Contiki Greece Drunkerfest

What can I say- but thanks to my Greek Posse. We had very social 2 weeks, well from what we all can remember and what amazing company. Can't wait to see you girls in a few weeks .... Love to all

GOOD-BYE TO MY GREEK CONTIKI-ERS AND MY GREEK POSSE

WEATHER: Hot and 32C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: I am alive

BUMMER OF THE DAY: I am alive – some-one shoot me

BUYS OF THE DAY: My 5L of water I drank to try and rehydrate myself

WORD OF THE DAY: HANGOVER (please don’t shout)

Unofficial Day song – Time of My Life – Black Eyed Peas – no coach meant no song, but the Greek Posse decided on one

To quote Bree “ F#@k My Life.  I woke at 11am to the sound of my room phone ringing with Dee on the other end telling me I had 30 minutes to get all my shit together and out of the room.  We had a departure meeting at 11.30am, but more importantly we had to have our bags on the bus, that would be taking us to the port that afternoon.  The meeting I was happy to miss, having to get my bag down to Far Out later just did not appeal, and so I soldiered on and got my hungover body out of bed.  It is at this time I noticed the pain in my knee and arms, to look and see a massive gravel wound of about 5cm x 6cm on my left knee, gravel rash damage to my left elbow, a bruise on my right leg the size of a grape fruit, a sore toe (felt like it was broken till I sobered more), grazes on both shins, a small mark on my forehead, some cuts on my left foot toes and a small egg on my head.  WTF happened last night??  It is at this point the Dannii comes to my room to make sure I am up, and helps me pack my bag, and gets it to the bus for me ( that’s my Dancer ), so I just had to pack the small backpack and get myself to the pool.  Trust me this was such a struggle and I was feeling like shit.

Ed went through the post tour stuff, stalker sheets, group photo, tipping and the final details for the rest of the day etc. and then the group all jumped on the coach to spend their last hours at Far Out and the beach.  Lisa and I decided to stay at the hotel, where she sat on Skype for a few hours and I pulled up a piece of the balcony and slept till it was time to get us down to the coach.  At this point I haven’t eaten anything since last night, and I didn’t feel like eating anything then either.  I really was on STRUGGLE ST still.  We had a 4pm ferry departure back to Athens, the travel time 3 hours and 30 minutes and there were a few times, where I thought I would have to make a run for the toilets.  I guess this is where the no eating was a positive, I had nothing to chuck up – that’s how it works right?  I was now onto the water though, and I drank 2L just on the ferry.

We checked back into our Athens hotel and decided to not stop and head straight for dinner.  The whole bus looked like zombies.  The Greek Posse headed across the road to save some time, and the service was slower than the slow boat to China, so by the time we got it and paid for it, it was time to meet the group for our final farewells on the rooftop of where we were staying at 10pm.  This was a MASSIVE effort, as I was STILL feeling ordinary – maybe it was something I ate – Ha right!  I managed to hold out till 11pm and then I just had to hit the sack.  I still had to collect my luggage I had stored at the hotel and get my bag packed for airline travel.  I fluffed in my room, not getting much done, so I decided to leave it all and just get up earlier in the morning and pack it then.  I needed sleep.  This was good in theory till I went to lay down and due to my injuries, I couldn’t find a confortable spot without some pain.  I did have some antiseptic cream in my bag, so I lathered this on my knee and elbow and I think it made it worse, so I had to get up and wash the stuff off.  By this time it is 1am, and I had my alarm set for 3am!

I am a hugger, and I hate good-byes – but I know with my Greek Posse we will meet up again next year when I am home.  I will be seeing Breezer in London in July, and the girls in Newcastle, WA and Melbourne for sure next year when I get back.  We are already talking of another trip, whether it is Asia or a cruise, but I just know it will happen.  I am very lucky to have met you girls, you made my last 4 weeks (Kasey and Danni the last 2) the best experience for me, and I am not sure I would have had such a great time if not for you!  I love you guys and you really did become family, in the true sense from looking after me when I’d too much to drink, laughing with me in the good times, and me being there for you in the sad times.  That’s the way we rolled and you truly will never be forgotten.

A special shout out also goes to ED.  For being a pretty patient person in my drunken state and still talking to me the next day.  A few places, Paradise Beach, Tropical in Santorini and then the last night in Ios.  Hopefully you have seen worse drunks than me, if not I hope at least I was entertaining.  Thanks also for the chicken pie and helping Danni get me home in Ios.  All the best and I hope we can catch up again one day.

So this is farewell Greece and also Europe. Off to Morocco tomorrow and the African Sub-continent to get some rest and relaxation on the drinking front at least, as we have a pretty hectic 14 days on this Intrepid tour.  But there are new people to meet and new places to explore. 

CONTIKI GREEK ISLANDS 2011 – in no particular order………

Bree – Australia

Tiarna -  Australia

Kelei – Australia

Carly – Australia

Jess aka: Trouble – Australia

Suzanne – Canada

Jess S – Australia

Anneliese – Australia

Sophia

Danielle

Kasia

Tanea – Australia

Paulo – Australia

Averil –

Ashlee – Australia

Katie – Australia

Aimee – Australia

Merry

Kasey – Australia

Jennifer – USA

Kaitlin aka Sexy – Australia

Dee aka Responsible – Australia

Jaden – Australia

Lisa aka Angel – Australia

Courtney – Australia

Kristina – Australia

John – USA

Nicole – USA

Marylynn – USA

Jessica – USA

Jeff – USA

Sam – Australia

Jess – Australia

Danielle aka Dancer – Australia

THE IOS DRINKFEST CONTINUES

WEATHER: Hot and 31C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Sailing around Ios on a Pirate ship

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not eating any food all day – but kept the liquids up

BUYS OF THE DAY: My 5EUR beers that kept getting handed to me as I swam in the Agean Sea

WORD OF THE DAY: How brown do I look?

