Crete 2017 Again (& again) Blog 5 - the last

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Reminder: the panoramic photos at the start of the blog change every 7/8 seconds and give a larger and clearer image than when viewed with the other photos. Also, there are more photos below the text if you want to skip the diary details; and if you double click on any of the photos you will get an enlarged, clearer, image. You can return to the text anytime.

Thursday 21st September: and back to Damnoni. The wind had picked up overnight and the sea across the road from our hotel looked quite rough with the wind coming from the north west. I checked the map to make sure that Damnoni Beach faced due south and should therefore be protected by the headland to the west of the beach. We changed from previous our route to Damnoni in order to go through another spectacular gorge, the Kotsifou Gorge, which emerges from the mountains immediately just east of Plakias. It turned out to be a good decision as the road was significantly better (newer, wider, smoother) than the alternative route through the Kourtaliotiko Gorge. The sea at Damnoni was a bit rough but there were people swimming and it looked safe enough, so I went for a swim. One problem with the beach here, and most beaches in Crete, is that they shelve very steeply at the water's edge and one is usually out of one's depth within a few yards of the shore, and so the waves were breaking straight on to the beach. After the swim I went for a walk along a cliff path past the nearby nudist beach (actually a small cove), which was crowded even though big waves were crashing on to the beach there and a red flag was being flown - evidently you can't keep a good nudist from his/her suntanning.

Friday 22nd September; the view of the sea from our room indicated that the seas were still rough; so Plan B was invoked which was to return to Triopetra; but to go to Small Triopetra next door: behind the headland of the three rocks and so should be well sheltered from the westerly wind. And so it proved. We followed the same scenic route to Triopetra and turned off just half a mile from the main beach to the east side of the headland to Small Triopetra. This coastline looked very different from the west side. On the west side the cliffs and hillsides are sand coloured while on the east side it's all grey. After a reviving coffee we settled ourselves on the beach, along with maybe 6 other couples, then decided to go for a walk and look for the Sleeping Dragon rock formation that I'd read about in the guide book. We had a nice walk but didn't find the Sleeping Dragon because that it was the opposite side of yet another headland to the east of Small Triopetra and too far to walk; but we were rewarded with some great views along the coast. We went for a swim later on but found that the first 10/15 yards from the shore was densely packed with seaweed (like chicken noodle soup) presumably ripped up by the heavy seas and carried inshore: not pleasant. When it came time to leave we had a quick look at the big beach at Triopetra to see if the seas were rough there: and they were, dangerously so with big waves and a strong backwash.

Saturday 23rd September: last day. first thing in the morning the view from our showed that the sea was calm so after breakfast it was back to Damnoni one last time. When we got there the sea was calm and there were not too many visitors: surprising as it was Saturday and Damnoni is popular with the locals. We retraced my walk of the Thursday out along the eastern path past the nudist beach, very crowded, to a further predominately local beach and then back to our beach. A last delicious lunch at Mesogeious (their chips would win prizes in UK) with a take-away order for later on. A lazy afternoon on the beach followed by a final frappe at Mesogeious and we headed to Rethymno to pack. An interesting part of this holiday is that although we're staying in Rethymno we havn't been into the Old Town once nor eaten out here once. This is because on our previous visit in April we were unimpressed with the Old Town which is scenic but very touristy and the restaurants near our hotel, and the hotel itself, don't match the takeaways we can get from the tavernas down south. However, our hotel is otherwise very nice and conveniently located for getting out of town.

Sunday 24th September: last day (last morning in fact). Just time for a last excellent breakfast at our hotel before heading east to Chania to catch our 12.55pm flight. As on previous visits we've had a great time with perfect weather, wonderful scenery, nice food (usually) and very nice people. An additional bonus has been that Jane's pleurisy, which she was still suffering from when we left Cardiff, completely disappeared after the first few days here - another reason to appreciate Crete

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Photos

Koutsifou Gorge
With additional decorations to the sign by the local gun club

Rough seas at Damnoni
The beach is to the right, somewhat sheltered by the far headland: unlike the rocks in the foreground

Small Triopetra
Calm and shallow, sheltered by the three rocks headland

Small Triopetra and beachfront tavernas
The darker shade of the sea close to the beach is dense seaweed that's been driven inshore by the strong seas of the previous day

Small Triopetra Bay and three rocks headland
The main Triopetra beach is on the far side of the headland

View east from Small Triopetra
The headland the western side of Agios Pavlos, when viewed from the east it resembles a sleeping dragon

Rough seas at Triopetra Main Beach
This beach faces south west and the big seas of the previous day had still not abated: hence our decision to go next door to Small Triopetra which was sheltered by the headland