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February 2006 and winter storm clouds gather
overhead, as seen from my office window. |
February is grey mullet spawning season. This beauty,
the best of three, caught from Kato Paphos promenade, weighed in at 3
kg. |
Spring is in the air and the first buds form on my
peach tree. |
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Balloon sellers at the Paphos Carnival 2006 |
March 6th - Green Monday .... |
.... and that sky has not been retouched. 20 degrees
and wall to wall blue. |
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I never could resist a cute cat picture. |
Paphos is famous for its harbour pelicans ... |
...though this is the only one around at present. |
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March 14th and the sky is full of desert sand from
the Sahara. We need a good rain storm to clear the air. |
The Easter bonfire in Kissonerga ... |
.... and a glimpse of the spectacular .... |
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.... firework display. |
New properties at the Paphos Sea Caves area .... |
You have to wonder why planning permission was
granted to build here? |
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And down the road in nearby Agios Georgios, bathing
has apparently been banned from the beach - or more likely just from the
quayside as the sign is ambiguously placed ? |
Agios Georgios ... |
... and again |
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Fishing boats at Agios Georgios |
Must belong to a Brit. with a name like that
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Now that's what I call a barbie
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This is the delightful flower of the plant commonly
called 'Aphrodite's Hair' which appears in April and May. |
The scourge of Paphos - some of the many time share
and holiday club touts harassing tourists |
Akamas National Park and the approach to Avagas Gorge |
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This stream runs through the gorge and can become
swollen and dangerous following heavy rains ... |
... but not today ... |
Inside the gorge |
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and again |
Rock formations near the gorge are a climbing frame
for goats. |
The Akamas Peninsula near to the Baths Of Aphrodite |
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The coast here is spectacular - until some moron
decides to build a hotel
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More of this spectacular coast ... |
... and again |
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These goats missed the Easter feasting
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Kolossi Castle |
Stone pillars at the Sanctuary of Appollo near the
British Sovereign Area Episkopi |
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The amphitheatre at Curium |
Curium again. This amphitheatre is still in regular
use for concerts and plays. |
Some of the ancient mosaics at Curium |
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Looking out from Curium towards Limassol. |
Set sail on the Jolly Roger for another Paphos booze
cruise. |
4th June and the Kato Paphos street
vendors' stands are out selling nuts and Chinese tat etc ready for the
festival of Kataklysmos next weekend .... |
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.... but not all of them are open at 10.30 am? |
See what 3 weeks growth can do
to a garden here in Cyprus . This one was taken a couple of days before
my holiday.... |
... and this one was taken the day after my return,
and after I had removed a barrow full of weeds! |
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Local custom has Greek dancers balancing drinking
glasses on the head. Here 20 glasses! |
Not the best of pictures and that spotlight doesn't
help, but everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. |
Friday 13th of October - Lucky for some, but not for
us as a major storm blows in from the sea. |
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This is the first rain since April, but we need the
water.... |
... though two inches of rain in an hour seems a bit
over the top ... |
...especially when I topped up the pool level
yesterday
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Another storm last night lit up the sky for a couple
of hours. |
Autumn near the summit of Mt. Olympus |
Sunlight shows up detail on this Black Pine tree bark |
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The last day of November and just look at that sky
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More views from Olympus ... |
... again ... |
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...and again ... |
...and again |
Paphos harbour is famous for its pelicans, though in
recent years they have not been so obvious. |
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A closer look |
The board walk near the Alexander The Great Beach
Hotel, Kato Paphos is
frequently damaged and was finally destroyed by a storm on the
13th October. This time it has been replaced by a substantial stone
structure topped with concrete ... |
.... and presumably crazy paving to follow, given the
different levels. |
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The flash flood completely undermined the mouth of
this storm drain, washing away tons of earth and rock. This is the
replacement .... |
.... and here is some of the debris |
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2007
After a stormy, though not especially wet winter, January begins with
glorious sunshine |
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The marine police patrol boat speeds back to the
harbour on a glorious January (2007) morning... |
... slowing past our vantage point. |
Back in port. |
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Easter Saturday and as midnight
approaches the bonfire is lit, for the symbolic burning of Judas |
At the hour of midnight, the church is plunged into
darkness ... |
... then the church doors are opened and the light is
passed ... |
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... from candle to candle ... |
... around the village ... |
... followed by ... |
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... a splendid ... |
... fireworks ... |
... display ... |
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... organised ... |
... by the ... |
... Local ... |
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... Authority. |
June 12th and water levels are very low in the Kouris
Dam near Limassol. (Checkout the
2003 gallery
to see what it should look like) |
The Asprokremnos Dam fares only a little better. I
guess we are in for rationing soon? |
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Asprokremnos again. It seems like no time at all
since the dam was
flowing
over the overflow (left of the picture) |
Still in search of that elusive clear picture of
Morphou Bay from the higher reaches of Mount Olympus ... |
... but it doesn't seem to get any better than this. |
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I never tire of the high slopes of Olympus where the
altitude can often give some respite from the glaring heat at the coast.
