For once the boys appeared to have got a one up on us when .... was waiting to pick them up, and we were stranded. A mini van saved the day and dropped us off to our cute little apartment, a two minute walk from the heart of Fira town. We set off to explore our new turf and arranged to meet the boys later on. When we met next to the Caldera, it seems we definitely did luck out on accommodation and they were staying in the middle of nowhere- another point to the girls! Very high on my bucket list was a donkey ride up the caldera steps, so the boys, too chicken to board went and got a drink (boring!) while i set out to achieve my dream of being Lena from sisterhood of the travelling pants . Donkeys are definitely not the smoothest ride, and there were a number of times i thought I'd had it, as my grey haired old donkey scrambled its way down the hill. I had even planned out a mental escape route, which i immediately forgot as the donkey leader untied them and set them free to climb back up the hill. My video of the experience sounds remarkably similar to when i watch a horror movie, filled with gasping and screaming as the donkeys raced up the hill, eager to beat the one in front, or ram their heavy loads into the cliff walls (the bruises will vouch for their success). Shaken but enthralled i hopped down, rounded up the boys, and caught a bus to Oia to tick off another Santorini essential, the famous sunset!
The sunset was beautiful, but as for the best in the world, I'd have to honestly say the hordes of tourists definitely took away the..... The pink sky symbolised dinner time but making our way through the crowds and into a restaurant seemed difficult, even harder was finding somewhere with a table for 5. The wind had picked up and the night had become quite cold but the rumblings of our stomachs overpowered our goosebumps when the only table available was on the roof. We were certainly unprepared for the wind which I could hardly bear and even snuggling Ethan and wrapping my legs in the tablecloth my teeth began to chatter. Everyone was starving and didn't want to risk the possibility of losing the only available table in Oia so we sat in silence, miserable and shivering. The final straw was when our glass bottled soft drinks and our cutlery were captured by a gust of wind and aimply blew off the table. We packed up ready for home until we realises there was a vacant table downstairs, even though we had asked to move about 10 times and were assured there was simply no free tables. Stuffed chicken breasts all around which were delicious, but the delay and frostbite quietened everyone's praise of the meal.
A girls day was in order once the boys declined our invitation to the beach so our trio headed off to Perissa to check out the black sand. Sand and wind are never a good combination and unfortunately the wind from the previous night had hardly settled. We tried our best to brave the sand whipping on our backs but soon fled to the shelter of a restaurant for an early lunch of freshly caught seafood, cooked to perfection! In case we were still hungry we all had an ice cream and lasted about another hour in the sun and sand storm before calling it quits. A new night meant a new sunset so we hiked along the coastline of the Island, and were treated to an outstanding view the entire way before reaching the sunset viewpoint at Imeroviglia, which was just as good as Oia, minus the crowd. After our big spending at lunch we settled for a gyros dinner which the boys loved and we headed our separate ways to bed with happy tummies.
Today was the day for adventures and that meant QUAD BIKES! The boys were having s slow start so the girls set off without me and we planned to meet up at the Red Beach. Considering I had never driven a quad before, was going to drive on the wrong side of the road, and risk Ethan's life as well as mine, I was expecting a decent driving lesson before we set off. In Greece, that is clearly too high of an expectation. Accelerator, brake, handbrake, stick to the right side, off you go! And within 1 minute Ethan and I are racing down the road amongst actual traffic with Thommo following behind. Our first stop was Petrol station which immediately presented a problem, how did we indicate to turn in to the station, how did we reverse into the right spot, how did we fill up petrol?? I was already stressed and Ethan ended up pushing the bike to the pump and making the assistant help us out while I calmed down. The calm was fleeting however as the first road we headed up seemed awfully narrow and we had a lot of close shaves, Ethan realised what I had been dreading, we were going the wrong way up a one way road with nowhere in sight to turn around or get off the road. By this point I was panicking and wished that I had no license and could be a passenger like Eth, not the driver with all the pressure and responsibility. A rubbish truck racing around the corner was nearly the end of our day as I screamed and prepared to die. Having survived Ethan directed traffic as I did a U turn and set off on a more safe and less stressful course! By the time we reached the Red Beach I was feeling much more confident and excited for a dip, those helmets are boiling hot!
The red beach was unlike anything I had ever seen. The blue normal sea resided at the base of an enormous red cliff face and had a browny red gravel in place of the white sand typically found back home. It was an interesting contrast of colours but I was more interesting in cooling down than observing the landscape after a stinking hot ride and jumped straight in. Next stop was a small beach off the beaten track that our receptionist has recommended that morning, en route however we lost Thommo as he zoomed past the turn off. Mish decided to chase him and fulfil her inner desire to be a drag racer, but returned solo after a 10min chase so one member short, our bikey gang started the descent down a hill on a dirt track. The poor road surface combined with the extreme incline was quite a slippery route and my hand was aching from clenching the brake as tightly as possible to avoid rear ending Zoe, the extra weight of two people on a bike made it much harder to fight gravity. My aching palm was rewarded though when we reached the empty and isolated black pebble beach with a gorgeous little family taverna the only sign of civilisation as far as you could see. I decided on an octopus salad as was told it was freshly caught that morning by the waitors grandfather sitting a few tables away. The food was beautiful as was the view, and after this we decided to become true Greeks and have a siesta while lying on the beach. Absolute heaven! The girls zoomed off for another Oia sunset but Eth and I decided to go for a big drive and then treat ourselves to a nice dinner before another dreaded goodbye. We dined in style, shirted and dressed up, and I even was allowed to order for us!
The next morning was goodbye time and after hours and hours of tears shed by both Ethan and I (even though he will deny it) , the boys were gone and I was a sniffling mess. To cheer myself up I decided to have a binge day and accompany Zoe to a hidden beach she had been to with her family to take my mind off my sadness. A pandora charm, 2 blocks of chocolate, 2 new books and chips and tzatziki I was feeling a bit better so we walked down to the very bottom of a cliff, clambered over some rocks and made it to the beautiful little cove/beach! After some initial difficulties trying to make my way in, I was suddenly plunged into the icy water but braved it and swam to a church perched on a rock a little way out. We dried off there and chatted to a man from Crete, our next destination and got some advice on places to go, and in exchange we put his fears of deathly poisonous spiders and snakes being an everyday sight in Melbourne & Sydney to rest (that was why he hadn't been to Australia!!)
The only downside about this hidden beach was the climb back up in 35 degree heat. Avoiding donkey poo the whole way we stopped for lots of 'photo opportunities' aka breathers, and headed to the bus nice and sweaty. Sadly, the sweat had to stay because we were running late to a dinner date with Zoe and Mish's high school friend, Katya. I opted to spend my money on wine and settled for the cheapest dinner option, Greek salad (had to prioritise). It was a lovely meal and lovely company, and with an introduction to a new type of Greek chocolate the night was perfect. We had a ferry to Crete at 3.45am and the bus took us down to the port at 2.30. We decided to be brave and stay up so we met up with Katya's brother and cousin and had a sober night of clubbing before donning the backpacks and commencing our journey to Crete
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