All my life's a circle (Santorini - Athens - Dubai - Sydney)

Sorry, only 2 photos today, this is a transit post and the last in this series.

And a Harry Chapin song to bring us full circle and return us to Sydney - the long way. Today we will spend about 30 hours in transit. I'm pumped. Not really. I'm writing the first part of this blog from the Business Lounge in Dubai. At least my Qantas Club membership provides some comforts to take the edge off the travel. I'm sipping Moet while I gather my thoughts. We have already been in transit for 12 hours.

A cactus flower near our suite

Unlike every other post from Santorini we did not begin the day with a late leisurely breakfast. The wake up call happened at 7:30am (yes, I know but work time wake up for us is 5:30am). We were up before the cruise ships had arrived and moored off Fira. That was a first. As usual I cleared email and checked FB before leaving the unit and was surprised to see a post from a former student (hi Ysmael) who was also on Santorini. He was in Fira as a part of a one month tour of Europe with his wife. It was a pity we weren't able to catch up for a drink.

Breakfast was as usual except we scored the picture window with the view down the edge of the caldera. As we finished breakfast we began all the good-byes to the staff. It occurred to me earlier today that I hadn't actually named where we were staying - it was the Honeymoon Petra Villas at Imerovigli and I will be giving it a 5 star review on TripAdvisor sometime soon.

The accommodation was superb, the staff were brilliant, from Harry at the bar, to Nikolas who organised everything for us, to the girls who served breakfast, to the cleaners. Everything was perfect. Yes you pay for it, but it was worth it. If I was going back to Santorini I would definitely be staying there again. A good example is Nikolas; he ordered our transport to the airport for 9:30 for a 15 minute drive and a flight at 11:40am. I thought we'd be burning major time in the airport waiting room.

Fira by night

Given the queue was out the door when we arrived, Nikolas was spot on. We joined the line for Aegean airlines and didn't progress very far for some time. The Australians in the line behind us suggested we should get a boarding pass from one of the two machines available otherwise when we arrived at the baggage check-in desk, we would be sent to the end of the line. Not a happy thought given the snail's pace at which we were moving. Boarding passes secured I tried to help some girls from Tel Aviv who were trying to fathom the curiosities of the system. They had neither booking reference or ticket number that would make the machine happy; we even tried a passport to no avail. I'm not sure what became of them after we moved through the queue and they remained behind.  We eventually discovered, via our new best friends behind us in the queue, that the reason we were not moving was because people who did not have access to the wisdom of Nikolas, and were clearly going to miss their flights, would charge up to the counter and demand to be allowed priority, pushing the patient queuing passengers aside.  Add to this the fact that the baggage taggers were also the people charged with making continual P.A. announcements to chase up missing passengers who no doubt were stuck somewhere in a queue in the terminal like we were.  Our baggage processor was clearly not a multi-tasker and spent a significant amount of time pouring through a binder to locate passenger names to announce while our bags sat on the weighing belt waiting to be tagged... so near and yet so far. And then when she came back to us she printed the first bag tag again so we had to re-commence the whole process.

Once our bags were tagged, we had to carry them over to the x-ray screening machines ourselves and drop them onto the moving belt. As they disappeared into the machine, we turned for the waiting room. It wasn't a large room, maybe 20 metres by 8 metres and it was crammed with people and their ridiculously over-sized carry-on luggage. There were people everywhere. It was hot and there wasn't much air flow despite the blustery conditions outside. Two planes had been delayed and two others were trying to board but there were limited buses (read two) to take the passengers across the tarmac to the waiting planes. The hour we had taken to negotiate the line to check our bags now looked like a walk in the park. Our plane was due to board at 11:10 and there were at least two other flights to Athens before us not to mention three planes bound for other parts of Europe. So, we found an area to squeeze in so we weren't blocking people movement and waited. And waited. And waited some more. You get the picture. 

There was much excitement any time a plane was called for boarding. The Athens bound Aegean plane before ours (11:20am) was called and provided a glimmer of hope - or was that a reflection from outside - then they stood, unmoving for 25 minutes. In the meantime we had salvaged a couple of seats when the crowd from Amsterdam lined up for the bus. We whiled away the time trying not be hit by ignorant passers-by.

