Day 6 - Arthur's Pass

Arthurs Pass "tramp" Cass to Cora Linn Road.

Day 4 of tramp: Lagoon saddle to Cora Lynn Road.

There was a section where recent wind had blown over a few beech trees which had blocked the path and we had to find our way back to the orange triangles again.  In the hut someone had written that in the fog this was an extremely tricky thing to do.  Luckily there was not much fog when we were there. Some of the trees which fell had the orange triangle on them!!

Just under 3 hours walking through fog and some mud. 30 crossings 2 total foot immersions including one mud immersion by all of us - poor Ronnie immersed hands, knees and feet in mud which you.can pay big bucks for in some places in New Zealand!

Total creek crossings 126
Total full foot immersions 38
We made it! Spectacular waterfalls and landscapes. Would be best to do it as New Zul-unders do it- in 2 days carrying tiny sleeping bag, freeze dried mashed potato, surprise peas and 4 muesli bars. Not with tents, changes of clothes, stoves & food for 4 days as we did.

Back to Christchurch to luxury dinner at Buddha Stix Thai and stayed at Ashleigh Court again for New Year's Eve!!!

Day 5 - Arthur's Pass

Arthurs Pass "tramp" Cass to Cora Lynn Road.

Day 4 of the walk: West Harper hut to Lagoon saddle hut 4 hours walking. The miriad 300mm step ups while carrying a pack are getting to my knees and thigh muscles!  44 crossings 17 full foot immersions.

A view of the slopes and one of the creeks.

Lagoon saddle has two little huts.  One A frame on the edge of the trail which we stayed in because I just couldn't walk another step.  John and Steph had to use the one across the river for which I am eternally grateful.  We pitched our tents inside the huts incase the sandflies decided they wanted a meal.  This was a great opportunity to dry the tents off. 

Day 04 - Arthur's Pass

Day 2 Hamilton Hut- West Harper Hut. Including side trip to mirror tarn (lake)  6 and a half hours actual walking. 10 creek crossings including 3 full foot immersions. Swing bridge and wire bridge to negotiate 2 crossings.

Incredible beech forest with cushion of beech leaves beneath.  Rivers are wild and it is summer!  Can't imagine what they are like when the snow first melts. Lots of steep scree slopes to negotiate.

That's me with the Deuter pack cover!

 The orange triangle marks the trail. Sometimes it is like where's wally to find them.

The West Harper Hut was very cute.  The photo doesn't do it justice.  It started to rain as we arrived and it was lovely and warm in the hut after we built a warming fire. (I wanted to say roaring fire but beech just doesn't burn that way.) We camped in our tents as we were a bit worried by the evidence of rodents' previous visits but the hut was perfect to satisfy my pyromaniac tendencies and to eat dinner and to relax.  The extra (admittedly huge-thank you John) effort required to carry the 1kg of wine and scotch was very worthwhile (in my opinion) and much appreciated at the end of the day.

Day 03 - Arthur's Pass

Arthurs Pass "tramp" Cass to Lagoon Saddle ending on the Cora Lynn Road.

First day: Cass-Cass hut  33 river and creek crossings  including 11 total foot immersion excluding puddles.  Method for counting river crossings: I didn't count it as a crossing unless the water was moving under foot, even if I could hear trickling water I didn't count it.  I also excluded bridges, mud puddles (some 4m long) unless all 4 of us had total foot immersion in same mud puddle.

A grueling "tramp" up hill and down dale in spectacular incredibly steep mountains in NZ alpine area through fast moving rocky rivers, tiny 200 mm wide path across 60 degree scree slopes and over the exposed roots of beech tree forests. No snow where we climbed but some remnants around the area.  The only animals we saw were 3 hares and a ver few birds. Very quiet away from the river. We were going to stay at Cass Hut but the trip proved too much for one man we met along the way & his group took it over for the night prior to turning back the next day. We pushed on to Hamilton Hut.

Cass Hut - Hamilton hut This section had 11 river crossings including 5 total foot immersions. After 8 hours actual walking we were pleased to see a fantastic hut with kitchen facilities (a sink), bunks and a long drop toilet out the back. Had dinner and collapsed.

