It was all go on Monday 1st June, my last full day in Dalyan for 3 weeks. I was up early with Norman but made him wait until 7am for breakfast, by which time he was chomping at the bit! I gave him his usual, but with egg, and did a video to send to Little Daddy, aka Jamie. Next, I completed as much banking as I could for today and then went to meet a friend for a walk from 8am. As I walked to Kaunos tea gardens the sun was shining and it was definitely summer now.
By 11am I was back with Norman, cleaning and getting ready for Drew’s return, later tonight. At noon I went to meet Janet & Ian in Ren Garden, for a cup of tea and to arrange to catch up again when I got back from my holiday.
I worked for the rest of the day, while Norman mainly snoozed away. By 6.30pm, I was going back to Ren Garden to meet my parents. We had arranged to go for a last meal before I left and had chosen Duble, another firm favourite of ours. Drew had got delayed but I had kept hold of the key in case I needed to pop back to check on Norman. I paid for the drinks at Ren Garden which only came to 620 lira (£10.33) for all 3 of us. At Duble the food was excellent and I was so pleased that I had decided to have the soup to start, then 2 more hot starters as a main; prawns and liver. We all had the chicken soup, one of the best in town, with extra bread. Ma ordered lamb chops which looked fab and Pa had a chicken casserole which came with rice and chips – one of the best meals out, for definite. We also had water and wine to go with our food and, when the bill came, Mom insisted on paying. Once we had eaten, all 3 of us went to Jamie & Drew’s to check on Norman as Drew’s flight was delayed quite a bit and I had been gone for over 3 hours. Little Norman was pleased to see us all but seemed confused that there was no sign of Step Daddy Drew or any wine as he’d expected. We left and went back to my parents for a nightcap and arranged to say goodbye tomorrow morning.
Gratitude List 1. Norman 2. Seeing friends and my parents 3. An excellent meal at Duble.
There was excitement in store for the afternoon of Thursday 21st May as I was booked on the Captain Boris cheese and wine boat trip with my parents and Gayle from 3pm. Neil was still away but was returning later tonight. I got up early and worked so that I could finish at 2.30pm. Having consumed 4 cocktails and about half a bottle of red wine plus one for the road, last night, I was definitely feeling it this morning. My stomach was in turmoil and I needed to run some errands. I waited until 10am to call at the bank and then to Captainnet. I paid 750 lira (£12.50) for a month’s worth of home internet. At noon I had a call booked in and then the Resort Experts team meeting. Once finished, I was off to meet the family on the boat to enjoy 4 hours of indulgence for £60 (all the food and wine included in that price).
Once on the boat, I decided to pay my £60 upfront so that it was done and we could relax, the others did the same and I noticed Ma & Pa were not as eager to get on the wine as perhaps they usually might be. I took one for the team and started us off with a nice rosé. By 3.10pm all 4 of us had a wine, my dodgy stomach had been treated with imodium and we were tucking in to crisps and dips already. It was a full boat and we had certainly been spoiled by doing private trips previously as I had forgotten the inconvenience of having smokers onboard. Just 40 minutes in to the trip, we were anchored up and most people were in the sea, including Mom. I hadn’t even brought my swimmers on account of paying £60 to include the wine and wanted to get my money’s worth!! I also wanted to catch up with Becky and enjoy the boat. I got a call from our friend Martha who had happened to bump in to Captain Caveman back in the UK and they were having a catch up somewhere near Kendal. I did a quick video for them and sent a couple of photos from the boat.
By 5pm we were presented with Boris’s superb spread of cheese, meats, fruits, olives, nuts, bread, crackers – all presented so well. I made friends with Monique, a Dutch lady and spoke about my friendship of over 40 years with Ingrid, also from Holland. She was surprised she had not yet come to visit me. Gayle made some new friends at the front of the boat and I recognised the accent as they turned out to be from Rotherham. We had a lovely time and it’s another one of my favourite trips. I’d love to do a private cheese trip later in the year.
