Author: Salty tales from Bali Hai

It was such a great feeling to be sitting at a cafe in the lovely harbour town of Kas in Turkey about to bite into our first tavuk şiş (chicken kebab). We felt so grateful to Turkey for allowing us in and to the Netherlands for letting us go in these difficult times with Covid…

One of the positive things about Covid restrictions is that we have made the most of every opportunity to celebrate life. Normally we would probably allow Valentines Day to drift by unnoticed but this year we got out the bunting and decorated the house and then ordered a delicious take away gourmet meal. It was…

On our last leg from France back to the Netherlands we had planned to revisit the northeastern city of Metz – a town that we love and have visited several times before. Sadly the river was badly swollen and running extremely fast so the camper parking area on its banks had been completely closed off.…

Imagine driving along a winding coast road in the South of France heading towards St Tropez with the windows wound down. The golden mimosa that tumbles down at each side of the road exudes a delicious, delicate perfume and the jagged glimpses of the turquoise sea flash in your eyes. The sun is warm on…

The drive from Mourèze to our next destination – the Cap Cerbère – couldn’t have been lovelier with acres and acres of grapevines, glimpses of the snow-capped Pyrenees and most lovely of all, the beautiful sight of golden-yellow mimosas in full bloom. Soon we were on the Mediterranean Coast on a precarious narrow and winding…

It had been a cold and frosty start to the day so we had a slow morning in our cosy camper van. We were in a very pleasant spot on the outskirts of the medieval village Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon in Southern France. The village was tiny and we had explored the fine buildings in this historic settlement…

Our journey along the River Loire continued. We left the elegant city of Saumur and followed the wide fast-flowing river to the little village of Chouzé-sur-Loire, where we stayed the night in an Aire close to the local Church. We arrived early enough to go for a lovely walk by the river where we saw…

The trip from Trébeurden to Huelgoat was only 65 kilometres so we left at 4.30 pm thinking that would be plenty of time to make it before curfew started at 6 pm. What we didn’t anticipate how much the narrow country lanes and the twists and turns could slow you down when driving a camper…

We feel so grateful that we have the freedom to travel through France in our camper van during these Covid times. Having the opportunity and the privilege to walk somewhere different every day and drive through beautiful countryside is very special and it’s hard not to feel rather guilty when so many friends and family…

Mud seems to be a bit of a recurring theme in our travels recently. After leaving Ferme L’Horloge, near the tiny village of Tardinghem, 20 kilometres from Calais (where we got bogged on our first night), we headed south towards Veules-les-Roses, in the Normandy region of France. Although we didn’t leave the farm until midday,…

New Year is the one time that the normally law abiding and dutiful citizens of the Netherlands go absolutely wild and act just a little bit crazy. It’s as if on that one night they let off all the pent up energy they have accrued but sublimated over the course of the previous year. This…

We really couldn’t have been luckier- just a couple of days before European countries closed their borders to travellers from Britain we made it back to the Netherlands in the nick of time for Christmas! We had gone to England from the Netherlands because our Schengen visa-free period on our Australian/NZ passports was almost up.…

After an unusual and rather sparse birthday lunch in Valkenberg in the southern province of Lindberg in the Netherlands, it was time to celebrate rather more grandly at our daughter and son-in-law’s home in Pijnacker near Delft. We knew there was going to be something special for dinner but it was the most wonderful surprise…

We were in Maastricht, the city where that treaty was negotiated in 1992 – the one where EU members decided to introduce a common currency, the Euro – which was eventually fully adopted in 2002 – except by the British of course! The city has a reputation for being a thriving cultural hub – second…

Coddiewomple: The dictionary definition is “To travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination” – I suppose that means we are definitely coddiewomplers! Unable to travel further afield due to COVID restrictions, we decided to “travel in a purposeful manner” to get to know the Netherlands more thoroughly. From Overloon we made our way…