One thing that has always fascinated me, no matter where I am, continent or country, is the apparent lack of spacial awareness of some people. Do they not know they are crushing someone's foot? Did they think that crunch as they swung their bag through the crowd was made of air and not the back of someone's head? Or when husband, wife, luggage trolley and one child block almost the entire path - would you consider looking for the other child to ensure safe passage for other travellers? Is it ignorance? Is it disdain? Is it wealth and I don't care? Well, I care. Be more considerate you dicks.

But I digress dear reader. We did get on the plane, late, but we were in row 2 and while there was no designated Business Class, I'm sure we had more space than usual. Yes, yes, it's a 45 minute flight and quite a picturesque one, but at this point I'll take what crumbs I'm offered because I know what is to come.

We were late leaving Santorini but not terribly so and I had allowed a sufficient time gap for us to make our connection to Dubai comfortably. I wasn't really worried about time, until we arrived at baggage carousel 10. And there I waited - again. After 30 minutes the electronic sign flickered and reported that the first bag from our flight had been unloaded. A welcome relief because I had resorted to counting the numbers of times one particular bag had gone around on the conveyor belt. I was at 15 when the sign flickered again and our flight disappeared from the board. The sound of shuffling elevated as people from flight 355 looked for an explanation and then some shouted 9 and we moved our attention to the carousel 9 - then they announced the change. Meh, it's Greece, chill out.

Just as the first bag magically appeared, Jayne materialised next to me. I had left her sitting near the then deserted carousel 11 and she became worried when I hadn't returned. Especially since I had no ID on me - it was all with her. Bags collected it was upstairs to go through the check in process again. We met the Australians from the Santorini airport who directed us to the check in point and then we were through, bag free heading for the security check and then a place to have a glass of wine.

The flight from Athens to Dubai was on a 777 and I rate them. They appear to have more room than the A380, but this will be confirmed with the next leg of our trip. Presently I'm still in the Emirates Lounge and I could bang on about it but suffice to say - lift your game Qantas, it is uncrowded and well-supplied and well-serviced. Moet, mmmmm. And they allow people in wearing thongs. No dear reader, thongs are foot wear, flip-flops. Really!

An ear-piercing alarm was activated down-stairs at 12:54am. It's the sort that would be frequently described as a car alarm. No-one up in the lounge appeared concerned, but it continued unabated. It was difficult to hear the announcements over the din. No doubting the acoustics of the terminal. Very impressive. 28 minutes and then quiet.  By now we were almost begging to get on the plane to get away from the incessant din of the triggered alarm.

I'm not sure there is much else to stay. The next section of the trip was, blah, blah ... I watched movies, was bored, I listened to music (that was cool), I didn't eat (airline food, really?), finally we arrived home. It was almost 31 hours from the time we left Honeymoon Petra Villas until we reached Redfern. A looooong time transit. Was it worth it? Absolutely. It would have been worth it even more had Mel put her ass on an ass for the journey to the church.

Until January when we make our next trip ...

Misty mountain hop (Santorini)

Good morning to Led Zeppelin and a classic song.

And so dear reader we arrive at our penultimate day in Santorini. You will not be surprised to know that we slept late and dawdled our way to breakfast by 9:30am. We decided today would be a chill-out day, well, Jayne decided. My contribution to a relaxed day is having a massage this afternoon. This was, of course, organised by the ever-present Nikolas. We also booked transport to the airport tomorrow and a wake-up call for the morning.

The Skaras

After breakfast I decided to climb the Skaras. It is not really a mountain, nor was it misty although it does get a little hazy at times. We had discussed this previously and reacher the decision that Jayne would not accompany me. This, as it later turned out, was very wise. Although not particularly strenuous, the walk out to the path itself was the usual undulating steps along through the hotel accommodation clinging to the side of the caldera. The path out to the Skaras was broken and covered in rocks and rubble. It was not very stable underfoot. Jayne would not have been having fun.

The walk provided some different perspectives of the spectacular view that we have come to take for granted and the wind was blustery and unsettling on occasions. While the path was narrow, it wasn't unsafe. There were the remnants of cave-houses on the saddle across to the rock. All that could be seen was an arch of rock, but if you looked closer inside, you could see the fortified walls and doorways leading to other rooms. Great view and you'd never have trouble drying the washing - if you could keep it pegged onto a line. It would be more likely to end up in the Aegean.