It was 7.20pm by the time we got back and a suggestion to head to Boris’s new bar, Dalyan Lounge was made. Several people agreed so Gayle and I said we would see them in there. My parents were not up for staying out and went home on the pretence they were going to come back out but Ma had already tipped me the wink that it probably wouldn’t happen. At Dalyan Lounge only Monique came from the boat, everyone else had peaked too early and gone home. Gayle and I had drinks of water, realising we took should probably have taken the example set by my parents but we don’t get together often and thought sod it. We’d been getting on really well and there was even talk of what it would be like to enter Race Across the World together. Of course it wouldn’t be much use either of us entering with our propensity to need a toilet, get lost and be far from fast on our feet. I’d not watched the last 3 series so I needed to catch up but it was a nice sentiment that we’d gone from hardly seeing each other to thinking we could spend 40 days together. I paid the bill for our waters, rosé wine for me and Bacardi and coke for Gayle which came to just 800 lira (£13.33) in total. As we were leaving, Boris gave us a bottle of rosé wine as a gift which was really good of him. The intention was to go home so that Gayle could meet Neil once he got back from Scotland but she’d done a quick change in the loos and was out out! We saw that Bistro Blue had some outdoor tables and plonked ourselves down. I tried to be sensible and ordered us a large bottle of water but Gayle was a bad influence and had already ordered a Pina Colada. I had a wine to be sociable and Neil arrived just as Gayle had started on the next cocktail made from Sorrel. To me it tasted like privet but she seemed to like it and Neil had a beer. When Neil was on his 2nd beer but about to order a 3rd, Gayle decided the Sorrel cocktail might be a bit strong and was recommended a Moscow Mule by the waitress. That was better but I still think the Pina Colada was the best, I stuck to the wine and ordered a second one with more water. Neil was hungry so we tried to order pizza from Pizza 48 but it was closed as it was gone 10.30pm. Our waiter at Bistro Blue made him pizza and chips and I just had to indulge as it was really good. When we got the bill, Neil tried to pay it all but I insisted on paying 1,000 lira (£16.67) for my 2 wines and some towards the pizza and chips I shared. The rest came to another 3,000 lira (£50) and it was another midnight finish. This week’s budget had well and truly been blown but I’d had an amazing time with the family. This week I had allowed myself a budget of £270, including the cash I had put by for the boat trips. I had spent £102.49 today alone, making it a total of £314.15 for the week, which included 2 boat trips, 2 meals out, all with alcohol but still 3 zero alcohol and zero spend days. I was already looking forward to June’s pay day!
Gratitude List
1. An amazing cheese and wine trip with Captain Boris and Rebecca
2. More time spent with Gayle, having a laugh at Dalyan Lounge
3. Getting in at midnight after Neil joined us for more drinks at Bistro Blue.
I worked all day on Sunday 17th May and found some great deals for cruises, including a similar route to the trip I would be going on in June. I had some warmed up pizza for lunch, which I cooked from frozen and then got excited when Travelpack put a Facebook post out to announce my Fam trip onboard Riverside Luxury Cruises. I worked late because I had taken tomorrow off so that I was on standby to join my sister, if I was invited to Köyceğiz on the yellow boat. It turned out though, that they had decided not to go so I messaged a friend to see if she fancied going to the beach instead and we made a loose plan to either go to Iztuzu or Dalaman in the morning.
Gratitude List 1. Being lucky enough to be going on the Riverside Luxury Cruises Fam trip next month 2. Pizza for lunch 3. Having the flexibility to take some time off.
My plans changed a bit on Monday 18th May; Jamie had asked me to let Norman out at lunch time as he was off to Fethiye for the day. My friend and I met for a cup of tea and a walk at 8am and postponed our outing to the beach. I got more annoyed than I should have that escaped balloons from boat trips were floating down the river! My parents, Gayle and Neil had said they were off to the beach but also changed their minds and went to Köyceğiz on the yellow boat.
I worked on some existing customer admin and checked on a customer abroad. I visited Norman, who was snoozing and needed to be tempted out with a peanut paw. He’d had a haircut and was looking very trim and pleased to see me. I had a late lunch of chicken casserole with green beans and carried on with promoting holidays for later in the year. For dinner I made a concoction of bacon and asparagus risotto, Slimming World style – so no wine or butter in it. Today I was pleased to have a zero spend and a zero alcohol day.
Gratitude List 1. An early morning walk 2. Seeing Norman, the dog 3. Nice home cooked food.
It was another quiet day on Tuesday 19th May. I did some book writing in the morning, a short course on how to write a landing page and form with Holly Frances and then completed another free course with Lisa Johnson on Selling with Integrity and Scaling. I was doing ok with Resort Experts but I could definitely take on more customers for this year and 2027 so I was working on doing just that. I had warmed up leftover risotto for lunch, which wasn’t the best as it was using broken rice. I worked more in the afternoon and then made a Slimming World Tarka Dal for dinner. It was very tasty and felt healthy which was good as I had weigh day tomorrow and I wasn’t hopeful for a loss this week. I stayed at home in the evening and had another zero spend and zero alcohol day.
Gratitude List 1. Free and helpful courses 2. Home cooked meals 3. A quiet but productive day.
Before my alarm went off at 7am on Wednesday 29th April, I checked where I was against the weekly and monthly budget. In the last week of the month I had spent £85, of which £65 was on a preplanned boat trip where I had paid £45 in English cash. I decided that it meant I still had £30 of the weekly budget left, plus £20 for the last 2 days of April. I had started to feel better so I went to meet a friend for a walk and talk at 8am.
