My last report was some time ago. It ended with Ian, Sharon and the boys returning to UK at the very beginning of November. So what has happened since then.
We continued to go to the Wednesday night quizzes at the Chiswick, not very successfully but a friendly evening out.

The British Residents Society (BRS) organised a day out to the Karpaz for the 7th Nov. The weather was cooler but fine and two coach loads of members set off from Kyrenia just after 9am. The first stop was at Bogaz, just north of Famagusta, for coffee. However, no sooner had we got back on the coach then we stopped again, this time at Kumyali, 15 mins further on. This was to be the furthest point of our journey. While it was a very pleasant little harbour the majority of us had anticipated going further along the peninsular. Ah, well, the lunch was very nice but the after-lunch speaker was fraught with problems. The PA system wasn't working very well, his laptop wouldn't talk to a screen to show his slides and what's more - he couldn't give a presentation to save his life. We went for a walk. Bit disappointing as regards seeing the Karpaz but enjoyable with friends nevertheless.

The following weekend was Rememberance Sunday and the BRS had arrange for members to go to Waynes Keep - a UN Post along the Green Line that protected an old UK Military Cemetary. We had to get ourselves across the Green Line at the Ledra Palace where we boarded a coach that took us there. It was a beautiful clear day - unlike that at Whitehall, but the service and ceremony were similar.

We had representatives from the various countries with an Embassy or Consulate in the south laying wreaths. It was a very dignified service albeit we were watched by Turkish troops monitoring from the north. Afterwards we were bused back to the Ledra Palace (a UN post) and enjoyed the traditional military hospitality of a Curry Lunch and accompanying drinks. It was a journey down memory lane to be back in the Mess again. Definitely an event to put on the calendar for next year.

The next week was full of social events, George and Susan celebrated their wedding anniversary, we went with the "girls" to the Chiswick for their last Quiz Night before they returned to UK. All the resident neighbours got together for an evening at the new Haci Ali Hotel and had a very nice meal but while this was going on I needed to address was a letter that had been forwarded from the Breast Screening Unit in Chatham.

I had been for a screening in September when I was doing Music on Fire etc. This letter was a request that I make a further appointment as a result of that scan. It had arrived while the family were staying with us and it had got put on one side, but now I had time to think about it I thought I should contact the clinic. Perhaps I could delay an appointment until my next UK visit. I spoke to a nurse on the telephone who said she would speak to the doctor who'd requested I attend for another consultation and get back to me. Well the upshot was that the doctor preferred that I didn't wait if I could afford to get back to UK in the following couple of weeks, so a few phone calls later had me on a flight and an appointment at the clinic. Yes, it was an anxious time; lovely to have an unexpected chance to see the family, but what might they find at the hospital.....? So on the Saturday I went up the mountain to Edremit to do a bit of Christmas shopping at a store that has some lovely traditional Cypriot items. Sunday I joined our usual gang for "Sunday Lunch" at LDs (which was excellent), great food and a jug of coffee and a bottle of brandy on the table at the end of our meal to help ourselves to.

On Monday morning we were up early to catch the 10am flight from Ercan to Heathrow. We stopped enroute in Izmir for about an hour and once at Heathrow there was another hours delay while we waited for the luggage to appear. By 6pm I had arrived at Debi's and it was so lovely to see them all again, particularly little Joe who had grown so much.

While I was in UK Jeff took Kedi to the vets for another jab

and painted the outside of the bungalow. I did a bit of Christmas shopping, visited friends and went to my appointment at the hospital. The clinic staff were brilliant at making one feel at ease and after another mamogram I met the Consultant. She gave me an Ultrascan and soon discovered a cyst. Nothing threatening but she wanted to remove it. Local anesthetic, needle and drain brought everything to a happy conclusion. What a relief! The next priority was to get a flight back to Cyprus which I achieved on the Sunday, which meant that I was around for RAMASES Wine and Wisdom evening.


I went with Rod and Stella and surprised a lot of people with my presence. A good evening and lovely to see so many old friends.

I arrived in Larnaca on Sunday afternoon about 4.30pm. An uneventful trip back over the Green Line got me back in time to go to supper at Barbara and Stewart's that evening. Met some interesting new people and had a nice evening but, boy, was I on my chin strap by about 10.30pm. While I had been away Jeff had booked us in to the Merit Crystal Cove hotel for Christmas with 4 of our friends. So the build up to the festive season begins in ernest.

