Kolokytha.

Another typical summer's day here with rain and wind.

In the morning I made a start on working out how to make a compost bin in the back garden using some small wooden pallets that I had brought home. They are just the right size to go in a little corner by the garage but first I had to mix up some cement and fill in a gap under some blockwork.

That done it was time to rapidly scan my Welsh course book before class having not done as much as I hoped on holiday. But when we logged on our tutor was having a family crisis. She'd brought her poorly son home from school and now he was considerably worse and she was waiting for the doctor to phone her back. We all told her to forget the class as a sick child is far more important. It was the last class of the year but she might do one next week instead.

Now for more walks in sunny Crete -

Having a car meant that we could drive out to Kolokytha (the island, as it is known locally) to walk in the unspoiled countryside. The circular walk is 7km and clearly marked though we did lose the track once.

Coming over the causeway (from the right) and negotiating the steep bridge that twists in the middle you come to a large car park. This was where I did my first practice drives to get used to the feel of the car doing figures of eight around the two windmills.

On our first walk we just went up to this chapel and had a short stroll on the dusty track before driving back over the bridge and stopping by the foundations of the drowned city of Olous.

The next time Peter wore his walking boots, less stones under his toes and better support for his ankles.

That time we followed the track around the eastern side of the island. In a way the scenery was reminiscent of Morthoe though a great deal hotter even with the breeze.

This chapel was higher up on the hill and we were happy to sit on the stone bench in the shade for a while. The many chapels we saw are all in regular use and well maintained.

From the chapel we worked our way down to a small sandy beach. There was a larger sandy beach further along which was a regular stopping place for cruise ships so quite busy.

We did our next walk on a very windy day. This time we set off round the west side of the island.

Walking along the beach we had sea spray blowing over us but then the path went inland and up.

Up, up, up a tiny and very rocky track made for donkeys.

The views got better and better the higher we went until eventually we could see over to the other side of the island. At that point we decided to go back rather than try and continue all the way round. 

On our last walk on the island we did manage to do the whole route. I have to be mindful of Peter's arthritis so he sets the pace and the distance. We're just thankful that he can walk at all having been told twenty years ago that he should expect to be in a wheelchair in a few years.

We took the eastward route marching up the easy track before the way became a stony path with painted markers on the gaps made in the old field walls.

Before turning back over the spine of the island we diverted to visit yet another chapel down by the sea. It was coming back from here that we lost our way for a little bit.

The gap between two hills looks a bit desolate but was actually full of flowers and birdsong.

The path became a bit of a rocky scramble as we skirted a bay in which were moored three yachts whose occupants were living a lavish lifestyle. 

Up above there were the remains of farm buildings and I'm guessing this was a threshing circle. A bit more uphill walking until we came to the high point we had reached before from where it was all downhill back to the windmills in the car park.

Local Walks.

As soon as the worst of the morning's rain was over I took myself down to the zoo for a spot of weeding. As I expected there were weeds everywhere. It took me four hours to to weed the gravel garden where the thrift is doing exceptionally well, pink and white flowers on all the plants I grew from seed. Some things like the lavender and santolina either didn't survive the attack of the goats or don't like the conditions while the stachys is holding on and last year's planting of ground cover sedum is filling out nicely. I also went over the paths in the grass maze. 

It's raining again and my legs are beginning to feel the effects of last night's kettlebells so I may not go to choir tonight.

Going to Crete in May meant that the hot weather was only just beginning with plenty of spring flowers which was better for us though not every day was a good day for spending the whole day on the beach. The water hadn't warmed up though for us Brits and Northern Europeans it was fine for swimming. I found I would start to get cold after half an hour of snorkelling but I still saw plenty of interesting fish.

Instead we did a lot more walking. This year Peter's knees and ankles were in a better state and he was able to do more walking with me.

The first longer walk we did was along the the headland which can just be seen as a pale line in the above photo. We walked outwards for an hour and a half which didn't quite get us around the headland but took us right out of sight of the village.

