We left Greece yesterday and in the last couple of days experienced some weird stuff. The hotel in Naxos tried to charge us more than they quoted and once they caved, refused to let us use our credit cards. We were pretty happy to leave that nasty fellow behind but that night George the friendly bartender got too friendly. I was being the barmaid along with a couple of Spanish girls and George took a liking to me (which included grabbing my armpits?) he told me that if it wasn't for my boyfriend (Craig he assumed) he would kiss me, then he did it. I told ol' George that Craig was the jealous type but that didn't work either. We did have a cool night though. We met a NZer Jillian who 'loves her tits because they can get her anything she wants', shes from Epsom Girls! We met Dave who has been bumming around Greece for 4 months (from Liverpool) he had to get a friend to give him the money to get home, & Ana from Mexico who decided that she wanted to see the world and is doing it alone (George also took a liking to her). The most amazing part of that night is although there was at least twice as mush Ouzo flowing Craig didn't have too much and he didn't spend a euro! Now we are in Florence again and off to another hostel.

Video of leaving Greece (2,2mb)

   Ahhh, the sweet silence of the Mediterranean Sea. Yesterday Bron and I rode out to St Prokopios an idyllic beach on the west coast of Naxos. The sand was tiny little shells just the right size to feel comfortable under foot, but not stick to you like sand does. We worked on our tans for a while and experimented with the snorkel I bought on Santorini. It's been ages since I did that and it took me a while to get used to being underwater but breathing. When I did I loved it. The water was amazing and the sand under it was perfect. Lots of little fish (that Bron thinks bit her on the ankle) follow swimmers about and I even found a rusted old wreck a dozen meters out. I've bought a disposable underwater camera, assuming it works better than the one from Pamplona there will be some cool pictrures when I get it developed.
   In the afternoon we went inland to get to the 'gem of a village' whose name I have forgotten. We rented a 80cc scooter but it still had issues going up hills. The village is indeed a nice one, streets paved with marble, rabbit-warren like alley ways winding up the hill and a small castle on the top. On the way home I left Bron for a bit and went for a hike up to Dimitra's Temple. Made for a god of fruit and harvest and such this temple is mostly a modern reconstruction of the orginal, which was knocked over to build a church about 600AD. The walk back in the sun brought me closer to heat stoke than any other time on this trip. We sat on the beach at Mikra Vigla for a while, and I swam a bit, but it was getting colder so we went home and saw sunset from the town water front. Very nice

   Today started with an hour long ride to Apollon on the north coast. We went there especially to see the Kurous, which is an unfinished statue of a man in a marble quarry. We weren't impressed when we saw it, but when you consider it would have been as mysterious as the Easter Island heads had it been up on a hill then it is kinda cool. We came back to get food and then heading straight on to St Prokopios beach (or maybe St Anna's the map is a little vague). More snorkeling, finding more sunked treasures and doing little else while lying in the sun. Fantastic, a real greek relaxation holiday. We are leaving tomorrow, and basically I'm heading back to England, with a stop in Italy and in Paris. It's almost over and I've loved every minute of it. I can't get over how cool Greece has been, definitely a candidate for my favourite holiday destination.

St Anna beach (a.k.a. paradise) The brilliantly clear water of St Anna's beach

Me standing in the water at St Ann's beach Underwater photo of two fish

   We made it to Santorini (Thira), as I am sure you all know, and Craig has adopted a stupid smile all the time. It especially appears when he is taking photos and sometimes it makes people (I saw at least 6 last night) stop in the street and stare at him (or it could be what he is taking the photo of). Last night we even went to Oia with Craig singing Zippi dee doo daa (sorry about the spelling) at the top of his lungs with me on the back of the scooter. By the way scooter was the best way of getting around as you can actually park and travel among people, rather than getting stuck behind buses (and Craig made me do it mum).

See the video (3mb)

   Now we are on Naxos. From our room we can see the sea and all is pretty well. We even have airconditioning and we haven't had that for about 2 months. So now we are off to explore Hora and Agios Georgios and eat lots of yummy greek food. I bought a cook book so I am gonna have to make some when I get back to NZ and finances allow.

   I am on Santorini, the greek island of my dreams. It's been a long time coming and I am wearing a silly grin all day with the thrill of being here at last. Being back here I should say, coz I came here 22 years ago. Now I am big enough to do things for myself and have been exploring with the power of 50cc beneath me. It's not my Kawasaki ZZR but any two wheeled motored thing is better than none at all.
   So, On Crete we stayed with Nikos, a cool guy who met me via my photos of New Zealand I published on the web. He knows as much about the America's cup as anyone and loves NZ (don't we all). He drove us to Agios Nikolaos and walked us around Iraklion. Thanks. We got a late ferry to Santorini on Wednesday and have been staying with a lady on the edge of Fira town since then. It isn't as close as possible, but it is nice and quiet. We saw the sun set at Oia last night, and are going back for another viewing this evening. It's fantastic, and naturally I have taken a bgzillion photos. Today was Red Beach, a volcanic hide away on the south of the island. Great snorkling stuff :-) Off to Naxos in the morning, talk to you then.

Video of walking in the Santorini town of Pyrgos(4.6mb)

A beautiful house Some variations from the blue theme

One of the famous blue domes of Santorini Sailing away from Santorini

   We were relying on the lady from the Athens YHA, we were let down. She told us there was a night sailing to Santorini, but it stopped running a week ago. So we had no place to stay and the only night ferry available brought us here to Crete. I feel pretty bad, possibly something I picked up on the night ferry from Italy (having given my sleeping bag to Bronwyn it was rather cold), and am now sitting in a cybercafe trying to locate a contact I have in the city. Fingers crossed.

   George is a nasty, nasty man. He kept selling me ouzo well after I had had too much, and worse still he even gave me some for free. George is the owner and barman of Hotel Lozanni in Athens. A great place next to a busy street. The party in the bar last night was a blast, I think. Infact it must have been because the video and photos on my camera look like fun. Bronwyn tells me that I had a list of emails at the end of the night, but I can't find it now. Only the one small sheet that has 'Thank You' in various languages and the email address of one of the two turkish barmaids called Esra (yes they were both called Esra).

   Today we have walked around Athens quite a bit. We've seen the Acropolis and lots of ruined ancient greek things. All very impressive. Tonight we are on a ferry again, bound for Santorini and a week of doing very little. A holiday from our holiday so to speak.

Bronwyn and George Me sitting at the Acropolis