Greece 25 July to 11 August 2014

Greece

                                   25 July ® 11 August 2014            

Kalimera ( good morning in Greek ) everyone

25 July

When the Fullers left on the 25^th July we relaxed in Turgetreis Marina in Turkey. Suddenly there was a lot of space on board. Now sadly we had to start doing schoolwork. My mom wanted to fit in as much as possible before our next guests arrived on the 8^th August. Every morning we would try to do two hours of work. I find it hard to concentrate as there are always beautiful boats whizzing past, Islands to look at and blue blue water to swim in.

We planned to leave Turkey soon to cruise the Greek Islands. This meant that my dad had to show my mom and I over the boat as we were now his only crew members. He showed me how to do some navigation and I helped him plan the passage to Greece. I was very sad to say goodbye to the beautiful country of Turkey.

On the 29^th July we left at sunrise to go to our first Greek Island of Patmos.

As we sighted the beautiful whitewashed houses of Patmos we could smell the ‘souvlaki gyros’ cooking. This is our favourite Greek food made of pork, tomatoes, lettuce, chips, tsatsiki rolled in a toasted pita bread. We of course had to have this for dinner that evening followed by a delicious Italian icecream.

The next morning we caught the local bus up to the monastery of St John which is high up on the hill above the harbour. From there we walked the old cobbled path down to the cave where St John wrote the ‘apocalypse’. I found this very interesting and I loved seeing all the ancient paintings, books, clothing, jewellery and other things all dating back to the early BC times.

 Our next stop was the Island of Naxos. My dad got a really good weather forecast as we were sailing into an area where the wind is called the ‘meltemi’ and it blows from the North and can be very strong. Luckily we had a very smooth sail. When we arrived in Naxos we were surprised to find the small harbour packed with boats and very big ferries coming in and out. There was nowhere for us to park or anchor. We changed plan and quickly headed off to Paros our favourite Greek Island where my mom had her 50^th birthday two years ago.

1^st August Happy Birthday dad! What a beautiful day. We whizzed off to our favourite beach where the water is turquoise for an early morning swim and a game of beach bats.

 That evening we had a delicious meal ashore to celebrate his special day followed by an Italian icecream from ‘ S Cream’. I really enjoyed being back in Paros it felt like coming home. It was relaxing to be in one spot for a while. Here we would wait for our friends the Orzechowskis to arrive. We anchored at our favourite bay in Paros, Kolimbythres. One day whilst having lunch outside my mom noticed a nice sized fish floating by. Since we had not caught any fish this was very exciting! My dad jumped into the water, got the fish and put it in a bucket on the back steps. We carried on eating. My dad was ecstatic, he had plans to cook it for us that night. Suddenly a jet ski came past and a few minutes later my mom noticed the empty bucket floating away in the water. My dad raced off in the dinghy in search of his fish which he thought was floating away. Meanwhile I noticed something silver on the sea bed below the boat. We called my dad back and he jumped into the water and caught his fish again! He put it back on deck but realized very quickly it was stinky and rotten. All the excitement of having fresh fish for dinner was rapidly lost. It was hilarious my mom and I could not stop laughing.

We were flying along with my schoolwork in the mornings and in the afternoons we would go snorkelling, walking or exploring. I loved going into Naoussa town with all its narrow alleys, stunning restaurants and shops with beautiful clothing.

There are so many Greek cats relaxing on the pavements and shop fronts. I wanted to photograph them all. I miss my cat Naartjie.

Before we left Cape Town my mom and I bought lots of good books which I now found time to read and many I could not put down. I have read eight books so far.

On Friday 8^th August we woke up and saw a massive 300 ft powerboat with a huge waterslide coming from the top deck down into the sea. I drove my mom and dad there in the dinghy and we saw that behind the boat there were two sailing dinghys, four jetskis, four tubes, two kayaks and two huge hard bottomed rubber ducks. We think the boat was on charter so all the ‘toys’ were for the guests to use. I dreamed of sliding down that waterslide into the warm sea.

Later we went ashore and I helped my mom and dad to do a big food shop as Blossom, Wojtek and Tadji were arriving the next day. We prepared their cabins, scrubbed and cleaned the boat so that it was ship shape for their arrival. I was so excited to have them all on board with us. They were our original crew members from Madagascar cruising days.

The next day my dad put on his funny Greek ship captains hat to go ashore and fetch the Orzechowskis. It was a wonderful reunion for us to all be together again like old times.

Within seconds all the laughing began. The following day friends of ours who live on the Island offered to take us for a walk from the mountainous town of Lefkes down to the coastal port of Piso Livadi. The cobbled path took us through olive groves, farmland and a little village. By the time we reached the coast we were boiling hot. We had a refreshing swim , drank some cold drinks and then took the local bus back to our friends car in Lefkes. The highlight of the day was going to their stunning big home overlooking the sea. Tadji and I spend hours playing with an aqua jet.

This is a little machine with a propeller. You hold onto it and it pulls you along under water. It was such fun! Divers use them to go down deep.

I am ending my blog on Monday 11 th August there is just too much action on board now. It is non stop. I have done no schoolwork since our friends arrived!

Chat soon

Andio (goodbye in Greek)