The track itself is not terribly exciting but gave us great views of Spinalonga (centre of the photo below) and Kolokytha (the island by Elounda) to the left and of course the mountains in the distance.

Another walk we did together was up behind the village heading inland.

Although there were a number of new developments creeping up the hillside the olive groves still gave a sense of rural life.

It's not a very long walk but great for just stretching your legs after lazing about on the beach.

Riding In Crete.

Here it has been a day of sunshine and showers. In the morning I had to go to town to the dentist. I was due a check up, £85 for a minimal look at my teeth and gums plus an x-ray of a tooth that broke while we were away. I wasn't too surprised as it was the only molar I could chew on and it already had a very large filling. The dentist said it was salvageable but would need a root canal filling and a crown. So instead I've opted to have the tooth taken out (£337!) and a lower denture which will be nearly £2,000! Private dentists in England charge less but here he's got a captive clientele. I always said I'd replace my broken denture once another tooth had to go so I guess now is the time. Now I have to wait until July until I can have the tooth taken out.

On a happier note, riding.

Of course riding was the highlight of my holiday. Not only because of spending time on horseback but also because we rode through the most beautiful mountain scenery on rough tracks through olive groves filled with flowers and birdsong and even the drive there was stunning.

After at least eight phone calls (not so easy for someone who doesn't like making phone calls and hates waiting for people to phone back especially when they don't.) I finally was able to book some riding for the last week of our stay as they were fully booked with riding holidays for the first two weeks. That at least gave me time to get used to driving. Next year I'll phone before we leave the UK. 

 

It was over an hour's drive from Plaka to the switchback that went to the top of the 400m mountain. From there the road gently dropped down onto the Lassithi plateau surrounded by the Dikti mountains rising to over 1,600m.

After passing through the villages of Mochos, Gonies and Avdou the last 2km were up the rocky track. This track is still classed as a public road and once a year before the annual festival at the Cave of Zeus the local authority makes some repairs by pouring concrete on the worst parts.

Having made it safely to Odysseia Stables, with neighbouring hotel and restaurant I walked down to the well appointed yard. There were other horses, some pretty arabs, turned out in nearby orchard fields but the riding horses each had a large loose box leading to individual outdoor spaces.

We were expected to groom our horses before tacking up and after the ride we untacked, picked out their feet, washed their backs and applied a tea tree rinse against the flies which were pretty dreadful. Having a constantly twitching horse was something I had to get used to when we were out riding.

This was my horse, Aria. 16.2, nice and reliable apart from not liking other horses behind her. That meant I had to ride at the back of the ride which as the family in front of me didn't speak much English left me with just Aria to talk to. 

That didn't matter so much as there was so much to look at all around. Most unusual were the 2-3ft high voodoo lilies growing under the olive trees. 

(Photo from the web.) 

The first day's three and a half hour ride was mainly through olive groves and up and down the mountains. 

On the second day with more cantering than the first day, we rode for five hours which included stopping for half an hour at Lyttos. an ancient city going back to iron age time which once covered 1,000 acres. There we met some archaeologists who were excavating some of the later roman ruins, a temple and a yet to be determined building.

In some of the places there were handy banks to use as mounting blocks but when I got off to go down a steep concrete section of track the guy leading the ride had to give me a leg-up, poor him. I'd chosen to lead Aria since even though the concrete was ridged it was still slippery for the horses. I kept thinking the going was much more suitable for sure footed native ponies but I expect some people expect full sized horses when they are paying for a riding holiday.

For the last half an hour of the second day's ride the mountain beside us was topped with dark grey thunder clouds and thunder echoed between the peaks. I counted the seconds after one dramatic set of forked lightening until the thunder rolled which put the storm as being 6 miles away. The horses took no notice and it didn't start raining until just as we got back to the yard. And stopped soon after. 

On my drive back down the mountain I came across this mare tethered in an orchard with her young foal running loose. That was after a shepherd with his three large dogs held back his flock of sheep to let me past. It's a completely different rural world up un the plateau.

