Reaching new heights

Over the last few weeks I have been going on longer and longer walks every evening with my dog Freddie, gradually exploring and mentally mapping all the different tracks (they're fire roads, I think) that run through the pine woods on the hills behind & beyond Ayvalik. This is a labour of love: these woods, and these walks, are quite beautiful and I want to get to know them thoroughly both for my own benefit, & so I can show them to visitors. Very few people, other than beekeepers, ever go there - as a nation, Turks are not keen on recreational walking - so usually Freddie & I have miles of woods entirely to ourselves.

Today was the longest and most beautiful walk yet. We were out for nearly 4 hours, and climbed to the highest point in the hills, from where there is a quite breathtaking view over the Ayvalik archipelago & across to Lesbos. Freddie & I were very tired when we got to the top of the hill, so we sat in the grass to rest, & breathed in the scent of the pines & wild lavender as we watched the sun start to set over the Aegean..