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We soon settled down to life in Finike, getting on with winter boat maintenance, and the busy social scene here. Kit struggled to sort out our electrical problem, which continued to give him headaches for several weeks! In November my brother-in-law Terry flew out and we became tourists for a week. We hired a car and visited the ancient site of Myra with its famous rock-tombs. Although most of the tombs are plain today, explorer Charles Fellows wrote that upon his discovery of the city in 1840 he found the tombs painted red, yellow and blue - the entire cliff face must have once been a riot of bright colour. Most of the tombs are from the 4th century BC, and many are said to contain funeral scenes in relief, some scenes portraying the daily life of the deceased. Sadly these are out of bounds and we had to view the facades only.

We revisited Kekova, this time by road, and enjoyed lunch and a beer at a waterside restaurant, before wandering around the village of Ucagiz where sarcophagi are dotted around amongst the houses.

Back in Finike one local restaurant has live Turkish music every Saturday so we booked a table for dinner. Dinner was the usual Turkish fare - mezze starter and a grill with rice and salad, but all very tasty and the price for the evening included a courtesy pick-up and drop-off service! The music was provided by a 4-piece local band playing Guitar, Saz, Drums and a Kaval (a woodwind instrument). As usual men danced together and later the restaurant owner (and marina chandler) Faik, joined in playing a booming Davul (a type of two sided drum).

On the culture trail again we visited Phaselis, an ancient Lycian city and Roman port set on three small bays, now protected within the grounds of a beautiful national park. In Roman times this was a thriving port shipping rose oil and perfumes, as well as timber from the surrounding forests. Today the three bays and fragrant pineforest make a wonderful backdrop for exploring the extensive ruins. We pottered about on the well-preserved site, exploring the bath house, amphitheatre and main street before I took the opportunity for a cooling splash in the sea from one of the small pebbly beaches. For lunch we called into a trout farm, sited on a wooded hillside with a rushing river flowing through. Tables are built out over the falling water, which must be cooling in the searing heat of summer, but blankets were provided as it was now a little cold in the shaded wood - all in all a great experience!

Being gluttons for punishment we returned to Arykanda, a unique Lycian city built on five broad terraces on a mountainside. Kit & I had visited with friends Annette and Peter last year but not fully explored the site, so thought we'd enjoy showing Terry the stunning views, and see the bits we'd missed. Arykanda was noted in ancient times for having the most hedonistic and debt-ridden citizens - not quite sure why tho', they should've been content with the magnificent views!!! The city overlooks a deep valley and the spectacular setting makes it one of the most attractive ruins in Lycia. We wandered all over the site, trudging up the hill to the amphitheatre, built during the 2nd century AD and in really good condition: At the edge of every row of seats, holes are clearly visible that were used to support protective awnings. There is so much history in this area, we are constantly amazed how well-preserved many of the sites are!

Whilst Terry was in Finike it was festival time in Turkey - Kurban Bayram. This 5-day festival celebrates the Biblical and Kur'anic account of Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son. In the story, God stayed Abraham's hand at the last moment and provided a ram for sacrifice instead, praising Abraham for his faithfulness. The Turkish tradition is for the head of each household to sacrifice a sheep on the first day of the holiday period. A feast is prepared to feed friends and family and the excess meat and hide donated to the poor. In the days approaching the festival we'd seen lots of sheep offered for sale by the roadside. A law has been passed to stop animals being slaughtered outside blocks of flats (thank goodness - the majority of town-dwellers live in flats!), but as we drove up to Elmali in the mountains there were some fairly gruesome scenes as the poor animals were slaughtered and butchered outside houses and on driveways! Not a festival for the faint-hearted!

Terry's week with us was soon over and he returned to the UK and its round of Christmas preparations. In the marina we had formed a 'band' of would-be musicians and were practising Christmas carols - Sue on keyboard, Dave, Tony and Chris on guitars and me on clarinet. Christmas Eve was our big night, performing our contribution along with other 'livaboards' in the marina. It went down well and we all had a great time! There were traditional songs, poems, music and food from all nations (I made shortbread) - a brilliant evening! Next day we had drinks with our neighbours Tom and Nicolette on 'Katanne' before going to a local hotel where three yachtie friends had shown the cook how to prepare traditional Christmas dinner; there were 50 of us and we had turkey with all the trimmings - delicious!!

On Boxing day we flew back to the UK just in time for the thaw and 3 weeks of grey skies!