Well, we're back! We had a lovely holiday in Cyprus, the weather was 22-28C almost every day. Each morning when we drew back the curtains there was wall to wall sunshine. We ate breakfast on the balcony and then had to retreat indoors as it was too hot! We visited old haunts: Nicosia, where we could peer through the wall at the Turks on the other side of the Green Line, The House of Thebes at Paphos with its wonderful Roman mosaics, The High Troodos Mountains. We drank and ate for England and we luxuriated in the sun. Trev also got his Open Water Scuba card, which means he can now dive to eighteen metres. He really enjoys it, and comes back with stories of the wonderful creatures he has seen down there.

We also visited a few new places, the most memorable of all was going in to Northern Occupied Cyprus. The dive school to which Trev had been, organised a weekend's diving on the Karpas Peninsula, which is the very top right hand corner of the island, if you look at a map. It stretches out like a panhandle, which is probably why it's called just that! I was keen to go along as a camp follower, as I'd been longing to see Northern Cyprus. We weren't allowed to take our hire car in to the north, as it wouldn't be insured. The Cypriots in the south of the island are very sensitive about the whole issue and don't set out to be too helpful! It's also a good idea not to mention that you've been in to the North, although some of the Cypriots do go up to look at their old property which they had to leave in a hurry.

Then it was on again, it grew dark, and the roads got worse as we travelled further along the peninsula. Lights grew less frequent,and we eventually pulled in to the last village on the peninsula, Rizokarpaso. It's only recently that electricity has got any further than Rizokarpaso. It was very difficult to know where we were any way, as our map was from the south of Cyprus, with the original place names, but the Turks have changed them all to Turkish names which bear no resemblance to the original. For example, Kyrenia is now called Girne.

We pulled in to what looked like a farm yard, and the lights were on and a barbecue set up and this was where we were to stay! Well, where some of us were to stay, the others would be at another place in the village. We were shown the rooms and Trev and I grabbed the first one we were shown, as it looked OK and we weren't sure what else would be on offer! To be honest, I hadn't had any great expectations of the accommodation, and so when we saw a large clean room with an en suite and heater, we said yes please! The other two rooms in this building were twice the size of ours, but they had fireplaces not a heater, and these weren't lit. Although the weather in the day was so good, the nights were definitely cold!

One morning it was too rough for them to dive, so we went for a drive to the far end of the peninsula. The tarmac eventually ran out and we were on cart tracks and rocks. This didn't deter Hayden one bit, we carried on at speed! There was another couple in the very back of the vehicle, Diana & Peter, and Peter had a good sense of humour. At one point he said that he had bits sticking out of him which never used to stick out! He also said that he thought most of his internal organs had now been rearranged. There was a handle to hold on to over the door of the vehicle where I was sitting, but it was only loosely attached to the roof by a screw. Eventually it dropped off completely, and Trev, ever the comedian, picked it up off the floor and said, "Hold on to that, will you?".

Yes we had a great time, though whether I would have gone if I had known how it was all going to be, I'm not sure. It was a group of predominantly young people, and they were out to have a good time, which I'm sure they did. Sleeping arrangements became interesting as the weekend wore on! Groups formed and I was "too old" for any of them! It was an interesting experience for me. It was the first time I had been in a group of young people for years, and eventually I seemed to become an invisible person to them, I was just too old. It's the first time I've experienced that feeling, I suppose because we're almost always with people our own age. It was also frustrating not to have our own transport, so we couldn't get out and about, though Hayden was very good and took us around. One day, he took me and another person to a ruined church with beautiful mosaics. It was just in the middle of a field, and we could walk all over it, even on the mosaics. If it had been in England there would have been a fence round it and "Keep Off" signs.

We hope we shall go to Cyprus one day, and next time we would like to go to the North, and explore it more. All good things come to an end, but the great thing about our way of life is that there is one good thing which keeps on going--and that's living and cruising on our boat. So as Cyprus came to an end, we came back to Liberty Belle and started the cruise to Llangollen. Read about that on the next page!

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