There were, as I'd come to expect in Greece, no signs directing the way and there were a number of braids off the main track where people had gone for a Kodak moment. The last section to the top was an almost sheer climb. That sounds dangerous, but it wasn't; there were plenty of hand and foot holds. However, I was on my own and the wind was gusting so I opted to be sensible and not climb the last 10 metres or so to the top. I know gentle reader, you are shocked, perhaps you should have a cup of tea and a lie down.

A few quick photos and I was climbing the path back to the caldera. Jayne was surprised that I was back so soon, but it really wasn't that far. I was dripping with sweat because much of the walk back was in sun and protected from the wind. Finally it was time to test the infinity pool. The water is chlorinated, not salt; curious in this climate and the water was cool and refreshing. The poolside was already quite crowded with Europeans developing their skin cancers. Sunburn to the left of me, sunburn to the right of me. The only people in the shade were the two Australians from the land of sun and surf. Ironic. Throughout our stay, there have been people poolside who appear not to have moved for days. Good times? Not my idea of a holiday, but to each his own.

After a quick swim and a slow glass of sparkling wine, it was back to the unit to relax some more. So I settled into my book for the first time since we left Australia, only to be disturbed by a ginger cat who obviously preferred the cool inside our suite to the afternoon sun. I tried to coax it to leave but I don't understand cats and this one was Greek, so I'm sure it didn't understand English. Eventually I ushered it out the door after Jayne's failed attempt. It went straight under the sun lounge and looked at me disdainfully and remained there for the afternoon.

I'm just back from my hour long massage. Relaxing? Soft? Ochi! That's 'no' in Greek but it's also close to ouchy. I expect a deep tissue massage to hurt because I have them so infrequently and there are always issues with my back - but OMG, she hurt me - back, shoulders, neck and legs. Jayne asked if I was offered a 'happy ending' but the happy ending was when it was all over and I could limp back to the suite. No doubt I'll feel better later.

Unusual traffic

We climbed the stairs to go to a taverna at the square for our last night. It offered traditional Greek food without the usual Santorini prices. Saganaki, fried tomato balls, seafood souvlaki and gyros accompanied by a carafe of house wine. It wasn't the best meal we've had but it was good enough. While we were still at the taverna a couple of donkeys were led up the road and into the square. Then a couple of photographers turned up followed by a balalaika player and a violinist. A wedding we thought? No, the guy from the taverna said, it's just a donkey excursion.

A donkey excursion for the bride all the way to the church down our end of the caldera. Quite a stunning sight and with the most beautiful back drop. Even the dog was dressed up - photo at the bottom of the page.

After all the excitement we returned to our suite to have a glass of red as the sun went down. No. No pictures of tonight's sunset you've seen enough dear reader. Tonight is our last night of battle with the mosquitoes. I re-enacted some scenes from Dracula last evening and thought of contacting Dr Van Helsing for assistance to ward off the deadly blood-sucking insects this evening.

Until tomorrow.

Dressed up and battling the breeze

Oh, one last thing, the thing no-one ever mentions about travel to Greece. It's toilet paper, you are not allowed to flush it down the toilet. It goes into a little bin next to the toilet. Discuss.

Here comes the sun (Santorini)

Another Beatles song that I imagine was more about the sunrise than the sunset, but hey, it's Santorini and everyone is waiting for the sun ... to set.

Our late night chats with Harry, the bartender, are always worthwhile and last evening revealed one of Harry's favourite places on Santorini - Ammoudi Bay, a small inlet beneath the cliff-top town of Oia and today's destination.

I had intended to climb the Skaras today but found it difficult to get motivated this morning. It is much less hazy today and the breeze is more gentle but strong enough to take the bite out of the sun. Jayne contacted Cait through FB messenger this morning to apologise for last night's post-midnight call. When we got home Jayne checked the time in Sydney on the weather app and it said 6:30pm. So she called, not realising the time shown on the app was actually the last time she had checked in. It up-dated itself after she had woken Cait. In the lee of the afternoon, Cait was much more receptive to a conversation from the other side of the world.

Another leisurely breakfast soaking up that gorgeous view and then a brief discussion (punctuated by charades) with the house keeper to have the room sprayed for mosquitoes while we were out. Perhaps some biologist out there might like to explain why we have so many mozzies. There has been no rain, there are no pools of still/stagnant water anywhere, nor lush vegetation - so what gives? I won't be able to donate blood when we get back because I gave too much last night. They came flying in to our room in formation with the Ride of the Valkyries playing in the background. The only other issue - we had no hot water this morning. Not sure what the problem was but it was rectified by the time we returned from Ammoudi.