We finished our morning walk at Kefal tea gardens, for a cheese toastie and a cup of tea. At only 175 lira (£2.92) for breakfast it was very enjoyable but then I realised I should’ve got weighed earlier. I was in charge of the Fat Club scales as Carol had to make an unplanned trip to the UK so this was my 3rd week in charge. My home scales had said I’d stayed the same as last week and I’d lost 2cm off my bust and waist, my hips were the same. I was just logging in to my emails when I noticed an important announcement about Turkish residency. As this affected me I went to read and check the information. The authorities had decided to significantly increase the fees for both new and renewal of residency permit fees. There was also not much in the way of notice as it was effective from the 1st of May!!! I currently have a 2 year residency permit expiring in 2027 which I had paid 6,523 lira (£133 at the time). In the next 2 days it would increase to 57,000 lira (£950) – an increase of 873%. As you can imagine this was quite a shock for people who were about to renew imminently and without much warning. It did also make me question if it would be worth me saving up £950 just to renew my residency next year when I might not be in Dalyan as much as previous years. I messaged Captain Caveman who told me not to worry about it and it was still cheaper than moving back to the UK. There were lots of people on Facebook up in arms about it, with plenty of expats wondering if foreigners were no longer being made to feel welcome staying in Turkey. I googled how much it would be for a Turk to get a similar permit to reside in the UK and it was just over £3000 for 2026, so by comparison it was cheap! I worked for the rest of the day and ate loquats for lunch, before heading out to Fat Club. I’d already arranged with Ma & Pa to meet them at Ren Garden after the group meeting at 4pm.
I’d put on 0.25kg (0.6lb) on Carol’s scales and was about to over indulge too. I had a pot of tea for 100 lira (£1.67) while behaving at Fat Club but it wouldn’t last long. I ordered a white wine and soda while my parents arrived and when they got there Dad ordered an Efes Malt beer and Mom a lemonade. They apologised for not making it over to mine after being in Jiks last night but Ma’s phone battery was dead. They had ended up giving the ball a right kick so Ma was off the booze today. Eva, the waitress had made fresh chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies so I ditched the Slimming World plan for a cookie and another white wine and soda. We all enjoyed the cookies which are so good and not diet friendly at all. I’d decided to finish work today at 3pm but, as I’m never really off duty, I always have my work phone on me. I got a message from one of the Resort Expert owners which simply said ‘call Jenny asap’. I excused myself from my parents and went in to the garden room area and called the mobile number. I use Rebel app while in Turkey as it’s free/cheaper than using my UK phone package. What happened next was great as Jenny told me I was going on a work trip next month. Even though it overlapped with other trips/birthday celebrations, I obviously said yes and she asked me if I would be able to respond to her email with some credentials as soon as possible today. Unfortunately, this meant that I had to bring my catch up with my parents to a bit of an abrupt end so that I could go back home and sort it out and look at changing my flights. As we went to pay our bill at Ren Garden my mom, who had already given me English cash to refund me for her shopping and putting her internet on, paid for my drinks and cookie, which was very kind and meant that I’d only actually spent just under £5 today, with tomorrow being the last day of the month and a £300 monthly budget. Back home, I started rejigging my travel plans for next month. I called Captain Caveman to let him know and he helped me plan. I had a very late dinner as I was still trying to work out the best way to change my flights.
Gratitude List 1. Captain Caveman putting the new residency renewal cost in to perspective 2. Spending time with Ma & Pa 3. Planning a work related trip.
I started my day on Thursday 16th April with catching up on blogging and content writing before breaking off for leftover pizza for breakfast. The Heybe pizza was definitely good the day after too. I worked all day, had more pizza for lunch and then got word from Anex Tours that their package holidays could now include Ryanair flights. I’m not ordinarily a fan of Ryanair but for some people it can be the difference between going on holiday or not. Considering Captain Caveman and I should’ve been in Lebanon now (for a caving conference tagged on to a holiday), life was still good but I missed seeing him. The May visit was not looking good as neither of us could fit it in and I didn’t want to miss spending time with my parents or seeing my sister and brother-in-law when they came to Dalyan either. The Aussies had left this morning, I would see them again in September and Vanessa had arrived back in Dalyan today. I didn’t attend the Resort Experts team meeting as I had a co-worker session with the Neon Nook for 2 hours. I decided to work on my lead magnet/freebie and managed to get it finished in the 2 hours. I then tried to attempt setting up a Mailerlite account to be able to start my email list collation and automation but that didn’t go well and was rather frustrating. After finishing work at 7.15pm I took a walk along the river just as it was about to get dark and took some photos. I called at the Yaman Büfe 2 where I bought 2 bottles of wine and a bag of crisps for 705 lira (£11.75) but I didn’t drink any as I was saving it for when Vanessa popped round.
Gratitude List 1. Leftover pizza 2. Neon Nook co-working session 3. A riverside walk.
Tuesday 7th April was spent working on book stuff and Resort Experts. I was awake at 7.30am and it was quite cold. I was getting a few more holiday enquiries and the places people seemed to be looking at were Albania, Türkiye, Greece and Spain. I got lots done and had a chicken and chickpea curry around 7pm. I totted up my weekly spend and at £79.31, I was over my £70 budget despite the 4 days of zero spending. But I had earned extra this weekend so I didn’t mind. It did show me how easy it is to spend too much if I agree to go out drinking too often and I should probably limit it to once per week. I briefly spoke to Captain Caveman who was in Bristol for work and had had to delay his moving in to his Sheffield flat until Friday, when he could go back up North.
Gratitude List 1. Being busy 2. Nice food 3. Having a 4th zero spend day this week.