Despite the damp weather our social life continues to be lively. A few weeks back Jeff and I were asked to dinner by Patrick and Mary, the couple who live the furthest away from us on our patch. They are lovely people, big hearts when needed, but live a quiet life. They have a little dog called Mitzie, a yappy little terrier and they have shown TLC to a "bondu dog" who has now adopted our patch as his territory. As a consequence whenever strangers arrive he goes into frantic barking mode and chases the cars! He has been named Hobbo, but I have kept him at bay because I eventually want to have a cat. To his credit he is very obedient, and a sharp "go home Hobbo" sends him down the road to Mary's with his tale wagging.

Anyway, back to the dinner invitation. As is the way out here, half an hour before we were summoned to arrive the power went off! So torches out and pre-dinner drinks on their patio were shared with Peter, Mary's brother-in-law Ray (wife couldn't come as not well) and Ray's friend Jim. Patrick and Mary had done Sterling work coping with the power cut and set up a beautiful dinner table indoors and presented us with a most delicious and bountiful Prawn Cocktail starter. We then had a superb Roast Lamb dinner with everything you could wish to accompany it. There was plenty of wine and brandy flowing and very convivial company. Infact it flowed so well that at the end of the evening, when Ray got up to leave .... he just slid under the table! He'd seemed fine up until then, however, the men managed to pour him into Jim's car to Mary's cries of "Mind my pots!" (large urns she has located each side of her front door). We had enjoyed a great evening, enjoyed meeting some new people in Ray and Jim and been well fed in the process. Of course the lights came on as we were leaving!

More rain the following day and Jeff took Steph's relatives back to Larnaca airport for their return journey to UK.

Monday, 16 October

So their visitors gone, Sandy and Steph wanted to take us to meet some friends of theirs, Graham and Steph. They have a house closer into town and while they had been living in Cyprus this summer had been feeding a couple of neighbourhood cats. They were about to go back to UK and were concerned about a kitten that had suddenly appeared around their house. It appeared to have been house trained at some point and had possibly been dumped by someone who no longer wanted it. When we were introduced to "Get Out" (their name for the kitten), we liked her very much. She is definitely a hands-on, people liking cat. So it was down to the pet shop for a cat basket, bit of food etc and back to collect Get Out and bring her home to The Sentry Box. She soon made herself at home and Jeff and I decided to call her "Kedi" rather than Get Out. Kedi is the Turkish word for Cat!


The rest of the week was spent tidying and preparing rooms for Sharon and Ian, Sam and Wills arrival next week. I went to my regular Thursday group at the church where everyone was busy preparing for the Christmas Bazaar in a few weeks time.

I also had my first request to put my SSAFA Caseworker's hat on. "Please visit an ex-service man who is in Girne hospital suffering heart problems, with financial difficulties, on the eve of Bayram (end of Ramadan) which is rather like our Christmas Eve".
I was given quite an elaborate "tale of woe" from his hospital bed. There were many loose ends and enough holes in the story to make a sieve but I was talking to a man in his hospital bed, who had collapsed in the street with heart problems. His wife was having to sleep in an empty bed in the ward because they had been evicted from their hotel. Talk about a baptism by fire! Without going into any more details I was able to help them with a few pounds for food and eventually pay for a modest hospital bill but I still have the feeling that SSAFA (me) has possibly been taken for a ride by this couple. Whatever, it still occupied a fair proportion of my time that weekend.

While I was in Girne on one of my hospital visits I contacted Jim and Michelle who live over in that part of town. Jeff and I went and had coffe at their house and caught up with their news. They were in the middle of having their roof slates replaced because the job hadn't been done properly originally! I was also able to bring a copy of the latest LIONESS (WRAC Magazine) to Michelle along with a letter I had received from a lady in Lordswood, Chatham. This lady had got my address through an article I'd had printed in the mag and she had known Jim and Michelle while she was serving in the WRAC and had lost touch with them.

The Wiltshire Lloyd's Visit

On Monday 23 October, we went to Larnaca to collect Sharon, Ian, Sam and Wills who were to stay with us for 9 days. I had been so worried about the weather during the preceeding week as it had been so wet and cold but the sun had come back and they were to have a wonderful half-term break with us.

There were lots of opportunities for playing in the pool,







on the beach






and generally getting to know our part of the island.



