Jas is now about ten weeks old and made herself completely at home. She's a bundle of fun and i get woken up at about 5am each morning with her doing her wall of death around my cabin. Last night it was like having a full bodied acupuncture session.
Here's Jas, she's found her spot on the boat where she feels safe when we are heeling over, the winch handle locker.
Life is soooooooo tuff.
This has to be one of the most photogenic beaches in Greece. It sits at the bottom of an arc of pale cliff that seem to have the clean lines and a natural wonder. As well as the white lines of the cliffs, the water is bright, bright blue and the cliffs have grassy topped fringes.
Not a fantastic pic but i only had my small camera with me. Katsiki is only 35 km away from Lefkada town, near Athani village, you must vivit it if you can. The unique view of the white cliff over the beach combined with the surrounding green of the area and the cyan water of the sea made it a "must visit”. It’s been consistently rated Top European Beach of the Year. It’s a long stairwell down to the actual beach from the cliff parking but a stairway to heaven.
The beach is lined with blue striped longing beds with umbrellas but at 8 euros for two we declined and lay in the shade of the cliff on white sand. A little toasting from the sun and the amazing blue water beckoned. Last year I bought a bikini and thought this a good time to give the top at least an airing, I did have bottoms on too by the way I’m not that brave in public.. A tan always helps cover any lumps and bumps or should I say make them less obvious.
On our way home we stopped off so Helen could buy some local honey. The bees who produce the amber nectar feed of wild Thyme and the honey is just delicious.
We also decided to have supper in one of the high positioned tavernas and watch the sun go down.
Carol reflecting in the glow of the sunset.
Carol has needed a change of scenery and had wanted to visit the Vikos Gorge so we decided to take a few days out and explore the area. The Gorge was a three hour drive from Lefkada and we packed all but the galley sink into the back of the car.
Our idea was to find camp sites however, on talking to folk in the marina I found out that not only do they have scorpions, wild dogs, lynx and snakes up in them there hills but also bears. Carol is very welcome to sleep under a thin sheet of nylon to protect her from the elements and wildlife but this cookie is not going to be tuka for any passing bear, wild dog or large cat. I’ll sleep in the car with all doors and windows locked. I’m not a complete woos, I did tell her to sleep with her mobile and if she finds herself surrounded by a hungry bear, dog or wild cat to call me and I’ll beep the horn to scare them off. That of course is providing we get a signal. Having driven through several packs of what looked to be wild dogs protecting goats’ sheep and cattle we decided to forget about the ‘being at one with nature’ and stay in a B&B.
Not far out of Yanana we came upon my first sighting of a tortoise, not in an open field like i was expecting but walking along a major road. Carol braked and turned the car around and we moved him to a safer place, I had a check to determine the sex’. Having tortoises of my own i knew the tell tale signs.....We couldn’t believe our luck, not just one tortoise sighting but three and all walking along the road, would you believe it.
The Gorge is also famous for its little stone bridges so following the guide book and maps we went in search of them. We first drove to Monodhendhri which like all the Zagori villages has these wonderful limestone houses. The coaches can’t navigate the roads here so it’s not as commercial as the villages below. From Monodhendri we drove as close as we could to the first view point, we then walked to the Oxia natural balcony giving us our first view of the Gorge which was spectacular. If you suffer from vertigo hold on to a friend. We were the only people there and sat for a while in silence just taking in the breathtaking view. Unfortunately being so high up and the cloud level so low we weren’t able to get the full impact but even so it was spectacular.
Vikos Gorge is located in the mountainous area of Epirus, to the North West part of Greece. It's the second deepest Gorge in the world, after the Grand Canyon.
The steep walls rise to a height of 1,040 meters in several places. The Voidomatis River crosses the Vikos Gorge and gives beautiful natural sceneries.
It's a place to sit and contemplate, there's no need to speak in fact, it's best not to so you can take in the enormity of this natural phenomena.
From Oxia we drove towards Koukouli, having the gorge tower above us with its magnificent rock formation as we drove along was unreal. We slalomed along the narrow road where we were confronted with an enormous free standing rock and our first sighting of one of the unique single arched bridges. We pulled over to take in the vista and get some good shots of the bridge.
Carol stood on the bridge just so we could get an idea of the scale.
It was then throw away where we found our bed for the night in Koukouli, a fabulous little village with hardly a soul in sight. This little place is off the beaten track. The traditionally built house was like something out of a fairy tale. The National park homes have remained the same as they were when they were first built in the 1800 and any renovations are obviously strictly regulated and there are also new builds and although built in a more modern way using bricks the fronts are faced with limestone and the roofs are made using the same stone they have used for almost two hundred years. The materials are taken from the surrounding area so they all blend in beautifully, no concrete here.
Tritoxo a B&B run by Eleftheria and Papa Kostas was a great find of Carols. Eleftheria didn't speak any English and as my Greek is zilch and Carols not much better we had a slight problem when we were showed our room, one double bed. I was rather suprised Elftheria didn't seem at all suprised that two women were being offered a one bed bedroom. Carol and i looked at each other and shook our heads, sharing was going to far. We really wanted to stay here so it needed a bit of drawing pics, Carol drew two beds with a stick man in each but this just caused a titter amongs the three men having coffee one being Ppa Kostas, a priest. Eventually the daughter was phoned and as she s[oke good english we were eventually offered a twin bedded room Phew.
We were treated like royalty and after a little wonder around the village we were offered supper of kebabs and a good supply of tea. The next morning Carol went for a long walk and having suffered a tummy problem for the past few days a declined. Breakfast was waiting for me when i came down at 9am and Carol arrived just in time for a well earned cuppa, eggs, toast with home made honey and fig jam.
This was the little terrace where we had our breakfast on our first morning.
Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