I was up early and doing my measurements on Wednesday 8th April; my bust and hips had stayed the same and I had lost 1cm from my waist. On my home scales I had lost 0.5kg (1.1lb) so I was optimistic for Carol’s scales at Fat Club later. After working hard on admin tasks and having no time for a lunch, I headed to Ren Garden for our Fat Club meet up, I was running late and was a bit stressed that I had not finished what I was doing. Tomorrow I had promised to meet up with friends too so it meant I would need to work tonight. At Fat Club I had lost just 0.15kg (0.3lb) on Carol’s scales, so I was disappointed but it was still a loss! I had a pot of tea for 100 lira (£1.69) and resisted the cookies and cake that were on display. After, I popped to the shops and here’s what I bought, with prices in lira:
I went straight back to work and regretted not making the soup I intended to earlier. I had an important email which told me I was a little further down the process of getting ‘The Handy Travel Planner’ in to actual book shops in the UK this summer. At 7pm I closed the laptop and decided to go for an impromptu walk as I was conscious I wasn’t getting enough exercise. I took a few photos as the sun was setting and bumped into Jamie and Norman and The Aussies, as well as Onur from Simple. I stopped to say hello to everyone and then continued to walk the long way home. I was meant to pick up something I had forgotten at the shop but I forgot again. I made a chicken wrap for dinner and had an early night as I was very tired.
Gratitude List 1. Losing weight 2. More progress on the book situation 3. An evening walk.
I was in my office by 8am on Thursday 5th March, writing Resort Experts content and catching up on more free training and courses. Today marked 10 years since I had done the trip to the biggest cave in the world, Hang Son Doong, in Vietnam. I bet I couldn’t do it now! I noticed a woman I had been following on Facebook for a while, was doing a free challenge next week; 5 days of using your voice in a market that’s stopped listening. It peaked my interest and I decided to sign up, I even decided to share it with lots of other Facebook friends who worked for themselves or had side hustles. There was a prize to be won if we got chosen, for sharing the link so I asked everyone I could think of, including my Resort Experts colleagues. I had a quick walk round the block and to check if my parents’ trees had started to grow back after a rather over zealous winter prune – they weren’t but it had been a pretty cold and wet winter, here. I let my mom know and tried to reassure her they would be in full bloom by the time they arrived. At 2pm I attended the team meeting where more talk about new improved systems were coming our way and things were business as usual, despite the Middle East conflict.
After a busy day I decided I would have chicken fajitas for dinner, only to realise at gone 6pm that I didn’t have any peppers or onions. I took it as an opportunity to leave the house for some fresh air to go get some and have a walk by the river with my new phone. It was also a good opportunity to get a selfie of me wearing a music related t-shirt in memory of an old Aviva friend who had died 1 year ago today.
I tried doing sunset photos and videos to have a practice with my new phone too, appreciating the beauty around me. It was quite a warm evening until it got dark.
Here’s what I bought at the shop, prices in lira:
Migros Supermarket 2 Onions 4.27 2 Green peppers 24.79 2 Red peppers 25.89 8 Satsumas 26.63 Total spent 81.58 lira (£1.38)
Seasonal fruit and vegetables are still quite cheap here in Dalyan but I’m always careful not to buy out of season produce. I was tempted to pick up a bottle of wine but decided to enjoy a 3rd day this week without any alcohol. I also thought I might try to avoid alcohol for the rest of this week.
I walked the long way round to take a photo of a couple of local hotels which I was recommending to friends who were coming later in the year. They were closed for the winter at the moment but would open next month. I made sure to say hello to my regular doggy friends, the usual white two were excited to see me and came over for belly rubs. Back home I made fajitas which were really tasty and I got ready for a busy day at my desk tomorrow.
Gratitude List 1. Being busy from getting out of bed to getting back in it. 2. Appreciating a walk while using my new phone 3. Good food.
I had a slight fuzzy head when I got up on Tuesday 3rd March and I had quite a few things to do. I’d started to get queries from people who hadn’t booked holidays with me (who had booked directly or online), they were worried about their holiday due to what was going on in the Middle East. Unfortunately, I could only help my own customers as I had no idea of the cancellation or amendment terms that these bookings would have been made with and I advised them to call who they had booked with or read their terms and conditions. Meanwhile, at the moment all the holidays I had booked for my customers were safe and going ahead as planned. I broke off for lunch of homemade lentil and tomato soup with rye bread and butter. I’ve been eating a lot more lentils since I’ve been in Turkey and they are so good for bulking out meals cheaply.
I nipped to the shops again around 6pm to try to finish off the shop I half did yesterday and hoped I wouldn’t be too late to get some decent meat. Here’s what I got with prices in lira:
Migros Supermarket Pasta 15.25 Dido chocolate bar 34.95 2 tins of tomatoes 99.90 900g chicken breast 180.35 940g chicken thighs 235.95 Total spent 566.40 lira (£9.60)
Dried pasta is so cheap here, especially as I buy the supermarket own brands. I couldn’t resist the new Dido bar which tastes like a Ferrero Rocher in a chunky KitKat – highly addictive. Of course, I didn’t need the tomatoes but felt compelled to buy while they had some in stock and I was chuffed to be able to get chicken. It always amuses me that here thighs are more expensive than breast because the Turks prefer to cook thigh as it has better flavour. I had leftover pasta for dinner then spent the evening catching up on my blog and a much needed zero alcohol day.
