Me and Clio. Valued Team Member

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1 Valued Team Member Hi everyone, I thought I would write an article on my most valued team member who has been with me from the very start in fact before that, and never complained. If you hadn t guessed already I m talking about my car. It s a Renault Clio, red with a small 1100cc engine and it s travelled over 200,000 km, at least half of that with me behind the wheel. So this newsletter is about the adventures we have had together over the last 9 years. Kyrenia Mountain Trail in Northern Cyprus In early January 2010 I decided with a group of fellow Hashers, to hike the Kyrenia Mountain trail from Apostle Andreas on the extreme northeast of the island to Cape Kormakitis on the extreme northwest of the island. The whole trail is 220km long and it took 12 days to complete. That doesn t sound too long, but at that time we all had jobs and couldn t spare the time off to hike the trail in one go, so we agreed to complete it over a number of weekends and bank hiolidays throughout the year. Basically from April to the end of October, or Easter weekend to Ochi day. Section 1 So 2 groups of 2 people drove to Dipkarpaz, trying to get to Apostle Andreas before 10.00am to start the hike. I was in the first group (Group A) and we left Clio at the hotel in Dipkarpaz, took a taxi to the beginning and started to hike back to Clio. My other 2 friends (Group B), were in the other car, about 2 hours behind us. They would start their hike midway between the cape and Dipkarpaz and meet us for lunch. It didn t happen. They got lost and so did we. Group B managed to getback to the main road and got a lift back to their car. Our turkcell mobiles only had a minute amount of credit and we soon realised we couldn t keep in touch with one another. However we managed to contact our fellow hashers in Nicosia and got them to pile some credit onto our mobiles.

2 We, Group A, headed north aiming to strike the main coastal road which goes to Dipkarpaz. Darkness decended on us and I built a shelter and told Group B and the hotel manager to stop trying to find us. We had a shelter (ditch), food and water (see the adjacent photo). I had built a fire and we determined to wait it out until the sun came up and we could finally see just where we were. The sun came up and sure enough, just over the hedge was the main road to the hotel. We waited until about 7am and then called Group B to come and collect us. I could not believe that we had continued on for another 400m or so, we would have spent the night in a cosy bed rather than huddled around a small camp fire, holding small heated rocks in our hands to keep warm. So a few weeks later I returned to my makeshift campsite and parked Clio on the road. The photo here shows the distance between warm beds and cold bones. I vowed then that I would get a GPS device and always know where I was and where the nearest road back to safety was. I purchased a Garmin Etrek device and I ve been using it since.

3 Section 2 In May we hiked the next section of the mountain trail and we were all one group now and our numbers swelled to 6. There were no real dramas here except for the torrential rain that persisted throughout that first day. In fact it rained so hard, and we were so bedraggled, when we encountered a taxi, big enough for all of us and our gear, we booked it and were driven back to Clio. Section 3 and 4 These sections passed without incident, other than the variety of members changed continually and playing Uno became an obligatory pastime especially with the special rules to speed up the game. On Golden Beach there was a taverna called Burhans and while we were there we managed to team up with another group of architects from Nicosia to play Uno. In all, 15 of us managed somehow to crowd around a table and in a wild frenzy thrust down our cards all at the same time. It was mental. The photo here is sunrise over Golden Beach and the others photos show one of the very few signposts we encountered along the way, and the other is sunset overlooking Essentepe with the power station in front of the mountains. We hiked Section 4 during August as most of us were on holiday and the temperatures were very high. (most Cypriot companies close down for the first 3 weeks of August as their holiday because of the heat). Most of us became dehydrated but we peressed on and eventually we reached Five Finger Mountain (Pentadactylus) and the Buffavento Restaurant great food and plenty of

4 Efes beer. Here s a photo of the mountain, looking north. Section 5 This was supposed to be the easiest trail for us as it was closest to Nicosia and not far for us to travel to. So one Sunday morning 6 of us, in two cars, placed the cars at the beginning and end of the trail and then started hiking. Clio was parked up near the Turkish flag shown on the photo below, which is blazooned across the mountainside facing Nicosia. A symbol that infuriates the Greek Cypriots, especially when it lights up at night. We hiked the trail but when we came to the end our car was missing. After talking and gesturing to the Turkish army we eventually found out they thought our car was too close to their camp and had the local police remove it to their compound. They kindly arranged for a taxi to reunite us with our car and they even paid the taxi fare. During discussions with the police about the car and why it was moved, it came to my attention that Clio was also in danger of being re-located. Now the conversation took a more troublesome turn. According to the police records Clio was not registered in Northern Cyprus and although I explained we had travelled across the border from the south that morning, there was no record of Clio actually making the trip. Could I please explain how this had happened. No I replied. 30 minutes later after the police had searched all our belongings, I was taken to Clio to retrieve him and bring him back to the police station. On my

