# Have any hobbies?



## christineb (Nov 3, 2009)

This is just to satisfy my curiosity. I mean, Cyprus looks like a naturally great place for outdoor activities and water/beach activities, but I kind of wondered what y'all do in your free time, when you have some.

I like to walk and run, and we go cycling on the trails here. I was trying to start playing tennis again, but it's hard to find a partner -- and I'm so rusty I embarrass myself every time I do find one... I like reading, writing, and playing complicated board games that my husband hates. He's happy I'm selling most of them. I also make beer. My husband's worried that that will stop... heheheh. I know I can probably get grain, yeast, and hops over there, but is home wine/beer making even legal there? (Mycroft, the spent grains make excellent bread, too!)

What do you like to do?


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

christineb said:


> This is just to satisfy my curiosity. I mean, Cyprus looks like a naturally great place for outdoor activities and water/beach activities, but I kind of wondered what y'all do in your free time, when you have some.
> 
> I like to walk and run, and we go cycling on the trails here. I was trying to start playing tennis again, but it's hard to find a partner -- and I'm so rusty I embarrass myself every time I do find one... I like reading, writing, and playing complicated board games that my husband hates. He's happy I'm selling most of them. I also make beer. My husband's worried that that will stop... heheheh. I know I can probably get grain, yeast, and hops over there, but is home wine/beer making even legal there? (Mycroft, the spent grains make excellent bread, too!)
> 
> What do you like to do?


There is no law against brewing your own here but to be honest with the wide variety of local wines it really isnt worth it. We like to go around the wineries and do a bit of wine tasting and usually end up buying a case. There are so many wineries when you get up into the mountains.
We recently had some people over from the USA and they introduced us to geocaching. Turns out there are a lot of caches hidden around Cyprus and we intend to buy a GPS thingy and get involved with Geocaching. It makes going for a drive or out for walks more interesting.
To be honest there is so much to do here that I can never understand people who say they are bored.


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## Cleo Shahateet (Feb 23, 2009)

I think it is the people with kids that can get bored since kids don't appreciate wineries, long meze meals and that sort of thing!  But, we do go for long walks/jogging, my wife will push a jogging stroller while wearing her rollerblades which I think was a bit of a site in Mandria! She also belonged to a book "wine drinking" group of women that met once a month and she enjoyed that.  There are activities, it is just finding compatible people like a tennis, jogging partner or a group of friends for BBq's on the beach which we like and kids love.


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## theresoon (Apr 11, 2008)

Geocaching

What is that? It sounds very interesting. Will a US GPS work or will I need to buy one from here?


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

theresoon said:


> Geocaching
> 
> What is that? It sounds very interesting. Will a US GPS work or will I need to buy one from here?


The people we were with had a US GPs.
You can look up geocaching on the internet.

This a beginners guide to geocaching. The owner of this website is the guy we were with and it gives lots of info on the hobby and also links to some of the main geocaching sites.

Geocaching Tutorial


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## theresoon (Apr 11, 2008)

christineb said:


> This is just to satisfy my curiosity. I mean, Cyprus looks like a naturally great place for outdoor activities and water/beach activities, but I kind of wondered what y'all do in your free time, when you have some.
> 
> I like to walk and run, and we go cycling on the trails here. I was trying to start playing tennis again, but it's hard to find a partner -- and I'm so rusty I embarrass myself every time I do find one... I like reading, writing, and playing complicated board games that my husband hates. He's happy I'm selling most of them. I also make beer. My husband's worried that that will stop... heheheh. I know I can probably get grain, yeast, and hops over there, but is home wine/beer making even legal there? (Mycroft, the spent grains make excellent bread, too!)
> 
> What do you like to do?


The national past time here is eating.

There are some nice walking/cycling trails here. We limit ourselves to the ones where we can take the stroller, while friends without kids go up the mountains and walk the different trails there for hours on the weekends and pick herbs and different "horta" greens. My husband went fishing a couple of times at different dams but didn't catch anything. We both read a lot, and due to lack of English books I have recently started reading my husband's philosophy books.

