Finike

S/V Goldcrest
David & Lindsay Inwood
Mon 11 Oct 2010 13:30

Nothing much to report, other than we’ve crossed the 30degrees east line for the 1st time, but had a pretty uneventful sail to get here.  The seas were dead calm though, which is always good for spotting wildlife.  This time it was turtles – quite a few big ones plus a baby – well just 10 ins or so long, struggling to get out of our path we think, as it was flailing its long flippers madly as we passed.

 

Finike is probably the first really non-touristy Turkish town we’ve been to.  Everyone is very friendly (lots of “merhaba”s [hello] as we pass), but it is a bit odd being somewhere where we can understand so little either of what is being spoken or all the writing around us (adverts, signage etc).  We’re getting used to being woken most mornings by the muezzin’s chants (which would be infinitely better if they weren’t distorted so badly by the amplification), but so much feels a little alien – for example how many women have their heads covered, the types of shops (small and chaotic) & the range of foods on offer.  Disappointingly, the only really nice bread we’ve had so far was sold to us from a boat while we were at anchor a few days ago and we’ve been unable to find anything so good in the shops – which all sell exactly the same single style of loaf.  However the food in restaurants has been pretty good – much more varied & tasty that the Greek food we’ve been used to. 

 

This morning felt quite autumnal again, with the temperature well under 20C until mid-morning.  It’s really feeling like time to head for a winter nest.  There is one more set of interesting sights east from here, then we’ll head back west.  We’ve now visited several marinas in Turkey that are favoured by live-aboard over-winterers, but not one of them has attracted us.  Maybe we’ve just got too used to being in Greece, so Crete is still our preferred option (let’s just hope there is room for us!).