Nikolas arranged another transfer for us to go to Ammoudi today. Taxis are few and far between and not particularly reliable. The local buses are big for the size of the roads and from what I've seen, standing room only. Just before midday we walked up to the waiting area above our section of the caldera and waited. Within minutes a transfer car arrived - not ours. We spent some time watching the precise manoeuvring of cars, bikes, vans and even trucks in this little square. After 20 minutes I returned to reception to ask of Nikolas where our transfer might be. I understand Greek time, but 20 minutes. He was certain he had booked the car and so back up the hill went I to wait some more. Another 30 minutes later our transport arrived. We are still uncertain as to what went wrong but we were on our way and luckily we had no deadline to make so all was good.

The traffic was reasonably heavy something for which I was uncharacteristically thankful. We were in a line of vehicles heading down the other side of the caldera and I gained the distinct impression that, had it not been for the traffic in front of us, we would have been moving much faster. This was confirmed as we approached one hair-pin bend and our teenaged driver pulled out and overtook the car in front of us. It was a great view of the other side of the island - straight over the edge of the very sheer cliff. I've never been a good passenger because I like to be in control and I was feeling it now. The view back toward Imerovigli was, as expected, quite stunning and there were the usual houses clinging to the cliff-side. On top of the ridge line a sign read: donkey terminal. I think it was the resting place of the renown Oia donkeys at night; not a specific asinine prognosis.

Oia from below

We side-swiped Oia, figuratively speaking, and met a conga line of coaches stuttering their way through the narrow streets. If I'd been able to open my window I could have written my name on the side of each of the 10 or so coaches as they lurched past, ferrying their precious cargo of cruise-ship passengers back to Fira. Oia, what we could see of it, was crowded. There were many tavernas and no doubt the same sort of shops that we visited yesterday in Fira.

Ammoudi Bay

Once past all of the congestion, we began the next descent. I had thought of walking down the 400 stairs and catching a donkey back up, but Jayne wasn't keen. And then we were there. The road literally ended at the water. Ammoudi Bay is another post-card destination. It consists of a wharf, a jewellery store, five restaurants and two paths. One goes up the mountain and the other skirts the water's edge to provide the best vantage points to capture the trademark sunset. Why anyone would be fighting for space at Oia when they could be enjoying the beauty and serenity of Ammoudi beggars belief.

Harry had recommend we eat at one of the two middle restaurants and we chose the Sunset Fish Taverna. Our table was literally right on the water's edge; something that wouldn't happen in Sydney. We were safe though, they had painted a white line on the edge of the concrete and we stayed behind the line. The selection was better than we had seen up the mountain and was traditional Greek food. Today we went for appetisers only: tsatziki and bread, fried saganaki, grilled squid and mussels in white wine and garlic. Absolutely beautiful. Washed down with a litre of the house wine for €14 as opposed to a bottle of anything commencing at €35. Village life in Koroni has made me circumspect about prices.

Sun-dried octopus anyone?

This meal was followed up with baclava and walnut pie both served with ice cream. And espresso for me and a frappe for Jayne. What a perfect day. Brilliant weather, delightful food, stunning view and of course, great company. The time passed quickly with the help of the constant comings and goings at the wharf. Passenger boats from the cruise ships jostled with sunset seeking catamaran crowds. At one stage there two boats from the cruise liners, two yachts and two cats waiting to off-load or pick up passengers but nothing seemed to hurry who ever had the mooring.

A tough day at the office

Around 5pm we called for our transport and walked back to where we were dropped off just in time to see the donkeys making their rather rapid descent down the mountain side. The drive back was less eventful, although the double lines down the middle of the road must signify something different in Greece because no one seems to pay then any attention. Seat-belts, blinkers and brakes are all superfluous on cars over here.

We stopped to chat with Harry on the way past the bar - and just to surprise you dear reader, we did not stop for a drink. Harry suggested that after such a big day we should head back to our unit to rest. and so we did.

