Friday September 8th 2017

Wow, what a fabulous day we have had! We hired an ATV/All Terrain Vehicle/Quad Bike or as it is known here in Greece –a pig – ένα γουρούνι.

We set off along the main artery of the island to Geraki which was 22 kilometers away.  The road was similar to a B road and had many pot holes; it led us through beautiful scenery. There were pine trees, olive trees and many arbutus trees, all of which, being evergreen, give year round shades of green.

There were magnificent views of blue and turquoise seas. We spotted Peristera, a small island, and saw other islets that together form part of the Marine Park.

There are six islands and 22 rocky islets that belong to the Marine Park. The park protects the endangered monk seal and other sea creatures and birds.

Apparently the monk seal are usually located around Piperi Island, but this area is strictly off limits to all tourist boats.

It was only when we passed a small church as we drove into the small village of Geraki that we realised that we hadn’t seen any churches along the road or in the distance.  Usually there is a church around almost every corner here in Greece.

A van with ‘Geraki Kantina’ painted on it was parked close to the tiny beach, offering the usual coffees, soft drinks and souvlakis.  We had expected to find a few houses or perhaps a shop or a taverna but the ‘kantina’ in a van was the only facility.

After travelling to Geraki which is the island’s most northern tip, we turned around and started to head back with the intention of following some of the small arteries down to the little bays.

After driving a few kilometres, I realised that the insulation bag with our drinking water in was no longer tied to the back of the quad.  The ATV had no box so our belongings were tied on with an elastic strap.  We retraced our steps in the hope of finding it. It is bright yellow with “DAHAB’ (the resort where we had bought it in Egypt) so we thought that we should be able to spot it easy enough.   We drove back slowly, scanning the area and had driven quite a few kilometres before we spotted it, lying in the middle of the road.  We were pleased to find it as it is a necessity during an island hopping trip!

We set off again and continued to the tiny village of Kalamaki.

We chatted to the Greek lady in the taverna and ordered two coffees. She offered us a menu and insisted on telling us about the variety of fish she had, how fresh it was, and then suggested we return later to sample it.

 

There were four fish tavernas in this tiniest of villages, all in a row.  We had a  picturesque view of Peristea as we sat drinking our coffees.

Traffic was extremely light; only one bus and half a dozen cars passed us. This of course, made our day more enjoyable.  At one point as we were parked at the side of the road, taking photographs and admiring yet another spectacular seascape, a man on a scooter slowed down and asked us if we had a problem and required help. ‘Όχι, ευχαριστώ’, ‘No, thank you’ we chorused in reply.

We spotted a couple of what we believed to be Eleanora’s Falcons soaring above us. Dave attempted to photograph them but it was rather difficult and I don’t think he managed to capture a whole one!

A couple of kilometres further along we stopped at Steni Vala, a small fishing village that is popular with yachters.  Incidentally, Alonnisos claims to have the largest fishing fleet in the Aegean, boasting 250 boats.

We walked along the tiny harbour.  Four of the yachts were hired and they all belonged to the same company. The adventurous holiday makers on these vessels had chosen to charter a yacht for a week or so.  We saw the group’s leaders with their radios clipped to their belts and watched them having a brief word and checking all was okay with the budding yachtsmen and women on each of the boats.

Dave spotted his ‘dream boat’, not a sleek speedy vessel but a classical wooden cruiser.

A short while later while we were enjoying a delicious lunch of fresh Alonnisos tuna salad, we watched a middle aged couple board the cruiser and slowly sail out of the harbour’s turquoise waters; Dave turned slightly green with envy.

After lunch, we went to the village’s beach and swam in the crystal clear waters – who needs a snorkel and mask?

 

Kokkinokastro which translates from the Greek to Red Castle was the next bay that we visited. It was another gorgeous bay with small red cliffs and a huge red rocky islet, everything that our guidebook had promised.

 

A wooden kantina stood in the middle of the small beach offering refreshments.  The guy only had one variety of ice cream left due to it nearing the end of the season (and only six of those). We bought a couple and sat gazing out to sea while we ate them.

 

Just a short drive away we found the beach named Χρυσή Μηλιά –Golden Apples. This was the busiest beach that we had seen all day and had more facilities too.  There were a couple of tavernas, a small shop and water sports were also available.

We took a couple of photographs and then continued to our final destination of the day , the island’s Chora, the old village.

The majority of this old Greek village was severely damaged in an earthquake in 1965. Most of the villagers moved from their damaged homes to Patitiri.

Today, many of the homes in the Chora are owned by foreigners, mainly British and German who purchased the deserted houses and renovated them.

A number of the buildings have the fish scale slate roofs.

 

We slowly wandered around and visited a large old church that apparently was built in the 16th or 17th century and obviously withstood the earthquake. We came across four or five much smaller churches too.

I was surprised at the number of tavernas there were for such a small place. There were also a few small shops.

We decided to return this evening by bus and have our evening meal here.

It has been a fabulous day seeing this lovely little island and exploring some of its beaches on the quad bike. We returned our ATV after filling it with very expensive petrol; the fuel is definitely more expensive here on the smaller islands!

After a quick beer on our balcony, we showered and changed and caught the 7.30pm bus back up to the Old Village. The journey took just ten minutes and the sun had just set when we got off the bus.  Unlike our earlier visit (nearing the end of siesta time) there were quite a lot of people around.  We sauntered around, reading an odd menu, going up and down steps leading us to different narrow alleys and small streets.

We came across one eatery with its doors and shutters firmly locked and two notices pinned to its doors, one in English, the other in Greek:

Το κατάστημα θα παραμείνει κλειστό μέχρι να εφαρμαστεί ένα δίκαιο φορολογικό και ασφαλιστικό σύστημα.

This place will remain closed until a fair tax and insurance system is provided.

A sign of the times I’m afraid…

We chose a traditional Greek taverna for our evening meal.

Afterwards, we meandered again around the old village with its new houses before we took the bus back down to Patitiri.

 

We have had a thoroughly enjoyable day!

 

Previous                   Next