Well after getting home smashed at 4am, I had to be up at reception at 10am for our pirate ship boat cruise.  I have to say that I think I was still drunk, so no time for breakfast just a quick shower and down to the port. 

The pirate ship was pretty cool.  It was an old rigged tall sail ship that, motored out to a swim spot and then a secluded lunch spot before bringing us back to the mainland.  As I was still a little drunk, why stop drinking, we are in Ios after all, so even though I skipped breakfast, I started on the beers.  It was midday somewhere in the world right? 

The details on the timings etc are only a guess-timation, as I had no idea what time we pulled up for the swim spot or what time we actually arrived at the beach either.  I do remember saying to Ed that I just don’t swim in the ocean ( you know BIG MASSIVE man eating sharks live there ) and he said well you will have a long wait as we are going to be here for a few hours and we had to swim into shore as it was literally a secluded beach with a tarp erected for some shade.  Crap.. Okay, so I jumped in the water with every intention of getting out at the beach, but the water was so cool, and blue and inviting I thought I would stay in a while longer – yep Miss I Don’t Swim in the Ocean gal.  Well that little while longer turned out to be 3.5 hours I believe!  I didn’t leave the ocean once, not for lunch or another drink, as the guys on the boat were more than happy to keep feeding me beer from the side of the boat when I had an empty!  Now how is that for service! So I just lolled and swam and drank my beers in the Agean Sea all afternoon!  I had on no sunscreen at all – but once I get some colour to my skin, I will generally start to brown – but too bad anyways as I would have re-applied.  AND guess what – no man eating shark came for me either!

We headed home just after 4pm – and I went straight to bed to get 3 hours sleep, before we headed back into Ios town for our final dinner and a few more drinks.  Can one ever hasve too many drinks.  I do believe the answer to that is yes and we will soon find out.

Ed does the final dinner in Ios on our second last night, as generally everyone is buggered when you get back to Athens and it’s also cheaper.  So our last party night together as a family and the Greek Posse.  I’m going to miss you guys – but lets have a great night tonight before we even think about our good-byes.  The drinks at the dinner were 2 for 6EUR – why does it always have to be so cheap?  We then headed back to the Fun Bar – where I did promise the group if I made the 10,000 hits on the blog OI would shout them all a shot.  So I ordered 7 Canabis shots for 21EUR and also got a free t-shirt for my troubles.  Starting a night with shots can’t be good can it.  We also had a jelly shot here aswell.  Bad bad move I hear you say!  I was getting over the cocktails a little, so bacvk to the free piur vodka and cokes for me – man I have missed you.

We went bar hopping again and visited about another 5 bars.  Some were busy, some we had to make our own fun, but one worth the mention and I don’t have the name of it, they were offering 1EUR shots!  Now is that INSANE or what?  Can’t let an offer like that go past – right?

Well the same as last night, my memory of things went downhill rapidly.  I did fall over earlier in the night, but no major damage was done at this point, I just hurt my toe.  Ios town reminds me a little of Dubrovnik, where there are stone steps and little alley ways everywhere.  So it is hard enough sober to negotiate, let alone a few drinks under ones belt.  I know I never stopped having a drink in my hand, I was hassling Ed, as I always seem to do calling him shifty and Superman, telling the girls that I was ready to go home – NOT, and after every photo asking them all ‘how brown do I look?  You know it’s one of those jokes you keep telling people when your drunk and it gets funnier the more you drink – that was me – but I WAS funny…. Hey girls xx

Well Lisa was able to hand the reigns of getting me home to Danni tonight, with some help from Ed.

Apparently we had a chicken pie ( thanks Ed ) and we were just nearing the taxi rank, when I stacked it down 3 stairs and there was blood everywhere ( well according to a drunk Bernie ).  We caught the 5EUR taxi home, where Danni attempted to clean me up and appease me that I didn’t  have ‘blood everywhere’ with once again help from Ed.  At this point I think it was around 5am!  God I am embarrassing sometimes – but according to everyone I am a good drunk – so at least people get a good laugh right!? A few door knocks later, my neighbours mentioning hearing a loud crash after the clean up on my own, I settled into my drunken stupor!!!

Some of the other posse got in after me and they were doing body shots apparently.  Well this body aint madefor that and I am glad I didn’t get in on that action.

Ios I am enjoying our time together – but if I don’t leave soon – I’m not sure how much more I can take / drink. 

THE PARTY ISLAND OF IOS – YES IT IS

WEATHER: Hot and 31C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Sitting on a white sand beach with a cold beer in my hand

BUMMER OF THE DAY: We only get 2 nights on Ios

BUYS OF THE DAY: 5EUR vodka and cokes

WORD OF THE DAY: We’re in Ios baby!!!

We headed to our last island today – the party island of Ios.  How party can it be?  I mean really, cheap drinks?  Sun and Surf, great clubs, cheap drinks, great clubs and more cheap drinks….  I mean come-on – lets see what all the hype is about.

Our ferry left at 8.50am this morning.  It was free seating, so it’s the first ferry where you could just sit anywhere for the 1.5 hour journey from Santorini to Ios.  So needless to say, we all spread out and a lot of people caught up on some needed sleep, as mentioned we are going to need our energy for some serious drinking on Ios.

We arrive into Ios, and we ALL get off the ferry to have 2 buses waiting to take us the 15 minute drive to our hotel.  So Ed does a head count, just before we leave and we are missing 3 people.  Oh crap.  He counts again and once more for good measure and yep we are still definetly missing 3 people.  We worked out it was Trouble, Jeff and Tim.  The ferry at this point is still on the dock, so Ed made his way back to the boat, and then it starts to pull out from the wharf!  We had a mad minute there that we thought Ed was now also back on the boat with them and that made 4 people heading to Naxos!!!!  At this point, we were in the smaller of the buses that contained the Greek Posse and we were having a great little chuckle until we saw Ed, and he wasn’t a happy camper, more stressed than anything at this point, so we decided to not push our luck and watch Ed snap, so we kept all our hilarious little comments to ourselves as we got in the bus and taken to the hotel.  Ed contacted the ship, till the signal went, to tell the 3 stowaways to get off at an island before Naxos, because if they didn’t get off there, then there was no ferry back to Ios till 4pm the next day, and they would pretty much miss Ios altogether.  What else can you do at this stage?  And no Ed hasn’t lost people on the ferry before – first time for everything, and he can have a little laugh now – just.