Due to rising numbers of Covid-19 cases, most of Europe has gone into a second lockdown which means that like everyone, our plans have had to be fluid. Our original plan had been to go back to Australia after our daughter’s wedding to Pieter to visit our son and daughter-in-law. Sadly, limited flights, passenger arrival…

We were staying in a lovely marina at Warten in the Friesland area, north of The Netherlands, enjoying an evening stroll looking at the boats and exploring our new surroundings. On our first evening we were casually strolling along when I suddenly spied a movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to…

After the extreme busy-ness of our daughter and son-in-law’s wonderful wedding it was great to be able to just relax and unwind for a few days while they enjoyed a “mini moon” in the beautiful Hotel des Indes in The Hague. While they were away we looked after their cat and enjoyed daily walks around…

On a quiet Friday night, just 10 days before the wedding of our daughter and son-in-law, there was a sudden and urgent banging on the back door of their house. What was going on?! Who would be hammering on our door like that on a rather cool and drizzly autumn night during Covid times? It…

Exploring castles is always a favourite activity when we are travelling in Europe and our visit to Slot Loevestein, a medieval castle in the Gelderland region of the Netherlands, was no exception. We had hoped to use one of the free camper van spots in the castle car park – the location was beautiful with…

It was such a relief to be safely in The Netherlands in plenty of time for our daughter’s wedding to her Dutch partner. With COVID cases threatening to increase rapidly as the cooler weather hit, we were worried that we might get stuck in Turkey and end up missing the forthcoming celebrations. Our daughter and…

This will be our last post from Turkey for a little while as we have hauled “Sunday” at Kas Marina while we travel to The Netherlands for our daughter’s wedding and to do some land travel (Covid permitting). A few days before leaving we decided to have a day off from “winterising” the boat and…

Our tickets to The Netherlands were booked and “winterising” and cleaning the boat was almost completed so we decided to give ourselves a day off. We hired a car and headed for the Demre district round about an hour from Kas where there were several ancient sites that we thought sounded fascinating. The first was…

Despite his dramatic slip on the rocks ( see previous post) Jonathan was not about to give up on the lovely anchorage in Karaloz Liman on Kekova Island – however, after an influx of wasps, the right decision to evacuate was made as the persistent buzzing around our heads was driving the crew mad! While…

The most remarkable part of our trip from Finike Marina to Kekova Roads – apart from the wonderfully dramatic Turkish coastline – was sighting a Turkish gunboat steaming past us the other way, leaving a massive wake behind it. Having already witnessed helicopter gunships flying overhead on three separate occasions, the existence of the naval…

The anchorage close to the sweet village of Üçağız was as still as a lake but unlike the limpid turquoise waters we had experienced elsewhere in Turkey, the water here was opaque and green. This probably accounted for the fact that we had the whole anchorage to ourselves. We didn’t stay to savour the sense…

Headlines along the lines of “Aussie couple disappears in Turkish countryside – boat found abandoned” were running through my mind as we pondered where we had gone wrong. We were on a hike in Kekova Roads starting in Woodhouse Bay where we had anchored Sunday. We hadn’t been off the boat for a few days…

The dull thrumming of low flying helicopters above our heads woke us up with a start. The insistent thrump, thrump, thrump, was reminiscent of a war movie and the vibrations felt really menacing. Up on deck we watched as the helicopters flew away from us and circled around the other side of the Kas headland.…

The worst thing about boat guests is having to say “goodbye“ so quickly after you’ve said your “hellos”. My sister Julia’s week-long visit was over in a flash but we had packed a lot in to a short space of time. Our final night together was spent at anchor in Göcek and a meal out…

The road leading to Dalaman Airport in south-west Turkey was uncannily empty – especially for a Saturday night. We had scarcely seen another pair of headlights since we had left Fethiye. We were in a hire car which we had rented to pick up my sister Julia from the airport – an hour’s drive away…

After a pleasant few days in Sarsala Koyu we dropped our lines and motored the short distance to the small town of Göcek. It might be a small town but it had a big harbour with plenty of room to swing at anchor which we happily took advantage of. Anchoring close to shore with a…

