12th – 24th July 2013
Having been in Aktio Boat Yard, Preveza, working on “Market Lady’s” refit since early May, by the time we entered the month of July, we felt we had earned a holiday. With Pete’s 70th birthday on the 11th July, it seemed right that somehow we combine the two, so all work came to a halt at the close of business on the
10th July.
We celebrated Pete’s 70th birthday, still in the boat yard, but, at his insistence, definitely NOT working!! He had requested that we go to Panos, our favourite taverna only a very short walk from the boat, for breakfast – a meal we had never previously experienced there – and also for our evening meal.
It was a very relaxing day for us both and we loved it. Pete considers Panos is just about the best place he has ever eaten, with a daily changing menu of really authentic Greek dishes. His birthday lived up to this reputation the evening meal of which, we shared with Bill and Lynn of “S/Y Fiz”, now “S/Y Pied a Mare”
The following day we set off on our holiday, not really knowing at that stage, where we were heading, but we had with us the double inflatable kayak, Margaret had bought Pete for his birthday present. We wanted to launch her for her ‘maiden voyage’. Like all our ‘fleet’ the kayak has its own name, “TOFOW” – Two Old Farts On Water.
Our holiday lasted two weeks, during which we managed to travel over a 1000 mile, in this amazing and beautiful country, mainly discovering areas we had not previously visited, particularly in the mountains.
With humble beginnings however, our first night was spent free camping on a beach at Levkas, just 17 kilometres away from the boatyard. It was lovely to wake up in the morning with the waves crashing onto the rocks just 20 yards from us. The next day we visited Lidl, to store up with three or four days food, after which we took the Polairos road from Levkas.
We had fabulous aerial views of Lefkas town as we climbed, heading for a bay we had found whilst sailing the previous year, near Astakos, on the western coast of mainland Greece. On our previous visit, from the anchorage we had noticed caravans and motor homes on the beach, and when we arrived in “Te Papa” later that day, we were delighted to see that this too was a free camping area.
We knew also from our previous visit that it would be an an ideal place to launch “Tofow” for the first time.
We had a brilliant time in her, covering quite a distance and we soon gained confidence, particularly loving thrashing into the wind!
We went round little islands and into tiny bays, which would have been far too rocky to have ventured into with Market Lady.
It was there that we also had our first swim of the season. Yes, it was a planned swim, not because we overturned “Tofow”!!!
Two days later, we set off to go on the coast road of the Gulf of Patras. We have sailed this area on a couple of occasions, but it is quite different to see it from land, calling at lovely little fishing harbours, too shallow to get into aboard “Market Lady.
Looking out to sea, there did not appear to be many boats sailing in the gulf, at least in the part we could see. We were staggered when we visited Galaxhidi. When we called there in “Lady”, a few years ago, it was a busy and thriving harbour town, but on this occasion it was just so dead. We did however enjoy a magnificent wild camping site on the waters edge, in a bay just a few miles away.
Continuing on the next day, once we reached Delphi, we began to head north towards Thessoloniki, cross country and avoiding toll roads, not to economize, but so we really had the feel of the real Greek towns and villagers that we passed through, around the Pagasitic Gulf and then along the West Aegean coast. One such coastal village, we were really attracted to the sense of humour displayed by the local baker.
This area is much used by Greek families as a holiday/long weekend area, but for us, whilst inland it was lovely,
the coastal regions were not as lush, interesting or as beautiful as The Ionian Sea area.
Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece is a busy, thriving, cosmopolitan city, much more pleasant than its larger sister Athens, and because Margaret wanted to see the heart of the city, Pete drove ‘Te Papa’ right through the very busy centre, and it was busy, 200 metres in half an hour!!
We stayed for two nights on a wonderful camp site
( Camp Sikia) just south of Volas. For just 20 euros per night the exceptionally high standard was amazing value.
The site was run by two sisters but sadly they explained with the present economic climate they were more than half empty.