After checking in at the hotel, we got a transfer down to the main beach for lunch and some chill time.  We ate at the Far Out Resort and then went down to the beach to get some sun and a few drinks.  The beaches on Ios are just like the ones back home, white and finer sand than the other islands.  The vibe on the beach is pretty cool. They have all the watersports happening, banana boats, parasailing and windsurfers.  There are a lot of Aussies working there, and most have them have just started back or first timers, as the season has just opened for summer.  They get paid approx. 4EUR an hour and accommodation is paid for on a dorm basis, so I guess you don’t go here for the money, it is a lifestyle change. People come and take your drink and food orders so you really don’t have to move all day if you didn’t want to. 

Dinner was back at Far Out again.  So after freshening up in the afternoon we headed back.  I tell you these European’s / Greeks know how to make an alcoholic drink.  The free pour at these bars is INSANE.  I started on a Zombie cocktail and then I decided to go back to the faithful vodka and cokes.  Well 2 of them that I got were so strong on the vodka, that the colour of the drink was a pale brown, I rekon it would have to have been 7 parts vodka 3 parts coke – but needless to say I drank them still no worries.  This also then lead to the spew after dinner.  This is before we had even headed into town.  I call it a controlled spew and it was the best thing I could have done.  I’ll have another vodka now thanks!

We caught the public bus the 15 minutes to the town of Ios where all the fun and games were to begin.  We visited 5 bars that I remember the names of starting at the Fun Bar.  This place was pretty cool with Jenga, pool tables and a lounge area out the front.  We were all given a shot off the bar, where we had to lean our head back to get a double shot of something.  Moving onto the Blue Note, the Slammer Bar, Jager Bar and Flames we ended out night in Rehab.  What a cool name for a place.  The drinks at this point are3EUR and once again the free pour was just insane.  This is where I lost the plot and thank-god for Jess, Jeff and Angel for getting me home safe and sound after this one.  I think we ended up getting home around 4am?  But I can’t be 100% sure.  No more spew though – so surely that is a sign of a great night? 

For the record the stowaways did make it off on the next island and then doubled back to Ios to arrive in at 4pm.  Not bad considering we got there at 10.30am.  Tim asked if this was going to make the blog, as it was the only reason that they did it!  Yeah right!  The lengths some people go to, to get on the blog!

I also need to make mention, that we wanted to make the blog milestone of 10,000 hits since it’s conception.  The Greek Posse posted on all our walls on FB, I FB the 4 Contiki groups and I am happy to report we hit 10,044 people today.  So a BIG THANKS to everyone who takes the time to read my blog and hope that you continue to follow my journey.  Day 81 today, and besides my liver feeling a little shady, I am still having the time of my life – I just hope I survive Ios. xx

IMPROMPTUE POOL PARTY

WEATHER: Hot and 30C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Not Leaving the hotel all day

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not getting any sun as I am a lobster still

BUYS OF THE DAY: Greek salad for 6.50EUR with dinner

WORD OF THE DAY:  F#@k My Life – a Bree catch phrase

It was a quite night for me last night, home and in bed by 1am.  Must be the sunburn turning me into a softie.  My girls stayed out till 3am, and the way they looked this morning, they were a little shady.  As we had one extra night now in Santorini due to the ferry strike, Contiki organized a bus to take people to the red beach if they wanted to go.  I would have liked to go, but there is not a lot of shade there, and with my now delicate bright pink skin, it was best I tried to stay out of the sun today.  The girls also decided to stay, but I think there excuse was called a HANGOVER!  They all surfaced for breakfast and then went back to bed for a few hours.

We did decide at breakfast that since we have been carrying bottles of alcohol that we bought from Athens, it was time to consume them and not take them to Ios with us.  So we had a plan that we would meet back at lunchtime and have a little pool party and have some drinks early, so we could finish early and be okay for the ferry ride at 9am the next morning.  Who needs a hangover when travelling on a boat right!

All going to plan we met up again around 12.30pm and some of the girls went to the supermarket and stocked up on some mixers and schnacks for the afternoons festivities.  This ‘walk’ to the supermarket is a mission, as it is all uphill for about 10 minutes, so this chore was never taken lightly when some-one went for a ‘run’ up to the shop.  So the girls returned with cold cut meats, cheese, olives, chips, bread, mixers and tomatoes for our Greek lunch feast.

It was really cool to just relax with mates.  The weather was a little cooler, well 28C if you can call that cool, with a bit of cloud cover, so the sun wasn’t out as much – so not much swimming was done, but a lot of drinking took its place instead.  We had the tunes playing from my iPod and then Paulo was kind enough to lend us his speakers and we were really able to crank the music. We only got told once at 4pm to turn the music down a smidge, as it was still siesta till 5pm, and then we could let loose again.  The staff at the hotel were really cool with us carrying on all afternoon, so thanks Hotel Nicholas.

A special shout-out has to go out to Kaitlin.  She has been dying to make my blog since Spain.  I told her if she did something wacky, it would definitely make it.  So after we cracked the 3^rd bottle of vodka and we were talking about our expectations of our trip, K has always said from the start that she wanted to go topless on a European beach.  So what is the next best thing, when we don’t have a beach?  You got it, the pool!  So we dared her to jump in the pool topless and if she did it would certainly make the blog and what do you know, she ripped off her top and dove into the pool!  It was so funny, as we didn’t really expect her to do it, and she did it with such grace!  So Kaitlin Ellis this post is dedicated to you buddy and this also re-confirms your name as my ‘sexy’ daughter.  Her first words when she got out of the pool were ‘will that make the blog’ and her face was priceless when I jokingly said that I had changed my mind!  Ha ha – but well done K – both your mums are proud of you!