5 return I took all my documents out of Clio s glove compartment and the problem was quickly resolved. The border guard that morning had miss spelt one character of the registration number of Clio and inputted it into the system. So a simple mistake, easily explained, but no. The army had raised the first query (close proximity of our car) and wanted full reports on the matter before the police could let us go. It s Sunday and things don t happen very fast in Cyprus, especially on Sunday. We waited a long time and eventually as night closed in the phone call came through, from the general at the local army camp, and the police let us go. I can still remember the interpretor s plea not to park close to a military base again as they may not be so lenient next time. Hmmm, next time Clio got locked in the army base. Section 6 The very next trip I left Clio in the car park at St. Hilarion Castle overlooking Kyrenia, thinking its a car park, Clio will be okay there. The photo below is taken from the harbour and shows the castle on the mountain tops. We hiked the trail and then returned to the castle only to be confronted with an armed guard standing resolute before the closed gate. We needed to get through it to retrieve Clio, so we began negotiations. I explained our predicament and the soldier ran off to the office to convey our story to the higher ups. He returned to us red faced and shoved a piece of paper into my hand. The paper had Clio s registration number on it and I confirmed it was my car. They opend up the barrier and we drove through and moments later returned with Clio. A lot less stressful than the previous encounter. Section 7 The day after the St Hilarious episode Clio was involved in another fracas which saw him multilate and murder countless harmless tadpoles, frogs and such. We spent the night in tents while the rain beat down and the wind threatened to blow the tents away. I only manged to hold onto mine by lying on one side ot it using my body weight to anchor it to the ground. Morning came, we left Clio and hiked the penultimate section through mud and streams finishing at Kormakitis where we were

6 staying overnight at a friends house. We drove back to collect Clio and the thunder and lightning were ferorcious. The roads are unlit and there s just the headlights beaming like lasers showing the way with the occasional lightning illuminating the forested mountains around us. I get into Clio and we set off back down the mountainside to Komakitis. There s something in the road, small objects bouncing around about 1 metre off the road. The headlights reveal hundreds of small tadpoles/frogs crossing the road in their thousands. They re using the rainwater as a means of migrating down the hillside. I plough on, slaughtering the poor reptiles. The grill was not a pleasant sight the next morning. Section 8 This is the final section of the trail and when we complete it we have a small party on the headland and of course Clio is with us. The photo adjacent shows us at the end of the trail and the photo below is looking back at the mountains. It was a long trek.

7 E4 Whine Route Readers of my newsletter will already have read about our exploits on this particular trail but I failed to mention last time that Clio didn t make it one time. He wouldn t start first thing in the morning so I was forced to ask for a lift from one of the other trekkers. Upon my return I find out that the immobiliser has kicked in and the key won t start the engine. I now have to walk around to the local garage speciallising in electronics and get them to come home with me and fix Clio. They of course fix Clio and it cost lots of money even with the discount. I went home and turned on my laptop and looked on YouTube for a solution to Clio not starting. Low and behold there is a 5 minute video of a bloke in England who had exactly the same problem and he demonstrates how to circumnavigate the immobilser and get his Clio to start. I m flabbergasted and resolve to check out YouTube whenever Clio gets sick, prior to getting a garage involved - it could save me a lot of time, trouble and money. The map above shows the first stage of the route from Cape Gkreko towards Larnaca. General Hiking In 2017 I took a small group of chaps on a number of hikes during their 7 day holiday to Paphos. Part way through their holiday (a rest day for us), the window on Clio s passenger door refused to stay up resulting in draugthy driving and no security when left alone anywhere. The group were amazed that I managed to get the car to a garage, get it fixed with a genuine Renault part and returned to me within 24 hours. It cost lots of money and unfortunately the problem re-occurred in However this time I managed to wedge a screwdriver wrapped around a small cloth against the glass window, holding it in the closed position. I used Clio like this for a couple of weeks before getting it fixed

8 properly. Now the screwdriver rattles about in the boot, along with trekking poles and cloth rags. Like a good boy scout, I have to be organised. In this newsletter I have confered the male gender onto Clio albeit sometimes I have referrd to him as an it. I am not suggesting he is a trans-gender thing, he s just my Clio. However I find it odd that whilst writing this I refer to him as a him or an it, but when I m drivng him he becomes a she. Amadeus Holidays Limited info@amadeusholidays.co.uk Website: Facebook: Mobile: