A Greek Odyssey

 
for more photos click here

Relaxing in Greece .. and so glad to be out of Albania. So our first night in Greece after the escape was at Ioannina.

We stayed beside a lovely lake there. The next day we went to Dodoni, an ancient greek amphitheatre …. more rocks and not very well displayed. So we left quickly and headed towards Meteora – oh no, we're not! We're heading in the wrong direction – zooming along at 120kph. Great roads – nothing like Albania. You can really get some speed going and cover a lot of miles! The GPS said turn left, but Warwick knew better and thought the GPS was wrong and turned right. Hmmmm ... GPS was in fact correct and we had to backtrack about 100km and then start the day again from Ioannia. On to Meteora in the afternoon – a long slow windy road up the mountains, but amazing views and monasteries once we were there. Originally there were 26 monasteries there – one of each of the rock peaks, but now there are only 6 left. They were quite an impressive sight. We stayed at a really nice campsite that night and met up with an Aussie couple who have been living in London for the last 7 years, and they were cruising around in a small camper, and we had a great night chatting to them. And the rain was back … stink! Camping in the rain is no fun! Packing up wet tents is even worse Oh well.

The next day we set off for Delphi - we resisisted putting our wets on for as long as possible, but eventually had to give in … and it worked! The rain stopped! Another long drive - a straight line on the map does not necessarily indicate a straight road. They can be very winding and often quite steep, taking a long long time. But we are astounded at the olive groves here. We drive through them every day for miles and miles. Knarled, knotted old trees. They are beautiful. We found a bar that night that had internet wifi so Warwick could watch the Aussies/Spring Boks game. (I got bored very quickly and went shopping!). The next day the sun was shining again so we took off to explore the ruins at Delphi. Most impressive. Lots of photos … just a few attached for you. That night we met up with friends from Tauranga who are also travelling through Greece at present and had a fun night with them. We are hoping to catch up in another week or so on an island somewhere.

The tour guide for this adventure has thoroughly read the highlights as suggested by Lonely Planet and not all of them really rate the time and effort (especially in Albania!!!) However, you have to try these things. As we did yesterday going on a detour to find on a small rack railway through a narrow gorge and up a mountain. 

The gorge was pretty, but not a particularly steep climb and not really worth the hour each way. Oh well. So back on the bike and off to find another camp site for the night. We stayed at a beautiful beach at Kalouki - SAND at last !!! The first beach we have really seen with sand. It was lovely. It was getting a bit late by the time we arrived and we only just got the tent up before dark, but went for a swim and had breakfast on the beach this morning before we packed up.

Then we made tracks for Olympia. What a huge area the original site covered. Ruins everywhere. Quite moving to reflect on the history that has taken place there. More photos …. more ruins! And then back on the road again ….. till I started grumbling about not enough beach time. We always arrive too late to ever work on my tan!!! So we stopped along the way for an hour or so, and then have camped tonight at Pylos, another nice campground right on the beach. Warwick's birthday today – thank you to all those who sent birthday messages.