There is not a number out of ten to describe this perfect experience. I compare my time aboard Diversity and the Mothership to the heli skiing adventure mum and I did at the end of last year. There is no way I can possibly tell you how good it is nor do the pictures taken do it any slight justice.

Eddie and I arrived to Göcek where we would unfortunately have to lather up the rays of the scorching sun next to the pool in a yet again another cloudless sky as we waited for Daisy, Melissa and Horst Lueckl to arrive. After two extremely close games of chess, the Lueckl and Hookway families appeared at the door. We said g’day, as I gave each lady a European kiss on the cheek – kiss both cheeks instead of just one – to show how cultural we now are. Everybody went out for dinner and we met up with Fletch, Michelle, Francesca, Rod, Gwen and Mark.

Perksy had too many kebabs and ended up feeling crook with a bug or something so he went to the doctor in Göcek before boarding the boat. Never been to a Turkish doctor and it was a bit of an experience. No such thing as privacy. There were three blokes each doing their own part trying to communicate to me what was wrong. One of the blokes reckons it was food poisoning.

Apparently renaming a boat is bad luck, so when the Battlers came up with the name Diversity for our home for the next seven nights, we agreed to use it as a nickname to not piss off the sea gods. “What in the hell’s diversity?!” I hear you say. Well we believe diversity is an old old wooden ship that was used in the Civil War era.

Diversity was a 43ft sailing boat, only one year old, and fit the five of us on comfortably. The Mothership was the 80ft boat the Hookway family were on. Aboard the Mothership was a questionably hommo chef who was the head chef of twenty eight and made a killer feed; Apdi who was king of the sea, king of Marmaris as well as captain of the Mothership ‘Arslan 7’, a man who you couldn’t kill with a heart of gold; and last but not least an eighteen year old boy who goes by the name of Happy Moon. Happy constantly had a smile on his face and dropped everything and stopped anything he was doing to make our time more enjoyable. Happy and myself became quite good mates throughout the trip and hopefully will stay good mates. The kid was consistently over the Moon with Happiness. Michelle and Fletch were on a 54ft sail boat similar to that of Diversity. Them and Gwen, Rod, Francesca and Mark went and did their own thing for most of the week.

Fishing for garfish, tuna and anything else that had gills, jumping off cliffs and from the heightened sides of the Mothership, water that was more blue, clear and smooth than any footage taken by David Attenborough, learning to sail in half a day, waking up to the most perfect mornings with sun rising above the hills on glassy blue waters reflecting a cloudless sky wrapped in a big doona on the deck of the Mothership, snorkeling, kayaking, swimming into caves, clubbing in Marmaris, phenomenal seafood and steak dinners at restaurants only accessible by boat, mastering front and back flips, sailing towards the sunrise, tanning in the sun with salty skin, stupid bets I know I’ve already lost, making new friends, mixed feelings, drinking under a sky with more stars than pebbles on the beaches, shisha, cocktails, beers, raki, menemen, laderhosens, revealing of our Backpacking Battlers t-shirts (have a geez at the photo), waterskiing and being around people we are familiar with after almost three months of being in the familiar company of only each other. I can almost guarantee there are things I’ve missed off that list, unintentionally (as well as some things intentionally been left off), but for me to have remembered them all would be nearly impossible.

As was very well put by Horst, the best part of the week sailing was pulling out of the mariner at the start of the trip. The worst part being the return into that same mariner a week later.

This trip has really put into perspective for me that I really am free to do whatever I want to with my life. I got off the boat in Göcek and was upset to know that I wouldn’t be doing something like that for a while. Consideration was immense to think that perhaps I could work, would work, on a boat for Apdi or even another boat. I was convinced I was going to do that. The life those blokes live is unspeakable as those who’s ears would be listening would discover the real secret to happiness.

I thankyou with all the thanks I can possibly give, Horst, Melissa, Daisy and Eddie for being as warm and welcoming as you have been to let me on your family holiday. Scotty off the Hooks, Fanny, Jesse, Bella, Zoe and Pippa, I appreciate your hospitality of somebody who hardly knew to be included in your experiences. You’re a great family and I really look forward to catching up with you all when I get back home.

As I have already said, words can not describe how much I loved this experience. The Corona commercial ‘From Where You’d Rather Be’ has got nothing on what we did everyday in the picture perfect locations we did it in.

It really is going to be difficult to move onto the next chapter of our adventure after this chapter has been so kind to us. I wanted to live those moments forever, part of the reason I have delayed sending this post. I figured that once I post this, all of this only becomes memories and I’ll no longer be living them. The Backpacking Battlers are truly the luckiest blokes to live in this beautiful world