Kos – A Greek Island Chill-out

5^th June we caught a 60 minute ferry ride from Bodrum ( Turkey ) to Kos for four days of catching-up, reading books + sitting in the sun.

We’d over estimated the driving distances for the last two days in Turkey, so a five minute walk to a sandy beach with warm water + blue skies was a very pleasant change.

The end of the Island where we were staying was very flat flat, so we hired bikes for two days and then a car for the last day to explore the other end of the Island + the hilly middle

Kos is a cheap package tour destination for Brits, Dutch + Germans which kicks in end June till September – so the beaches weren’t overly crowded + it was easy to find your own spot away from the $NZ10-12 a day sun umbrella + lounger sections of the beach.

We visited a hot-water thermal at the edge of a beach ( way too hot to swim in - although some did - but very nice on the edges or in the sea where the water filtered through the perimeter rocks ) / visited a few amazingly decorated Greek Orthodox Churches / swam out about 150m to an Island ( St Stephanos ) with a Church on it / finished off a few books + got somewhat over exposed to too much sun and started glowing in the dark - you probably wont want to know, but it was blue skies from dusk till dawn, a cooloing breeze + temps in mid 30's - enough said

R

Kos Sun Umbrella Beach

Kos Thermal Beach

Kos Greek Orthodox Church

Kos Bike Transport

Kos - St Stephanos Island + Church

Room 5 Quiz # 3

Next Quiz, that was quick! I have missed a week so this is catch up.

From Gallipoli we travelled down the Mediterranean coast and visited many Roman remains and sites of the early church.  These churches are mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3.

Q 1:  Pergamum – The Temple of Zeus was known as the seat of Satan  Rev 2:11 – Where

                              Have they taken the temple to now?

Q 2:  Ephesus – What book in the bible is named because it is a letter sent by Paul to the

                           People who lived there?

Q 3:  Smyrna  -  What is the modern day name for this city in Turkey?

Q 4:  Laodicea – The ruins of Laodicea are close to the lukewarm  pools at Pamakkale.

                            What does the bible say about being lukewarm? Rev 3:15

Q 5:  What happened to the Christians in these amphitheatres?

From Mrs T

Temple of Zeus

Ephesus

Gladiators at Ephesus

Pamakkale Hot Pools

Amphitheatre at Ephesus

Driving in Turkey / Greek + Lycian + Roman Ruins

31^st May we took a 6 hour bus ride south down to Izmir

We picked up a rental car + over the next five days drove north to Foca ( 1 nite – another cute little fishing village ) + visited Pergamum ( Greek acropolis circa 800 BC then Roman ) / south again to Selcuk ( 1 nite ) + visited Ephesus ( Greek city circa 1000 BC then Roman ) / inland to Pamukkale ( 1 nite ) + visited Hierapolis ( Greek circa 300 BC the Roman ) – a city built at a thermal spa which also formed some amazing travertine terraces / out to the coast again to Kas ( 1 nite ) + visited Xanthos ( Lycian city circa 400 BC ) and then north to Bodrum

Driving was great once we got use to the local driving style + general disregard of any rules / the main touring routes were mostly 2 laned duel carriageways / the road surfaces varied from very rough to excellent / tractors and all manner of rural + urban vehicles were everywhere ( even in the middle of large cities like Izmir-  pop 1.5 mil ) / riding motorbike without helmet is the norm ( even young kids around 10 yrs ) / tooting horns compulsory / stopping in main street + highways to talk, pick up or drop off was a common occurrence / overtaking on blind corners + hills seems to be a favorite hobby / but everyone manages to avoid everyone else + we only saw a few minor accidents ( + didn’t create any ourselves )

R

Pergamum



Pergamum Make-over

Pergamum Chicky-babe

Ephesus Library

Ephesus Amphitheatre

Entry Gate to Hierapolis

Pamakkale Travertine Terraces

Pamakkale Travertine Terraces

Transport for Family of 4

Town meet Country

Lycian Tombs

Bodrum



Room 5 Quiz #2 Gallipoli

At ANZAC Cove Cemetry

We’ve been doing lots of travelling and on the days we’ve had time we haven’t had the internet so sorry for the slowness of the next installment.

Having a great time, hope school is going well.

Q 1:  Why is Gallipoli so important to New Zealanders?

Q 2: What does ANZAC mean?

Q 3:  What is the name of the stretch of water the Allied forces where trying to capture? Why did they want to capture it?

Q 4:  Who led the Turkish Army? What did he become after the war?

Q 5:  This is the memorial at Chunak Bair. Why is it important?

Have fun

Mrs T

ANZAC Cove

Graves

Chunuk Bair Memorial

Gallipoli - A Right of Passage

We flew Istanbul to Canakkale on 26 May Cannakkale is a small fishing village across the Dardenelles from the Gallipoli Peninsular –  which we got to via a short ferry trip.

Like a lot New Zealanders when it comes to knowledge of NZ History, I would tend to know more about what happened at Gallipoli than any single passage of our short history.

So it was rather special to spend half a day on a guided tour of the main Anzac sites – Brighton beach ( where the British Navy was supposed to land us ) / Anzac Cove ( where the Aussies landed ) / North Beach ( where NZ landed ) / Shrapnel Alley and the various memorials.

It was a beautiful sunny, calm day with the birds singing + it was very hard to imagine the carnage and destruction that took place

The most poignant moment for me was a simple memorial in Anzac Cove with the writings of Mustafa Ataturk in 1934 after he’d become the Turkish President – “ Those heros that shed their blood and lost their lives … you are now living in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnies and the Memets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You the mothers who sent your sons, wipe away your tears, Your sons are now living in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well”

R

Brighton Beach




ANZAC Cove



North Beach

Lone Pine

Chunuk Bair



Oops - Sorry

We are still alive and well + we’ve not been very attentive in blogging – but here goes for a catch-up