The donkey train coming down the mountain

Of course after a suitable resting period we resurfaced to, in Jane Austen terms, take a turn around the pool. Not really, we walked up tp the bar and Harry told us to get a table before they were all occupied. Happily ensconced at our table, sun setting slowly in the west, Harry arrived and we ordered our wine and watched the sky change colours. It's what you do on Santorini. I have about 17,358 photos of the sunset. Slide night! oh yeah!

Another day, another sunset

Unforgettable (Santorini)

An obvious song reference you might think. It made the grade only because that was the first song in English by the singer at the winery this evening.

We awoke to another windy morning but from the opposite direction to yesterday and it seemed stronger. After another late breakfast we went back to our hole in the cliff face to get ready for a walk into Fira. The cleaner was still folding towels and leaving a trail of flowers so we sat outside on the patio and watched the passengers from the cruise ships being ferried into Fira. There were three large ships in today so I imagined Fira would be crowded.

Once back inside I up-dated one of the blog posts and we generally lazed about until we really thought we should leave. The walk to Fira is via a series of paths along the top of the caldera. It is an undulating walk and although you get the breeze regularly there are many places where it is still and very hot. Today's expedition was a serious one - shopping. Jayne needed a loose top with sleeves to cover the burnt shoulders and I am after a smaller shoulder bag and a new pair of sunnies. They have some amazing bargains over here, Ray Ban sunglasses for €5 and more Chanel handbags than I saw at the 'outlet' place in Shanghai.

Walking to Fira

We stopped to watch the people from the cruise liners come in. Fun, fun, fun. They would have queued to get off the boat to transfer to the queue to get on the cable car to get up the face of the caldera to do the whole thing in reverse on way back to the ship. The line-up at the cable car to go back down was quite long when we walked past.

The cable car down to the dock

Jayne needed to catch her breath after the walk and went to look in a jewellery store window. As she was deriding some of the serious bling on display a woman came over to talk to her - she was a sales person from the shop. Oops, almost caught out.

Fira is a maze of stores many selling the same thing. It pays to shop around because we saw on top that varied in price by €23. The streets run up and down and around. The restaurants all stock the same over-priced food, I'm still longing for Koroni village prices. Not to mention the expensive alcohol. We paid €16 today for a 500ml carafe of white wine, a mere €10 more than Koroni.

The little side streets were crowded and it would be easy to get lost except for two things. If you keep heading up hill at some point you would meet the path back to Imerovigli and conversely, if you head down the hill you will meet the main road.

Winning

The shopping expedition was successful. Jayne got a top, I scored a new pair of sunnies and a 'man' bag.

We stopped for an expensive, over-fried plate of squid and frites - they served it with tomato sauce. WTF? Where am I? Australia? Not impressed.

The walk back was more strenuous than walk over because we were in the sun more frequently. In fact it was so hot we needed to have a Mythos to re-hydrate before we had sufficient energy to tackle Santos Wines.



Nikolas had arranged a car transfer for us to the winery. It was way too far to walk and the traffic over here is worse than any back-street in a Romanesque village is the south of France (yes I'm still scarred from driving over there). The winery, like just about everything on Santorini is perched on the edge of the caldera and has a view of the sunset. We were shown to our table which was on level two of three level terrace. It was quite crowded although there was the odd table that was empty.

Stylish

On level one there was a singer and a guy accompanying her on keyboards. She sang a mixed set of Greek songs combined with some classics from the Beatles to Frank Sinatra. It was very pleasant. Gianni, our waiter, introduced us to the concept of wine tasting Greek style. You choose between a number of different wine flights, 6, 12 or 18 glasses accompanied by olives, cheese and sesame bread sticks, complete with tasting notes. Need you ask dear reader? We opted for the 18 glass wine flight and tasted their entire range.



It was a most pleasant way to while away the afternoon hours as the sunset approached.  The most curious aspect of the afternoon was the spontaneous applause as the sun disappeared below the horizon. Clapping a sunset? Interesting. It was beautiful, but ...

The trip home was an interesting one. The traffic was more chaotic than the drive over because everyone was leaving to go home after their sunset viewing. Fortunately our driver knew the back streets. Unfortunately others did not and we met a car going down a one-way street, we were heading in the right direction (there's a song there). Around another corner and we came across a drove, pace or herd of donkeys - your call on the collective noun.

A view of which you could never tire

That was pretty much it for the day - except for a night cap with Harry. Someone needs to keep him company.

Until tomorrow dear reader.

