In the last episode, after finding the most picturesque park up
our time was cut short after this happened
so we jumped into Trudy and headed to Gaziantep,
but it was obvious i wasn't going to be running around filming for a while,
The ankle is very swollen!
so we decided to head back to Manavgat a little bit earlier than planned,
to meet up with our friends Ben and Chesca from the youtube channel Overlanding Sofia.
And Cat and Dave our marine biologists friends who came over to help with the turtle centre opening.
We got caught in possibly the worst storm we've ever experienced,
which ended up cracking our roof hatch so now it's time to give Trudy some care.
so whilst we're down in the Manavgat for a while we're going to try and do a few jobs on Trudy,
we've got lots to do!
One of them is to repair the blinds, because the blinds in the van ...
i think there are the originals, they're about 17 years old!
And they are all starting to break!
So the main door blind the the actual blind doesn't stay up anymore this clip's broken so every night we have to put a clip just to hold that up.
And then coming in the back this blind here broke quite a while ago, so we've just got a one of the window covers stuck up in there.
This blind on this side is broken too and the frame has fallen off !
we've got this net curtain up in the back window for a bit of privacy,
and we hang a towel over the window just to try and make it dark, so yeah it's a little bit of a nightmare with the blind,
so we're going to try and go to Antalya, we found a company that makes blinds,
so we're hoping they're going to be able to do a little job on Trudy and supply her all new blinds.
I also want to show you another problem we had where the window got cracked in the storm.
We've got more water this is very very old so we're going to try and find a replacement.
So that's it this morning we're off to Antalya which is about an hour and a half's drive away from here.
Okay so after an hour and a half we've arrived in Antalya,
Marianne's just popping into a shop which actually looks like a garage which was what our contact gave,
us so fingers crossed we're in the right place!
Okay that didn't go according to plan they don't do Karavan blinds.
Back to the drawing board!
wow we've arrived at another Campervan place, they're are lots of vans that are a little bit old, and the building's interesting,
but it's Turkey and anything is possible!
So let's see what they can do!
So it's sounding hopeful, Marianne's got one of our friends Erhan on the phone translating,
and it sounds like they're going to be able to do something,
and replace the blinds possibly repair the roof, and make a blind for the bathroom!
So yeah, it's sounding all good!
The next day!
After all the problems we have had with our leisure batteries being dead,
today is the day that we've come to the Gespa shop here in Manavgat,
because they're going to fit us two new leisure batteries!
and we are very excited! Thank you Erik for hooking us up and putting us in touch with these guys - good contact!
So those are the batteries we did have and to be fair they've lasted three and a half years.
So eventually we got the batteries in
it was a little bit of a tight fit, but fingers crossed our Trudy should be sorted !
i don't know how they managed to get those two batteries in! I don't think they're ever coming in again!
And it's nearly dark!
It's nearly dark because in Turkey you have to have lots of tea, chats and we were given a free loaf of bread!
The Next day!
So this morning we've driven back to Antalya because we've got quite a few things that we're
going to do on the van over the next three days!
We're going to get all the things sorted that we need to!
But before we do, i just want to show you this is our new little metre, i don't think it actually displays on the camera because of the frame rate,
but it's a little digital display showing us how much our new leisure batteries are making,
and just by driving to Antalya this morning, they've charged up as they should do so we're very very happy!
Yes we are!
But this morning we're going to do a few jobs on the van,
we're going to get a new roof put on because you can see the water inside that was damaged with the hail.
We're going to get this made into a blackout blind because it's not black out!
We're going to get all of the blinds replaced, one there two on the back one on the side window.
We're also going to put one up in the bathroom,
The blind that we've got in the front as you can see it's
starting to tear away, so we're going to get this blind replaced,
but this is a very cool blind that we use to black out the front.
We're also going to do some treatment on the roof because there's a little bit of rust,
and put a new roof hatch in,
this one here, they're actually going to make the plastic has been moulded to fit !
As we say anything is possible in Turkey!
and we're very excited to get all these jobs done.
Right that's the front blind going off for repair!
So he's power hosing the roof, just to get it all clean before he starts treating it.
I'm just waiting for the water to start coming in through the leaky roof!
It's all right at the moment.
We're leaving Trudy that's it it's over we're gone!
We're going to sit in the corner and do some work and the van is all covered up, as they're going to spray the roof and put a treatment on it,
and we've abandoned ship because otherwise it's going get too hot to work in there!
Good job!
And the people that tried to steal our sticker! Not nice! yeah look part of the sticker got peeled off!
I'm not going to get much work done we've got a whole cute thing going on!
Okay so the roof has been sprayed
Marianne's going up!
You'll be sleeping well tonight with those fumes!
So there's been some kind of product ....
that be has been sprayed on the van, i don't really know what that's all about ....
that's very strange, apparently this prevents rust and rotting.
we've had success,
it's been really tricky actually trying to find blinds that are completely black out,
they tend to be quite thick perforated dark coloured materials,
and google translate is a challenge!
Yes google translate is a challenge!
But look we've actually got this now, this is a sample, so we're going to do that and then
we actually have full blackout blinds! Yay and that was quite hard to find because normally they do the black material,
but you can still see through it, but this one has foil!
They managed to make them in foil, it took a while for them to find, but we got them!
These guys have been really good, they've been searching around to find the right materials for us,
because anyone who lives in a van knows how important it is for good sleep, privacy,
reflection of sun, and just generally aesthetically looking wonderful!
So there you go, that's what we're going to be getting!
The Next day!
I'm here with my friend Pinar, we're at the Umican Karavan centre, she's gifting me some home grown olives,
but we had a lovely night here last night,
and we're getting Trudy really sorted,
I thought the best way actually to show you the situation is to climb the ladder!
oh bright sunlight!