We visited the Sunset Beach Club for lunch and while the boys enjoyed swimming in the pools, we adults rather preferred the sea, which was much warmer! The following day we explored the culinary delights of the Besparnak Restaurant at the top of the mountain pass - the salads that came with the barbarqued meats were sooooo... good.

During this period we had to take our little Kedi to visit the vet to be spayed. The boys were very good and left her alone to recuperate but it meant the bouncy little thing we had laughed at over the previous few days was now very subdued.

On Wednesday, Jeff took them all to Bellapais for a look around the village while I stayed home and caught up with my SSAAFA paperwork. In the evening we took the boys out and had a traditional meal at the Acmenya restaurant in the nearby village of Alsancak.

On Thursday we decided to go to Gazi Magusa (Famagusta) and explore that part of the coast. En route we fell foul of the parade for Turkish Republic Day. Part of the main road from Lefkosa (Nicosia) to Gazi Magusa is taken over to hold the military and political parades. This therefore entailed a very circuitious detour around the outskirts of Lefkosa before we could pick up our route again.

We explored the old city walls of Famagusta and then wandered through the old town towards the cathedral.

They saw the no-mans land of empty hotels that overlook part of the lovely Famagusta beach before we eventually drove to a favourite restaurant near Salamis called Nese.

We had a lovely lunch and finished off the afternoon lazing on the beach and swimming. When we returned to Karsiyaka it was to discover they'd had really heavy rain and thunder during the afternoon.












Our usual routine on a Saturday is to visit Guzelyurt (Morphou) market. So once we were organised we set off and had a great time visiting the dozens of stalls and buying the week's supply of veg for around £5.
After shopping we drove further around the coast to a nice restaurant we'd previously found, located on the beach and under the shadow of an ancient archeological site known as Vouni.


The restaurant is located at the bottom of lovely Morphou bay.


Lunch was simple but good and afterwards Jeff drove us up a winding narrow road to the top of this extremely large hill where the remains of an ancient palace have been excavated along with a temple to Athene. However, much of the excavations merge with the exposed rock and it is rather hard to distinguish very much. Neverthless we enjoyed the many amazing views visible from the top. What a terrific site!





During our journey back the clouds had begun to gather and the sky over Karsiyaka was building up for a serious storm. Not long into the evening and we had the inevitable power cut. Not a problem this time because we had encouraged the boys to have a nap once we got back in order that we could take them out for supper later on.

We went to Shirley Valentines a restaurant which is not too far away from home because not only would we have good food we knew the boys would be comfortable too. Jan and Nasser have been running this restaurant for the past 5 years and typical of her Liverpuddlian nature we were assured of a warm welcome. There was quite an electric storm raging throughout dinner and as the restaurant is beside the sea it made a dramatic backdrop.


We were not long in the restaurant before William spotted an elephant on the wall carrying an "eyeball", which is how the boys referred to the Lucky Charm symbols that are prevelant here.


The idea is that they ward off evil things from entering the home or whatever premises they adorn.

Anyway Jan soon had the elephant and The Eye down from the wall and they passed into William's possesion. A very happy boy went home that night and we all had to remember to put the clocks back an hour just as in UK.



On Sunday we all enjoyed a lazy day.



Just before lunch we moved our swimmers from the pool at home onto the beach at Camelot. We had the beach to ourselves and the sea was quite warm, although the previous nights storm had churned up some debris. After our swim we stayed and had lunch at the restaurant that overlooks the beach. By 2.30pm the clouds had gathered again and it was time to go home. That evening we had yet more storms.

Monday morning was bright and clear.

As the boys would be travelling home on Halloween, we had decorated our living room the night before with paper pumkins, bats and skeletons, so when they got up they had quite a surprise. We got them to dress up and trick and treat our neighbours too.



Later they braved our pool yet again.





The storms had brought a drop in temperature and Daffy Duck, the thermometer in the pool, was only registering 18 degrees centigrade - a bit too cool for Gran and Grandad to take a dip.

Before the boys actually turned blue we took them to visit Girne Castle. It was the first time that Jeff and I had gone inside and we found it most interesting.







The boys thought it great fun exploring around dark corners and into dungeons. There is an excellent Shipwreck Museum that houses the remains of the oldest ship in the world.