One of the river crossings:

Day 02 - Arthur's Pass

Arthur’s Pass is 920m. Annual rainfall 4500 mm and it rains 200 days a year.  Last January there was 600mm of snow in the village.  This year there is snow but only on the peaks – starting at 1833m.  Last night’s wind of 145km per hour probably blew most of it away!! Yesterday’s temperatures in the Village were 3º > 25º on the peaks -4º > 16º.  Glad it is summer!

We are staying in a very nice cottage for the first night - Mountain House Cottage - then venturing out into the elements with tent, sleeping bag and billy.  Wish me luck.

             Arthur's Pass from the Village

                                   
             Devil's Punchbowl Arthur's Pass

Day 01 - Christchurch

             Christchurch - Avon River

Flew Air New Zealand and arrived Boxing Day.  Christchurch suffered another earthquake just before we arrived and there are still a lot of damaged buildings especially in the city and to the east of the city. 
Most people seem optimistic about the recovery but a few have decided to leave Christchurch for good or at least move to the outskirts. The whole of New Zealand is prone to earthquakes though.
Stayed at Ashleigh Court Motel, Riccarton, Christchurch. 

New Zealand

This time we are going to New Zealand - land of the long white cloud, which is particularly true of New Zealand at the moment where it has been raining practically non stop for 3 weeks.  It is also home of Ron’s forefathers.  He is descendant from the Maori Princess Irihapeti Te Paea which means he and the boys can kill as many mutton birds as they want.  I am taking a 0.22.  

The plan is: Leaving on Boxing Day to go to the South Island landing in Christchurch. Then Arthur’s Pass, Christchurch for New Year’s day, Dunedin, bicycling on the Otago rail trail for 5 days then Queenstown and Milford Sound.

Not at all sure about internet availability in the places we are staying because they are off the beaten track so will give you some info now.

Greetings:

Day 50 - Home

Back home.  Slept a lot at first but have finally recovered.  Back to shopping and cooking.  I can see why people go on holidays a lot!

Cold after leaving 31 degree heat wave in London (7-17 here) but sunny.  Nice to be home and have our own bed and pillows.

I can see how much easier it would be to go on a holiday organised by a tour group or even a travel agent but even though it took a lot of time to research we were very pleased with our hotel selection.  We stayed 4 nights in most places and wouldn't have wanted to stay for less in any location in fact we would have preferred longer so I am not sure if we are suited to a tour group that rushes from one place to the next.  Although that would give you a great idea of where you wanted to go back to if you had the chance to visit again.

We are generally not into touristy areas but are pleased that we have done the big cities and the big sites in Italy and Greece and we are looking forward to visiting the little places next time.

Day 49 - London to Sydney

Left London at 12:15 after spending all our GBP and Euro. 

Qantas Premium Economy with no upgrades.  We had front row seats though so no one in front of us and we could stretch out.

BA gave you more little bits (moisturiser, earplugs, sox, toothbrush etc) when you arrived than Qantas (only toothbrush and eyeshield) did but I think the food on Qantas was a little bit better.  Ron got a business class breakfast as they had run out of hot premium economy breakfasts.  Premium economy gets the same priviledges as first and business in regard to on first and off first and unlimited food onboard which is nice.

Day 48 - London

Flew from Preveza airport in Greece to London and stayed at the Sofitel Heathrow. 

Really enjoyed normal toilets and overhead showers (neither of which Greece has). 

Day 47 - Syvota

Back to base.  Saw Papa Nicolas' Cave.  Rough seas and strong winds.

Papa Nicolos' cave didn't look like this the day we were there but this is what it looks like on a good day:

Syvota:

Day 46 - Little Vathi

Vathi means sea so they call every second town Vathi.  In fact lots of names are reused - lack of imagination! Of course that would never happen in Australia.

A memorable day (not just because it was my birthday) but because for the first time ever I won Yahtzee against two very experienced players and one not so experienced player. 

Day 45 - Nidri

Nidri is a very big quite commercial town in a busy, bustling bay.  Nothing like our usual quiet ports at all. We didn't go into town. 

Big night celebrating everyone's birthdays - including mine!  Barbeque and 2 birthday cakes at the Athos Hotel which is a stone's throw from where we moored.