Gratitude List 1. Customer holidays being unaffected 2. Getting chicken 3. Dido chocolate bar for a treat.
I already knew that weigh in results on Wednesday 4th March were not going to be favourable, given that the Slimming World plan had gone out of the window. I’d eaten out and consumed lots of alcohol in the last week so it was only right that I had put on 0.8kg (1.8lb) on the home scales this week. My measurements were -1cm from my bust, no change to my waist and a whopping 4cm on my hips! I chucked the ingredients for a chicken casserole in the slow cooker and cracked on with my to do list. At lunch time I looked at flights for the girls trip to Spain where I wanted to be on the same flight as the rest of the group from Gatwick. I had a wander to Jamie’s to pick up my new phone case, he was laying on a sun lounger by the pool. I still had jeans and a hoodie on but he and his friend were sunbathing in their shorts and a bikini! Norman was indoors having a nap. At 3pm I was facing Carol’s scales at Fat Club to find I’d actually put even more on; 0.95kg (2lb) and I was blaming Captain Caveman for that! I couldn’t blame him for what happened next though. I stayed at Ren Garden after the group had left and ordered a hot chocolate while waiting for Vanessa to join me. She arrived a bit flustered and late then ordered a wine and soda. We had a good catch up for the next couple of hours and, as I had not eaten lunch, I gave in to temptation and had one of the fresh homemade cookies. They are so good! We had another drink each and this time I joined Vanessa with a wine. Here’s what I had with prices in lira;
Mine 1 hot chocolate 170 1 cookie 120 1 red wine 170 Total spent 440 lira (£7.46)
We said our farewells and I went home to see if my casserole was cooked yet. It needed another half an hour so I decided to take my new phone out for a walk and practice using the camera. On the walk along the river I bumped in to one of the Dalyan Dwellers (quite literally) who had stumbled out of Tapa bar and was zigzagging his way to Corner bar. My camera on the new phone was super snazzy and I was so happy with it. The video took some getting used to though.
I was back home before 7pm ready for my dinner which I made some mini roast potatoes to go with. It was delicious and there were more portions leftover. It had been a good day, but not a zero spend or zero alcohol day, I would try to get at least 1 more each of those in this week.
Gratitude List 1. Meeting Vanessa 2. Great food and treats 3. My new phone and it’s fab camera.
I left Jamie praying to the porcelain Gods in our bathroom at the Kremlin Palace at just after 8.30am on Tuesday 14th October – a sentence I never would’ve thought I’d write! I was the first out of us all for breakfast and decided to try the hot sausages, mushrooms, beans and chips. They were of European style and quite tasty but the croissants were good and the tea strong. Compared to the Selectum Luxury Resort hotel, the Kremlin Palace was much more of a free for all dining experience. Jamie and Amanda didn’t make it to breakfast so we arranged to meet up after packing. When I got back to the room, Jamie had packed but was in and out of the bathroom being unwell and I hoped it didn’t mean we had to stay another night! The Anex Fam trip and extra night had almost broken me and my broken foot! Today was my parents’ wedding anniversary and I needed to be back in Dalyan as I’d been invited to help them celebrate with a meal out that I didn’t want to miss. After speaking to Jamie, we decided to say our goodbyes and leave. We made plans to meet in the UK and even have a reunion in Dalyan in 2026. By 11am we were on the road back to Dalyan, only stopping for a pee and some mints at a very nice petrol station. Jamie dropped me off at home around 4pm and helped me carry everything as I still struggled with the stairs. I unpacked, put some washing on, and got ready to meet my parents as we had a lift booked for 6.30pm.
My parents were early but I was ready for our evening meal out. Ma had booked us in to Yalıcapkını (Kingfisher) Restaurant and she had arranged for the boat to pick us up at 6.30pm. We were about 15 minutes early so when we got on the boat, we decided to all have a wine. It wasn’t great and Mom’s glass of white was off and had to be replaced. It also wasn’t cheap at 300 lira (£5.56) for a glass – and we decided we wouldn’t bother with one on the way back. The boat trip was just for the 3 of us and we sailed over to the Kaunos Tombs for sunset. It was really beautiful and it took us less than half an hour to arrive at the restaurant’s jetty. I struggled to get off but was helped and it was still light as we walked through the gardens. One of the big differences I noticed from being in Antalya was that I’d not had to worry for the last 5 days about uneven floor surfaces, unless I had ventured on to the beach. Here in Dalyan, it’s a struggle to find an even floor surface anywhere.