                                                         

Some of the local lads came to check out what all the noise was later in the afternoon.  We weren’t sure if they had heard about K’s skinny dip or not, but apparently they are allowed to use the pool.  They looked like they were 16, but K went and had a chat to them and the next thing we know they have gone back home and come back brandishing 3 bottles of Ouzo – Ughhhhhh, but not wanting to offend, they showed us how to drink the stuff.  You need ice, one part Ouzo and 2 parts water.  I tell you it was still disgusting, but we all took one for the team and downed our offered glasses, albeit it was slowly, but we drank them all the same. 

A group of us walked into town and ate at the same place we ate on our first night, but this time on the roof.  Once again it is hard to get a bad seat in this joint, the views and sunset again were just unexplainable, Santorini needs to be seen to be believed.  The girls had decided to do something a little cheaper and then headed home.  I text Lisa at 10.30pm and they were already tucked up in bed!!  A handful of us headed to Tropical Bar for a few and then we headed home at 12.30am.  Not a bad effort as Danni and I had started drinking at 12 noon!!!  Glad I didn’t have a BIG one! Pfff right……

I do also need to blog that I found out tonight that I am officially not the oldest person on this trip.  Tim takes that title by 4 months!  WOO HOO – so I told him, he was definably going to make the blog based on that, and if he didn’t like it – tough – as he is older than me and I wanted the WHOLE WORLD to know I am not the oldest on tour – have I mentioned I AM NOT THE OLDEST ON TOUR!!!!!  Tim does get the last laugh though, as he bought with him some-one of the correct age bracket to share with him, so he didn’t have to pay the single supplement – dang it.  How about we call it even – even though there is SOME-ONE OLDER THAN ME!!!!!!!!!

I also just have to say one, well two words that needs to be blogged and you know who you are – SUPERMAN or BATMAN – that is the question……..

Good-bye Santorini – we had a ball………………….

THE MOST NORTHERN POINT OF SANTORINI - OIA

WEATHER: Hot and 30C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: I think I have finally shifted my Contiki cough after 4 weeks

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Getting a little too much sun and looking more like a lobster - RED

BUYS OF THE DAY: Cabana, cheese and bikkies for lunch – just like home….

WORD OF THE DAY: Fun Sponge

Well what did I get up to today?  Not much and it was awesome.  It was a free day till the afternoon when we went to Oia to watch a famous Santorini sunset. 

Half the group headed into town this morning to ride the donkeys.  Apparently it is quite traditional to do this in Santorini, as it has been done over decades.  It is quite a thriving business for the locals and the donkey ‘men’ are apparently some of the most affluent on the island.  I guess when the overheads are low, when feeding a donkey is the main outgoing expense, there would be a lot of cream for the owner.  You catch the cable car to the bottom of the cliffs and then you jump on a donkey to take you the 526 steps back to the top of the cliff.  Now I have ridden a donkey before when I was in Egypt and it wasn’t the best experience.  Besides being a stubborn arse (literally), he ran off from the group with me still on his back and he just wouldn’t stop.  It is funny now, but I was terrified back then.  Just like when I fell off a camel in India, yeah, not riding one of them either for the rest of my life, he was a nasty piece of camel.  Anyway back to the donkeys.  My Egyptian donkeys back leg kept giving out as well, and for the record I was a lot lighter then, so not one to tempt fate I decided to pass on this excursion.  The thought of going up steps, on an angle and the donkeys back leg giving out / slipping just did not appeal to me at all.  Even after the group got back and hearing their stories, I was SO GLAD I didn’t do it.  No regrets on that one.

Instead I decided to stay at the hotel and get some colour by the pool.  I was the only one around for a while, so it was good to have some time to relax, just like I used to do around my pool back home.  I was in the water for 3 hours just reading my book and swimming.  Jess came and went for a while and when the others came back from the donkeys to hear their stories was hilarious.  I should know better being a Darwinian and a Bisbanite about how strong the sun is, and the importance of re-applying sunscreen, but I took no head of my own common sense and got pretty much burnt to a crisp, well maybe not totally crispy, but burnt all the same.  DOH - the upside – I’m preparing my skin for Morocco and Africa in 4 weeks’ time.  See there is always a silver lining to some stupidity – right? 

Man I will be in Africa in 4 weeks – shit – now there’s a realization I hadn’t really thought about.  I have been so focused on my 2 months of Contiki, which I haven’t really thought too much further about my trip.  I ‘tell’ people my itinerary all the time, but to actually be at that part of my itinerary is a little daunting.  I need to get 3 visas in 5 working days in London and see Brazil about my Brazilian visa which no-one seems too keen to help me via email correspondence.  Buggers.  This bit will be stressful for me until I get it done, as they are visa’s that cannot be done on arrival.  Crap, I will just have to do the best I can right. Damn visa’s…..   

I did a supermarket run in the afternoon for lunch.  Back home, supermarket shopping is a pain in the arse.  But when you are on holidays, it is great to walk into one and just feel a little home sick / nostalgia maybe, sounds weird I know – but it’s the small things when you are away from home for so long I guess.  Anyway I saw some cabana in the fridge section, so decided to have some snacks for lunch.  I got cow cream cheese (which can be found worldwide this stuff, literally I have seen it everywhere), cabana, tatziki, some tomatoes and biscuits and then headed home for a little picnic by the pool.  I finally got to use my Swiss Army knife for the first time that I bought in Lucerne, and man that blade is super sharp!