It really hurts us to see this country suffering like this. It is an amazing country with such kind and caring people, yet when they need the custom most of all, tourists are staying away due to the bad press.
Sadly, all the bad things the world hears is happening in Greece, in Athens,
the majority of the country just tries to get on as best they can to survive.
Our call to the world, Greece has given so much to modern civilization, it is a lovely country with warm kind people, don’t desert them now in their hour of need. They need our support and will make it so worthwhile.
From Thessaloniki, heading north west into the mountains was the most interesting and exciting part of the whole trip. We had heard that it was a wonderful area and were certainly not disappointed. We have no idea how many hair pin bends Pete manoeuvred Te Papa round, but it was definitely well into the hundreds. The roads taking us up into the Pindos National Park were brilliant and we rose to heights of 2497 metres, much higher than Snowdon or Ben Nevis.
We went to Lake Prespa , a large lake in the far north west corner of Greece, it is the point where Greece, Albania and Fyrom (Former Yugoslavia republic of Macedonia) all meet.
Here we saw many pelicans, at rest, swimming and in flight. They are amazing in the sky, so graceful as they glide along. We were fortunate to see 8 of them flying in formation. It was terrific.
Throughout this region, there were signs along the road telling us to beware of bears and wolves. Scary, but the only wild life we actually saw was a baby tortoise crossing the road.
Whilst in Crete a few winters ago, Pete had read a book ‘Papas and the Englishman’, which he enjoyed very much. The Englishman had been made redundant and with his wife, came out to live in Greece, first to Corfu, but then later, across on the mainland in a tiny village high up in the Zagoria mountains.
He rebuilt a dilapidated property, making a life in the village for himself and his wife. The book had described how magnificent the area of Zagoria was and what a wonderful village Koukouli,
the place where the couple settled turned out to be. Yes, you’ve guessed. We went up to find this village.
It was not on any map we could find, but fortunately our Tom Tom Sat nav took us there. Wow! The views were stunning wherever you looked and the village totally different to anything we have ever seen before.
All the cottages were built of stone, the village was surrounded by stone walls
and the tiny winding lanes/alleyways, only in parts, barely wide enough for a pick up truck to get through, were also constructed of stone.
We found the house the Englishman had rebuilt and the one that belonged to the Papas, and the friends who housed the still for distilling the Ouzo. We also discovered the most unusual Church. There were three tavernas , but quite how they all made a living is hard to know!
A truly brilliant visit.
From then on it was all downhill, so as to speak. We made our way southwards to Ioanina. Where we found, purely by chance, an excellent if slightly expensive camp site, immediately on the lakeside.
Having enjoyed a relaxing night together with our first scattering of rain for about two months, the following morning we made our way further south to Arta,
then round the Amvrakikos Gulf, wild camping for another night, this time on the shores of the Inland Sea, before heading back to the beach at Levkas, where it all began two weeks earlier.
Here we enjoyed sitting in glorious sunshine by a turquoise sea,
taking the occasional dip whilst preparing ourselves for returning to the boatyard two days later to the continued refit of “Lady”.
As it happens, on our final return to the yard, work on Lady was held up for two days somewhat unexpectedly due to an incident on our final day at Levkas. Whilst sitting out under the shade of “Te Papa’s” awning, a gust of wind caught the underneath of the awning. Unfortunately, because of the stony ground, we did not have it pegged down. The awning, shot up into the air wrapping itself over the roof of “Te Papa” . As we caught it and wound it in as best as possible, it looked a very sad bent and twisted affair. That evening, research on the internet revealed that a new one would cost £590 and that was in UK. So Pete spent the first two days back in the yard, removing it from the motor home, stripping it down, bending panels back into shape, before re-assembling and re-fitting. Finally, would you believe, it works perfectly with no visible signs of the disaster at all. Only one thing could happen after this, at “Happy Hour”, Saturday night became a very celebratory
OUZO NIGHT ……. YAMAS!
Pete and Margaret