We also joint a group that does lectures, discussions and trips on ancient Greek culture, but this is all in Greek. I also want to join the birdlife Cyprus group.

My hubby used to make beer and wine in NY and found a few people here interested in making wine with him but a barrel is impossible to get so if you are shipping a container add a barrel -I am sure he will want to buy it off of you or join you in the wine making. I know people who make their own beer here.

Dina


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## bert (Mar 23, 2009)

Veronica said:


> The people we were with had a US GPs.
> You can look up geocaching on the internet.
> 
> This a beginners guide to geocaching. The owner of this website is the guy we were with and it gives lots of info on the hobby and also links to some of the main geocaching sites.
> ...


Just been on the geocaching site,what a brilliant idea.Look forward to giving it a go when we get over!

Donna


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

bert said:


> Just been on the geocaching site,what a brilliant idea.Look forward to giving it a go when we get over!
> 
> Donna


Its definitely something we want to to get into. There are lots of different types of caches and with the rule of if you take something out you replace it with something of equal or higher value items can travel all over the world and they can be tracked. Its cool:clap2:
Maybe we should get together and form a geocaching club or something


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## Monty (Jun 9, 2008)

*Geocaching*



Veronica said:


> Its definitely something we want to to get into. There are lots of different types of caches and with the rule of if you take something out you replace it with something of equal or higher value items can travel all over the world and they can be tracked. Its cool:clap2:
> Maybe we should get together and form a geocaching club or something


Hi Veronica
What a great idea, I checked up on this and there is a few where i live, definatly opened a can of worms here .
A high tech version of orienteering i used to do when i was younger, but no running or time keeping involved
Not long to living the Dream lane:
David


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## Mycroft (Sep 9, 2009)

Does anyone have any information on geocaching up here in the Troodos mountains? I have tried to find walking groups up here but with no luck.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Mycroft said:


> Does anyone have any information on geocaching up here in the Troodos mountains? I have tried to find walking groups up here but with no luck.


If you go onto the Geocaching sites you can join them for a very low fee which allows you to download all the information about caches throughout the world. 
I know that there are some in the Troodos mountains as we were looking on the GPS when we out and it shows quite a few up there.
You can also place caches for other people to find and you get information as to who has found them. 
Go to the site I gave a link for and it gives all the details and links to other geocaching sites.

Veronica


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## Mycroft (Sep 9, 2009)

Veronica said:


> If you go onto the Geocaching sites you can join them for a very low fee which allows you to download all the information anout caches throughout the world.
> I know that there are some in the Troodos mountains as we were looking on the GPS when we out and it shows quite a few up there.
> You can also place caches for other people to find and you get information as to who has found them.
> Go to the site I gave a link for and it gives all the details and links to other geocaching sites.
> ...


Thank you for the information, will have a search, who knows we may well bump in to you on the trail at some time!!


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Mycroft said:


> Thank you for the information, will have a search, who knows we may well bump in to you on the trail at some time!!


Could be fun
We'll end up with a whole bunch of us from the forum bumping into each other all over the place:clap2:


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## christineb (Nov 3, 2009)

I think the basic membership for geocaching.com is free, although you only get to find locations near a certain area and log your finds and put your photos online.

We do a lot less geocaching now we're in Texas, which is odd because there are many caches here... It does make taking walks or rides in the car much more fun, and we're big fans of cheap entertainment. I also like to track the travel bugs as they make their way across the world. Soon, I guess I will be a travel bug...



theresoon said:


> The national past time here is eating.
> 
> My hubby used to make beer and wine in NY and found a few people here interested in making wine with him but a barrel is impossible to get so if you are shipping a container add a barrel -I am sure he will want to buy it off of you or join you in the wine making. I know people who make their own beer here.
> 
> Dina


Dina, I haven't made wine yet but was thinking about it. I was engaged in making every sort of Pale Ale in existence before I found out I was going to move.  I ferment my beer in glass carboys and sometimes food-grade PVC buckets. I was planning on doing the same with the wine, and aging it in bottles. I am only experienced with batches of around 5 gallons. Also, I am kind of small, so that's about all I can really work with anyway. Is an outdoor propane burner something you can get in Cyprus? I would think so, since I read somewhere that gas was one of the main heating sources for cooking, etc...


