David J Rodger ¦ Secret Window
~ Cyprus ~
COPIED FROM BLOG: ¦ dialling in from private villa on remote mountains of Cyprus ¦
09:15 Hrs, Thursday 15th May 2008. Sitting on a narrow high backed chair of pale wood, with cream coloured cotton upholstery on the base; I'm at a table of identical pale wood, the table is long enough to seat 10 people and fits easily within the cavernous space of the main living area. Laptop is in front of me, Spitting Games by Snow Patrol playing on random. A green glazed mug empty of tea, exposing white ceramic interior. NUmerous sheets of paper scattered around me in an arc, all of them covered in nearly illegible scrawls...the rescue solution for the new novel, EDGE. To my left are a collection of deep and comfortable sofas, a flat screen TV, every window covered by a closed venetian blind. In front of me, and to my right are sliding French doors, volumous curtains of cream muslin pulled open to reveal the view beyond. To my right is a bright expanse of a large swimming pool, beyond that, nothing but a horizon of yellow grass...stiff and brittle from the heat of the sun, and a scattering of stunted green trees. This is the landscape of the high hill the villa is perched upon. Ahead of me though, above the rim of my laptop screen, through the glass of the French doors, bordered by the cream muslin, is a breathtaking view of rural beauty... yellow, yellow and more yellow... with green lines formed by trees or hedgerows, stretching away for two or three miles to the vast expanse of the sea... right now it's lost in a heat haze, a white mist barely seperating the sea from the white intensity of the sky... the sun is hammering down, baking the air and land and everything on it.
I've been up since seven'ish, the first time i've been out of bed before 9 AM since getting to Cyprus last Saturday night. And the first time I've sat down to spend some serious time on the computer. Everything up to now has been paper notes...sitting outside on a sun-lounger...perched on the tiled balcony overlooking...the world.
There was a thunderstorm last night. Eye-burning flashes of light from way up in the clouds, all around for miles... a few vivid forks streaking down near the villa, deep rumbles and booms, but nowhere near as jaw-dropping as the massive electrical storm of South France 2006.
Time has ceased to have any meaning. The days have blurred into a simple continuum marked only by day and by night. During the day we live outside. During the night we live inside. We've barely spoken a word to anybody. There is nobody. I've shaken hands and exchanged broken English with a goat-herder, blackened and wrinkled by years in the sun, over the low chain link fence marking the boundary of the property...
There's a slight irony in writing a novel set within the deep freeze of a New Zealand winter, whilst sitting here in the heat of a south Med summer.
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2008 - Cyprus - Oj May. It's very last minute, literally two days before we fly Jo and I book tickets to Cyprus and secure 8 days in a private villa owned by one of Jo's associates. It's heaven. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. We arrived late at night, hired a car and drove from Paphos through darkness along the Southern shore of the island before taking our exit off the deserted motorway and meeting Graham & Mary at a rural crossroads. Quick hellos through open vehicle windows and then a midnight drive along darkened roads without any clue as to what was around us, following the small Jeep as it bounced along the narrow routes... until finally turning up a steep hill and seeing an isolated structure... the place that was to be our home for the next few days. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. Neither of us were prepared for how large the villa is, a massive space for just the two of us. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa - Oj May. The kitchen / dinning area forms a major part of the living area...light pours in from large windows and sliding French doors, wonderful views and a particular sense of privacy. You're alone up here. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. When the day is over, the lounge creates a perfect haven to open up a bottle of wine after dinner, to recline and listen to old 80's tunes on my laptop. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. The main staircase leading up to the four main bedrooms and bathrooms. Another staircase exists behind a closed door, leading down into a self-contained apartment on the ground floor. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa - Oj May. An evening view from the dinning area. The soft blue between the horizon and the sky is the open sea. The region is heavily rural with only a couple of small sleepy villages to speak of, deserted roads...although strangely lots of buildings being constructed along the coastal highway. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. Your barely spend any time upstairs...only to go to bed, and padding downstairs in the morning again. It's so mild inside, even first thing in the morning. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa - Oj May. Stepping outside the kitchen / dinnning area takes you onto a fabulous balcony...which is a sun trap during the whole day. Above you are balconies leading off from the bedrooms. Below is the apartment.. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa - Djr May. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. The poolside had a regular contingent of playful dragonflys. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. One of my abiding memories of the place is the daily passing of the goats and their herder. A soft ringing and clank of metal bells, the gruff barks and quick whistles of the herder, and the vast sound of numerous goats munching through dry grass. One afternoon I was sitting here at this table, writing, listening to the sounds of the goat herd, and then I heard Jo call my name with a slight air of panic. I looked up to my right and saw a goat stood by the pool, staring at Jo. The goat wasn't too sure where it was but eventually ran off down the sweeping curve of the path and out through the gates of the driveway, out onto a road and went bounding away down an empty road. If you look to the left side of this picture you will see a goat pretending to be a tree. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. Another daily occurrence was the morning dive-bombing / pool supping routine of the local swifts. These birds surrounded the house and provided a persistant and pleasing chorus of birdsong throughout the day. They liked to dive down into the pool and emerge again, gulping water. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. More swifts, doing their thing. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa - Oj May. Fantastic pool. Saltwater, no chlorine. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa - Djr May. |
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2008 - Cyprus May. It was days before we left the villa to venture a little into nearby lands; there was one tiny village across the valley from us, less than a mile distant. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa - Oj May. Although there was a big flatscreen TV with a massive sattelite dish we didn't switch it on until our penultimate night; every evening was spent snug within the living area, just listening to music. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Oj May. We drove further East to Larnica one evening; nothing much to report so we drove back again, enjoying the open terrain more than the urban zones. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Oj May. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Djr May. |
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2008 - Cyprus May. Most of the writing work was done by paper and pen, reclined on a sun-lounger by the pool, but when I did sit down to write-up the saving solution to EDGE this is where I was. |
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2008 - Cyprus May. Another of the regular visitors to the area by the pool. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Mount Olympus May. Jo and I finally got further than the local villages; we clambered into the car around noon as the villa was being battered by high-speed winds. We headed West to Limassol and turned off towards Trodos. The road began to rise sharply, eventually reaching nearly 2KM above sea level. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Mount Olympus May. The very top is restricted access and the views from there are limited; secret military golf balls occupy the crest. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Mount Olympus - Djr May. The journey there and back again is worth it for the moments when you are able to glimpse the staggering alpine scenery. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa - Djr May. This is early evening, the wind is still blowing hard, chopping up the water... but it's not too cold to get in. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. My final evening there I supped whisky and reflected on the infinate expansion of time I experienced whilst living here. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. Another poolside visitor. |
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2008 - Cyprus - Our Villa May. The moon on my final night there was incredible, nearly full and yet incredibly bright..it was almost like daylight outside but in a surreal alabaster / black shadow style. |
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2008 - Cyprus - the view from our villa May. Jo asked me what was my lingering memory of the villa. I would have to say it was this. The open fields beyond the swimming pool, where the goats would feast every day... I loved the empty space that simply led to a crest in a hill and then descended to the open sea. |