After the
most amazing two week Greek Odyssey, there are only two questions that remain….
Why did
we come back????
Did we
ever really go???
THUD!!!
The sound of the wall you hit when you realise the aquamarine blue of
the Agean has been replaced by the cloudy winter grey of Bunbury, the water we
were immersed in for the past two weeks is now leaking from the sky and the
local wine, olives, feta and yummy red, red tomatoes have become cups of
Nescafe and cracker biscuits in the staff room…………….
Cloudless blue skies, warm, crystal-clear
sea, the company of multi million dollar super yachts, cheap coffee, food and
wine everywhere, and 5 great friends with nothing else to do except enjoy every
experience. Under the competent direction
of Captain Terry and his most accomplished Admiral Carol, the ‘motley crew’
didn’t really have a care in the world…….or we weren’t trusted to assist. Sailing the Greek Islands is one of these
idyllic holidays that everyone ‘gasps’ at when you describe where you have
been. Well, we are here to tell you that
it absolutely is everything that you think it is going to be, plus more.
The local ‘Adonis’ and ‘Artemis’ of the
Greek population were friendly, relaxed and welcoming, except the keeper of the
‘beach lounges’ who was determined to collect his 3 Euros for leaving our
belongings there while enjoying our daily dip!!
In fact, we created an ‘Adonis scale’ for our own entertainment,
pre-Adonis, Adonis, post-Adonis and Archimedes….Archimedes appeared on the
beach on our first day and it was clear that a couple of decades on from
attaining Adonis status, and after years of good food, wine and the traditional
afternoon ‘siesta’, the body shape of many mature Greeks assisted with the
displacement of water theory made famous by the Greek mathematician. But the Greeks love their beaches and it is
refreshing to see that these people of the sea continue to fully utilise their
beautiful surroundings, no matter which stage of the Adonis scale they are
on!! There should be more of it.
The super yachts in the lovely Zea Marina,
our meeting point with Common Sense, may well be modest in comparison to those
in the more pricey marinas to the east of Athens but we were gobsmacked by
their size and opulence (from the outside), and many an hour was spent looking
and speculating as to what and who lived on them, or if they were having as
much fun as we were – which was not possible really. Our front and back ‘yards’
were magnificent, and did not require lawn mowing duties, or weeding. The ‘patio’
was comfortable, everything was within reach, and there was more food and
wine/beer than these 5 people needed. The company was magnificent and with the
Mediterranean tradition of staying up until all hours of the night, your
neighbours did not complain about the noise. Not that we made any because the
gentle rocking of the yacht put us soundly to sleep every night. For us newbies,
far were the worries of anchors holding, running aground, wind changes or
anything else that might have had the Captain and Admiral scrambling checking
during the night. Fortunately, we were
blessed by perfect weather as well.
A daily dip, or 10, straight from the stern
of Common Sense, was one of the many simple pleasures available to us,
particularly when anchored in the countless bays around the islands in the
Saronic Gulf. The islands of Aegina,
Poros, Ermione and the town of Epidavros on the Peloponnese coast were our
landing pads and the villages were postcard perfect, the tavernas plentiful
along the sea walls and even remote beaches, and life was languid. Strolling through the small squares and
streets, stopping for refreshments or provisions and investigating where we
might have dinner that night were about the most demanding things we had to do.
Except….when our exploring and enquiring
minds got the better of us, plus adventure is the spice of life, so a day of
scooter hire across the hilly landscape of Poros brought about a couple of
challenges! Without much scooter
experience, or licences, plus driving on the opposite side of the road, we
still decided it was for us, otherwise the delights we encountered would have
been unattainable. In the traditional
Greek way of riding a scooter, helmetless, we set off to the highest point on
Poros, the Temple of Poseidon. A dry,
overgrown ‘patch’ with the appropriate ruins, it could have been anything,
except for the magnificent view over the kilometres of Poseidon’s kingdom, the
sea….Downhill to a beautiful bay below for a swim and a beer, and then our circumnavigation of Poros, something akin
to the ‘Mod Squad’. Each turn of the
winding, elevated roads unveiled another astounding outlook across the Saronic
Gulf, it was absolutely breath taking.
We were riding like professionals by the end of the day, we had
encountered local traffic, pedestrians, gravel tracks, double fuel tankers,
unknown road rules and still were grinning from ear to ear. To end our exploits, a beer with fellow
sailors, Olivier and Lauren, friends of the Captain and the Admiral, and back
to Common Sense for a cleansing dip and a late bbq dinner on the ‘patio’…..what
a magic day!!
We had the exploring bug, and were also
determined to visit some of the amazing historical sites that surrounded us, so
our plans were made to visit Epidavros and make our way to the Palace of
Agamemnon. We negotiated the hire of a
very comfortable Volvo and appointed bag boy (beer boy, wine boy, anchor boy,
ropes boy….you’ve got the idea) Steve, as our ‘land skipper’ with Captain Terry
and his ipad as our navigation system.
All went according to plan in the early stages, and a comfortable trip
to the palace was very worthwhile. As
confidence crept in, we decided to broaden our horizons as we headed back
toward Epidavros to visit the largest Amphitheatre in Greece. Well, one wrong turn in a foreign country,
already on the wrong side of the road, and you end up on the ‘scenic
route’. Apart from the state of the
road, its many switchbacks and no other signs of life (almost), this proved to
show us a little more of Greece than we had planned. ‘Nav’ was confident he knew where we were and
eventually the olive groves and dry river beds gave way to houses, tavernas and
road signs. Back on track, we found our
way to the Amphitheatre, where a rendition of Advance Australia Fair was
essential. Another wrong turn saw us rewarded with the most awesome view,
looking out on to our idyllic bay with Common Sense moored just beyond the
church, and then on to the beach, of course, and an opportunity to snorkel over
a very well preserved sunken village ruin.
Time was closing in on us to head for home
and sadly our return leg back to Athens was planned. Unfortunately, the weather forecast the
Captain had worked toward came a day early, and we motored our way back to Piraeus
in strong winds, gusting up to 45 knots at times, with a reasonable bow wave as
well. We noticed we were quite lone
sailors on this day! However, after a
highly skilled manoeuvre into a very slim berth at Zea Marina, the bumpy ride
was over and the crew abandoned ship for a well-deserved shower, coffee and
comfortable (land) couch.
We spent the last of this day exploring the
wonderful markets of Monastiraki and being wowed by glow of the evening view of
the Acropolis looming over this part of the city. It is always difficult to
comprehend the magnificence of such ruins when we live in relatively young
country. It was also astounding to us the number of restaurants and tavernas
that abound everywhere, but I guess that the Greeks live a different life to us,
eating out more often and strolling the streets late into the night, even the
children and the babies.
Our last day together ended up slightly
different to what we had planned. Back on dry land we were at the mercy of the
4 million Athenians, or at least those who were protesting at the parliament,
necessitating a two hour detour of the streets after an incredible walking
tour of the Acropolis. We had a very
hurried return to Common Sense just in time for our departure to the airport.
It definitely made one long for the wide open water we had been blessed with
for the past 10 days.
Sometimes hurried farewells are the best,
as it doesn’t give anyone too much time to get emotional, usually! However, it was certainly with deep regret,
and many, many thanks, that we piled into our yellow getaway taxi, left Terry
and Carol and headed home to reality.
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