Well, we've done it. Survived the absolute hardship of two weeks lying around in the sun on the Greek Islands. And we've done it for you, people, so that you can live vicariously through our suntans and stunning scenery wearied eyes...
It wasn't all easy I tell you. We had to face the naked men (and women) of Mykonos, the stomach churning, 'low-squat' creating unripe loquats of Samos and Paros, the warm retsina and strong ouzo of Paros, and a night's free camping in Kos.
But, back to the beginning.
Arriving in Samos from Kusadasi in Turkey we were told that there was only one ferry out that day and none the next due to Orthodox Easter. So onto Syros at 11pm that night it was! Samos was relatively pretty, but nothing majorly exciting (sorry Samos). What was exciting (briefly) was the discovery of a loquat tree, something that I (Amelia) hadn't seen for years and years (there was one in Granny's garden you see). I convinced everyone (Adrian, Wayne, and Katie) that they should all chow down, and like any true blooded NZers and Australians in sight of a free meal, so we did. Unfortunately, later that night, and for the next few nights, that decision to have that one unripe-ish one came back to haunt Adrian badly. Again, unfortunately, this was not a lesson that Amelia took due note of, doing exactly the same thing on Paros. D'oh! (Note: here is the lesson, an unripe loquat will definitely give you the low-squats!!)
We only stayed in Syros for a couple of hours before boarding an early ferry for Paros where we discovered the campsite and the locals. George was an emaciated, wizened, tanned as leather Englishman living in exile in Switzerland who came out to Paros for 11 weeks a year to basically write crosswords and read during the day, and get rip roaring drunk on ouzo and retsina every night. The following day Adrian was recovered enough for us to go on a road trip around Paros and a neighbouring island (Anti Paros) with George and another English guy who came out there regularly, Steve. It was our first experience of the temperature of the Aegean Sea. It was not warm! Hopefully by the time we get to the Mediterranean Sea off Turkey it should have improved by a couple of degrees...
Amelia got the low-squats that night, but a ferry ticket had been bought and it was onwards and upwards to Naxos. We lucked in and got a pension for a mere 7.50 euro each/night for the three nights we were on Naxos - absolute luxury! On Naxos we hired a scooter to explore the island, for both of us the highlight of our stay in the islands for sure. It revealed some dramatic landscape, almost like a moonscape, as well as some completely hidden away coves and beaches. It was Amelia's first time on a scooter and apart from Adrian grabbing the handle bars to 'prevent a crash' (apparently), it was a pretty successful day! We had lunch in Halki, a village in the middle of the island, where they make kitron (a liqueur made from the leaves of the citron tree). It's about 40% alcohol so even a sip made the driving a bit treacherous! Amelia ordered the calamari and it came out practically intact (complete with pockets of white stuff that exploded when cut into) in a bed of hot stewed spinach. It's pretty authentic when the cafe doesn't even have a menu! That went down a bit strangely after a dodgy tum the day before, but the freshly squeezed OJ made up for it.
Naxos also has the temple of Apollon on the foreshore, the photos are pretty dramatic. The island's 'labyrinth' was cool as well, they were designed to foil pirates who came on raids and we managed to get pretty lost too!
After Naxos we headed south to Santorini (also known as Thira). We went out to stay at Perissa, on the other side of the island from the caldera cliffs. After a night in the youth hostel with what must be one of Australia's loudest snorers, we transferred to a great pension a few doors down - Katrina and John's if anyone's planning on heading that way! We met a few other people there (Danny from the US, Ian and Dale from Coff's Harbour, and Emma from Brisbane) and hung out with them for a few days. We all went out on a boat cruise from the port out to the active volcano in the middle of the caldera, then onto a swim in the hot mud springs - which are actually only 'luke warm' hot springs at this time of the year - before a donkey ride up the steps to Ia to watch the sunset. 500ml Mythos beer was only 0.80 euro at the minimart so a fun evening was had by all!
On Santorini we also walked up to see the ruins of Ancient Thira. It was a 550m (approx) climb up over pumice caves (legacy of the explosion) and miscellaneous tundra-esque landscape (complete with tiny church built into the cliffs about a third of the way up). Finally the tramping boots got a good work out!
From Santorini we had initially planned on heading south to Crete and Rhodes before heading back to Turkey at Marmaris, but ferry timetables and time constrictions meant this wasn't to be. So we got a fast ferry up to Mykonos for two nights of unadulterated sun worshipping at Paradise Beach. Alas, the water was still freezing, but the sun was doing it's best and we're now golden like toffee apples at a fairground. Mykonos afforded several interesting views, not least the various nekked men and women lolling around the beach. While most were relatively discreet, a few full frontals meant we didn't have to spend much on food while we were there!
We did make friends with some geckos though that were hanging around the edge of the beach and weren't shy about running all over your towel and through your stuff! 'Gammy leg' couldn't climb up the wall, but had it all over 'Glue Fingers' whenever they had a tussle on the sand. Much more interesting viewing than the other people on the beach!
From Mykonos we got an overnight ferry up here to Kos. We've got a ferry tomorrow morning to Bodrum - you can't buy a one way ticket bizarrely, so hopefully we can sell it off to some other people when we get back into Turkey! We intended to spend our only night here at the campsite and saw a sign for it near the port, so duly trekked the 3km eastwards with our heavy packs. Imagine our joy when we got there to find it abandoned and up for sale!! So, being as budget conscious as we have to be on a long trip, we decided for forgo paying 30 euro for the night and go free camping. Adrian was stoked, Amelia decidedly less so, but it all went fine in the end and it's off to Turkey we go this morning!
Anyway, here are the photos we've uploaded.
Epheristo (thanks) Greece, it's been a blast.
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