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September 7th 2013
Published: September 7th 2013
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After spending 5 days in Athens wandering around the sights, taking in the 37 degree heat and even exploring the city on Segways we found ourselves aboard a hydrofoil to Poros in order to begin a weeks sailing trip. Half way across the sea Tim turned to me and said, “Where are the passports?”

We both looked at each other in horror and realized that our passports were in fact still in the hotel safe back in Athens…



Thankfully after a few phone calls the passports were retrieved and we were told we could collect them from the hotel on our return to Athens in a week’s time – phew!



Arriving at Poros we wandered along the bay gazing at the boats bobbing up and down to the gentle breeze. We came across a small kiosk where we found a young man selling snacks and drinks. Stopping to purchase a packet of crisps the man casually asked me how I was.

“I’m good thanks, how are you?” I answered him in my joyful holiday voice

“You want to know how I am?” he replied, “Well my life is fucking shit.”

I was a bit taken aback by this but thankfully Tim stepped in

“How can your life be shit?” he asked the young chap “Look where you are working... many people would love to work here.”

I gazed over my shoulder and took in the beautiful view the man had from his kiosk, the sky was blue, sun shining, boats bobbing up and down and a spectacular view could be seen across the Greek Islands.

“You wanna know why my life is fucking shit?’ he replied in an angry voice “Its so shit because I work all the time. I don’t just work here I own my own company too. I work and all I get is a two week skiing holiday in the Alps every year.”



Now I might not understand this man’s situation completely but really from what I could gather compared to a lot of people in the world he had it pretty good….I suggest he goes and visits a third world country…The chap then went on a roll about how the big companies have ruined his life whilst throwing in lots of expletives. He was so angry I even thought at one point he might even throw a punch. He told us we wouldn’t understand because we are from Australia and we have it really good…To add to this scenario we then found out that the young man was getting married in a few months and his brother had recently won a silver medal in the Olympics…



The following day we left the shore in our little sailing boat ready to begin our new adventure. The sun was shining, the water was cool and blue and beautiful views of the mountainous Greek Islands could be seen around us. However, despite all this my stomach was not feeling too great and I found myself spending the day violently throwing up. I did begin to wonder at one point why on earth I had thought it to be such a great idea to go on a week’s sailing trip when I suffer from motion sickness…After pulling into shore at the end of the day I was more than happy to jump onto solid ground after hearing a waiter announce “Free drinks!” I then watched in horror as he unscrewed a plastic bottle and filled shot glasses with a clear, locally made liquid - possibly the worst thing I could think of putting into my sensitive, empty stomach. “Shots for everyone” he said and then looked miffed when I politely declined. That night as the waves began to calm I lead in bed rocking back and forth, back and forth until I finally fell asleep. Waking up several times in the night I had a mild panic as to why I was moving until I realised I was in fact sleeping in a boat…



The following day I took a maximum dose of some strong travel sickness tablets and have been taking them frequently ever since. I can now say that this has dramatically improved my sailing experience and I have enjoyed lying on the boat reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography which resembles the size of the Bible but is definitely worth a read and snorkeling in the cool waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Every night we have stopped at a different place and have taken in some delicious local Greek cuisine. Arriving at a spot called Napflion we even ventured up the 999 steps all the way to an ancient fort spread out across the top of the
Protests through AthensProtests through AthensProtests through Athens

These people are all to do with the Education and Health care system. The Government is threatening to cut 50,000 more jobs in these sectors because of the GFC
cliffs. Last night was our Skippers birthday and we enjoyed a meal and drinks together. We had to be extra careful walking across the plank into the boat at the end of the night as we had had drunk a few (including a rather strong ‘homemade’ wine) but thankfully we all got in without falling into the sea.



We have a couple more days left of this beautiful environment left and then onto New York, New York, which I am very excited about.



Hope everyone is doing well, keep me posted xxxx


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