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## theresoon (Apr 11, 2008)

Dina, I haven't made wine yet but was thinking about it. I was engaged in making every sort of Pale Ale in existence before I found out I was going to move. I ferment my beer in glass carboys and sometimes food-grade PVC buckets. I was planning on doing the same with the wine, and aging it in bottles. I am only experienced with batches of around 5 gallons. Also, I am kind of small, so that's about all I can really work with anyway. Is an outdoor propane burner something you can get in Cyprus? I would think so, since I read somewhere that gas was one of the main heating sources for cooking, etc... 

I forwarded your message to my husband for answers. They made the beer at a brewery in NJ that had all the equipment, recipes and made different kinds- I don't remember what. The wine they had found a guy- vino devino who gave you a choice of grapes and then brought them from California or juice from Italy, he had the equipment and knowhow. The wine quality was excellent and our share from the barrel was 4 cases.


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## christineb (Nov 3, 2009)

theresoon said:


> I forwarded your message to my husband for answers. They made the beer at a brewery in NJ that had all the equipment, recipes and made different kinds- I don't remember what. The wine they had found a guy- vino devino who gave you a choice of grapes and then brought them from California or juice from Italy, he had the equipment and knowhow. The wine quality was excellent and our share from the barrel was 4 cases.


Oh, cool. I just do it in my house. Again, I have never made wine -- I helped make elderberry wine once, and I have made mead, which is a bit different -- but I have the equipment to make a 5 gallon batch. That is about 25 bottles of wine. I don't know where we would find yeast and enzymes, etc. I was thinking mail order... Another option would be to piggyback off of an order from a winery or that one brewpub on the island. I have searched homebrewtalk.com, but only one person seems to be from Cyprus, and his last post was 2006.


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## totorama (Jun 12, 2010)

*Geocaching Instruction*



Veronica said:


> Its definitely something we want to to get into. There are lots of different types of caches and with the rule of if you take something out you replace it with something of equal or higher value items can travel all over the world and they can be tracked. Its cool:clap2:
> Maybe we should get together and form a geocaching club or something


Hi. Veronica 
Thanks for posting the link to my web site on the guide-to-geocaching. As a veteran geocacher, (well, two and half years experience and close to 600 caches found so far around the world including Cyprus.. As you well know), I would be more than willing to lead a Geocache walk and provide a general introduction to the sport for any newcomers who want to get started.. The last time I looked there were 434 caches on the island and I hope to be adding a few more soon. (That is of cause when we actually get over there.. We are just waiting for our house to sell here in California).. 

Incidentally, I see you have found 4 caches so far:clap2:... I have my spies.. It's good to see you have made a start.. but none of them in Cyprus Hmmm.

But seriously, geocaching is a great sport to keep you fit & healthy and get you out exploring the island.

Totorama (Terry & Pam)


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

totorama said:


> Hi. Veronica
> Thanks for posting the link to my web site on the guide-to-geocaching. As a veteran geocacher, (well, two and half years experience and close to 600 caches found so far around the world including Cyprus.. As you well know), I would be more than willing to lead a Geocache walk and provide a general introduction to the sport for any newcomers who want to get started.. The last time I looked there were 434 caches on the island and I hope to be adding a few more soon. (That is of cause when we actually get over there.. We are just waiting for our house to sell here in California)..
> 
> Incidentally, I see you have found 4 caches so far:clap2:... I have my spies.. It's good to see you have made a start.. but none of them in Cyprus Hmmm.
> ...



Hi Terry and Pam,
Nice to see you on this forum:clap2:
Yes I got to do a bit of geocaching with the grandkids when I was recently over in the Uk and dennis and I intend to get into it more over here now I have got the hang of using the GPS. I have already downloaded loads of caches onto it so we will be starting to hunt for some very soon
We look forward to seeing you both back over here before too long.


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