Smuj: I had a very similar arrival on my posting to Cyprus. I arrived on a Sunday evening and was bussed to the accommodation in the substandard part of the base. I was posted to Troodos so my stay was always going to be short. From the other side of a partition I heard the dulcet tones of my best mate from school, who was on 201 in Malta. After exchanging the customary insults, I was invited to join the 201 boys on a trip downtown. Much beer and kebab later I found myself assisting a couple of these guys to remove the TPMH sign to be taken back to Malta as plunder. (Who takes a socket set on a night on the razz anyway?)
So I'd only been on the island about six hours and I was already an accessory to a crime...
Anyway, as this is a C130 thread I'd better conclude the tale with the fact that my final posting in the RAF was at Lyneham where, in my four years there, I had made many friends on 30 Sqn. As a result of my knowledge of Cyprus, I was invited, as my swan song, to accompany a 30 Sqn crew out to Akrotiri on what, for them, was an unusual trip.
The task was in support of Victors from Marham and involved picking up kit and crew at Marham and out to Akrotiri, where, on arrival, the 30 Sqn crew had four days off! To earn my trip I was to act as local guide. The aircraft was XV179, pictured above. On our first full day I joined the crew again as they took station personnel local area flying, including a low-level run down the coast to Larnaca and back. A full kebab in the Swan followed that evening and next day we hired a VW microbus from a WO on the base and I set about showing the guys as many dives as I could remember from my tour. We managed to get as far as Nicosia. Back in Limassol they were introduced to the nefarious ways of the whisky dollies, which caused a bit of a ruckus later that night.
At the end of the adventure it was back via Marham to Lyneham where about two months later I stepped out of the main gate as a civilian. Happy days.