Red sails in the sunset (Santorini)

I thought we might commence with a nod to the classic Midnight Oil album. Apparently it is a song in its own right made popular by The Platters. The other obvious contender was Sailing by Rod Stewart.

The view from our suite is no less stunning the next morning. It is windier today and the white caps are clearly visible on the water below. We are going sailing today so that could be interesting, but first things first: breakfast. After the pace of the last few days it is nice to slow down and we fronted for breakfast at 10am - and only then because we couldn't remember when they stopped service. As it turned out we had half an hour up our sleeve - good information for the remainder of our stay.

I've heard of a continental breakfast, but this is an American breakfast. I'm not really sure what that means because it looked like a continental breakfast to me. Cereals, bread, cold meats, cheese, bacon, eggs, omelettes, pastries , fruit and a nice array of dessert style food too.  All served with freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee or tea. Sadly it is filter coffee - maybe that is the American bit. The wait staff informed us that if there is something we would particularly enjoy for breakfast, all we had to do was ask and the kitchen would conjure it up for us. Nice.

Nikolas, the activities director, ensured we knew where and what time to meet the shuttle to transfer us to the catamaran and booked us on a winery excursion to Santo's Wines. With a name like that how could we possibly resist; but that is tomorrow evening.

After breakfast we went for a stroll along the top of the caldera toward Fira and then back toward the Skara, a rock outcrop that I will climb before we return to Sydney. It was hot in the sun even with the constant wind and a we thought it prudent to re-hydrate - OK, we are on holidays and it was time for a drink at the pool-side bar before we left to go sailing. At the bar, we met two other couples who were also going sailing with us. They were both form the States and one of them told the story of how his baggage had been misplaced on the trip. It turned up three days later battered and bashed and much the worse for wear. Why? The design on the suitcase was an American flag, not universally loved it would appear.

The view back to our place

I'm not sure the length of time it took to get to the wharf, but it was down the other end of the island and on the opposite side to where we are staying. Once on board a few (minor) safety issues explained, the alcohol was broken out and flowed for the remainder of the trip. We sailed around the volcanos - new and old, swam in crystal clear water, snorkelled among an array of fish which had been lured to the boat by a strategically-cast shower of bread pieces, noodled our way up the creek to the hot springs, swam again at another spot, had a barbeque dinner served on board and finally turned for home as the sun was setting. 

It was a fascinating tour for any amateur geologists and it was interesting to see how the locals utilise the island. We passed several beaches where the access is by boat only - water taxis arrived every 30 minutes or so, and I was amazed by the caves that had been carved into the rock, well sand really, that were used by fisherman. It was reminiscent of the troglodytes of the Loire valley. I'm sure the pictures below will do the day more justice than my words.

Caves in the sand

A beach accessible only by boat

The volcano and the hot springs

The day was not over, even after we returned to our villa because, to do that, we had to go past the bar which is open 24 hours and happened to be uninhabited except for Harry the bartender who invited us to have a night cap. While Harry conjured up a rum and fruit cocktail and a red wine, he ruminated on the political state of the European Union, pre- and post-Brexit, the state of the Greek political scene, the prospect of a Trump presidency and the fact that he has often thought about visiting Australia, where he has a lot of relatives, but has resisted the idea as he has always felt that once he went there, he would not come back to Greece.  Harry has worked seasonally on Santorini for 19 years, has acquired both a university degree and an exceptional command of English via his mother's initial insistence that, as a child, he learn textbook English, then his hospitality work and polished even more by a consuming passion as a movie buff where he added in the nuances and colloquialisms of a native speaker.

More importantly, he concocts a damn fine cocktail, and like Jayne, prefers rum to vodka.  A pleasant way to cap off a fabulous day spent swimming and sailing across the crater of an active volcano, amid the azure waters of the Aegean Sea.  It's hard work keeping the Greek economy afloat so they don't have to follow Britain's lead but we are doing our fair share like the global citizens we are. 

I can see for miles and miles (Koroni to Santorini)

Another great band for the '60s and '70s to help us on our way with the post - The Who.

The early morning in Koroni is beautiful. The air is still and cool although you can feel the threat of the impending heat. There is no breeze and sound of water lapping at the sea wall is calming. This morning the serenity was disturbed only by the bells calling people to the first church service of the day and the sound of the market stalls being set up. The Parthenon had not yet opened so that meant no breakfast because we had an 8am bus to catch.