It has been established that it sank off the coast of Kyrenia some 2,300 years ago and at that time it had been in service for around 80 years, trading up and down the coast of Anatolia. It had a cargo of stone grain grinders, hundreds of amphorae of wine and large quantities of almonds, which its 5-man crew probably had to exist on along with whatever fish they caught.




Outside we climbed to the top of one of the towers where the views across the two harbours were terrific.

By the time we had left the castle the sky was becoming overcast once more, so we opted to go to Cherinis for lunch, this traditional restaurant overlooks the old harbour, so we could sit, have lunch indoors and still enjoy that lovely view.

As this was the last day of holiday for Sam and Wills we persuaded them to have a nap in the afternoon so that we could take them out for a rather special final meal, with Mum and Dad of course. We went to The Ambience restaurant which also overlooks the sea. The food, as usual, was superb and we had a really lovely evening together.

During Tuesday morning we all pottered about at home, Ian and Sharon packing their things for the flight home later that afternoon. Ian had decided at the beginning of the holiday that he wasn't going to shave, but it only lasted a couple of days before he took himself to a local barber nearby. Here he had the full works: shave with a cut throat razor, ears singeing, face massage and the cologne at the end. He enjoyed it so much that the ritual was repeated every couple of days. Not the singeing though as there was nothing to burn. So just before lunch on Tuesday he went off for his last shave.


While he was doing this, Jeff and I took Sharon and the boys down to Sirin Yali's to watch the sea which was really crashing in. (No-one got their head stuck in the railings this time!



After a quick lunch it was time to load the car and head towards Larnaca airport for their flight home.







It was an uneventful journey until we reached the Salt Flats just outside the airport and there we were lucky enough to see that the Flamingoes had now returned as there was water back in the flats. We made a sad journey home as we reflected on how much we had enjoyed having Ian, Sharon, Sam and Wills with us for a while and wondering when we would be seeing them again.


That evening we went again to Shirley Valentine's. It was to be Jan and Nasser's final night as they were giving up the lease and giving themselves a break from 6-nights a week catering. We had a really good evening - Jan played the good hostess to the very end.

There was a lovely atmosphere and the place was filled to bursting. Infact we had to wait for some guests to leave before she could find a table for us. There was a most terrific storm that night too, the lightning and thunder became very dramatic and the wind got up so much that the plants outside were practically horizontal! As there was such a crush of people extra tables had been squeezed in, which meant it was very easy to get into conversation. We made contact with some really nice people we had not met before.

Jan and Nasser held an auction the following day of all the moveable equipment from the restaurant and pool area, but in the cold light of day everything looked so tired and worn. The only thing I was particularly keen on was a very large ancient pot but I discovered it had a reserve on it of £120 so we left it there!

We didn't stay very long as we had to take Kedi to the vet for an injection. When we got her there the vet decided that her operation wound wasn't healing quickly enough and gave her a staple - which she didn't like.

The following day we returned to Larnaca to collect our friends Renee and Bill who were coming out to their villa for a few more weeks before Christmas. The return journey on this occasion was awful, the storm clouds had gathered once more and the rain poured down making it a really horrible drive back. We managed to make it back in time to go to the Quiz night with the girls but our break from it hadn't improved our brain power - the only thing we won was the prize for the silliest name with a Halloween connection! "Three ghosties and one goolie"!

October's Events

While I had been away in UK our garden had finally been born. The membranes had been laid, soil and gravel had been spread and the plants were arranged around the garden.





"Bill and Ben", the main workers, had become friends of the family!




When I walked through the gate it was to discover this lovely transformed scene.







Also while I had been away - Steph's parents and sister had arrived for a two week holiday. Prior to collecting them from the airport, Jeff had been to Peter and Avril's house for a farewell drink with Avril's twin sister, Joan and her husband who had been over from Canada for a month. When Jeff arrived back from the airport it was to discover a bit of a commotion taking place around the bungalows. During the time he'd been away, Avril had begun to feel unwell and her husband decided she should be taken to the hospital in Girne. In no time at all they decided to transfer her by ambulance to the main hospital in Lefkosa (Nicosia) and she was in intensive care, having suffered a severe stroke. Sadly, she died at 4am the next morning. Her funeral was held at the British Cemetery, Girne on Wednesday afternoon where we joined a few members of her family who had flown in from UK that morning, along with a goodly number of her local friends. It does concentrate the mind and make one realise how we should "seize the moment".

