Dad hits Crete!

The day dad was going to arrive we got up early and went to the Harris Hotel in Agia Marina which was so nice we actually got a penthouse type room (penthouse when you have been camping = an actual bed). Our room was at the top of the hotel overlooking the pool and the sea. Dad arrived in the evening we picked him up from Chania Souda airport. Was so nice to see him!! Took him back to the hotel and then he took us out for pizza on the seafront.


The next day we went to Elafonisis Beach Dad did like although he didn't enjoy the drive there off roading through the mountains and the heat!




So swam and snorkelled and then went back to the hotel and out for dinner in the evening to Chania for dinner in Tamam restaurant.


Spent the next day (dad) recovering by the pool learning new tricks
and walking along the beach. Found a lovely shack to have savoury pancakes for dinner, dad went round hi fiving everyone because the banana ice cream was so good, until the chef smacked him really hard.

The last day with dad took him to our campsite we were staying at for the evening Nogia and he helped us set up the tent (he knocked in 1 tent pent) and took lots of pictures. Then we went to Chania for shopping and gyros. Then had to say goodbye at the airport. :(

Back to Nogia for the night and then an early ferry 8am back to Gythio where we set off straight on the road to Korinth. Found our lovely Blue Dolphin campsite in Lecheon and lazed about all night there with lots of kittens who kept licking our plates and saucepans and knocking everything over.


Mat Stat - Crete has more than a third of all Greece's tourism

Back to Crete

So the ferry arrived on time and we fell asleep under some chairs for a few hours on top of the engine it felt like as the whole floor kept vibrating and woke up back in Crete at 5.30am. Drove to Sissi at the east end of the island and checked into a campsite there and first thing I did was fall over and re-cut open my whole toe again!

So tired and toe less we set up camp again and met a Belgian man from Ghent who told us not to go to Albania for many reasons. The next day we set off for Agia Galini in the South and checked into the campsite for 2 nights. Spent a day hobbling about the pool and beach and then the second day hobbled to Matala a hippy town which had lots of roman tombs in the cliffs which you could climb around and sit in.

Swam in the gorgeous sea and watched children jumping off the high cliffs. On the way back to camp we went to Phaestos (ancient Minoan ruins) where there were lots of rocks but which was harder to see as it used to be than Pompeii. Knossos and the Samaria Gorge we decided wasn't going to happen because I couldn't walk again.

Left Agi Galini for Chania camping the next day and booked in for 2 nights got a brilliant pitch with a plug!! A Father Christmas lookalike was in a tent/grotto to our right and a Peter Andre lookalike was on our left. Father Christmas kept looking at us probably because we kept staring at him. In the evening we watched a dvd on a blanket outside under the stars thanks to the plug socket.

Mat Stat - Mat beat his personal record whilst camping to get bitten 48 times by mozzies.

Leaving Santorini

The 2nd day of the quad bike we went to faros at the far end of the island, then to the red beach, black beach and to thira at nightime. The quad bike works by holding your thumb on a vibrating button so after about 20 minutes you feel like your thumb will fall off.

On our last day we rented sunbeds and an umbrella on Perissa Beach and lazed there all day. Had lunch at Grandma's place Mat had a 30 cm gyro was huge and visited the local bakery for potato pies to keep for dinner (loved the place because the owner keeps giving us free stuff.) At 11ish at night John the hotel owner gave us a lift to Athinos port so we sat down to wait for the 1.35am ferry back to Crete. Whilst we were waiting a french girl grazed her toe on the concrete pavement and had quite a fit about it - I only said I thought my toe bashing was worse but i really shouldn't have because of what happened next day..

Santorini Pics

Santorini Love

Last day in Crete visited Elafonisi Beach like a lagoon again really nice saw a sea slug was ick and had a nice last night chatting to our neighbours (Hi Jess & Gav!) and listening to french students kareoking which drowned out the crickets for once.

Got up early (6am)to get the ferry boat to Santorini, packed up our tent in the dark and turned on Jane who told us we would get to port at 9.30 which was no good to us as the boat left at 8.50 so we raced!! off to the port in Heraklion. Saw the sun rise on the way.


Hardly any petrol left in Gordon and with about 10 mins to go before the ferry left we got lost and sort of resigned ourselves to not going. Then finally found a port sign, parked gordon, legged it over to the ticket desk and the lady said "boat is delayed it might arrive about 12 or 1 or 2 or 3 ... maybe." So turns out being in Greece does work out sometimes when you are really late and disorganised. So the 8.50am ferry turned into the 2ish in the afternoon ferry and we spent about 5 hours sitting in the port waiting room with loads of backpackers and dogs and this little boy who kept whacking our suitcase for some reason.




Finally boat arrived although nobody told anyone (it was so enormous couldn't believe they could have missed it) so then there was a mass rush for it and so many people were trying to pour onto it the cars waiting to get off couldn't even move. The backpackers kept knocking everyone over when they turned around and one man looked like he was dragging a dead body up the stairs or it might have been bricks. We sat on patio furniture on top deck of the boat and spent a nice few hours sailing along, saw some puppies and everyone was drinking beer and eating massive plates of gyros.

Finally got to Santorini port and got picked up and taken to our hotel. It was the cheapest but still nice with a pool and having a bed is llooovveeelllyy.



First night we went out to get some food in Perissa and there was a blackout everbody went oooohhh and one man fell off his bike. It happens nearly every night.

Have visited Perissa Beach, Black Beach and Red Beach and the sand is so hot it really does sizzle. Hired out a quad bike on the second day (got given helmets mine has a cat trying to shoot a duck on it, mat looks a bit like mr potato head in his) and have been to Thira and Oia both gorgeous all little white winding streets packed with tourists, shops and donkeys.

Back on the Road again ..

Left Kefalonia in the early hours and took the ferry boat from Poros to Kylinni, drove through the messini mani winding rural back roads, through lots of tiny villages in the mountains off roading which slowed us down and almost killed gordon when he fell down a massive pot hole. Arrived at the Meltemi campsite in Gythio and set up home between 4 olive trees for the night. Campsite was lovely with its own pool and private beach. Loved our little pitch we set up, using the olive tree branches to hang towels from and boiling water on the little gas cooker to make coffee in the morning.



Next day boarded a huge ferry boat from Gythio to Kissamos took about 9 hours and stopped at Kythira and Anti Kythira before we got to Crete. We nearly got off at Anti Kythira as we thought it was our stop luckily realised beforehand. No dolphins seen the whole way - where have they all gone? Hopefully to Santorini.

Kriti

Now we are at camping nopgia for a week in Kissamos where we have billions zillions trillions of crickets in the forest tree tops which are deafening to wake up to and make noise all day. The fattest cat lives here and eats all the bar leftovers and walks you to the showers and back in the evenings. We have english neighbours at the next tree and as usual everyones tent is bigger than ours. Lots of tent envy going on.

Our first trip - we found a sign to Balos Beach which is a shallow water lagoon you get to by literally hiking up and down a mountain,
takes ages but the view is worth it. There is an island opposite the lagoon called Gramvoussa where the revolutionaries lived as pirates for 3 years when Crete was under siege. Apparently lots of seals and turtles live around the lagoon but we didn't see any at all.

Went to see Chania, the former capital and walked along the city wall of the venetian harbour to the lighthouse and back, really pretty, saw an art exhibition in an old mosque and had lunch in the old town.





Went to Falanarsi beach on the way back where the waves were huge.


We were going to go to the Samaria Gorge today but instead I fell over and cut my big toe open so now can barely walk let alone do a 6 hour hike. Yuck!