try an alternative way – how considerate!

I wouldn’t like to be complaining too much but in the interests of painting the best picture I can of our walk back, I will give you a short timeline based on the photos I took and you can be the judge of whether I was being mardy and unreasonable.

•12.56pm we left Taverna Periklis

•1.09pm we reached a gate which I interpreted as meaning the road was closed

•1.15pm I am under a tree while Captain Caveman looks for the way out

•1.54pm we pass a ‘road’ that I had refused to walk down, after I had to have a wee on an open hill and drank all of the water we had brought

•2.01pm I see a fig on a tree and tell Captain Caveman to pick it for me, it was not ripe yet and he ended up with his hand covered in a sticky residue which I thought was quite amusing – Captain Caveman not quite so much!

•2.15pm we have arrived at the wine shop, I’m purpley-red, smelly and quite dirty. We both use the bathroom and order a wine from the tasting menu

•2.18pm normal service has been resumed and we have a glass of wine

•2.47pm Captain Caveman has bought us a bottle of the wine I was tasting to make up for us ‘not getting lost’.

The Wine Store, called Alapou, was brilliant and we had a nice chat with the owners, after I had apologised for the state of me and we knew we would definitely be back again. The wine was €13.80 (£11.96) and went down a treat with our sausage pasta for dinner.
In the evening we attempted to watch American Made with Tom Cruise in, but I had got the wrong end of the stick and thought it was a film about a cleaning lady from the USA as I didn’t see the opening credits.

Lardos – 11th & 12th September

I worked from 8.30am to 11.30 am on Monday 11th September, while Captain Caveman went shopping and prepared meals. Here is what he bought at the shops with prices in Euros;
ABC Supermarket
1 orange pepper 1.16
Orange juice 1.29
Mayonnaise 1.99
Grapes 2.08
Baba Ghanoush 2.50
Hummus 2.50
Eggs 2.69
Spaghetti 3.04
Cheese 3.12
Total Spent €20.37 (£17.65)

After a quick break to let Xena on the garden, check on the cats and discuss meal plans for today, I was back at work until 1pm. I had a chicken wrap for lunch with chicken, rocket and a bit of cheese then got back to work until 6pm.
At 6.30pm we went to the pharmacy and to buy another notebook and pen.
Here’s what I bought from the chemist, who was super helpful and offered advice on how to get rid of my eczema (which was definitely getting worse on my back):
Paracetamol tablets 2.00
Aerolin Inhaler 2.20
Imodium tablets 4.51
Aloe Vera Gel 12.00
14 Farviron Tablets 20.94
Total Spent €41.65 (£36.09)

I’d ran out of Aloe Vera gel, which I buy much cheaper in Dalyan and use to soothe my eczema so we had to pay the price. The medication to treat the eczema is an anti-fungal tablet, usually used to treat thrush. The chemist told me it was expensive but would definitely work so I took his advice and got it. This was probably the most expensive medication I had ever purchased. I had no idea how much it would be over the counter in England but I did think the inhaler was very cheap. On the way home we called in to the supermarket to cost up dog and cat food as we were running out and we decided to take photos and ask Steve and Michelle which would be best, before buying any. We weren’t flush and didn’t want to be wasting money unnecessarily, I also thought we had an extra cat as Steve had mentioned they had 13 but I was convinced there was 14.

We had a couple of drinks at Yamas Bar and then went home for a cat count to check that I wasn’t feeding one extra. Captain Caveman made a pasta with pesto sauce for dinner which was very tasty and I was getting used to having my chef back. I put the aloe vera gel on, took the first of the 14 tablets and hoped the €21 had been worth it. We were going to watch another film but it was getting late so we went to bed after pet cuddles.

I worked 9am to 4pm on Tuesday 12th September, with breaks for lunch and pet checking. I had buttered toast and a cup of tea for breakfast, once Captain Caveman and Xena had come back from their walk and the cats had all been fed. We had a bit of a picnic style lunch with all of the stuff we had in the fridge. At 6pm I had got myself involved in a cat photo identification parade as I tried to work out which cat was which and who the extra one was. I had already eliminated Billy Big Bollocks from next door who came to bully Steve and Michelle’s cats and try to steal their food – he was not included in the total amount of cats. In the end, it turned out I was correct about the number of cats that Steve and Michelle were responsible for, but it was 13 plus Billy Big Bollocks who they sometimes feed but I hadn’t been! I’d been thinking that Winnie and the Bella Lookalike were different cats but they were actually the same one!
For dinner Captain Caveman made chicken fajitas with wraps and they were very good. We watched Ted Bundy & the Green River Killer later on but that was also a bit of a let-down and Captain Caveman fell asleep this time.