Welcome To 2006

A new year has arrived. I expect this year to be very important. We’ll see how it unravels…

After a few changes of plan, NYE was spent at Mete’s summer house down the coast near Tomuk. To drink, I brought some home-made punch that was barely drinkable. I should not have added the Syrian Arak ๐Ÿ™‚

From 1 January, officially the new Tukish lira is the only currency to be accepted as payment, although I have seen some old lira still floating around.

2006 has also brought about the tragic death of three siblings in far Eastern Turkey due to bird-flu. Dogubeyazit, where the infections are believed to have occurred is a long way away from Mersin, so I’m still happily eating my chicken kebabs.

Mersin’s weather so far this year has been mild and pleasant, unlike pre-Christmas. In fact, on 2 January, Wunderground forecast Mersin’s temperature to only range between 13 and 16 C for the whole 7-day period. Quite amazing!

From Tuesday to Friday next week is Kurban Bayrami. The dates fall very conveniently and work will closed for the whole week meaning we have an 8 day holiday. Yay! Tomorrow night I’m off to Antalya to see Umut and Beysun, my old flatmate from 2001-2002 and his wife. This will be my first trip to Antalya, one of Turkey’s most picturesque areas, and I’m excited!

Antalya is not the only trip coming up. In early February I will visit Australia, stopping off in Istanbul and Dubai/Oman on the way. I’ve never holidayed in Australia before so it will be a new experience. Yesterday I purchased both the Turkish and Australian domestic flights. Due to the route, I will have 3 separate flight tickets. My sequence is:

1) Adana-Istanbul (Atlasjet)
2) Istanbul-Dubai-Melbourne (Emirates)
3) Melbourne-Adelaide (Virgin Blue)

On the way back the flight order is reversed.

After paying for my Virgin Blue tickets I remembered I had a Qantas Frequent Flier balance from years ago. I could have obtained the Melbourne-Adelaide return flights free! Although this scenario sounds bad, it isn’t actually a big deal. The Virgin Blue flights only cost AUD 158 and if I used my Qantas frequent flier points I still would have had to pay AUD 93 in taxes and duties!!! I’m only paying AUD 65 difference and I still have my points.

5 thoughts on “Welcome To 2006

  1. Hi Joe

    Mark has taught me how to use the comments. Australia won the 20-20 against SA.
    Hot in South Aust except for Victor Harbor where we are. Crows to extend their Showdown record in 2006.
    Cheerio

  2. Hey Joe, great to see you’re back online!!! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Looking forward to catching up in Feb,
    Luv flic xxx

    PS Enjoy the ‘free’ food and drink on Qantas! I’m not sure if it’s worth $65 but it’s nicer than none ๐Ÿ˜‰

  3. Dragos, thank you for being an integral part of the bottle collection production!

    Kevin, soon you’ll be a commenting whiz! When’s Mark getting his own blog?

    Yay, Flic, only 4 weeks until I land in Adelaide. I’ll be arriving on Virgin Blue as I had already booked and paid for the ticket before I remembered the QANTAS points!

  4. g’day mate:)!

    u’re coming with Emirates, and 9 hours in dubai:)Emirates is the best!always eating and drinking:)

    i hope we can meet soon

    (i know you cannot bring but i hope 2 Adana Kebaps and 3 tantuni ๐Ÿ™‚ )

    Happy kebap People

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