Santorini - Naxos - Mykonos

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Well folks this is our last update by the time most of you read this we will be getting ready to board our plane home.

Santorini

Our first stop in the Greek Islands was Santorini. After a bit of mad search for a ferry (probably don't leave booking ferries till the night before in peak season...) we had a four hour cruise from Athens. Arriving in Santorini is pretty impressive as you sail into the Caldera and look up the cliffs to all the blue and white buildings. Also the sky is clear blue and it's freakin' hot!

We only had two nights/one full day there, so we decided the best way to do it all in a day was to rent a 4 wheel motorbike (ATV). Blatting round on that was oodles of fun! We checked out the beaches, they are all black sand tho. We had a dip at Red Beach with about a thousand other people, relaxed by the pool at the hotel and saw the famous Santorini sunset at Oia. Oh and ate lots of Greek food! We are loving Greek food like moussaka, soutzoukakia (stewed meatballs), stuffed tomatoes and Greek Salad. Who can't love the food here - the home of feta and olives. We found one really good restaurant that we went to both nights, which was really busy. We had good fun watching the owner come in and flit about, arms flying with fingers clicking (apparently it's a Greek thing...). He also has a habit of giving out free wine and we certainly got our share! The best though was when we came over to our table, slapped down three shots of ouzo and said "DRINK WITH ME! ONE TWO THREE!" we all chucked our shots back and he was off again.

While Santorini is certainly the picturesque place that everyone dreams of, there is another side to it. The thing that most people don't seem to mention (perhaps to avoid shattering the illusion) is that there are piles of rubbish everywhere, not just tourist rubbish either. There are old buildings that have collapsed and provide a perfect dumping ground, and a home for the hundreds of homeless cats and dogs. Oh and donkey poo! Its everywhere!

Nonetheless, we still absolutely loved it!

Naxos

Apart from our ferry being late (seems to be happening to us a bit lately, the Greeks run on island time too!) we arrived on a hot and sunny afternoon and headed for the pool! Next morning we watched the ABs crush those sons of bread thieves followed by more swimming at the pool and the beach. The next day was a repeat minus watching the ABs, though we have been following the Ashes so it great to see the Aussies getting punished again. So that was it for the first three days! This blog is actually really easy to write as we aren't really doing anything. Swim, relax, have a drink, sleep. After 9 weeks on the go its nice to chill out for a bit.

Our last day in Naxos we decided we really must venture out and see the island. So we hired an ATV again and set out on our mission. We must have underestimated both how big the island was, and how crap the map was. We did make it round the beaches on the west coast though, and then back through the middle of the island, with its big steep hills... It was awesome to see the huge marble quarries though, even if we did nearly pack ourselves at the explosions.

Mykonos

After another relaxing morning spent by the pool (this relaxing stuff is hard), we made our way to the port. Our ferry to Mykonos was late as expected, however this time it was 2 hours late. The seas were very rough as the infamous Greek Islands summer winds were blowing a gale. The ferry still sailed though, but it took 2 1/2 hours to do the 40 minute journey to Mykonos. It was not a pleasant trip, with 90%!o(MISSING)f the people on board being sick within the first 20 minutes! Ah well, we made it here alive! Felt especially sorry for the people who weren't staying in Mykonos and had to keep going.

After a big sleep to recover we set out to explore the maze like, white walled streets of Mykonos. Its a cool little town with old windmills, lots of shops and even more small streets to get lost down (apparently it was designed this way to confuse pirates!). For some reason no matter which way we went we kept ending up back at the restaurant we had eaten at the night before! Other highlights were the tame pelican who sits at a restaurant at night with his owner, more delicous Greek food like Saganaki (fried greek cheese) and our host at our hotel, Panos. We have found most Greeks friendly and helpful but Panos has to be the best. He took good care of us when we got off the ferry, carried our packs for us, and gave us a free bottle of wine and drinks for Jeff's birthday. Anyone going to Mykonos go and stay at Hotel Aeolos you won't regret it.

After a long ferry ride we are now in Athens enjoying our final night before heading home. Tomorrow we are going to explore a bit of Athens, including the Acropolis, before catching our flight home. We look forward to catching up with all of you when we get home.

We'll upload lots of photos of the Greek Islands, so you can all sit at your computers and dream a little... and feel a little warmer!

See you back in NZ!
Jeff and Bex

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Photos

Santorini
The donkeys to bring people up from the old port

Jeff's dinner in Santorini
Grilled squid