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.