Quad Bikes - Fun for Some.

As I'm sure you've gathered by now, as the summer approaches, we withdraw from busy Bodrum and decamp to the countryside where we hope to avoid the crowds, traffic and the general hullaballoo that hundreds of thousands of humans on holiday create.  We have no sea view and are over 30 kms from Bodrum, so have for over 20 years managed to avoid acquiring any neighbours.  Google earth shows our house isolated from just about everything except trees and a pond.   We are not totally anti-social, friends do come and visit but the thing we love most about our hideaway is the sound of the wind rushing through the pine trees and the occasional hoopoe swooping over the garden.
We don't much appreciate revving engines and peeping horns which is why we've been a bit peeved this year.  Since May we have had the dubious pleasure of being on a Quad Bike Safari route.  Not once, not twice but three times a day, ten or so bikes roar past whipping up as much dust as possible by skidding sideways  and then proceed to pointlessly drive round and round the pond just below our garden wall.  If this isn't bad enough, as they approach the start of our garden,  the leaders encourage everyone to punch their horns for the whole length of our boundary.
We've put up with it or rather Teo has as I've been away for most of the summer but last week I was in a bolshy mood and decided enough was enough.  There is a whole forest to drive though with no houses and yet they choose the one path that borders my house. If I was to plan a safari, I certainly would steer clear of washing lines with M&S smalls hanging up and I definitely wouldn't deliberately cover them with dust three times a day.

I marched down to the pond in my "firm but reasonable" walk and confronted the leaders. I managed to stop myself telling them that they should be wearing helmets like their customers and that smoking in front of clients is not good for their company image and asked why they had to peep their horns. The answer "it's fun".  I then pointed out that by driving round and round the only natural water source in the area they were depriving the wildlife of water.  I was answered with a shrug.  I asked if they could dissuade their clients from throwing away their water bottles as they drove  - no they couldn't.  I wasn't getting very far but I did have a trump card up my sleeve.  I asked if they could change their route but was told they had permission to use all the forest roads.  Ah ha! "Were they aware that they were driving over private property on their way to the pond?"  No they weren't so they agreed to use the newly opened road which thankfully doesn't border our garden.   They are still peeping their horns but at least we've been saved from the dust.