Champagne Aegean flights to Athens/Crete on New Year’s Day got us off to a good start but somewhere along the way, a cold bug hit me so by 3^rd January I felt grim.  The weather the first few days matched my preference to stay indoors in front of the cosy wood burner during self-imposed quarantine.

Any trip to Agios Nikolaos needs a coffee stop and again the lack of people feels odd, a fact obviously enjoyed by an egret perched on one of the small fishing boats moored at the lake.  

The cloudy days were followed by two ‘halcyon’ days – blue skies, sunshine and no wind, 20c = mini summer.  For the first, we walked along the beaches and headlands of Istron and for the second we went to Sissi and enjoyed a walk in the company of three well-behaved dogs that decided they’d see where these odd people went.

By our second Saturday, I felt ready for a proper walk so we set off to use a clearly marked trail above the village of Kroustas.  The walk includes woodland and open views across Mirabello Bay and identifies some Minoan remains.  As you can see below some of the walk was cool and damp.

Here are Alan and Hilary at the 'gate' of the large Minoan house at the pinnacle of the walk. 

To find this walk, pass through the centre of Kroustas, turn right along the side of the school and keep going until you reach a clearing by the side of a huge water cistern, clad to look like a house, with a picnic area.  Park here and follow the marked trail that starts by an information board. 

The next day was another ‘summer day’ so we strolled the esplanade at Ierapetra and made the most of the sun with a coffee and lunch stop.  It’s such a treat to see empty beaches instead of crammed sun beds! 

Village news - The Kritsa village post office has closed as part of cost saving activity and one of the gift shops now has a mini post office counter set up in one corner.  This will be a fab way of increasing their foot traffic although their winter opening hours are erratic.  The main headache for them is that hardly anyone has a proper address – the previous postman remembered where everyone lived so ‘Surname – Kritsa’ got electric and water bills delivered.  When we went into claim our bills we saw a huge stack of undelivered mail so it will need regular checks to make sure nothing goes astray.

We woke to a thunderstorm on Thursday 16th Jan and then the next day we enjoyed our breakfast on the balcony today at the start of another ‘summery’ day – the contrasts at this time of year really are amazing!  Later in the morning, we enjoyed a spectacular flying display courtesy of griffon vultures and hooded crows and ended day with an enjoyable quiz night in an Agios Nikolaos bar. 

Today we've been up to Kathero  for a walk across the plateau and Hilary came too.  We'd only gone a few hundred yards when we realised the usually dry river had far too much water to negotiate without getting wet boots so Alan had to fetch the car to drive us through.  After that, no problem!  Although we did notice that the breeze coming off the snowy mountains made the temperature markedly cooler than down in the village.

We're almost at the half way point for this trip so intend to do lots more walking, weather permitting.

Unblocking!

Writers block for 9 weeks as I've attempted to re do the last chapter in the UK.  Today, sat on balcony in warm(ish) sun overlooking Kritsa's olive groves and the germ of an idea is forming...

All I've got to do is listen!

Trouble afoot in Kritsa

After touch and go decision whether to make a trip to Crete due to Alan's moderate but cumulative health issues we decided to go ahead.  A short notice booking via Monarch proved very economical at less than £200 each.  I can’t remember getting a fare that good in the past and we were definitely aided by our lack of fixed dates and flexibility over airports – resulting in us using Birmingham for the first, but hopefully not last, time

Arriving late August gave us a week to unwind and settle in before Chris and Gary arrived – unfortunately, this coincided with Alan’s foot “exploding”.  An adventure we could have done without was learning how to use the hospital system - basically, you wave your EHIC card and push in. 

The first time was in the evening and from leaving home to being seen, having a prescription dispensed and getting home again only took 2.5 hours – imagine that in the UK!!

