Naxos

Naxos

Temple of Apollo, Naxos

Had the morning to relax in Santorini then trailed up to where our bus picked us up. Our very earnest Bell Boy carried all our heavy luggage up on his shoulders. Admirable seeing as a fellow camper/tourist was videoing every single step down to the hotel!
The large bus then took off for Thira Port via cliff edge roadway that is very reminiscent of the roads around Akaroa, which is also a caldera although much older than the 1650BC Santorini caldera. I didnt tell Denise there was a 7.8 earthquake in 1956 which devastated much of Oia, but you wouldnt know it today. It looks old without even trying which I guess is the sign of an excellent rebuild. Picking up a few ideas for our own Mediterranean rebuild !
Zigzagged down to the Port where we had a fast Vodafone ferry to take us to Naxos,which is a large island an hour by ferry heading back towards Athens.
Much like an areoplane service without the interesting bits. Great announcments over the loudspeaker system, the Greek is spoken very fast and the announcer thought English should be too. She would make a great horse race announcer and Im sure I heard Kiwi winning by a nose (again)
I had a cold by this time so wasnt feeling 100%. Toilet paper is a very useful multipurpose product though perhaps not in the way intended, bit rough on the snoz. We were met at Naxos and taken to our standard room in a resort style hotel. Package tours from colder climes would be the go here. We were spoilt indeed at Santorini. Everything worked though, including a hot shower which is No. 1 in my book. The 'queen' bed was 2 seperate single beds pushed together which was ok.
Next day we had an enormous breakfast (hotel standard) and wandered around town. Naxos has an impressively abandoned Temple of Apollo on a peninsula adjacent to the downtown hubbub. It also has an old Venetian Kastro or castle, they ruled the Islands hereabouts from around 1200 to 1500AD. Its almost medieval within Kastro walls with a Venetian Museum describing life in those days. Amazing seeing how an enclave of Italian nobility lived in those days, very different to the Greek civilisation. Actually they bombarded the place with Cathedrals and Basilicas, many of which were converted from the multi god and godess temples of the previous rulers.

Octopus for tea tonight.

Oasis Restaurant was our stop next, eating outside underneath the grape vines enveloping the pergola above. We had stuffed aubergine and souvlaki, plus a bonus ouzo with ice afterwards which we had inside as smoking at adjacent tables was getting an issue - I just want to eat my meal in peace! I am sure smokers thruout the world have united to force a last stand in Greece. Denise is very impressed with the amount of pink and purple the Greek men wear here, which I hadnt noticed at all, but then a local guy walks along in a bright purple tracksuit. Must be true - they are obviously very comfortable in their masculinity, or maybe pink/purple is the colour of the real man in Greece.

Next day was good weather again so we after all the food we decided to have an active day to counteract the flab rapidly forming and threatening to bust out. We took a local bus up to Mili a village 30 minutes up into the hills. The bus driver looked at us funny and even checked with the ticket seller when we told him where we were going as there were no return buses that day, but we had a plan. Once there via usual hairpin turns we checked out the local 'kouros' a 2m high marble male statue, made in 500BC but abandoned, possibly because it broke as they were transporting it out of the quarry. After that it was a 40 minute walk over a very old trail to Ano Potamia (Mesi Potamia was an adjacent village - for real). ; goats, stone walls and ancient olive trees made agreeable company. At one stage a goat popped his head over the stone wall to see us, so I went over to see him.We eye balled each other from a couple of inches then he made a quick movement towards me and I swear he was either going to kiss me,hongi me, or bite my nose off. I thought disrection the better part of valour and jumped off, allowing him to be king of that particular stone wall.

Mangaged very succesfully to lose the trail within Ano Potami, a village consisting of about 40 people, for an hour but eventually located the entrance way and head up hill to bypass the local castle 'apano kastro'. A real castle built by the Venetians on a craggy point commanding the local area. It was now a desolate area of marble and granite, one could imagine a Minotaur waiting to pounce around the next bend. Felt a bit like a Labyrinthe at times too as the trail had vanished into thin air. We plugged on valiently especially as we had a bus to catch at the other end!

Heaven in Halki

Came out to a village by following a goat which had adopted us, then refound the trail to our destination, Halki. This trail seemed to be a couple of metres below the surrounding country side so it was a great relief to turn a corner to see whitewash houses and a friendly taverna owner awaiting us with a cold beer and an adjacent bus stop with 20 minutes to spare.

After an uneventful bus journey back we headed out for tea. Denise had spotted a 'meal deal' which included bread and dip, 2 moussakas, wine and greek salad. This meal was enormous, after finishing it all we really did feel sick. Seemed like nice food at the time. When will we learn.