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Monday 22 June 2015

The Turquoise Coast

I love holidays to Turkey and in particular to the Turquoise Coast. We fly to Dalaman airport and then usually head south and over the years we have stayed at Gocek which is the first resort you come across. Secondly is Calis Beach and then the large city of Fethiye. Heading up into the Babadag mountain range is the very British resort of Hisaronu known as Little London by the locals and on the other side of the mountain pass is the beautiful blue lagoon of Olu Deniz. We have stayed in all of these resorts over the years. We have avoided Hisaronu as we have thought it too brash but this year I found an incredibly cheap holiday staying right in the centre and we decided to book this on the basis that it is in the centre of these other resorts so ideally placed for sight seeing.

We have had a great holiday and although we still feel that Hisaronu is brash we have come to appreciate that it has been an ideal spot for our holiday wants and we have decided that will return again to this resort some time in the future.

Our hotel, the Hisar Holiday Club was clean, comfortable and had a great swimming pool which always had plenty of available sun beds. It was in the centre of the resort so handy for the many restaurants, bars and shops. It was not too noisy at night although I was woken A couple of times by people returning in the early hours in high spirits but I easily fell asleep again and so this was not too much trouble.



Our highlight this holiday was a trip to the top of Babadag mountain to watch the paragliders take off for their journey down to Olu Deniz. We caught the local bus and paid just £4.25 return for the 40 minute trip to the top and return journey. At the top of the mountain it was warm, sunny and the air was so sweet smelling. Their is a fabulous cafe restaurant at the top with prices the same as in Hisaronu and Olu Deniz. We sat and drank in the view and some icy cold beers for a while. The view down to Olu Deniz and over to Gocek was breathtaking as was watching the paragliders.





We also visited Kayakoy which is a deserted ghost village on the hillside around 4km from Hisaronu. This was a Greek village that was abandoned by the Greeks in the 1930's. It is an interesting place to wander around and there are some lovely restaurants at the bottom of the hillside to have a relaxing meal and drink.





The weather was initially hot with the occasional cloud and during the holiday it became hotter so that towards the end of our break it was hitting 34C. We spent a fair amount of time in the shade at the end of our holiday as this was getting a little too warm for me but we both have tans and feel relaxed. The only downside is now having to sort out all the holiday laundry and taming our garden which has grown like a jungle while we have been away.


Where do you go for your holidays?

Saturday 20 June 2015

Packing for a Sunny Holiday

I try to be organised with many things in life as I find being organised saves me time. I usually keep my holiday clothes in a suitcase under the bed so that when it comes to packing everything is in the suitcase and I don't spend time searching for what to take away. I do the same with my holiday toiletry bag and always keep it full of travel sizes that I buy at car boot sales throughout the summer.

We are going for two weeks to Turkey for a lazy sunny beach holiday at Olu Deniz. We have 20kg luggage allowance on the flight and we always use Samsonite hard case suitcases which weigh quite heavy themselves. I always ponder about what to take and end up taking too much but last year when I had a week away in Mijas, Spain I found my rule of 3 items came in handy. 

I will take 3 dresses for wearing in the evening which means each one will be worn three times. I will take 3 swimsuits and 3 floaty kaftans for wearing over my swimwear. This also means each one will be worn around three times. These will be worn on the days or part days that we spend by the pool or on the beach.  I used to take sarongs but over recent years have found these kaftans more versatile so I have quite a few of these now in different colours and styles - some v neck, some round neck and some embellished with beads and sequins. 




I will take 3 linen skirts and a pair of shorts for during the day and 4 t shirts that match up with them. So I have a purple vest style t shirt to go with the patterned linen skirt. I have a navy linen round next t shirt which matches the navy patterned linen skirt. I have a loose grey t shirt and violet t shirt which both work well with the white linen skirt. In addition I will be taking some white cotton 3/4 length trousers which will go with any of the tops and can be worn underneath the kaftans if I fancy a change in the evening.



I always travel in trousers and some camel ankle grazers and black jeggings are favourites at the moment when worn with a loose crinkle blouse and with a shorty denim jacket over the top. The denim jacket can be worn over everything that I take away with me and helps keep away any unexpected chills if the temperature drops in the evening.

I  like comfortable flat sandals to wear on a beach holiday so wear cushioned soled flip flops also from Marks & Spencer called step tone. I have Birkenstock sandals that are great for wearing when sight seeing and a pair of slightly glittery Fitflops for wearing in the evenings.






Two of the maxi dresses have been bought second hand. One is a Windsmoor dress which came from a charity shop in Milnethorpe in the Lake District while the other is an Evans one which I bought on eBay. The trousers were also bought on ebay, the white ones were new complete with their labels and the camel ones were second hand. Both of the linen skirts were bought in the Marks & Spencer sale as we're all the kaftans. I rarely buy clothes at full price and only thought about this recently when I was walking through the a Trafford Centre to get a manicure and pedicure. I puzzled over people carrying bags full of their new clothes and could not really remember the last time that I had done this. I do not miss it and choose to wait until the sales or buy items on-line, at charity shops or car boot sales.

How do you organise your packing?