Driving in Crete.

It's the first day of summer so of course we've lost the sun and gained some rain. Not that the garden couldn't do with a good watering and at least the weather was good for half-term.

After taking into account the cost of airport transfers plus any excursions it worked out very reasonable to hire a car for three weeks. Of course we then had the joy of driving an unfamiliar car on the 'wrong' side of the road but it really was worth it.

At the beginning Peter drove as I am not a natural driver and any change makes me extremely nervous. Plus I am aware that I don't have very good distance judgement added to bushes hanging over the edge of roads and the more worrying random concrete platforms (up to 2ft high) in front of village buildings. Not to mention holiday makers wandering across roads oblivious to traffic and random double parking.

The first time I drove the 5km to Elounda I did not get out of 2nd gear and afterwards my hands were shaking. The next time I went further and had to drive along a narrow causeway reached by a steep narrow section (one car wide). The next bit had cars parked along one side and on the other a direct drop into the sea which was pretty nerve-wracking. My strategy was when in doubt drive slowly and if it's more scary, stop. 

However I knew that if I wanted to go riding (by that time I had realised it would be well over an hour's drive) I had to conquer my fears. A few more outings to get used to the voice on Google maps, which has a nasty habit off telling you to turn well before the actual turning or telling you to turn when in fact it is just a bend in the road, my determination paid off.

So, what were the roads like? Not bad actually. 

(Not my photo.)

I did a lot of driving on the new highway running from east to west along the northern coast of Crete. Billions of euros are being spent on the construction of this road and I was often driving through road-works or behind enormous works vehicles. The speed limits changed constantly but I just kept to the same speed as the vehicle in front. Which was generally 20-30km above the limit at any point. (In the UK I am an obedient driver and stick to the speed limits apart from occasionally driving above the 20mph limit Wales has for all built up areas.)

Considering that Cretan drivers have the highest road fatalities in Europe I never felt unnerved by other people's driving though generally the roads I drove on were quite empty. Also for long stretches the wide roads had double lines in the middle and signs for no overtaking, my favourite sort of road. Of course the Cretan drivers took no notice and happily overtook whenever they felt like.

There is a convention that if a car is coming up behind you move slightly towards the edge of the road to let them past and I have even seen older cars or trucks pull right onto the hard shoulder and stop. In all my travels I overtook a few bicycles and scooters and one very old car which was fine by me.

 

This is the switchback I had to use going from sea level 400m up to the top of the mountain. It was wide and although there were many turns it wasn't worrying at all especially as it was almost empty the times I drove up or down.

In general the roads were good,

but often got narrower driving through villages.

Yes, this too is a road and in some villages I had to drive over cobbled roads into a village square (with tables and tourists) and out again through almost as narrow streets.

And then again there are the dirt tracks. We walked along this one on the island at Elounda though people did drive along it as well, and it was what I would call a good track.

And this is a 'good' section of the 2km track that wound its way up the mountainside to the stables. Some sections, like this one had been concreted but most of it was just rocks hard packed into the ground. I crawled along the track doing my best to avoid not just the rocks and holes but the spiky branches overhanging the sides of the road. Not fun at all but the only alternative was to march 2km up the road. 

The first time I returned from the stables I was less than 20km from Plaka when the Google lady told me to turn off the highway to a nearby town. Usually I disregard directions if I think I know where I'm going but this isn't always the best plan so I followed the instructions. To try and make sense of things I pulled over to double check my route, only to find Peter's phone had run out of power. Yikes! I had a road map (being right not to trust technology) and saw it was still 13km to Agios Nikolaos. At that point I had several options, ask a passer-by for help but would I have been able to follow directions? or carry on driving through Neapoli and look for road signs to Ag. N. But what I did was turn around and follow the signs to the highway again. Following my nose I was able to get onto the highway and just had to wait in a one way section where rocks had fallen onto the road. Luckily I recognised the turning off when I got to the city and knew the way back from there. Guess who got an earful about not charging their phone when I got back?

