Day 56, 24-08
Today we had a little sleep in, and after a good breakfast I went to the pool with Phoebs for a bit. Lying in the sun at this beautiful place without a care in the world and my ipod in, I don’t think it gets much better than this! Had a quick dip then came back to pack for the next ferry. Today we travel from Mykonos to the last island Santorini; which has the most famed blue and white domed houses which comes to mind when you think of the Greek Islands. After the last ferry ride, the group had very high paranoia levels and almost everyone went to the chemist to get the strongest seasick pill which is meant to knock you out asap! It was kind of hilarious in its own way… people were saying they felt sick already when we were waiting for the ferry! With this ferry being 3 hours I don’t think anyone wanted to risk feeling that crap again. I didn’t take anything, but luckily the winds were calmer today and I slept most the way as well. We arrived just after 6pm. Santorini is also different to the other islands as it is up on the cliffs, so no beaches around. We all had dinner at a local Taverna, which was deeelicious, top 2 dinners in Greece. Zoe said it had the best ‘lamb in the oven’ she had ever had, so most of us got that. The only negative was they definitely weren’t prepared for this and it was only when they started bringing out the rest of the mains when they told us they didn’t have enough lamb in the ovens for all of us! So most of us ended up sharing and ordering something else; it was just a bit weird they waited so long to tell us. So I also had this delicious moussaka (very traditional Greek dish, like lasagne but with eggplant and potato instead of pasta). I had been holding out to try this as I’m not the biggest fan of eggplant and other people hadn’t gotten the best ones from other places, but I decided to just do it. And it was definitely the best one I had seen this trip! I was so thankful. It came baked in a mini casserole dish. There was a good cheese sprinkling on top, and the mixture was really really good. The lamb in the oven was also really great, sooo tender and juicy and flavourful. Pity we only got half but then again I had really good moussaka. Nush and Shal went with some of the others to town after dinner and said it was REALLY beautiful. I can’t wait for tomorrow!
Day 57, 25-08
We had an amazing packed day today! Had breakfast at the hotel then started a short walk along the Santorini cliffs. The Mediterranean Ocean is so vast and really puts the place into perspective. Santorini is slightly Cinque Terre-esque in the way the houses are stacked up the cliff side, albeit being an isolated bigger island and all the buildings being white or pastel coloured. Zoe informed us about Santorini’s history – with a few other now existing islands it used to be one huge circular land mass, until 4000 years ago when the volcano exploded, blowing most of it under. The islands which are now present are still reminiscent of the original circle, in a shell crescent shape. From the top we took a cable car right down the cliff to the port, where we found our private boat for the day – a wooden pirate boat. We took the boat to Nea Kameni (‘New Burn’), the active volcanic island, and named so because it is the youngest land form in the Eastern Mediterranean (430 years). The entire island is also a volcanic research centre so apparently eruption warnings come one year in advance, whew! It’s most recent eruption was in 1950. The sun was scorching, but we trucked on and did a hike up the volcanic terrain to the summit, about 30 minutes, only stopping to see its main crater from which you could literally feel the heat emanating from the ground and off the crater sides as smoke. This sulphuric release has coloured the rocks yellow. The summit was unexpectedly empty of other tourists so we had a quick second to get a fab group shot.
Then we were back down to the pier, where the boat took us around the other side of the island to the inlet between Nea Kameni and its older neighbouring island Mikri Kameni (‘Old Burn’). The water channel has formed natural hot springs and mud baths due to high levels of sulphur, and the stench was reeking ROTORUA. We bravely jumped into the murky depths, which was actually pretty gross. I had this instant taste in my mouth from all the chemicals which tasted like blood, and the water was this really gross and weird mixture of hot and cold spots. So so strange!!! I can’t say I particularly enjoyed it, but it was an experience. We swam down a bit to where the mud was, and had fun getting muddy. The mud is really good for your skin and is used all over Greece from this location. We got back on the boat ready to wash off with a fresh water swim further around the island, however our boat driver had somehow gotten the anchor rope caught in the propeller under the boat – WTF? Rookie mistake! He didn’t even make any self-attempt to get into the water to fix it, so Joe and Bec had to get in with goggles, back into the sulphuric stinkpot, and spent about the next 40 minutes trying to untangle the damn thing; which they said was a complete mess. We had a nom lunch on board which consisted of salad, meatballs and bread. We just managed to get in a super quick dip in the clean water – amazing especially because we were all smelly and stained orange!