Day 44 - Vathi

In Greece (as in Italy) there is one church for every 5 people.  Okay that might be a bit of an exaggeration one for every 10 people.  This was a cute one coming into Vathi.  Easily accessible by sea or by a tiny footpath a fair distance from town. You can see the ruins of an old castle in the background.  Probably venetian.

We were moored at the north quay a little bit out of town right next to a fantastic tavern that was right on the waterfront (of course!) where it was shaded and a little cooler than the main town.

We walked into town despite the scorching heat because I knew there were some old buildings around there somewhere. Had the obligatory icecream/gelato. Then we went for a swim in a little bay just around from the mooring.

This is a venetian bell tower:

Day 43 - Euphemia

Two nights in one bay!  Very peaceful.

One of the yachts had problems with the self furling mainsail and they sent the lightest lead crew (because the guys on the ground had to haul her up via the bosun's chair) up the mast to do repairs.

Day 42 - Euphemia

Discovered a brand new 5 star Odyssey Hotel in the middle of nowhere at Euphemia on Cephalonia.  Very good rates for dinner, breakfast and a huge, huge room with a balcony over the sea.  They offered free pool and wifi.  They were booked out as soon as our floatilla had a look at the rooms!!!

Lovely. We luxuriated in the huge pool, with pool side food service.  The rooms were huge with a comfortable bed and endless hot water in a spacious shower with overhead shower head (usually hand held in Greece). The boat is comfortable but it was so very nice to spend a night on land. 

The night before we had panna cotta and I said I'd never have it again.  It was like junket.  Big mistake.  At the Odyssey they make their own panna cotta and it is superb.  So creamy and totally fantastic. 

Sunrise from the hotel room

Hotel from the room

View from the room

Day 41 - Fiskardo

Fiskardo is the most popular port in the Southern Ionian Islands.  Very touristy.  Oddly not our favourite.

Incredible number of "super yachts" huge motor boats.  One opened up the front deck and lifted out a full size speed boat.

One of the many, many windmills:

Day 40 – Vassiliki, Lefkas Isl

Set off early as we had moored to the ferry wharf and it was due to come in.  Set off with main and jib reefed and had a much more comfortable sail in 20 knot winds, similar to yesterday.  Got the boat to a maximum of 6.21 knots.  Arrived early as it was a fast sail and moored stern to behind a stone and concrete marina which was great because the winds continued to pummel the late arrivals who had to be moored in more exposed positions.  Late lunch at a taverna and a siesta (for some and others found an internet connection).  Windsurfer heaven here and there are hundreds of them absolutely flying along.

The skipper of the lead boat who moors everyone at night has absolute infinite patience when it comes to leading us in and explaining what he wants us to do. Skipper says put your fenders on the port side and come in and moor against the boat I am standing on.  The yacht comes in, passes the Skipper and turns around so it is facing the same direction as the boats already moored then realises its fenders are on the port side. They say to the skipper do you want our fenders on the port side?  Yes he replies because you have to go out again, do a loop and come back in so the boat you are mooring up to is on your port side. Simple really.  

Below the cute mooring place is a photo of us actually sailing!!!!!

Day 39 - Kioni, Ithaca Isl

Looking on the map the trip from Kalamos on Kalamos Island to Kioni on Ithaca Island looks like a simple 10 minute sail.  However, we decided to go back to Cliff Bay and stop off for lunch.  Coming back from Cliff Bay were strong winds force 4 18-20 knots got the boat up to 7.46 knots.  Challenging.  Will never complain about 0.5 knot winds again.  Moored at the end of the Ferry wharf three deep side on which meant we had to head off early in order to miss the 11 am ferry due in the morning. Group punch drinks. 

Exceptionally good pork on the spit at Costa's taverna (I am pretty sure).  It is the one right on the waterfront with a huge spit turning, cooking and sending out waves of succulent fragrance at the end of the building. 


Every port we went to had a taverna (or two) right on the waterfront within 20 metres of where we moored the boats. It didn't matter which one you went to because the food was fantastic and cheap everywhere and the restaurant owners and staff were smiling and friendly.

Day 38 - Frikes

No wind - smooth as a mill pond - so motored to Atoko Island - Cliff Bay for lunch then onto Ithaca Island (home of Homer) - Frikes for the night.

