Welcome to our latest monthly news roundup from life in Fethiye – this was October. And it was nothing if not eventful.
The Weather
Everyone’s favourite subject and it’s fair to say that throughout October, the Fethiye weather has quite rightly been a talking point, this month.
We weren’t even at the end of the first week of the month and there had already been a record amount of monthly rainfall – the previous record being for the month of December.
The streets of Fethiye centre, Hisarönü and the resort of Ölüdeniz became gushing rivers, leaving business owners and the belediye to deal with the aftermath.
It’s amazing how quickly everyone cleans up, afterwards – they’re well practiced. Floods have been a common feature of October as storms have rolled in.
A heavy downpour on the 28th again left us with floods but then, as the rain passed, the area was bathed in the most amazing sunset.
Pillowy gnocchi clouds snuggled together above us and gradually transformed from grey to fuschia as the sun lowered.
Ölüdeniz Air Games
A growing annual Fethiye event and always a great way to round off the summer season, it was another great Fethiye & Ölüdeniz air Games, this year.
The clue’s in the name and lots of the acrobatics take place in the sky so the organising team streamed events on YouTube and on their Instagram Posts and Stories.
We watched the usual paramotors glide up and down the bay in Fethiye and also headed over to Ölüdeniz on the final day of the games to witness the short flyover display by three Turkish Air Force combat jets; the noise and force from which was incredible!
Despite the horrendous weather mentioned above, we’ve also had some beautiful autumn sunny days with temperatures in the mid 20s so much of the Air Games managed to go ahead as scheduled.
Belcekiz Beach was very busy on the final day. Still, sunny weather – perfect sitting-on-the beach weather.
The seafront bars and restaurants were absolutely packed, too.
Republic Day In Fethiye
29th October is Republic Day (Cumhuriyet Bayramı) and this year marked the 102nd anniversary of the Republic.
In years gone by, whilst enjoying this important national holiday here in Fethiye, I used to wonder what it would be like to witness the holiday in one of the big cities.
This year, however, Fethiye must have been up there as one of the places with the most happening.
With so much adversity and bad news around the world at the moment, it was lovely to see so many people with a smile on their face and taking part in the various events.
School children and various groups and clubs attended Fethiyespor stadium to do their performances in the morning.
In Fethiye centre, flag-flying paramotors glided along the bay in the afternoon and a boat procession was organised for the afternoon.
In the evening, a huge flag-waving vehicle convoy crawled and revved and beeped its way around the neighbourhoods whilst the pedestrian procession was bigger than ever.
Usually, this sets off along the harbour and heads to the town square. This year, the road was closed for it, so big was the procession.
All of this culminated in fireworks and a free live concert by Turkish band, Pinhani, in the town square.
We decided to head to Çalış Beach this year to watch the flotilla pass along the coast and what a sight it was!
A few great photos of the people’s procession and the concert, here. Meanwhile, the flotilla looks absolutely amazing from above in this short video by Fethiye Drone.
Out & About
Whenever friends or family are over to visit, there are usually a couple of staples that feature as part of their holiday – and if they’ve been on holiday to Fethiye before, these staples are often at their request.
And who are we to argue?
Kayaköy
So the first week of October, it was a trip over to the village of Kayaköy on the dolmuş for the day and evening.
A first visit to Turkey for one of our crew so we made sure he had a yummy gözleme in the day time.
And then it was the timeless, old faithful – a barbecue meal at Cin Bal.
So that’s our latest article that we need to update. This place has been a part of our Fethiye life since our very first trip here in 1998!
Cafe Park Teras
Our visitors were staying in Ölüdeniz but they also made sure they came over to Fethiye centre so we could meet them at Cafe Park Teras.
We said in last month’s news update that we would update our article about Cafe Park Teras – and that’s exactly what we’ve done.
And, we didn’t go with them but our visitors also got the water taxi over to Çalış and enjoyed a Turkish meal at Motif Restaurant.
To say they also had to move hotel rooms – and dry all their clothes – because theirs flooded in the heavy rains, they actually managed to cram a lot into their week.
Walking Season
October is the month where there are hints of autumnal air in the warm sunny days – and that makes for perfect walking weather.
Whilst we’re quite well known for walking everywhere, most of our trudges are errands and it was actually a while since we’d been out for a walk purely for the enjoyment of wandering and soaking up the local scenery.
So we chose a favourite of our Fethiye walks that we hadn’t walked for a couple of years.
A hike around the Fethiye Peninsula – and so that article is now also updated, complete with map. Not that you can get lost.
The photo at the top of this news roundup is also one of the beautiful views on this walk.
Fethiyespor
A look at the fixtures and results table for Fethiyespor will reveal a very mixed bag for Fethiyespor in October.
A massive win, losses and a draw.
It all means this is where they currently sit in the Nesine 2. Lig Red Group.
In Other News
Stories from around the country that jump out at us as the month progresses.
And we’ll start off with a couple of snippets from the Dalyan area, just up the road from us, here in Fethiye.
Conservation Success
First of all, on 12th October, DEKAMER sea turtle rescue, rehabilitation and research centre shared the great news that Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia Mydas) have now had their global conservation status raised from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Least Concern’ by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).
The work isn’t over for DEKAMER and their counterparts around the Mediterranean, however, because the Mediterranean subspecies is still classed as ‘Near Threatened.’
Archaeological Success
And over in the nearby ancient city of Kaunos, it’s yet another archaeological discovery.
In October, it was announced that digs being carried out over the last three years have revealed a Roman era hospital that later had a Byzantine church that had been built over the top of it.
This is revealing the changing nature of the city throughout the centuries.
Preservation & Sustainability Success
In October, the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation) announced the Best Tourism Villages for 2025.
From 270 applications by villages around the world, 52 villages were given recognition…and the great news is that FOUR Turkish villages were recognised.
Criteria for recognition is “accredited cultural and natural assets, a commitment to preserving community-based values and a clear commitment to innovation and sustainability across economic, social and environmental dimensions.”
Congratulations to Akyaka in the Muğla Province, Anıtlı in Mardin, Barbaros in Izmir and Kale Üçağız in the Antalya Province.
And Finally…
If you’ve ever been to the wonderfully pretty town of Kaş, just along the road from us in the Antalya Province, chances are, you will have taken photos of – or at least noticed – these colourful chairs just off the town square.
These chairs belong to the famous Mavi Bar.
Businesses come and go at a rate of knots in these parts but Mavi Bar has been part of the fixtures and fittings of Kaş all the time we’ve been here – and Turkish friends always told us it had been around for a good few years before that.
Well, at the end of October they announced on their Instagram account that it was their 40th birthday – and they also said that those famous chairs and tables hadn’t been changed during that 40 years, too!
They celebrated with a documentary about the bar which was followed by a round of applause in the street.
Happy 40th birthday, Mavi Bar Kaş!
Into November
Along with many other people at this time of year, November has begun with coughs and sniffles!
Hopefully, they will pass soon and we can make the most of this lovely weather with some more autumnal walks and maybe some travels…
We’ve also got some winter comfort dishes that we want to cook and add to our list of Turkish recipes.
Let’s see what the month has in store for us…