Once inside, our waiter showed us to a nice table and brought the menus. I’d heard mixed reviews from recent visitors so my expectations weren’t too high. A friend had told me that her and her husband wouldn’t go again after a terrible meal, whereas Jamie had enjoyed his steak there recently. For starters, I ordered a burrata salad, Dad chose a beetroot and cheese dish while Mom had the crab. Harris, our waiter, even broke the crab up for Mom which was good. The bottles of wine were fairly pricey but we decided on a bottle of red. It was much more superior to the wine we’d had on the boat and we did wonder if we should suggest they supply the captain with decent wine in future. For mains, we all played it safe and I ordered the steak which Jamie had recommended while my parents both had a pepper steak. In our opinion the food was excellent and we all really enjoyed it. As my parents paid for the meal I thought it rude to make a list of the prices at the dinner table. However, for blog purposes, we did discuss the total for complimentary bread and dips, 3 starters, 3 mains, and a bottle of decent red wine. I thought it still good value at 6,760 lira (£124), so about £41 each – a treat for Dalyan but cheap compared to the UK where we might have ordinarily enjoyed a fancy meal out. I was very impressed and I would definitely eat there again. The walk back to the boat was more precarious, especially as we now had been given bags of fruit to take home. We each had a mixture of oranges, satsumas and pomegranates which I thought was rather kind. With hindsight, a taxi back may have been a better idea for the less mobile of us but we managed it and the staff were super helpful and had torches. We took 2 other diners back with us who were unaccustomed to the route so it was like a mini adventure on the way home. As my parents had so generously paid for the evening and I had only paid for the tip, we rounded off the evening at mine for some more drinks. It had been a lovely night and I was so glad to be back home. The only thing I wasn’t looking forward to, was tomorrow’s weigh in at Fat Club!
Gratitude List 1. Getting back to Dalyan after a wonderful Anex Fam trip 2. Having a lovely anniversary meal with my parents 3. Surviving the boat ride to the restaurant and back, without incident.
Often in Dalyan, I don’t get invited to anything for ages and then 2 things crop up at the same time. On Tuesday 13th May I was booked on to a friend’s private boat trip for the day. I’d also been invited to a Ladies Night boat trip but couldn’t go to both. The Villa Duran boat is owned by Captain Ünal and his wife Sioned, my Turkish teacher. On board for the day were Julia, her parents, Jamie, Nanny Kay and her 3 friends, so a lovely small group of us. We left at 10am and were tucking in to the home made Welsh cakes by five past. It was my first boat trip of the season, we went to Ekincik Bay so I made sure I took a sea sickness pill as I’m prone to getting sick out at sea.
One of the things I noticed about the boat was the extra wide steps which were good for anyone who might have just had knee surgery (my Dad) on their next visit. Our BBQ lunch was served about 1.30pm and I had chicken, köfte, chips and some salad with a couple of glasses of red wine.
Close up of the steps
Video of me testing out the steps
It was all very lovely and I really enjoyed the day out. We got to swim in a few spots, saw a turtle, ate delicious ginger cake and got dropped off at Julia’s jetty to see the dogs and have another drink. The boat trip worked out at £40 each, which I had paid by bank transfer before the start of the trip, and we paid for our own drinks at the end. Drink prices were not dissimilar to prices in the bars and the wine was a really nice. Here’s a video of the boat, on Facebook, which is definitely one of the biggest and is super comfy and immaculate. Captain Unal is super professional and a good chef too.
I walked from Julia’s with Jamie, Norman and Edna and having really enjoyed the day out, a private boat trip is one of my favourite things to do in Dalyan! Back home, I had a shower and a lay down but didn’t set an alarm. I woke up at almost midnight thinking it was the next day!
Gratitude List 1. Being lucky enough to be on my first private boat trip of 2025 2. Swimming in the sea 3. Spending the day in great company.
Photo credit – some photos by Jamie and other guests on the boat
I had planned to meet a friend for an outing to Dalaman on Saturday 22nd March. The plan was to meet up after the market and go off on a bit of an adventure, but I had to cancel. I had Resort Experts enquiries to deal with and I didn’t want to miss out on potential bookings. I had Yorkshire tea and wholemeal toast for breakfast then cracked on with work. In the afternoon I went to the market where I also treated myself to lunch. Here’s what I bought with the prices in lira;
Market
Stall 1 Potatoes 35
Stall 2 6 Eggs 42
Stall 3 Gözleme mushroom 125
Stall 4 Strawberries 130
Total Spent 332 lira (£6.78)
I didn’t buy much this week as I still had enough food in. Back home I ate the gözleme (Turkish pancake) which was amazing and not Slimming World friendly. I had strawberries after, as I washed and chopped them up – putting them in a glass jar so they last longer.
I worked all afternoon on quotes and social media posts and even ate a Dido with a sage tea in the afternoon. After work, I met my friend at the Kaunos tea garden where I had a large Turkish tea and a bottle of water for 50 lira (£1.02). I still rate the tea gardens as one of the best places to go and the views are so good. We decided to go to Cömert Lokantası for a cheap and quick dinner. I had a chicken stew which had potatoes in it but came with rice. The cost for my meal and a bottle of water was 110 lira (£2.24) and was rather tasty. I’d planned to host a Sunday dinner at mine tomorrow and wanted to get the Yorkshire puddings made today, that went by the way side as I ran out of time. I had a bit of a near miss when I went to Migros to buy the chicken for the Sunday dinner – there were none left. There were none left in A101 either and the ones in BIM were very small. Luckily, I found the last 2 in Şok and went home. I had a second visit to the shop when I realised I had run out of milk. Here’s what I bought with the prices in lira;
Şok Supermarket 2 x 1.8kg chickens 309.52 lira (£6.32)
I had to move my desk down to the kitchen to make a bigger table for tomorrow and was slightly concerned there wasn’t enough room. It had been a busy day and I was pleased to see my bed that night.