The second time was mid morning on a Monday and after waiting 45 mins a Dr took a look and said “Go to Dermatology via the main reception.”  The receptionist said there were no free appointments so we asked if we could go the next day – the reply was, “No, go today and wait” – we did so and still Chris & Gary, for lunch.  Shame they didn’t have a magic wand just ointment and more antibiotics.  We need to be patient now, as the cream has to be applied for 20 days...

Poor Alan doesn’t know what’s worse no driving, no swimming or no alcohol. That said, we did have a good break when Chris and Gary were staying with us for 2 weeks but we left Alan home alone sometimes.  

Our x 2 night stay away to Plakias was good fun; our excellent accommodation was right by the beach and only a short walk from the tavernas.  On our first night we were amused by waddling geese that walked along the beach and road without a care heading for the taverna that obviously frequently feeds them.
“Take a gander in here!”

The short boat trip to Prevelli beach means you get the most amazing view of the palm-clad river crossing the beach.  A walk up the river to the foot of the gorge is beautiful and as the fire scorched trees, have returned to green glory it shows just how good nature is at righting man made wrongs.

During the drive home we paused where the road goes through a dramatic gorge and enjoyed a flying display by obliging Griffon Vultures.  Then we had a refreshing stop at Spilli to taste the water gushing from the Venetian fountains.

Apart from a visit to the south coast we used very local beaches and tavernas when not eating at home.  This is where I should add a BIG thank you to Gary for sharing the driving - thank goodness it is the car that is insured out here and not the driver!

In the week since Chris & Gary left us, Alan has stayed on the balcony with his foot up and open to the air to give it the best opportunity to heal.  It may not have been how he hoped to spend his time but a seat in the shade overlooking olive groves and mountains is better than staring at four walls in Swindon!

Kicking our heels in Agios Nikolaos

The day did not start well - a flat tyre argh!

Once that was sorted we were able to leave the car as planned for a thorough clean before we wrap it in it's "pajamas" for the 8 - 10 weeks we are in the UK.

This gave us four hours to wander around Agios Nikolaos to enjoy cold lemonade at one end and lunch at the other - a nice way to spend our last day.

Now, off to do ironing and cleaning to leave the house ready for us next time.......

Chronia Polla (Χρονια Πολλα) Rodanthe

Today is the name day for all women and girls named Rodanthe.  To "celebrate" we took a walk to the Secret Plateau and the site of the battle in which Rodanthe, the heroine of my story died.

I will soon need to write the key battle chapter at the end of the book so I wanted the area to be fresh in my mind before we set off for the UK.

Another way to celebrate this day is to show this photo of Nigel at work in his studio on a figure of a young girl sat working at her crochet - in my version of the story this scene occurs whilst Rodanthe was at school.

Legal driver

After our marathon at the car registration office our last instruction was to return a week later on Fri (31st May) to collect the registration document.  Erring on the side of caution we left it until after the weekend and went yesterday.  We were out of the office again in less than 15 mins - fantastic.  Mind you, after all of this we will never complain about the DVLA!!

The green card proudly held in the photo is the registration document.

Today I let Alan drive us to the bookshop in Elounda, where I had an exciting €40 credit to spend in return for the large box of books we took in last week.

My kindle charger was accidentally left behind in the UK so it is good to have real books in my hands again.

This is the good life!

Last night we enjoyed an evening on Hilary and Phil’s balcony with Phil’s Mum and his sister Rita the birthday girl, plus Ken.  After a good game of girl’s v boys Trivial Pursuits which the girls won (hooray) we had a BBQ supper.

So today we decided to walk off some calories in the foothills of the Thripti Mountains above Kavousi.  Looking out from our balcony we have a good view of this area so it was good to get close up.

We first did this walk on 5^th November 2003.  As this picture shows it was a wet start to the walk on that occasion.

This steep shale mountainside looks like it could landslide at any moment but the ancient path that crosses it is still intact.

A small church provided us shelter from the rain last time – today it was a place of welcome shade.  Last time when we exited the church I snapped this rainbow.

 Today's view was bright the sunny view.

Prompting us to decide we deserved a lazy afternoon on the beach.....