At 5.45pm we jumped on the coach for our 30 minute transfer to Oia.  Oia is the most northern point of the island and is where the most spectacular sunsets are.  Ed had bought some wine and nibbles and once we got there we had to walk around 15 minutes to get us to a great vantage point to watch the sun set on our third day.  We got there super early, so we could get some good posies and around 8.20pm, we got a good sunset.  I have seen better, to have a minor Debbie Downer, to name 2 was my second last day in Australia sailing out of Sydney Harbour on my booze cruise with my best friend and the other was the sunset in Darwin we witnessed the day my mum was laid to rest, this was probably the best, and maybe the hardest to beat with the sentimentality attached to it.

I am glad we still went though, as, like the rest of the island, the panoramic views from here were just amazing.  We got some great shots of some blue roofed churches, houses on the side of cliffs, walking tracks and to see a little of Oia, which is the fanciest part of the whole island was really cool.  It was certainly worth the trip.  We had to be back on the coach at 9pm, as by law, all the coaches have to depart Oia by 9pm – no if’s, buts or maybe’s.  But it is dark by this time, so besides the shopping we aren’t missing out on much once the sun sets.

We got a drop off back into Fira, for a quick dinner stop at a ‘roadside’ souvlaki and then walked the 20 minutes back to the hotel to have a nightcap with the girls before heading to bed around midnight.  These early nights are starting to become routine, well for the last 3 days anyway.  Once again we are recharging our batteries for Ios tomorrow for the next 2 nights, which I am guessing are going to be HUGE!!!     

As explained in an earlier blog I have become the ‘mum’ of the Greek Posse.  Once again I emphasize it is due to my organizational skills and having everything in order and on hand rather than my actual age (I’m hoping) So I should introduce my daughters and in no particular order:

Eldest=Kasey

Responsible=Dee

Angel=Lisa

Blondie=Bree

Dancer=Dannii

Sexy=Kaitlin

Trouble=Jess

Only 4 nights left on tour before I head to Morocco.  I am going to so miss my Greek Posse.  Some of us would have been together for nearly 5 weeks by the time we finish this tour.  For the others who joined us on this trip and we only met, it feels like we have known you longer than a week and we have really clicked and I am going to miss you all.  What a great group of gals, you all rock and you will not be forgotten along my journey.  Love ya guy’s xx

A LITTLE OF SANTORINI FUN IN THE SUN

WEATHER: Hot and 30C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing all of what Santorini has to offer

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Got a little sunburned on one of the beaches

BUYS OF THE DAY: Fresh plate of calamari for 7EUR

WORD OF THE DAY: Dream smasher

Good morning Santorini.  Man it was great to be home by 12.30am, after a few drinks at the pub, I woke up fresh and not a headache or spewy thought to be had.  Life is good today.

Dee and I had booked the day tour today.  The others had decided to do their own thing in town till we met again back at the hotel that afternoon.  After congregating at 11.05am, we boarded the coach to start our tour.  I guess due to numbers, we also had some random people join our tour and some of them were Spanish so it turned out to be a bi-lingual tour.  I am not a big fan of the bi-lingual, especially if your language is the secondary language of the day, but our French tour guide was actually quite good and divided an even amount of time and infliction to the Spanish as well as ourselves.

Our first stop was to the highest point in the island at 1750m above sea level for a panoramic view of the whole island.  It was pretty cool to see the whole island in its entirety to appreciate just how big it actually is.  Santorini is essentially what remains of an enormous volcanic explosion that destroyed the earliest settlements on what was formerly a single island, which led to the creation of the current geological caldera. A giant central lagoon, more or less rectangular, and measuring about 12 by 7 km, is surrounded by 300 m high steep cliffs on three sides. The island slopes downward from the cliffs to the surrounding Aegean Sea.  It is just beautiful.  The island is still pretty barren of trees, as it is also a windy island like Mykonos, but due to its volcanic soil, it can grow things quite well in very dry conditions.  Grapes being one of the things that survives here surprisingly well. 

We then made a trip to the remnants of a castle.  As I am starting to find out, everything on the island is reached by steps, slopes or hills.  I haven’t seen too much flat / straight land at all in my travels today.  So after climbing 123 steps, we made it to the top of what was left of the castle, which wasn’t much, but the view from here was also incredible.  Definitely worth the climb, even in 30 degree heat, but it is a dry heat here and not a humid heat, so it is just the sun in your face the whole day, as there is not much shade at all to be had anywhere, except inside buildings.

We then travelled to a small village that we got to walk through from one end to the other.  Not many tourists come here, and it really was just like a residential suburb of the island.  I did have a picture in my head that there would be a lot of white buildings with the blue roofs everywhere.  But from what we have seen it is just the chapels / churches that have the blue domes.  All the housing is painted white, and has blue doors and shutter; they just don’t seem to have the blue roofs.  A funny thing sometimes what you expect to see and what there actually is. 

Our lunch stop was at a black sand beach that had a restaurant and sun chairs and umbrellas for us to use.  We got given 1 hour and 45 minutes here, so Dee and I wasted no time and found some sun chairs straight away and got our ‘sun’ on.  Lunch was bought to us along with some drinks and we didn’t move from here the whole time.  Dee went in for a quick dip, but I was happy to just read my book and chillax.  The black sand was so so so hot to walk on which makes sense when the colour attracts the sun I suppose.  It was nice to have the wind in your hair, the sun on your face and not have to worry about a thing.  We LOVE the Greek Islands.   I ordered fresh calamari, and it was delicious, it just missed some lemon and a little salt, but it was good all the same.  75% of it came as what we are used to at home in the rings, but the other 25% still had legs and 2 bits looked like pig ears, so I had to draw the line and they were left on my plate.  I did have a nibble on one of the legs, but they looked like legs, and I just couldn’t get my mind set around it, crazy I know.  But for 7EUR I think it was pretty good value for what I got.

