Motorhome travel to Ayvalık and beyond.

15.9.23

After the head gasket palaver Naz had to go back a week later for control.. She has been puffing out huge plumes of black smoke since coming back from the garage. Then they couldn’t actually fit her in til Tuesday.

Nightmare. Either way we’re going to Ayvalik, we have a list of dog friendly apartments and a 17 year old Toyota Rav 4 thats never skipped a beat in the 7 years we’ve had her. In fact I’ve been a Toyota owner since 1998, this is my fourth and they’ve all been amazingly reliable. If only Toyota made motorhomes..

Anyway, the garage computer said they hadn’t adjusted the manifold air thing properly and now she’s running smoke free.

The garage we use does all of the council commercial vehicles, mini buses etc. I’m not convinced they’re great, although to be fair we rarely see broken down buses, so let’s see.

We were super organised in the afternoon getting everything ready. I just couldn’t get excited. Usually I can’t wait.

Naz was raring to go by 9am on Thursday.

We need to be in Ayvalik by Saturday 16th to collect Johns half marathon race pack.

One of Johns students suggested we visit Foca, near İzmir, so after a bit of reading about it we decided that would be our first stop.

Naz ran like a dream. The very long steep hill out of Muğla was a worrying prospect. I’d expected to be turning round and going home at that stage.

Woohooo.. We’re going on a road trip 😍

Because the road is so long and bendy the fridge decided it would like to move to the other side of the van. Not content with that it took the top drawer with it, which landed loudly next to Maisy on her seat. Joking apart, it could have injured her badly. She slept with one eye open for the next couple of hours. Honey looked very smug because it wasnt on her side.

Bloody hell Naz, we need nerves of steel.

Foca is really very pretty. I’d definitely recommend a visit.

History wise, there was a lot there at one time, but not so much now, a few crumbling windmills, which I couldn’t get a photo of in time from the van, and castle walls you can only see from a distance as they’re in a military zone.

None of that mattered as it’s a fabulous place to wander. Lots of people enjoying the small beaches, wooden platforms, cafes, shops and restaurants. A lovely atmosphere, a very Greek look and feel. I later read that a lot of buildings are in fact Greek Ottoman.

The surrounding islands have Monk Seals, the area is famous for them. Sadly there are only around 400 of them now, they’re very shy and the chance of seeing them on a boat tour is  slim. I would have done a boat otherwise, would love to see them. If we were here longer a boat trip would be a must do to see the beautiful coastline.

Later we parked Naz by a large green.

Time for coffee and cake and to make a new doggy friend. A dear little soul, but she does like to go and get involved with every dog that passes, and theres there’s a lot. At one point John had to rescue her from an attack by an Alsatian.

Dinner was chicken schnitzels, sesame seed & honey fried potatoes and sweetcorn. A chilled evening watching Suspect and a bit of research about other areas to visit on our travels. I usually have everything researched, but this time I really didn’t think we’d be travelling.

So happy that we are. Naz is definitely not for sale. We love you Naz 😍