We came downstairs again to walk around to the bus stop at 7:40 and the restaurant was open but we didn’t have time to wait for food. The owner chastised me when I told her we needed to be at the bus stop. “You should have told me last night,” she said, “I would have opened early for you.” Breakfast was a couple of cookies from the bakery next to the bus stop.

I’ve mentioned the narrow streets previously, but seriously, maximum respect for the bus drivers. To get the bus out of Koroni he had to reverse back up the street and then do three small reverse manoeuvres to turn the first corner. If the windows opened and I had a duster I could have cleaned the underside of the balconies of the houses as we passed. It was very tight and the driver on both journeys managed these challenges well.

The bus trip back to Kalamata was much quicker than the trip down and we were safely on the bus to Athens at 9:30am. There was the usual confusion about seats because some people like to sit where they choose rather than where they have been allocated. The woman and her two children who originally occupied our seats decamped to the seat behind us after I protested. By the time we reached Athens they were in their correct seats down the back of the bus.

The return trip, still with a few sweetheart drop-me-here deals, was 5 hours long and we were in a taxi and on our way to the airport by 1pm. While I'm sure I wouldn't want to drive around Athens (kudos Glenn) I can't say I'm quite comfortable with the speed at which the taxis drive. Although one taxi went past us like we were standing still and we were doing around 120km/h.

We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare and found a nice little wine bar the other side of the security barrier. We did some duty free shopping and waited for the plane.

The trip was over before it began - 45 minutes in the air. Barely enough time to distribute a cookie. As we flew over a number of islands, the villages clustered around the high point to get the best view looked like a snow capped mountain because of all the white-washed buildings.

On the ground I was unimpressed with what I initially saw. The island is dry (yes I know it's summer), dusty and sparsely populated despite the abundance of traffic - cars, quads, bikes and people on foot. We drove for about 15 minutes before we reached Imerovigli and the Petra Honeymoon Villas. Once we crossed the road to the side of the caldera I had a vastly different perspective. Stunning. The bare cliffs, the blue of the water contrasting with the white buildings perched like swallows' nests on the cliff side.

The view from outside our room

Our bedroom

The front of our suite

Our suite is beautiful - carved into the mountain side, we have a serious piece of the rock face as our bedhead. We have a sitting room, full-sized bathroom with jacuzzi - which is unusual in Europe. And the view? It just goes forever. We hadn't eaten all day, aside from a charcuterie plate at the airport so it was time for dinner.

Navigating the path from our room to the restaurant and back again proved to be a little more challenging than anticipated, but we made it. The last of the night was whiled away sitting outside our room on the sun lounges drinking our complimentary wine watching the sparkling lights across the water.

... the morning after (Koroni)

Hands up who remembers the Poseidon Adventure and Maureen McGovern singing "there's got to be a morning after"? Well, this is the morning after the wedding. My sincere apology dear reader for re-cycling the title of this post, but it was last used sometime in 2012 and it was well over 100 posts ago.

Not everyone was feeling so chipper the morning after the wedding. We went down to breakfast about 9am. The food has been great everywhere. Fresh crusty bread so moist it doesn’t need butter (again I ask the question, why can’t we get decent bread in Australia?) freshly squeezed orange juice and espresso. All the while sitting looking at the Mediterranean. Life is good.

Glenn and Donna appeared while we were planning the day. They were driving over to Zaga Beach and offered us a lift, but I wanted to explore the local shops before going swimming so opted for the shops and the walk over the hill (mountain?) to Zaga.

There are quite a number of shops selling the usual tourist knick-knacks and many offered a range of clothes as well. Light, cotton style beachwear is the main line and Jayne bought a pair of aqua blue pants. Very comfortable and a great colour. There were a surprising number of bakeries and patisseries offering an amazing array of tempting gourmet delights. We even found a jewellery shop where the artisans made their product on site. They had some lovely items, especially the pearl necklaces and earrings. Suffice to say Jayne’s jewellery collection has grown by one more pair of pearl earrings. She is now being called ‘Bish’ because she is competing with Julie Bishop in pearl earring ownership.

At the end of the street, one back from the water, the shops finished and we followed a sign to the next street that indicated another store. On turning the corner we discovered a set of stairs climbing up the hillside in the direction of the fort. We ambled up the stairs enjoying the view across Koroni out to the sea and we were at the gate to fort before we realised. Despite the heat it wasn’t a difficult climb at all.

