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Published: October 4th 2006
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Limnos
Kostas was off first thing on a mission to find the perfect golden beach he had hazy memories of from when he last visited the island but I got his number so we could meet up later. Fran and I went for an early breakfast to discuss just how little we both actually knew about this island and what we should be seeing/doing here at all! First thing was to find out when the ferries were and where they went, since it was off season now some ferries only run once a week to some islands which can make planning tricky. Even more so since there are so many carriers, they change their schedules weekly and there is no collaborative online resource (though the agents all have some sort of shared database)
We discovered we had a few days before we could catch a ridiculously early ferry to Samos so figured we needed some wheels to explore the island and find somewhere to set up camp (no organized camps on this island!) Enter our trusty little scooter, the island is quite big so we went up the north coast and along the southern coast just cruising and looking
for a suitable beach with a spot out of the wind. Once we found the perfect place off the beaten track, through a farm, (I think the farmer understood what we were up to, I hoped he was the farmer anyway since he didn’t speak english) we headed back to collect our gear and the scooter split a fuel line! Thanks to my friend Leatherman we were able to make repairs, get back, and swap it for another. We consolidated our gear (the scooter place was really good in letting us dump half our stuff there for a few days) and headed back to set up camp for the night.
The next day started with what was to be a ritual early morning swim then we just cruised around the island on the scooter checking out some of the little villages, old ruins, a church on the highest hill, the thermal water and met Kostas at the port beach for another swim and few beers. He had found his perfect beach but it was a bit out of range for out little scooter so we went for dinner and showed him our spot on his way back, his ferry
was early next morning so we said our goodbyes and he told me to look him up for a place to stay when I was in Athens next week (sweet!)
Since we had our ferry so early we figured it would make sense to pack up, return the scooter and stay at the port that night. We made our regular early morning juice and yoghurt stop (Franky, just admit its an addiction!) and dropped our gear off first thing at the scooter place. Then went to check out another of the more popular beaches for yet some more sunning and swimming before heading back to the port to check out the Castle.
We had what was to be my first of many Slouvaki for dinner and camped out for an average nights sleep with the wild deer on the rocks over looking the port again. Our entire next day was spent on a ferry to Samos making a few stops on the way, all this camping had started to take its toll on me (the bedroll does nothing!) and I was feeling a little worse for wear and so slept most of the ferry ride and updated my
diary while Fidget complained, played my Nintendo and ran around causing trouble as usual.
Samos
We finally got to Samos late without any accommodation, I for one needed a decent nights sleep on a bed so we had some food and met up with an aussie guy with whom we split a triple room. On the way to the only available hotel we met Travis an aussie guy at another place on the way that was cheaper and would have beds free the next night so went back there first thing the next day. It was a Sunday which I thought demanded a decent breakfast and we were fortunate enough to find a place that would do a cooked breakfast on a Sunday, most places only had coffee and toast! I figured since I had saved money on free camping at the very least we could eat well now. We wandered around the town a found out what to do then headed back past the hotel to, you guessed it, the beach, to swim and skip stones before dinner and wine on the balcony.
Luckily there were cheap public buses going to two local towns of interest
so first we headed to Pythagoreo to check out some ancient greek ruins, there was also an amazing church deep in a cave at the top of a hill which was very cool as was the ruins of another castle. We made sure to stop at a beach for a much needed swim before exploring the town a little more and catching our bus back to sort our next island destination and ferry the next night, to Mykonos. That night we went and had drinks with the aussie yobos down the hall, Travis and his crazy older brother Mick who had been traveling waaaaay too long, and a Whangarei boy Dave who was also at the hotel.
The next morning we made an early start on the bus to Kaikorio, a very quaint small town where we just mooched around looking in all the tourist targeted stores, heaps of jewellery stores and as such we spent quite a few minutes (hours? days?) in one while Fran uhmmed and arrred on the purchase of a very pretty Lapis bangle, then after lunch we went back and she further deliberated between two she liked before buying one (I think the other
one was nicer :P)
On the way back to the hotel we randomly ran into Frans parents! Spooky, they had to go through Samos to get to Crete where she was meeting back up with them so we hung out for a beer before running down to the port to grab our gear and just make the ferry.
Mykonos
Its worth noting here that the wind had picked up over the last day, so the evening ferry ride to Mykonos was a bit wild cold and miserable (but no Cook straight) it was a sign of things to come. We just about missed our stop at Mykonos because getting from the top deck to the exit is an unmarked maze but were lucky enough to get a free bus to the only camping ground still open this late in the summer season. It was late and windy and putting up the tent wasn’t very fun, or trying to sleep.
We actually only went to Mykonos (a party island during peak season) to do a day trip to Dalos to see the ruins, but because of the wind the ferry was cancelled. We thought we’d walk to
an alternative port one peninsula over to double check and ended up walking tired, hot and fighting the wind all the way to the main city. Mykonos was not much fun so far. The city was what you’d expect from a classic greek postcard, all blue and white with narrow streets filled with lots of shops. We sussed our respective ferries, mine to Athens to meet Jim for the weekend and Frans to Crete to meet her parents and headed back to the camp. There were still quite a few party hanger-on-ers at the camp bar so we had a few drinks and a dance, (despite having THE worst Dj. Ever.) then a few more drinks and a dance on the tables while Fran introduced us to everyone still at the bar 😊
Next day we slept in, and had a good breakfast before Fran caught the bus and I went back and sat on the beach. The camp wasn’t as dead as I had thought, the beach was packed though a lot of people had scootered in for the day. I caught up on my diary, had some dinner and a quick dance before my late bus and
overnight ferry to Athens.
I met three English girls leaving the camp on the same ferry as me, so taught them how to play Mario Kart while we waited for the ferry, then once onboard proceeded to find a nice spot behind a row of seats and the wall to lie down and have a good much needed sleep.
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Franky- aka Fidget
non-member comment
you forgot.....
You forgot to mention that i stole a greek flag from the bar in Myknos. Also you suck about the bangle!!!!!