... |
... here 21 degrees against 34 at the coast - 21st
June 2007 ... |
... and there are miles of woodland trails to walk |
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The flower of the Black Pine which grows in abundance
- with great longevity ... |
... like this 500 year old example ... |
A close up of the plaque |
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... and this magnificent specimen |
The bark hides many insects ... |
... which birds will rip apart to access. |
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If only the majesty of the view could be expressed in
a photograph small enough to post on the web site. |
Many of the trees at this altitude show evidence of
lightning strike |
Young trees are everywhere ... |
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... and soon grow into forest. |
My neighbour's answer to the water crisis is to drill
a well (for which curiously there are government grants available). |
At 63 feet a snag. The drill has hit a hard
impervious rock. More equipment will be needed to get past that. |
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Three weeks on from the previous photograph and the
Kouris Dam looks very low. |
Troodos Square is quiet for July, and whose silly
idea was that cobbled road? |
Troodos now has some pleasant walkways ... |
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... and shady seating areas. |
I love these black pine trees |
and the views across the valleys |
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Here near Platres, an attempt at the environmental
blending of the unblendable. |
Sheep and goats grazing at the roadside are becoming
less common and for the shepherd and his animals there is little shade
from the ferocious sun. |
And when you add a little carelessness to that
parched land, the result is forest fire and charred trees ... |
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... which near Saittas resulted in the loss of
hundreds of acres of woodland and orchard ... |
... and all the while the reservoirs are
diminished by evaporation and consumption. Here the latest picture of
Kouris ... |
... here Asprokremnos ... |
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... where the water level is fast declining |
Asprokremnos again from the top of the dam... |
... where all that land should be under water |
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November 2007 saw barriers being
erected around Kato Paphos. |
Behind the barriers earth moving machinery reshapes
the familiar shoreline |
Pedestrians are restricted from accessing the main
promenade area ... |
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... but some shop owners have decided to tough it out
behind the barricades. |
This will have an unfortunate effect on business ... |
... but for some the pathway now passes through their
premises... |
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... and in places there is a little more space than
in others. |
Even 'Το Λιμανάκι'
kiosk is moving ... |
... to a new location close to the camera position
... |
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... to allow development of the foreshore into the sea.
Work is scheduled to last three months, though I hear that this schedule
may have been stretched to five months. |
The 'forbidden land' viewed from the harbour. |
A few days later and 'Το Λιμανάκι'
kiosk is gone, though the footings in the foreground
suggest a new location soon. |
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Sunday's sun setting over the road works and the
newly opened 'Tea For Two' cafe takes its first customers. |
Another week and the base for the new kiosk(?) is
laid and the metalwork is being fixed. |
At the other end of the promenade it appears that the
popular "Τα Μπανiα"
restaurant will be renovated. It has been stripped to a skeleton of
concrete. |
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Behind the barricades some of the shops remain open. |
The sea can get very rough here in winter, so far it
has been kind. |
How do you get 5 hunting dogs in a tiny mobile
kennel? |
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Despite some heavy rainfall in December water levels
in the Asprokremnos Dam remain low |
You can see from the marks on the tower where the
water level should rise to... |
...and here alongside is the overflow stranded high
and dry. |
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However we still have a way to go before ...
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... the taps run dry. |
Work has continued on the Kato Paphos redevelopment
through the Christmas period |
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I suspect this 'canal' will soon be filled in to
widen the promenade. |
Farther along a sub surface has been laid and rolled
... |
... for the new 'pedestrian' area. |
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The work was originally rumoured to last three
months, but somehow I don't see the restaurant being finished by
Easter... |
... and it's anyone's guess what this is going to be... |
... and this one is the view from the harbour car
park. |
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That's all for 2007. Further views of
the Kato Paphos redevelopment will be added to the
2008 gallery |
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