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.