We arrived back at the port around 2pm. From here we each got our own donkey to take us up 600 steps to the top! It was completely crazy – the donkeys all have minds of their own; you just get on and they take off on their own agenda with no guide. It was fun in some parts but also quite scary, especially when they stumble on the cobbled steps or herd into each other in a donkey traffic jam. Once it happened to me and I ended up with my knee jammed into another donkey’s ass; soo not nice. Because the donkey wants to take the corner wide (as the inner steps are too small), they beeline for tourists walking down the stairs who think they are safe walking on the wide edge of the corners. The tourists get really pissed off because they think we guiding the donkey into them, but there’s nothing we can do, just move damn it! And don’t hit them; they have a sad enough job as it is. I was pretty proud of my donkey as he was a speedy trooper, he over took a few and kept steady most of the way!
We made our way through the main town back to our hotel – in much need of a really good shower as we were orange and dirty and smelled of a salty sulphuric donkey. Togs and clothes were all stained and smelly too! We had a bit of free time now so Phoebs and I walked back to town, ate delicious crepes and did a bit of shopping. Similar sort of shops to Paros and Mykonos but very special as it is up on the cliffs – all with a sea view! It is pretty surreal. Just before 7 we met everyone again to take the bus to Oia, the tip of Santorini, to see the magical romantic sunset. Apparently this is the most popular place in the world to be proposed to. And it is easy to see why (apart from being a massive tourist attraction) – overlooking the cliffs of beautiful white buildings out to the ocean and other islands. Oia was also really beautiful; slightly more upmarket than back by our hotel, so the alleyways of shops all are slightly more boutiquey. Would love to come back here but unfortunately there is no time! After sunset our bus took us back to town, where we had dinner at a Cliffside restaurant. Delicious food, but the air smelt like donkey, and I had a glass of the worst sav ever!! A group of us went out after dinner to the local Irish and Scottish bars which was very fun – good music and company, and much different to Mykonos as the guys were FAR more chill!
Day 58, 26-08
Today is our last day! It is sad. Had a pretty quiet morning which mainly consisted of packing. We met everyone after check out and headed into town for our last lunch – at Lava (under Murphy’s bar), where Zoe says has the best Mexican food ever! (big call). It was actually amazing though! It is owned by a lovely American-Canadian couple, who are obviously used to Topdeck tours passing through here; we were excellently catered for as they put on a full on buffet for us – salads, quesadillas, filled pastries, buffalo wings – NOM! Such a great end to the islands and also fantastic meal before our 8 hour ferry back to Athens. We arrived at the ferry terminal a couple hours early so we could line up to get the best seats, demolishing more snicker’s ice cream in the wait. We were first in line – but man how rude are some people! This lady came pushing past our whole group with her two kids, and when we asked her WTF was she doing you can’t just do that, her defence is “how could you be so mean to my children, look how young they are!” The ride was smooth but long and boatish. We arrived back at Athens after midnight, back at the Baby Grand. There we said goodbye to Zoe and a few others we wouldn’t catch in the morning, very sad! It’s been really awesome travelling with my group; most of them have been really lovely and such fun! And Zoe was such a cool guide!
Day 59, 27-08
I am left alone as Phoebe, Shal and Nush fly out to Austria this morning. Very sad to say goodbye to the girls, it’s been so much fun, I miss them already. It’s ok though, most of my day is spent trying to close my suitcase. I found out Anna is on my flight back until Melb which is so awesome! Got my last chicken gyro pita for a long time (man I am going to miss that) then started out my LONG journey home… Athens – Dubai – Kuala Lumpur – Melbourne – Auckland. Thanks for reading about my travels! Now I am back to reality.