Everything seems to be only a 15 minute drive on the island to anywhere. So we drove 15 minutes to our second last stop which was a view of the red sand beach.  We had to trek a little ways to get there, so it was a more secluded beach, as it was a bit of a hike to get there.  We were a little dubious on how red the red sand beach was going to be, but it was like an Ayers Rock colour, and looked pretty awesome with the red and black volcanic cliffs in the background.  Definitely worth the walk and would have been great to spend some more time here.  I have seen black beached before in Tahiti and also in Iceland, but a red sand beach was pretty awesome.

Our last stop was a winery on the island.  The island remains the home of a small, but flourishing, wine industry, based on the indigenous grape variety, Assyrtiko.  In their adaptation to their habitat, the vines are planted far apart, as their principal source of moisture is dew, and they often are trained in the shape of low-spiraling baskets, with the grapes hanging inside to protect them from the winds.  The winery we went to Santos, produces 880,000 bottles of wine a year and they only export 30% of that to the America’s and Europe, the remaining 70% stays in Greece, as Maria put it, the Greeks love their wine!!  We tasted 2 whites and a desert wine, that won some awards this year, but it was a little too sweet for my liking.  I would never have thought that Santorini had wineries though, and the view from Santos was just AMAZING!!!  It really was a view to die for – but most of the island is like that, hilly and viewy…… BEAUTIFUL

What a day!  Time to relax back at the hotel for a few hours before dinner at 7.45pm.  It was a walkabout dinner, so Ed took us back into Fira to a Greek-Italian restaurant, once again overlooking the caldera.  It is just amazing here.  The food at the restaurant was awesome and I had a Greek salad and some chicken and parmesan risotto for my feed and it was just delicious.  The prices were quite reasonable as well considering the location of where we were. 

It was STUNNING as we watched another beautiful sunset go down on the island of Santorini.

Ahhhhhhhhh the serenity…………………

MYKONOS TO SANTORINI

WEATHER: Hot and 28C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Arriving onto the island of Santorini

BUMMER OF THE DAY:  I’m in Greece – no problems today

BUYS OF THE DAY: A water, a coke and a souvlaki for 4.50EUR – bargain right!

WORD OF THE DAY: They knew we were coming!

Well considering the way my night ended last night, I was feeling quite chipper this morning and ready to rock and roll.  I made it to breakfast and then went back to my room for another hour’s sleep before having to check out at 11am.

We then got transferred into Mykonos town to have some free time before our ferry ride to Santorini at 2.55pm. Ed was the watcher of the 50 odd bags and we were free to head into town bag-less.  We did some souvenir shopping and then had some lunch.  We bypassed all the restaurants on the water (they were expensive) and went into the labyrinth of shops and found a local souvlaki shop and we decided to eat there.  I can’t believe for 4.50EUR I got 2 drinks and a souvlaki .  Amazing value.  Dee, Kasey and Bree decided to walk around a bit more but Lisa and I decided to head back to Ed and the bags and just chill till ferry time.

The ferry is organized chaos.  After lining up to have our tickets checked in the sun for about 15 minutes, we then get to head on to the fast ferry.  There are 2 entries and we used the back one as our bags are actually stored on the back of the boat and not inside.  The ferry itself is really set up for day trips and not to handle so much luggage (like the Tangalooma Flyer).  Lucky we had Ed, as we came on he loaded and stacked our bags for us as we headed inside.  There was allocated seating for the 2.5 hour journey from Mykonos to Santorini.  I used this time to catch up on my blog, so the time went really quick.  As the ferry travels at over 100km an hour, you are not permitted to go outside while the ferry is moving, I hope the bags are secured down, be too funny if we saw our bags floating past the ferry!!!

5.45pm got us arriving into Santorini and the island looks amazing, even from the port.  There was a coach transfer to take us up to the hotel, which is about a 15 minute walk from Fira, the main town.  The views we got as we wound our way up to the top of the island was incredible, and to think that the island was created by a volcanic eruption 2000 years ago.  I didn’t know that Santorini is actually on a fault line, so they get a few earthquakes and tremors here as well.

The hotel is quite sweet.  It is basic, but very Greek looking.  There seems to be a variety standard of rooms, but I am lucky enough to have my room right next to the pool.  The downside is it is right near the entrance, so I heard to 2 groups of people come home this morning at 3am and sometime after that.  We got some free time and free Wi-Fi till 7.30pm and then we headed into Fira for dinner.  Our timing couldn’t have been better, as we got to a great lookout point; the sun was setting and was a great introduction to Santorini.  We are doing a sunset cruise in a few day’s time, so I am really looking forward to that.

The restaurant where we ate was amazing.  The views from there were stunning and the food was pretty good value.  We asked our waiter about getting a bottle of sparkling wine and he suggested Moet at 80EUR a bottle, when we actually stopped laughing, he was not impressed as he was serious and then suggested a lesser bottle at 50EUR, um no thanks we’ll take a bottle of the house white thanks.  I mean for goodness sakes we are on Contiki right!  The white was nice though for the record!!  We then went to a bar called Murphy’s where they offered 2-4-1 cocktail happy hour that ran for the whole 2 hours we were there.  For 9EUR I guess that is pretty good value.  It was a pretty cool pub with some cool stuff on the walls and the DJ was playing some groovy songs, so it was a great night, even if it wasn’t a big one.  Needless to say I was a little cocktailed out after my billion Devils Tongues the night before, so I had 2 vodka red bulls and a few beers and then it was time to head home.  We were pretty knackered as a group, so happy to walk the 15 minutes home.

Santorini seems cool and I am really looking forward to spending 4 nights here.

PARADISE BEACH AND A DRINK CALLED DEVILS TONGUE

WEATHER: Hot and 31C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Beach party at Tropicana

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not remembering the bus ride home and waking up in bed  

BUYS OF THE DAY:  Devils Tongue for 10EUR

WORD OF THE DAY:  What time does Happy Hour start – it is Happy Hour all day!