The next day I was making the same journey back when all traffic was directed off the highway into Neapoli. The diversion was very well organised with people standing at every junction showing which way to go. They had even set up a one way system so that traffic heading in the other direction took a different route along the narrow country roads. I happily carried on in convoy all the way to the city where I thought I would let Google take me around the city edge. Bad move. I ended up in a tiny dead end high on a hill behind another car which had also been following Google. A bit of careful manoeuvring and ignoring the phone bleating at me got me back onto my homeward route. Then for some reason Google decided I was going to the island at Elounda and kept trying to get me to turn around but I ignored all instructions.

I ended up feeling confident driving in Crete and should be fine the next time we visit.  

Plaka.

Today here in Borth while it hasn't been exactly sunny it was still warm. The sea was a tasteful shade of duck egg blue and the sky a light greyish blue.

The last bit of holiday washing (handwashing my large silk shirt) has been done and my bags completely unpacked. I've done some gardening, stewed apples for breakfast porridge and gone through the rest of my holiday photos. All this was after a much needed long sleep, a leisurely breakfast and two episodes of The Archers Omnibus. (We did listen to Radio 4 a lot on our Kindles but didn't bother with The Archers.)

Today's post is a general introduction to the village of Plaka where we stayed. We like it so much we hope to go back for longer next year.

The hillside behind Plaka is covered with more holiday complexes many still a work in progress. For the first two weeks there was the sound of heavy machinery carving through the rocks to make an access road for yet more housing higher up. Though constant it was far enough away not to be too intrusive. Plus there was a steady stream of enormous trucks transporting the resulting boulders to .... somewhere else. Again it was just part of daily life and preferable to nightclubs and party goers that you would get in the very popular resorts.

This was our 'home' with our apartment on the left with the open shutters. Next time we will be in the right hand apartment. A mirror image of the one we were in but with a much larger wrap around terrace with enough room for our sun loungers, that catches the afternoon sun. This year we had a small terrace at the front and a second one from the bedroom. That one catches the sun but a tree in the garden was covered with pungent blossom that attracted flies and other insects. 

It was cloudier at the start of the holiday but there were plenty of blue skies later. From our front terrace we watched everything going on up and down the road and even had a tiny view of the sea.

The road - looking towards the mountain and the beach at the far end, just five minutes walk away.

There was a big change at the beach this year, no sun beds for hire. Because most beaches in Crete had their natural beauty spoiled by rows and rows of sun beds and umbrellas on the prime spaces leaving nowhere for people to bring their own towels and/or chairs/beds a law has been passed restricting the sun beds for hire to 30% of the beach. Also they had to be 4m away from the water's edge. That obviously made it unprofitable for the old chap who hired out the beds sitting at his table with radio and three packets of cigarettes. At one end of the beach is an expensive bistro which has beds etc for customers and at the other end there are fancy sun beds for the guests of a complex on the hillside. They had some of the basic sun beds for hire there but E25 for two was a massive hike from last year's E10. 

The beach looked much better but it wasn't so good for us as with his bad knees Peter can't get up from the ground. Through a tip on line I found a shop near Lidl that sold garden furniture and bought two sun beds (with carrying handles) for E70. They were E40 each but when I asked the man if he would do a deal he knocked off E10. Manolis, our host is happy to keep them for us for next year so it was a worthwhile investment and we can use them on the terrace as well. 

Between us and the sea was an area of expensive craft/gift shops, boutiques and restaurants. Everything was open until very late so that people could enjoy the warm evenings and the Cretan custom of eating at 9.00 or later. 

Almost every evening we would have a stroll around and then sit on the bench (below) to watch the Spinalonga lights turning on. We would also watch the lights of the fishing boats sailing around the bay. Sometime there would be yachts moored in the bay and occasionally a cruise boat out at sea. On a couple of evenings there were live musicians playing traditional music at one of the restaurants and one time a group of dancers in traditional costume.

When the Spinalonga lights turn on they are an eerie green gradually turning orange as they warm up.