More Ionian adventures

Up, up and away around 10am for an easy couple of hours motoring to Fiskardo, on the island of Kefallonia. I helmed for quite a while, which was awesome! After tying up and having lunch, we hired a little VW and drove along some suitably hair-raising roads down to Assos, a picture perfect little town of brightly coloured buildings perched beside a hilltop Venetian fortress. We hiked up to and around the castle, which was heavy going in the afternoon heat but made for some stunning views over the township and peninsula. Back down to the waterfront for a well-deserved Mythos before tackling the roads again for the short drive to Myrtos Beach, one of Greece’s best apparently.

Gorgeous aqua coloured water coupled with a bargain on sunbed hire (well, it was getting late in the day and it must have only been a chilly 28 degrees or so) took care of the next few hours til sunset. Given the high prices in Fiskardo for, well, everything, we opted for dinner at a roadside taverna on the way back into town – an inspired choice as it happened, the food was great (and cheap), the beer was cold (and cheap), and the sunset was gorgeous (and free). Back into town, dropped the car off, and proceeded to sit on the back of the boat and get drunk into the small hours, watching the world go by a few metres away in the waterfront bars and restaurants.

Off to Sivota the next day, via motoring for a while to the bay where they filmed part of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (apparently) and the jetty still remains. We dropped anchor & swam and snorkelled there for a while, then pulled the sails up until we encountered a minor technical issue involving Pete getting it up. In this case, ”it’ was the mainsail, but still it was good to be under sail again for a while. We really achieved very little in Sivota – cans/vodka on the back of the boat, dinner at Yanni’s taverna (he paid for our drinks, which was very nice of him!) and then off to the Yacht Bar where we wall talked shit to Andreas (the owner) and the Canadian bar girl that Pete was quite keen on. We encountered a large group of pirates, drank spirits strong enough to tear the lining from your throat, Trudz got offered a job and we all got riotously drunk. My liver loves me.

Our last day on the water was pretty relaxed – back to Spartahori for lunch at the same taverna that we started at a week earlier, and more swimming. More calamari and another fantastic Greek salad (I think I’m turning into a chunk of feta … makes a nice change from a seafood hotpot I guess). Yet more swimming after lunch as well – it’s almost like nobody wanted to get back on the yacht and head back to base. I wonder why. Stopped a few miles out for one last jump in the ocean, then back to Vounaki to the strains of ‘The Final Countdown’. Moored up, got drunk, went into town for great food (again) and then stumbled back for the last night on the boat.

The last day was pretty slow – strangely enough. Off the yacht by 9am and spend the rest of the day sitting round the pool, swimming, reading and working on our tans. Not that they needed much work by this stage in the trip. It was a pretty sad Group of 4 that boarded the plane back to Gatwick in the evening, and an even sadder bunch that arrived back in London after flight delays and fun and games with the train to couch-surf with Nat & Scott (thanks heaps guys!). Still, it’ll take more than dodgy transport and grey UK skies to take the gloss off this trip, that’s for sure. It was, without doubt, one of the best weeks of my life, with perfect weather, perfect location and most importantly, the perfect bunch of people to do it with. Thanks so much guys – Pete, Deano and Trudz – I could not have asked for a better group (or is that Group?) to spend my birthday week with on a yacht in the Greek islands. You rock!!!