GOOD MORNING MYKONOS man it is good to be alive!  Even though I spent 70EUR on grog, I had my share of alcohol, and got into bed at 4am, I managed to make breakfast at 10.30 all refreshed and ready for the day. 

This Contiki is totally different from their standard tours and we are LOVIN it.  You could sleep all day and drink all night (like I did yesterday) but not today.  I had some computer work to do, busy downloading and uploading and updating my blog – so a busy day at the office.  I am loving the chill time and no coach time, and being in one place for more than 2 nights is AWESOME.  We found out yesterday that due to a ferry strike happening on the day we are supposed to be leaving Santorini for Ios, we are now spending an extra night in Santorini.  I was a bit bummed that we are a night short on Ios, but the upside, well there are 2, is that it means we now get 4 nights in one place (which I am now SUPER excited about) but also Ios is a party island, so one less night here is a blessing in disguise, for my liver and also for my wallet!!!! 

We had to meet at reception at 3pm for our 25 minute transfer to Paradise Beach for the afternoon.  We were all a bit unsure of what to expect re: shops, beach, pool, bar are there sun chairs etc.  I literally wore beach wear, thinking we would be sitting in the sun and working on the tan-age.  Well it turned out to be a MASSIVE beach party, it was so cool.  We had tables reserved for our group under like a commando looking net, so the sun could still get through and we just drank all afternoon.  Ed suggested we try the Devils Tongue and we had this as our first drink of the afternoon.  It was a wicked green concoction that had Gin, Vodka, Pampero, Tequila, Triple Sec, Southern Comfort, Archers, Drambuie, Grand Mariner, orange juice and Blue Curacao!!  Now you would think that it would taste awful or at the very least a little disgusting.  Well sorry to disappoint but it was delicious and it didn’t even taste alcoholic – warning bells right!!! For 10EUR I think it was pretty good value for what you got.  We decided after that to all go into a shout for a bottle of vodka and they supply 2 mixers in the cost.  The first bottle was a 700ml Absolute for 80EUR, divided that by 4 of us sharing, it only worked out to be 17EUR each, so this was great value, as we squeezed about 3 drinks each out of the bottle plus a shot each.  Now the speed as to the sinking of these drinks was like a horse race.  I am not sure why we were drinking so fast, maybe we were just thirsty, but we polished that bottle off like in an hour.  So we got another one, but a cheaper brand for 70EUR and split by 5, we only paid 15EUR each and this bottle was quickly consumed as well.  More warning bells…… 

We then decided to get back onto our own drinks, and this is where I made a critical drinking no-no, and decided to start drinking the Devils T again!  I know a drink with 9 alcoholic ingredients can’t be good right.  But they tasted so good and they didn’t taste alcoholic and then that’s where it all went downhill.  I do remember having 20EUR in my purse later in the afternoon and thinking great I can get 2 more and then that would do me. Yeah right.  Well for those of you who know me, running out of money doesn’t stop me drinking, and what would you know, the bar accepted VISA!  WOO HOO – and this was probably the last Devil’s nail that did it for me.  All that on an empty stomach, no food since lunch time was a wonderful combination for a drunken Bernie.

We were having a ball at this stage, the DJ had started and was cranking some tunes, there was a guy on a microphone sprucing the crowd, they had 3 dancers up dancing and they were encouraging people to get up and dance on this little stage near the bar, and then later on your tables and benches where we sat!  It was so cool and the Spanish Crew made a call and said that this place was far cooler than Ibiza, and I would have to agree, the atmosphere was awesome.  But I am sure if we had a better day in Ibiza, it may have made it a little better and if the drinks were cheaper.

Now there are a few stories that were to come out of our little trip to Paradise Beach.  No names – as what happens on Contiki stays on Contiki (except my blog of course) but we had some-one pass out on a deck chair for a couple of hours, and also had a chucky chuck.  Some-one slept  with the DJ in the cushion room, some-one had one too many Devils Tongue ( oh that’s me ) and has a blank from around 7.30pm till I woke up in my own bed at 9am the next morning.  Thanks to my Greek Posse for getting me home safe and sound.  When I woke and did a stock-take, I left behind my sunnies and a beach towel borrowed from the hotel.  Could have been a lot worse and was happy to wear the loss.  But Ed came to the rescue and had done a quick recky after we left and had my stuff.  Thanks buddy.  I am sure there are many more stories and it was such an awesome day.  I think this was our first ‘beach’ day where we got sun finally. 

So Ed I am personally blaming you for making um….. I mean recommending the Devil’s Tongue, and the 50 I consumed (well maybe not that many, but it felt like it).  What a great day, with great friends and a great way to end our time in Mykonos.

On a foot note, I actually woke right as rain this morning.  A little tired, but I was a lot worse after the Toga party.  Maybe I should stay off the beers, yeah like that’s going to happen!!!  I had a lot of people asking me how I was this morning, but I think we got back to the hotel around 10pmish, so when you get nearly 10 hours of sleep I guess that would also help in the recovery process.

Mykonos knows how to party – and we had a blast here.  Toga party the first night, clubbing the second night and then a beach party the following day – well maybe we just know how to party as well.

THE GREEK SUN IN MYKONOS

WEATHER: Hot and 29C – Not a cloud in the sky

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Sleeping till 2pm

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Sleeping till 2pm

BUYS OF THE DAY: Pasta Carbonara for lunch at 2.30pm at 8EUR

WORD OF THE DAY: Do you have sunscreen on?

Well there is not much memory of my departure from the Toga party.  I do remember seeing Bree getting fished out of the pool, buying Ed one last drink (for the 3^rd time) and then a blank getting to my room at 2am.  Must have been a good party and those blasted 2 for one Corona’s were the nail in my drunken stupor.  I woke periodically through the morning with all intentions of making it to breakfast at 11am.  The cleaners tried to get into my room 3 times and with a MASSIVE headache, I got up took 2 nurafin, back to sleep finally and felt human again at 2pm!  I decided it was time to get up, get a feed and some sun!

