Gypsies!!

Note the slight difference in the title from the last gypsy post (apparently there is now no question about it). We just received the following email from friends with four kids that we visited in May...

"And also, they say Gypsies leave trouble behind wherever they go

THAT FITS!

Still quelling the mutiny here…"

I'm free to visit them any time, but not 'that guy I hang out with'. Apparently he's just no good for kids...

Gotta love a beach holiday in Qld!

Well, it hasn't been completely 'holiday'. We have been marking, but it doesn't get much better than this for work... Walks along the surf beach, kayaking in the river, watching the world go by, swimming, taking advantage of Mum & Dad's water-front site views. When it's too windy to kayak the kite surfers come out and put on quite a display.

Gypsies??

Last week the six year old son of friends we stayed with a few times in Turkey was doing his English home school and was learning about the different kinds of homes people live in, including gypsies living in caravans. He turned to his mother very seriously, and asked, "Are Uncle Dazza and Aunty Leanne gypsies?" She kept herself from laughing (just barely) and told him no, that not everyone who lives in a caravan is a gypsy.

A few hours after I read the email from my friend Dazz came into the van and said ‘gypsies, hey…’. I asked if he’d seen the email too. He had no idea what I was talking about. He’d been working on the car in the shed with my uncle and as they walked out of the shed my uncle commented on the gypsies camped behind the shed. So maybe we really are gypsies…

Sunset

As the sun began to set metaphorically on our time in Turkey Dazz decided to take some literal sunset photos.

Miniatürk

Miniatürk is a great tour around the sights of Turkey. There are miniature versions of most of the significant sights. It's an easy way to see the country in a day, and a number of the 'ruins' are even shown in their original form.

Back in Istanbul

One of the great things about Istanbul is the water - you never know what you're going to see on a ferry trip across the Bosphorus...

Bursa

We had a quick stop in Bursa to see some friends on our way back to Istanbul from Izmir - just long enough for some good Iskender, a short walk around the town centre and a bed-time story...

Izmir

Arriving at our friends' place in Izmir was like stepping back in time. Most people we know have moved house since we were last here, so it was great to be in a familiar place. It was hard to get used to there not being young kids running around though! We've enjoyed our time catching up with friends, some of whom we've known since 1991. The city itself has changed a lot in ten years. It's a lot cleaner, and the water front is a lot nicer. We visited two church services on Sunday (to catch up with friends) and in between wandered along the bay.

We're now staying with some other friends and, as usual, Uncle Dazza is a big hit at story time!

Tarsus

We’re part way through our quick tour of the south and west of the country. We spent a few days in Adana with friends, then went to Tarsus. Tarsus is famous as the birthplace of the Apostle Paul and has a number of historical sites in and around the town. When excavation began in the centre of town a number of years ago this old basalt Roman road was discovered. The planned construction hasn’t taken place, and the site is being developed into an open air museum. Here’s a few other pics from our day wandering around the town…

The Bosphorus at night

Not much sight-seeing being going on lately, but we did get down to Üsküdar the other night to take photos of the bridge before it started to rain. We've had a bit of rain where we are, but aren't near any of the major flooding.