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Springtime arrived in Finike in early February - days became very warm and the rain disappeared. We explored the locality by bus and on foot visiting nearby towns and villages, and local archaeological sites. Often we have been surprised to have the sites to ourselves and were able to wander freely amongst many of the ruins, such as the amphitheatre at Limyra, which lies completely unfenced by the side of a road.
With Sue and Dave from Yacht Fiona we hired a car to visit the ancient site of Olympos, which dates back to 200BC. What is particularly impressive about Olympos is its idyllic location, on the banks of a pretty Oleander and Fig-shaded stream running between spectacular high cliffs. In February, spring flowers carpeted the grass around the ruins creating a beautiful scene. We walked up into the nearby foothills of 2366m high Tahtali Dag, where burns the Chimaera, a series of perpetual flames fed by natural gases issuing out of cracks in the bare hillside - quite a sight!

Back in the marina, boat maintenance has been moving on - Quilcene was lifted out at the beginning of March and we began a week of intensive work, sanding, painting, servicing etc. whilst living aboard in the yard. As usual it was a tense moment at launch time, and as her clean blue hull touched the water Kit ran around checking the seacocks, depth sounder and deep sea seal in case of leaks. Thankfully he'd done a good job and there were no problems - it was good to be afloat again!
Soon after, we became tourists for a week when our friends Annette and Peter from Malvern visited. It was lovely to see them and we had a great week sightseeing and showing them around Finike. We hired a car for a couple of days to visit the village of Ucagiz in beautiful Kekova Roads, an almost land-locked gulf where Lycian ruins line the rocky shore. The tourist season had not yet started but we found somewhere to sit in the sun and take çay, whilst workmen busied themselves cleaning and refurbishing restaurants, and Gulet owners repainted their boats in bright summer colours. From there we drove through a lovely valley and over a mountain pass to Arykanda, dodging the occasional tortoise that had ventured onto the road! The setting for ancient Arykanda is almost as stunning as that of Greek Delphi - high on a steep south-facing hillside, and overlooking a deep valley. We passed an empty wooden booth to enter the site and imagined that it would be free at this time of year, but soon a man came rushing up and asked for a 4TL entrance fee - only £1.60 each which will hopefully go towards maintaining the site! The ruins are quite impressive - a basilica with extensive mosaic flooring still in place, acropolis, gymnasium, temple, theatre. Amongst these we spotted some local wildlife - a black squirrel, lizards and a snake!

On the other side of the bay, opposite Finike, is a headland with several small offlying islands. We had often gazed at it and had heard about the lovely coastal walk to its lighthouse. We drove around the bay and picked our way through a sea of poly tunnels to find the rough track marking the start of the walk. It was a glorious day and the coastal scenery was stunning, as we followed the Lycian Way long-distance footpath to the point. Even in early March it was rather warm however, and we finally arrived at the lighthouse on the headland hot, sticky, and ready for our picnic!

In the marina, there is always a communal Sunday barbeque, where yachties take their choice of food and cook it on a large BBQ. We all take other food to share, usually some type of salad, potato or rice dish, and spend a sociable afternoon. Nett and Peter were invited as our guests, and as usual the salads were delicious, the wine and company good. After eating, the musicians (and budding musicians) brought out their guitars and we all joined in and sang along. Later, Stuart & Steph from Yacht 'Matador', and Dave & Sue from 'Fiona' came over to Quilcene and the eight of us continued singing into the night, accompanied by Dave and Stuart on guitar - a good day!

After Nett & Peter had flown home we continued preparing the boat for the off! Kit had to scale the mast to effect a repair at the top, so Dave came over to winch him up whilst I tended the safety line. Kit was definitely not keen on going up but it had to be done, and soon he was back on deck and in high spirits, having sorted out the problem - he'd even taken some pictures from on high!

All around the marina were signs of the approaching sailing season; people who'd been away all winter were returning and it was a hive of activity as everyone attended to last-minute jobs. Some, like us, plan to return to Finike next winter but many will continue/finish their round world transits so we may never meet again. To mark this time, several end/beginning of season events were organised - a farewell Saturday night party in the 'PortHole' club, when we danced and partied 'til the early hours, a walk to Belos, a ruin atop the mountain that looms high above Finike.
The Belos trip was a great day out; Stuart and Steph organised a dolmus to take a group of about 20 up a rough mountain track to about 2500ft. Although it was a very warm day at sea-level it was quite chilly at this height and we had to keep moving when out of the sun. From there we walked around the mountainside and up to the acropolis, built along the ridge at 3000ft. All around were the remains of huge sarcophagi, some still with their lids on, towering above the scrubby vegetation and forming a dramatic foreground to spectacular views over the coast and islands toward Kekova. From there we picked our way back around the mountain, again following the route of the Lycian Way. Whilst most of the group walked up another peak in search of more ancient ruins, Kit & I, and Peter (an ex-pat who lives in Finike) headed off to eat our lunch in a nearby sunny glade. A very large herd of goats crossed our path, tended by a sweet, shy young woman who allowed me take a picture of her and was thrilled when I could show it to her on the digital screen. We found our picnic spot and watched amazed as more and more goats kept filing by. At the rear of the herd was a man who came and sat with us, so we shared our lunch with him. He was very friendly and despite our lack of Turkish we managed to establish that there were 700 goats, and they were from Belon -a nearby settlement. Soon we were joined by two more men who invited us to go to Belon and take cay with their family. Sadly we had to refuse as we still had to walk down the mountain - a descent that would take 2 to 3 hours and actually left us exhausted and aching - oh for a hot bath!!!

A final event was organised by Aussie friends Annie and Tony from Yacht 'Sunburnt'. We set off from the marina early on Friday evening, laden with drinks and nibbles. Some cycled and some walked, only 1km to the west where we climbed up to a cave on the hillside and shared our farewell sundowners in this unusual setting.

Marina life has been fun, but we were now itching to set sail so we entered waypoints on the GPS, and planned our next few weeks' sailing. We will head west along the Turkish coast, then north up through the Aegean to Istanbul. My brother-in-law Terry is flying to Kusadasi to meet us in early May, so until then we'll be anchoring and exploring in the beautiful little coves and bays along this stunning coast.