Travel not only presents us with new challenges (like the one I described in my last blog) but also enables us to experience many new things that make us laugh, surprise us or enrich our lives in some other way. During our stay in Seagull Bay near Göcek we had some great new experiences and…

Conventional wisdom tells us that “Knowledge is power” and “Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.” These sayings often ring true when you are sailing but sometimes they apply to things that seem trivial in comparison to the really scary things like storms at sea, equipment failure or the consequences…

It was such a relief to wake up on our catamaran Sunday and realise that we were safely in Turkey and had nothing pressing to do, nowhere we had to be – and yet free to travel virtually anywhere up and down the coast! After being locked down in Athens for almost three months because…

Our last task before leaving the Greek island of Kos to make our way to Turkey was to hand in our transit log at the Customs department. We were not looking forward to this as the last two visits had been excruciating but we gritted our teeth and walked in with our documentation which had…

The Greek island of Kos is a fascinating place steeped in history but for us it will always be remembered for the anxiety and stress caused by officialdom there. We were checking out of Greece to go to Turkey as our 90 days visa free Schengen period was well over – due in large part…

Our trip through the Greek Islands was almost over – one more stop after Amorgos and we would arrive at Kos where we were hoping for a smooth check out of Greece and finally be on our way to Turkey. We wished we could have stayed longer but the Greek authorities were adamant – we…

I wrote about falling in love with the Greek island of Amorgos in my last blog but had left the highlight of our short stay – the Monastery of Panagia Hoziviotissa – until I could write about it separately. This miraculous edifice hangs off the side of an enormous cliff 300 metres above the sea.…

When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine That’s amore” 🎵🎶 Travelling around the fabulous Greek Island of Amorgos in our ultra small hire car, this old song kept playing round and round in my head – only with the word “Amore”(love) substituted by “Amorgos”. Amorgos, the Easternmost island of the…

It seemed such a shame to have to leave the wide and beautiful bay of Ormos Agiou Ioannou on Paros after only one night but we had to get out of Greece quickly or possibly face fines for overstaying (even though for two and a half months we were required to stay put because of…

Encouraged by the friendly Port Policeman on the island of Paros – who told us to take our time getting to Kos – we decided to hire a car and tour the island before continuing our journey to check out to go to Turkey. Before we set off, we were visited by Adonis, a mechanic…

It was so wonderful to be on the move after two and a half months lockdown in Alimos Marina, Athens, but we didn’t have time to linger and really get to know each of the islands we anchored at as our 90 days Schengen visa period was well and truly over and we had to…

After an unexpectedly wonderful sail from the unspoilt Greek island of Kythnos we arrived at our next destination – Serifos – in the early afternoon and anchored in a large, completely empty, bay called Ormos Koutsla. The bay was pretty enough but rather desolate and lonely. There were the remains of iron ore mines and…

Reluctantly we left the lovely island of Poros as we had to start our journey to Kos where we needed to checkout of Greece and travel to Turkey. Unfortunately all our efforts to extend the 90-day Schengen visa free period had failed and we had been threatened with a 600 Euro fine (each) for overstaying.…

After the last minute scramble to drop our lines and leave Alimos Marina in Athens, it was such a relief to be heading out towards Poros Island just under thirty nautical miles away from the mainland. Amazingly we negotiated the tight exit with no really heart stopping moments and we were soon on our way…

After almost three months stuck in Alimos Marina we have at last broken free and are now sitting at anchor off the island of Poros, just 30 nautical miles from Athens. We keep pinching ourselves to make sure this isn’t a dream – but it’s true, we really have managed to drop our lines and…

During the second month of coronavirus lockdown in a marina in Athens, we started to develop a “new normal” – long joint video chats at the weekend with our son and daughter and partners, chaotic Zoom sessions with my extended family (20 – 25 of us at a time with a range of ages from…