Girls Day Out - Part 2 Abandoned Theme Park and a Dry River bed

Our girls day out for Sam's birthday was a surprise for  her but was also a mystery road trip for me in some ways.  It has all been organised by our friend Lucy and I'd not seen her before the day to hear about any of the plans so it was great just jumping in the car and having nothing to do with the organising - not something I am used to! 

You can read about the first part of the day in my earlier post - Girls Day Out.

For lunch we stopped at a lovely forest picnic site in the village of Mosfiloti called the Agia Thekla Excursion Area,  it was well equipped with toilets, bbq areas, lots of benches and a play area and even wheelchair access and benches designated accessible, which is very good for Cyprus, apparently according to the website there is also photovoltaic cell systems to provide lighting at night but we weren't there that long to find out. 

We didn't explore much of the area, in fact we just headed to a bench and started eating - moving once as the sun came round and took the shade with it.  It would be a lovely place to explore but being July it was just too hot to be in the sun or walking too far. 

We sat for a couple of hours chatting and eating Lucy's yummy picnic, Sam couldn't resist a quick play though!

Our next stop was the village of Agia Anna.  I'm not actually sure who's idea it was, this one may have been Sam's, as she has a habit of scouring google maps for interesting looking places and has hundreds of pins saved for every area so she just pulls up google maps and has a look for wherever we happen to be!

The village has a river called the Tremithos, which has several small waterfalls. The river basin is small however and the water flow lasts only a few weeks each year. 

We didn't expect to see water of course,  it was July and there had been no rain for months,  we did get to explore the river bed though. 

I've never walked on a river bed before and never given it much thought (or any!) but I was surprised at the springy texture of the ground.   Not everyone liked it, but it was a bit strange, comments of flash floods and wondering if it was safe, were mad and I asked where they thought that water would appear from. I didn't have an answer for the possibility of snakes though! Sam was happy exploring but we held back  - something that seems like it might be a common occurrence in future....

We said how different it would look after the rains and hoped to come back and see it then.    A search on google found this video and showed how different it will look with water. 

We were now starting to head home but Sam was itching to explore something she had seen from the highway on the way to Larnaca.  

She has a love of abandoned villages, houses, hotels even hospitals, it doesn't matter what it is or was she just wants to explore them all.  Unfortunately for her abandoned places are usually places you are not supposed to go and and the rest of us are not good rule breakers! 

That's not to say I don't want to see the things, as long as it is full daylight, safe and we have permission,  and as long as it not a hospital or something creepy... 

What we had spotted from the highway was the old Lucky Star Amusement park in Aradippou, Larnaca.  So we loaded up google maps to take us there and decided to drive past for a look. 

It didn't take long for our explorer to realise there was a way in that didn't even involve opening a gate...

We were not convinced it was a good idea but I was also nosy and didn't want to miss out.  There was much laughter as we debated going in whilst Sam ignored us and called us wimps.  We picked our way round the dried grass and prickles, all the time muttering how 'this wasn't the year for this'  and I said if I hear even a couple of notes of fairground music or machinery I am out of there as fast as my legs can carry me!

We didn't get very far in before I spotted a man sat in front of what I assume was the main building or restaurant.  Initially no-one else could see him which was another great source of amusement but luckily I wasn't seeing things.

Like a bunch of big girls we all jumped behind a bush whilst Sam rolled her eyes and decided to call to him to ask if we could look round.  He couldn't hear us so she walked towards him, while we all backed away - of course we kept an eye on her.... from a distance through a hedge.

He said "No" we couldn't be there,  I'm not convinced he was supposed to be either but most of us were not about to argue and started to head straight back to the car.  We jumped straight in the car, laughing and moaning at Sam for not being quick enough, and dramatically starting the engine and turning the car around before she even got in. 

I'm not sure when the park closed, according to google it seems like it was a least a couple of years ago. It's no surprise really,  as it is in the middle of nowhere and was only open in the evenings.  A website described it as the 'largest amusement park in Cyprus',    well having been to the Luna Park in Agia Napa I'm not sure what they based that on!

Photo Credit - 'Cyprus Inform'