Gratitude List 1. Being busy with work 2. Market visit 3. Having a desk for a spare table.
Jamie was due back at about midnight on Monday 3rd February and the dogs were looking forward to his return. I had my breakfast ‘cake’ with a cup of Yorkshire tea then got organised for my last day with Norman and Edna. I cracked on with some work before going to meet a friend who I’d not seen in ages. We met at the tea gardens for a cup of tea and a quick chat. I felt bad as my friend was up for going on outings but my schedule was not yet flexible enough that I wanted to be away from my laptop. My priority right now was building up my Resort Experts customer base and getting the handy travel tips book out there for people to buy. Luckily, she understood and I said, once I was in a better situation, I would let her know. I did mention her joining us for Sunday walks but she was busy then. Later, I walked the dogs and had soup for lunch. By which time, Captain Caveman was already on the train from South Yorkshire to Scotland for his first day in his new job. He would be near Glasgow for 2-3 days and had been put up in a hotel. I worked all afternoon and then took the dogs out again. I made a Slimming World veggie wrap pizza for dinner and had snuggles with the dogs until it was their bed time. I had a bit of an issue with my English phone number, in that it’s with GiffGaff and it doesn’t always get signal in Turkey – they advised me to reply to their text to keep my account but then it wouldn’t send! It was very frustrating so I put it on my To Do list to try to find another way to keep my number and change providers. I spoke to Captain Caveman who had survived his first day at work and seemed content, which I was pleased about.
Gratitude List 1. Tea Gardens with a friend 2. Having a great team at Resort Experts 3. Norman and Edna.
I was super busy on Tuesday 4th February as I had work and my book project. I had decided that I needed to get the book published on Amazon KDP and Kobo so I had cracked on and loaded up both. The Kobo one was much easier to do but it then said, as I was in Turkey, that I couldn’t review what I had submitted and it would let me know in 3 working days when it was published. I had no idea about the lay out and if the cover looked ok, as it had auto formatted it, but I had submitted a book for publishing. The Amazon KDP submission was on hold as it was giving me issues. I forgot to have breakfast, had curry and rice for lunch and immersed myself in my To Do List while enjoying being back at my own desk today. For dinner I just had cheese on toast but it was almost 11pm once I had finished work and I had another video call with Captain Caveman. He had a new work van so he was very happy and he filled me in on what he was up to in Scotland. There was news from Santorini that there were earthquakes and a scientist had said that it could be serious with a risk of a Tsunami so I got Captain Caveman’s advice on how that will affect the surrounding areas and if it would impact Turkey. I was meant to have had a video call with Vanessa too but I hadn’t had the time and had to move it to later in the week.
Gratitude List 1. Being back at my own desk 2. The sun coming in through the windows and doors of the apartment and warming up all of the house 3. Knowing Captain Caveman was happy with his new job.
There was no official Sunday walk on Sunday 5th January, as Captain Caveman had now left Dalyan and there was no one else willing/available to take on the task of organising one this week. I’d decided I would not always be free as I worked some weekends and I also was a bit of a fair-weather girl who couldn’t read a map. The sun was out and so when I got up and had my cup of tea, I messaged Debbie and Janet to see if they were going on a walk. They said they were up for a short stroll and Debbie let Sezgin and Nur know too so we could meet at the tea gardens at 11am. It turned in to a bit of a Secret Squirrel Sunday walk, quite by chance. We all started off togged up in many layers, as it was a very cold morning despite the sun. We had lost one walker before leaving the Mosque Square and we watched some stand up paddle boarders on the river. One of them fell in, which must have been a bit refreshing for them. By 12.45pm I had taken so many layers off that my bag was full of clothes and I had very hot feet. I was wearing Captain Caveman’s wool socks with my wellies to make them comfier. We went to the tea gardens afterwards and had a hot beverage and a bit of a laugh.
After the walk, I went to the shops to stock up, here’s what I bought with prices in lira;
Migros Supermarket 2 red onions 10.72 1 chocolate bar 14.40 Spring onions 34.94 1.2kg carrots 64.84 720g sweet potatoes 71.96 3 Quark 89.95 Spray olive oil 129.95 705g chicken breasts 105.72 912g chicken thighs 184.64 Total spent 707.15 lira (£16.07)
When I got home, Captain Caveman had been busy setting up a Facebook Group and had invited me to be the admin on it. I treated myself to the açma with kaymak and jam for my brunch and made a chicken casserole in the slow cooker for dinner. The weather forecast was looking bad again for next week so I got on with work and then started looking at my own holidays. I had a quick look at costs of package holidays to Marrakech in February and saw one at £229 per person from Gatwick, hand luggage only but staying at a nice place with a pool. Captain Caveman thought this was a bit pricey and I looked at flights which came up at a bargain £35 return from Gatwick. I would still have to add my flights from Turkey to the UK on top of that, though. I went to bed thinking of a weekend in Marrakech and knowing the sales course I was on tomorrow had come at a good time.