It was hard to watch Peter over the following days coming to terms with his loss. Four/five weeks on and he is bearing up very well, but I am sure he has some difficult moments.

Although the sun was still shining, the temperature had cooled somewhat. We still continued to swim in our pool each day and enjoy our new garden. Friday we met up with our usual friends for a couple of drinks at The Stumble Inn.

On my first Sunday evening back home we were invited next door to join Sandie and Steph and Steph's family for a lovely Roast Lamb Dinner under the stars. We finished the evening off by playing a new card game to us - UNO. It caused great hilarity as we tried to offload our cards while lumbering someone else! It will be on my shopping list when I next go to UK.

The following day I had a meeting with some of my girl friends to plan what food we were going to take to an Army Benevolent Fund picnic we were going to later in the week. No doubt, like all such occasions we've been to in the past, there will be too much food! As the evening drew in black clouds started to gather - oh, no!

Tuesday night we went for our first visit to a small restaurant called LD's. Frank and Joan, Susan and George plus some of our other friends have used it many times and it turned out to be a great place for an inexpensive mid-week meal out. They laid up a long table outside for us all to sit around, I think there were about 15 of us altogether and we had a great evening.

On Wednesday Peter invited Avril's friends to join him in remembering her life with a celebratory Gin and Tonic. About 20 of us gathered on what she used to refer to as her "Gin and Tonic patio". The occasion was to be videoed for Peter's family and he had written a soliloquy about her life. He found it too difficult to read himself and asked Jeff if he would read it for him. It was a tough task as the sentiments brought a lump to all our throats. We all raised our glasses of G and T and everyone remarked that whenever they think of Avril it will bring happy memories to our minds.

The day finished with our usual Wednesday night visit to the Chiswick for their Quiz Night. Still no great success there!

Thursday 12 October

This was the day of the Army Benevolent Fund Band Concert which was held in the grounds of the British Consulate's Residence. I'd been asked to put a table of 10 together, with hindsight I'm sure I could have filled two tables. I ended up putting names of friends in a hat and getting Barbara and Michael to draw out 10. So I ended up with Frank and Joan, Barbara and Michael, Pat and Brian, Gill and Roger and Jeff and I. We loaded up in 2 cars at 11.30 and set off for Lefkosa. It was a beautiful day and we soon found the Residence. Having parked up and loaded ourselves with our picnics I finally got to meet John Chawner, who I had been liaising with and he directed us to our picnic table.
There was a great crowd of people there and they would have had some difficulty getting many more tables into the garden.








The table was soon groaning with food and we had been asked to try and think of a theme, so we had taken the easy option of a Teddy Bears' Picnic. We had a collection of teddy bears with us and decorated the table with teddy bear paper, however the group next to us had chosen the theme of a Day at the Sea Side, with bucket and spades, saucy postcards, sticks of rock, hankies tied with knots on their heads - a really good effort.
The winning table had the theme of the REME, there couldn't have been any connection with it being the REME Band who were playing. (I'm just a cynic).




As suspected, we had brought far too much food but we did our best and just when we had reached combustion point, the dark clouds that had been gathering over us off-loaded their raindrops onto us. The rain only lasted for about 10 minutes, but sufficient water came down for the band to seek shelter and for us to cover the food and take shelter under the trees for a few minutes. (I thought this only happened to UK events!)

Once the sun returned it was possible to see the steam rising from the audience as the band recommenced their programme!

I met Dick Pearson, the ex Welfare Secretary of the Royal Artillery Benevolent Fund and great friend of George Correa. I had known him in London and he very kindly insisted on introducing me to all the great and the good of the ABF in Cyprus including the High Commissioner himself. I met Geoff Fryatt, the Chairman and Frank Windle, the Secretary and received a great welcome and encouragement to join them at future events.

Despite being full of food we couldn't let the picnic close without bringing out a surprise cake for Roger and Gill - it was their 43rd wedding anniversary, so it was appropriate we should mark the occasion.

A few days after the event I received the following email from John Chawner telling of the days success.

Hello Folks,
Just to thank you all for your support at the recent concert.
£2,500 Cyp was raised including a record £800 Cyp on the raffle, a figure never reached before at an Army Benevolent fund function in Cyprus. How generous. Many thanks.
Hope to see you all again next year at Shakespeare Ave.
Best wishes and many thanks.
John .

