Nicola, the boat upon which we slept on the foredeck in sleeping bags last night. Under the stars. It was beautiful. As was the dawn.

A first for me in (now) over 3,000 Blips - posting one taken outside Scotland. Quite a bit further afield, from a week spent on the Lycian coast of southern Turkey, with a good friend, S, that proposed the trip, and did the persuasion. An adventure holiday, sea kayaking in the area, arranged via Exodus Travels. The Nicola would be our base for the first three nights, around the Göcek area, then on to a couple of nights in a hotel in Kaş, followed by an overnight camp on an island, and back to the hotel for the last night before heading towards home.

A few weeks before the trip, a French work colleague was telling me of one of his local French friends that was going on a sea kayaking holiday, "Oh right. Where's he going?" "Turkey," came the reply. Surprised at the coincidence I queried, "And when is he going?" Of course the dates matched, and later came the confirmation of the travel company. Upon hearing of this, S's response was, "I don't believe it. We're going on holiday, and before we even head off, you know of someone else that's going to be there! You know everyone." I do know a lot of people, even though you don't see many Blipped here.

Day one on the water - get to know the boats and gear, plus the necessary safety procedures, and a couple of short sessions paddling about. Only S and myself have sea kayaking experience... aside from the two guides.

( Second extra's a blurry photo of a badger on the beach after sunset.)