Gratitude List 1. The Secret Squirrel Sunday Walk 2. Bargain chicken from Migros 3. Captain Caveman including me in his projects and plans.
I was straight back in to work on Thursday 26th December, as I was thinking that it could be busy with enquiries for people who were off work and were wanting to book holidays or accommodation. Quite frankly, I was hungry for the business and to get on top of the January sales – there were so many discounts available on package deals with EasyJet, Jet2, Classic Collection, TUI, Gold Medal, Intrepid and the Adventure People – all of who had sent me their promotional offers email to have a read through. Captain Caveman had brought me buttered toast and a cup of Yorkshire tea in bed. I’d already decided that I wouldn’t continue my food diary for the rest of the year and I had blocked out my calendar to get on with as much Resort Experts work as I could, while still trying to spend time with Captain Caveman in his last week. It was a bit of a balancing act but now we didn’t have dog duties, it felt like I had a little bit more time. After work, and before it got dark, Captain Caveman and I took a walk to Kaunos Tea Gardens where Captain Caveman had an Efes Malt and I had a large tea. It came to 160 lira (£3.63) and it was quite pleasant until the sun went behind the mountains. Next, we went to the green grocers to stock up on fresh produce, where we bought carrots, garlic, red peppers, onions and tomatoes for a total of 213 lira (£4.83). I also spotted some sage which I thought was a bargain at 30 lira (68p) for quite a lot – I love a sage tea. At the pharmacy I bought 1 month of contraceptive pills for 329.18 lira (£7.46), which I think is pricey (but cheaper than a child), then we walked round to the supermarket where we bought the following;
There was just 5 nights left of Captain Caveman’s stay so we drew out 3,500 lira (£80) for going out with, during that time. It was a tight budget for the 2 of us but it would be doable if we were careful. We had chicken casserole for dinner and Captain Caveman made some airfryer roast potatoes which were really good. We had Merlot wine and then got ready to go out to the Jiks fun quiz, which Jan was running. It started at 8pm but The Aussies are often late so I wasn’t unduly worried when we arrived and they weren’t there. A lovely lady who had joined the Sunday walk was there with her husband and they were just about to leave when we roped them in for the quiz. They were on their holidays but have been to Dalyan before and were really nice people. We joined their table to make a team of 4, figuring The Aussies, when they arrived, would already be a team of 4 too. Unfortunately, they didn’t turn up and we weren’t sure why at the time but, by this time, it was too late to call them as the quiz had commenced and I didn’t want to get disqualified for having my phone out. The next day we found out Amanda had been quite sick with a bad stomach for the last 2 days so we were grateful she’d not shared that with us. Jan did a very thorough Boxing Day quiz at Jiks with some laughs along the way and I actually really enjoyed the night out. All 4 of us contributed and it did make a nice change, as I don’t usually like quizzes which are more Captain Caveman’s area of expertise. At half time we got served Jan’s homemade warm mince pies and gingerbread men, we had a few as they were delicious! The quiz was an all-rounder which was good and we ended up winning which all but Captain Caveman were surprised about. Our team name was conveniently Albino Buffalo which was what was on our new t-shirts. We paid cash for our drinks; Captain Caveman had Efes Malt and I had red wine, which came to 250 lira (£5.67) per round and we just had a couple as I had work in the morning.
Sunday 22nd December was our anniversary and Captain Caveman had scheduled a Sunday Walk which incorporated going by the Dog Shelter to walk a dog. There was also a planned power cut which we didn’t know if it would affect either of the houses so I decided to join a small part of the walk with Norman and Edna. There was quite a few people on the walk, Norman and Edna loved it and wanted to continue on, but I turned back home before the dog shelter as we didn’t think it would be responsible to take them up there. While Captain Caveman and his fellow walkers, walked, I had cornflakes and a grapefruit for a late breakfast, with an extra cup of tea. I did some writing and a bit of work while it was quiet.
When Captain Caveman and some of the remaining walkers were on their way back, he called me to see if I wanted to re-join the walk to go back to the start point, Kaunos tea gardens. I got my shoes and coat on and went along, and I even shared a mixed toastie. Janet joined Ian and a lady on holiday met with her husband so we all sat together and had a chat. Here’s what the group ordered, with prices in lira;
Captain Caveman’s and mine came to 260 lira (£5.88) which I thought was reasonable for a beer, a double tea and a mixed toastie. On the way back, Jamie had run out of dog food almost so we walked to the pet shop to get more. Unfortunately it was closed on Sundays so we walked home and had soup for lunch. That evening we had pasta bolognese and another bottle of our Levissi Christmas wine, this time the Makri red. It was very nice and so far the 3 bottles we had drunk were going down well. It was a nice way to celebrate 13 years of being together, even though Captain Caveman thought we had already acknowledged it on Thursday!
joloyolo 