The remainder of that week became very wet and miserable and we felt very sorry for Steph's relatives who were trying to enjoy the last few days of their holiday. We saw some terrific cloud formations over our mountain.


On Friday the storm caused sufficient problems for the power to go off at 6.15 pm and it stayed off until early next morning. We got out the candles and the emergency lights and made the best of it while watching a really impressive Electric Storm. It was quite staggering to watch the storm over mainland Turkey, there was absolutely no noise from the thunder and no rain here but constant lightning flashes.

Weren't we lucky with the weather! Monday morning we awoke to grey skies and as I walked across to the Kaboush I was lucky enough to see a heron diving for fish on one of the lakes. The pods that had protected the Royal Box and the Orchestra were being dismantled - the whole area was beginning to look a little sad.
Breakfast at the Kaboush was eaten under an up and down sort of atmosphere. Relief and sadness mixed together. Half way through the morning I was able to get a lift to the station and was soon up in London - a drizzly miserable day.

I'd hoped to have lunch with my friend Rowena from the Burma Star Association, but she had a lunch appointment - on a Monday for God's sake! Anyway we nattered on the phone for a while and then I found a reasonable place to eat and whiled away some time before I was due to catch a coach from Victoria. An uneventful journey got me into Hanley on time, Frank picked me up and I was soon in the land of "creature comforts" and total relaxation after the past few days. It was so good to see Frank and Maureen and I totally chilled out for a few days there.
However, I needed to see Aunty Betty and with great trepidation the next day I arrived at Bucknall hospital. Yes, it was a shock, and Yes, she has great obstacles to overcome, but Aunty Betty is still with us albeit in a very frail and submissive condition. She cannot move her right arm and leg and control of her mouth is obviously difficult. We had lots of conversations that went nowhere because she couldn't remember the words. We had lots of silly nonsense conversations too, but she did know me and knew we should have been doing something together, however fleetingly. One part of my mind is willing her recovery and the other part is trying to come to terms with her inabilities.
After seeing her I left the hospital and climbed Ash Bank in the autumn sunshine. I thoroughly enjoyed the walk but oh my goodness, once I had the Ash Bank Hotel in my sights all I could think of was a refreshing lager, it had been some walk. So I rang Maureen and we all arranged to meet there before going back to their home.
Great night with them as always.
Jenny arrived the next day and together we explored the delights of Hanley - not much! No desires from either of us to return. After lunch we went and found Aunty Betty again. She had had her hair done and I thought she sounded more coherent. Leaving was very difficult not knowing how soon I would be back or how much she could recall of my visit.
After such a roller coaster of emotions I was very anxious to get back to Kent as a step on the way to getting home. However, little boys soon bring you back down to earth and I had a lovely afternoon with them having a "Take-away" in the Savacentre.

The following day was very much one of total indulgence. I'd booked a Cathioderme Facial and massague for myself with the odd bit of waxing thrown in - oh it was so good. I also visited the Oad Street Craft Centre and bought some wind chimes for our gareden prior to having a most superb lunch. Would have been better if I'd shared it with someone but hey I had a Fish Salad Platter to die for. Mackerel, Prawns, Crab, Smoked Salmon, Fresh Salmon, Salad, Brown Bread, Mayo, Caramelised Onion et al - it was wonderful.

That evening it was 'The girls night out' and we all met up at the Ship and Traders on the Island. The place was very noisey but we had such a great time. It was only a great time because we are such mates because there was such an interchange of news between us all but my God Roni's had the most impact because she had to tell us she had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Staggering news, but because of the way she delivered it we were able to react in a positive way. My God she must be so scared, I hope we can help her. She is such a gutsy person but she will still need our help.




Had a wonderful weekend with the Kelseys and managed to catch up with my friend Mary at Goar Farm for Sunday lunch but hey I wanted to go home. Very early on Tuesday morning (5.30am) Andy and I set of for Heathrow for my flight back. I was worried about my excess baggage which actually went through no trouble at all - however the security procedure involved taking off shoes and jewellery before being declared "clean".
It was so good to see Jeff once I had collected all my baggage at Larnaca and within an hour and a half we were home once more.
Now it is time to catch up with life here in NC.

After much effort I have managed to publish some of the photographs that were taken by Paul Cummings (much superior to mine). I hope they will give you a flavour of what a wonderful evenings entertainment it truly was.