For some unexplainable reason I have now been labelled MUM of the Greek Posse.  So I now have 6 little children to cluck over and to offer advice and anything else they need.  Like a spare sweater, use of my laptop, asking for the meter in a taxi etc…. I am hoping it is my organization skills that have got me this title and nothing to do with my AGE!!!  I had one of the gals from the Contiki group at dinner the other night ask me my name, she said I know you as mum, but not your actual name!  Hmmmmm I guess I could be known as a lot worse, so MUM it is.  I love my little kiddlets xx.

We had some pool time till 5pm, when I came in and updated my blog.  The free Wi-Fi here at the hotel is amazing.

Off into Mykonos Town this afternoon for a short walking tour of the sights, dinner and then a visit to 3 clubs.  There are not many taxis on the island, so we have a transfer to take us in and bring us back.  It is hilarious that the return transfer time is 2.30am.  Weird but thanks George for doing it for us.

Mykonos is amazing.  There are cool facts about the island:

The houses are all painted white to help reflect the heat during summer

The houses all have rounded roof walls as Mykonos is a windy island

The population of the island is 10,000 and swells to 70,000 during summer

There are no trees on Mykonos as it is a granite island, hard to grow anything

If there is a tree and it has survived it has been imported in

The island was made popular in 1954 when the Onassis Family vacationed here and put it on the map

After seeing the famous windmills of the island, and the church, that if you buy a postcard is the one in each shot we headed to our restaurant for dinner.  A typical Greek fare with a starter salad, fried zucchini, deep fried cheese and then I ordered the mixed grill, okay so that may not be so Greek, but hell it was delicious!!  The restaurant then shouted a shot for us all.  It was an apple something ouzo shot.  It smelt like rocket fuel and I had a small taste before the toast and I just couldn’t drink it.  The smell was just disgusting, and not being an Ouzo fan at the best of times after the YAMMAS call, it became a community shot and everyone shared mine.  Taya had 4 of the suckers – Ugggg it just makes my stomach churn even thinking about it, it really did smell…well like flammable!

Our pub crawl begins and there are some pretty pissed people already, I don’t know what the hell they were drinking at dinner, but I can see this maybe a night, where no matter how hard I try, I just won’t get drunk.  I tend to find that after a HUGE night, it is hard to get drunk again the next night.  I don’t know just an observation on my part.  So the first bar was pretty cool, overlooking what they call Little Venice.  A beautiful view of the windmills lit up at night over the water.  Drinks would be as you would expect 7EUR for a vodka and coke and 5EUR for a beer – no biggie.  We stayed here for about an hour before moving onto the next bar called Down Under Bar. 

Once inside the Down Under Bar you wouldn’t know it was Australian except the waiter girls who were running around were Aussie.  They were a blessing as the place was PACKED, and to some-one who was not drunk, there was a lot of argy bargy with drunken people.  The girls ran to the bar for you, got your drinks and came back, so it saved us having to line up at the bar.  Kasey and I were calling ourselves VIP’s and we had the hand signals to show for it as well!!!  They had a DJ playing songs, so Lisa, Dee and I requested our Europe day song On The Floor by J-Lo and then as it was an Aussie bar they wanted to hear some John Farnham and the DJ didn’t even know who the guy was – what kind of Aussie bar do you call that – they don’t know who Johnny is – damn……  It was so HOT in here – I don’t think the Greeks have crowd control at all and they just kept letting people in.  The girls from tour were starting to really get into party mode.  There were a few that jumped onto one of the side counters and started dirty dancing together, which is fine, but them they started to kiss and rub each other and lifting of the dresses for all to see.  It was funny, and one of my Greek Posse gals was up there.  My mum always said you got you flaunt it, so they were just having fun and they did look pretty cool up there……..  They also sold buckets of grog here – Ed rounded the group with a few, you’d have a drink and take out your straw – I passed on this, as how much draw back would be in that bucket?  See I told you I hadn’t drunk enough if I’m worried about that, if it was Toga party night I would have been in quick as a flash.

We then moved from here to the last bar called the Scandanavian Bar.  This is apparently the most popular bar on the island and man it felt like it.  Once again ‘what is crowd control’ and this place was busier than the Down Under Bar if that was at all possible.  You literally had to push, like PUSH, your way through to get to the bar, you couldn’t move on the floor and just everywhere had people.  Once again to some-one who is not drunk, I am not too sure I was having much fun.  I can tell you it wasn’t from lack of trying, I still spent 70EUR on alcohol, and it just wasn’t cutting the mustard.  We did end up finding a spot near one of the bouncers that let us perch on his step and then it wasn’t so bad.  Things started to really slide for the counter dancing gals.  They are now dancing on the bar here, which was okay, next thing I know, I turned around and they are just in their underwear, dresses discarded, and one of the gals didn’t have a bra on but chicken fillets, it was so funny.  More gal on gal kissing action and needless to say they were the talk of the club.  They were super drunk though, so I am sure they will be horrified when they see some pictures, as everyone was snapping them on their cameras and some of the guys were videoing them as well.  Maybe they should check U-Tube in the next few days!

Well 2.15am rocks around and it’s time to catch the transfer back to the hotel.  There were still shops and some restaurants open at 2am in the morning – amazing place and it certainly has a great nightlife.  We were short a few people, which Ed found somewhere and leaving 15 minutes late we got back to the hotel at 3.20am.  I think I could safely say a good night was had by all.  70EUR lighter, I can say I wasn’t drunk, but I still had fun, swapping sweat with random people in 3 clubs.  Dang it was super-hot in these clubs, but Mykonos knows how to party, that’s for sure.