So this main window here got smashed, it's a double layer,
and actually there was a crack in it so it ended up being a little bit like a fish tank.
so they're taking it off
and they have actually had moulded a brand new window!
Anything is possible in Turkey as they say!
So before they fit the roof Chris has been working in the office - there he is editing!
Hi i'm the new manager of this place!
So i'll take you into the workshop so you can see,
it's a busy place lots of people buzzing in and out,
it's just North of Antalya not far out of the city,
and here is the brand new window that is going in!
Yay look at this, beautiful!
look at this,
so this window has actually been moulded specifically for Trudy!
So it's going to be a perfect fit!
It's got hatch window and latches there,
so that we'll be able to open it out and get some really good open space.
Look at this window, it's massive so i'm going to be able to climb out.
Oh and it's a double layer thickness as well,
so this way we'll have some insulation.
So look who i've just found in the van!
Trudy is like a cat magnet, there's another one there!
I don't know what she does, it it might have something to do with that!
Is there cat food there?
Oh yeah
let's see what's going on.
Oh wow so this is the window, it's all been cleaned off this area here,
and he's putting that black mastic stuff on to create a seal.
Wow
Yep everyone just wants to come and be in Trudy and make home and snuggle! I love my girl Trudy!
So after spending a second night at the garage, they're just going on the roof they're going
to do a little water test,
and just check that the new roof hatch is sealed in.
Okay it's all looking good!
All right, it's all good!
Give the windscreen a quick wash while it's all wet!
We're dry! We're completely dry!
Lovely people!
We've arrived back at Manavgat beach,
oh yeah and we just want to show you the work that's been done.
So we've got new blinds on every single window with mosquito nets.
A new roof hatch which is working an absolute treat!
We've got the new spring-loaded blind here that we pull up at night they redid that for us.
They did the rust on the roof,
they did they've also put blinds at the two back windows the side window,
and the loo!
We've never had one in here before we normally hang a curtain,
I've got my lifesaver balanced on the loo to filter water,
we do this every day!
and yeah we've got this!
Yeah that's very cool because normally what we do is we clip up a towel over this, as it didn't have a blind,
and normally we don't close the door at night, because we might need to go to the loo in the night.
We now have air without mosquitoes, there you go!
And we have some new neighbours!
Howdy neighbours!
By surprise these people rocked up! Yeah
So this is Chesca and Ben and River!
Hello!
From the channel Overlanding Sophia,
and they've come down for the sea turtle centre opening and we're going to hang out and do a little bit of a road trip down towards the East of Turkey!
And don't tell them that I said so, but they are genuinely lovely people!
Oh don't say that, they will get all ...
This morning we've woken up, it's Ben's birthday today,
so we're going to go and give him a little singing birthday surprise!
but first i found some candles!
OK, open the door, have you got the card?
We have a card here !
I think River has let them know we are coming !
Happy birthday to you happy birthday dear Ben!
happy birthday to you, happy birthday mate
yay
and it must be a good day because it's the first day we've had sun for days
How narcissistic are we! We've given Ben a birthday card of us!
Thank you to Tread Tribe member Nina for designing it!
and some of our stickers!
That is a card i'm not going to forget!
So because it's Ben's birthday today, we thought we'd go out have a couple of drinks
and a little bit of dinner,
I've got the Trudy party lights on!
Right all aboard campers!
Welcome to Trudy!
Thank you!
It's Ben's happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday and happy birthday to you!
Right we've come into Manavgat town and we met up Cat and David joined us, and I'm starving!
Marianne's getting moved no parking there!
Ocakbasi restaurant, this is where we're coming for dinner.
Hey Erik, how you doing?
Hey how you doing? Nice to see you!
Look we got a beautiful table here you got rose petals all over the table!
there was just so much meze here!
How is it birthday boy? It's amazing!
This is just the start,
this is just the starter!
this glass arrived and i had to fight Ben to not drink it! it's a good job because it has a floating candle in it!
oh that's nice look, i'm pleased you didn't drink that! then we might have been going to A+E on the way home!
I absolutely love that their quiet romantic birthday dinner, turned up with us a lot!
So we've come into the kitchen to see the masters at work,
this restaurant has the most amazing kebabs and mixed grill.
We came here before with Erik and Joke the other week,
oh look at that! Turkish balloon bread! it's beautiful!
They've got this wood-fired oven at the back that they're cooking bread in,
he's turning me into the chef!
I'm cooking tonight am i ?
Grilled liver,
chicken wings,
chicken,
lamb cutlets
Salt
So this is how they make Adana kebab,
they mould the meat around the skewer.
This is the famous Adana kebab!
and then it looks like that.
And we've got a couple of those for our dinner!
that's what we're having, that's what we're having Chesca!
Who's filming who?!
They get the meat juice onto the bread
that's why the bread always tastes so good!
Ben this is for your dinner!
We've got the Adana coming off now,
this is how you're supposed to do it, look
they push it, then they take them off the skewer!
That is balance!
okay, okay, wow!
And then it cooks on top of the metal!
wow
And the best thing about this restaurant is the manager gives you a free massage!
It's Ben's turn for a massage,
is that good or what? that is good and how good is that lamb
that's amazing so when was the last time you had lamb like that and the massage from the manager?
Definitely a first!
Thank you chef!
Thank you very much,
well that was the most amazing mixed grill we have ever had!
oh! I nearly did it again! it's a bigger curb than i expected!
I nearly did it again!
Don't walk and talk with the camera Chris!
Or the next video is all about Manavgat hospital!
Exactly!
Birthday boy happy?
Perfect okay let's hit the road people!
Join us on the next episode, where we start our adventure East with Ben and Chesca,
and start heading towards the city of Antakya!