The fort gate

After some Kodak moments, we followed the path through the gate and up the hill where we came upon an old local, sweeping the path outside his whitewashed house. He wanted to know where we were from and then directed us to a side path to view other parts of the fort. It is deceptively large. In the centre of one of the viewing platforms was a set of steps descending into the cool darkness. If I had my phone I could have used the light to see how far down it went. In Australia all of this would have been barricaded to ensure public safety by the fun-police and we would have missed a fantastic experience.

Doubling back on our walk, we returned to the path and followed it to a church or several churches. One was attached to the monastery on the hilltop behind the fort, the other was next to the cemetery and it was just a shell; there was no roof. Down another set of stairs and we arrived at the church where Mel and Dean were married yesterday. One of the priests who presided at the wedding was sitting in the garden having a cigarette. Down the tree-lined driveway we walked and out into the sunshine on the road before locating another set of stairs that took us straight to the beach.

The path leading up to the church

The first thing to do was to buy some water. I had broken the first rule of bushwalking and set out on a trip of unknown length without water. Then we decided to opt for the free shade rather than pay 5euro for an umbrella and sun lounges. The beach was lined with tamarisks and it would have been even more stunning when they were in flower but we had missed this by a month or so. Once settled we took turns in going for a swim because we had our passports and Jayne’s pearl earrings in my back pack. We knew Glenn and Donna were some nearby because their car was parked just above us on the road. As it turned out, their gear was about 10 metres away from where we were. After another cooling dip we began re-tracing our steps to Koroni. It was time for lunch.

The church attached to the monastery

On the way back there was a women in a little Fiat trying to negotiate her car through the gate at the fort. Clearly she was having issues because there were people out of the car directing her and the back right door was already depressed by the side wall of the gate. While I would never volunteer to drive in narrow streets such as those of Koroni, this driver was clearly inept. The gateway was more than large enough to accommodate her car and there was no other traffic. Somehow she had manoeuvred the car very close to the right hand wall and was being directed to reverse up the path towards us. "That’s clutch burning activity," I remarked as we walked down the path. As we neared the stricken Fiat the smell of clutch plate was strong in the air. They were still attempting to drive through the gate as we disappeared from view.

There is an embarrassment of choice when it comes to places to eat, so we took the lazy option and gave our custom to the Parthenon, the place where we are staying. Calamari, fries, cheese pies, bread and of course wine was our fare as we watched the fish in the water. Glenn and Donna returned from Zaga and joined us as the afternoon drifted away.

Who could that be in the Mediterranean?

Looking back up at the church where Mel and Dean were married

We missed siesta time but still needed to shower after our swim so around 5pm we headed upstairs to change, rest and recover a little prior to dinner. It gave me an opportunity to see if my election prediction was accurate. I predicted another hung parliament and at the moment it looks like I am on the money.

This is our last night in Koroni and we thought we would eat somewhere other than Barbarossa – even though I find Christos so entertaining. Anna’s had been recommended so we walked there to find Glenn and Donna 

already seated and waiting for their dinner. Not long after we secured our table, Mel’s parents turned up, as did some of the other guests. Finally Mel and Dean came past, although they were off to another wedding dinner. The food here was good, of course, and as usual there was plenty of it. It was another pleasant evening with the breeze taking the edge off the heat.

The only concern was the presence of cats. Many, many cats. There are cats everywhere in Koroni and very few dogs. They appear everywhere there is food being served in the hope of getting a feed. We had three different felines in and around our table at lunch-time and there was a whole family of them trying to cadge food at dinner. No chance. One of the kittens contented itself chasing an olive that I suspect came from Glenn. Others were chasing flying beetles climbing onto to tables to jump at them. It could have been a scene from a YouTube clip.

There was going to be a gathering of some of the wedding guests later in the night, but we had an 8 o’clock bus to catch the next morning, which means being up at 6:30am and we still had to pack so it was an early night for us. Any further partying will happen without our friends as we head to Santorini, Glenn and Donna fly to Malta, Mel and Dean go to Biarritz and the others disperse to all points near and far.

Tomorrow is a transit day so there won’t be much to report aside from another 6 hour bus trip and then our early thoughts on Santorini, the island of love.

Until then …