Don't know where we will be from one day to the next as it depends on the winds and weather but predicted to be perfect tomorrow and for the rest of the week.  The lead crew tell us in the morning where we are headed for the next night and where good places to stop off and have lunch are. They also give us directions to avoid any possible obstacles that we may encounter (or preferably avoid) along the way of the day's sail.

Free wifi here in Frikes and two ex-pat australians (with Greek heritage) running restaurants and pubs here.  Everyone is incredibly friendly and mooring goes fairly flawlessly at night. Some bays we moor in have complicated mooring systems but once we master them all we should be able to do the next one easily.  Unfortunately so far each day has been a different system. But of course variety is the spice of life!

Day 37 - Kastos, Kastos Isl

Sailed down to Port Leone for a lunch break and dropped anchor by ourselves and swam to shore to explore the town which has been deserted since 1953 when an earthquake destroyed their water supply. Below is a photo of an ancient olive tree.  

Then sailed across to Kastos for the night. Moored stern to in deep water and had to inflate the dinghy to get in. Dinner at a small restaurant.  Slight rain which dripped through the restaurant ceiling but it was great fun. Windmill tavern on the point. 

Got up to a massive 5.5 knots but perfect fair weather sailing.

We stocked up in Syvota on the necessities (scotch, choc and cheese) and had a fantastic greek meusli which I wasn't alergic to for most breakfasts.  So as not to get into a rutt we had breakfast at a taverna every so often.  Lunch everyday was cheese, lettuce and tomato on fresh bread that the entertainment officer managed to procure for us all from a local taverna or bakery. Dinner was at a different taverna every night.

Port Leone and an ancient olive tree 

Day 36 - Kalamos

Perfect Weather. 

Moored stern to at Marina and had Roast Lamb for dinner at George’s Taverna. Of course his name is not George but his greek name is not pronouncable so he calls himself George for the tourists. Even in these tiny little bays the ferry comes in does a swift U-turn and deposits its passengers.  Everyone has great boat skills here. 

We have met so many very nice people on this part of the holiday.  There are any number of places you can stop off for lunch and a miriad of different ways to get to port so it is funny that some of us end up in the same spot as each other for lunch and arrive into port at the end of the day about the same time.  Being on the same wavelength as us means we get on well with them when we meet up which is lovely. 

There is lots of opportunity to go off an do whatever you want as well.  Most of the people are from UK and all are very friendly.  We are the only Australians except for the skipper of the lead crew and the entertainment officer.

Our boat: Note the oars for self rescue.

Our boat (really).

Day 35 - Spartahori, Meganisi Island

Stayed in Spartahori on north coast of Meganisi Island. Weather 19-29. So nice and warm, water warm too.  Can see bottom and the fish! Boat huge. People next door have smaller boat and 4 people on board! Via iPhone!!!

Our first day sailing was great.  Perfect weather and moderate winds.  Moored to Steve’s Taverna with lazy lines.  Dinner as a group at Steve’s Taverna and then breakfast briefing the next morning.  Swim at the beach.

Breakfast and dinner briefing (our fleet of boats in the background on the right).

Day 34 - Lefkada

You can’t use your mobile phone as a hotspot to get internet connection in Greece so not sure if I will be able to update while we are sailing which starts this afternoon, unless we can find wifi.

The sea is dead flat, an incredible aqua blue and Lefkada island is very green compared to Santorini. 

The next two weeks we are sailing with a floatilla around the south Ionian Islands of Greece with sailingholidays.com a London company.  There are 9 yachts plus the lead yacht (or 10 yachts plus the lead yacht – not sure).  All are Beneteau 311’s or 331’s which can sleep 6 but on this trip each has only a couple on board (because it’s not school holidays).  The lead yacht has a captain, an engineer and a host on board.  They tell you where to go for the day (depending on weather, prevailing winds etc), warn of weather changes, fix things, answer questions, direct you into harbour (we have the harbour manual already – look out for the hidden rocks marked “A”), where the boats all moor together, organise dinners at tavernas and on the beach sometimes. 

We were getting a Beneteau 311 (31.1 foot) but have been upgraded to a Beneteau 331 (33.1 foot) (wheel steering, furling genoa, mainsail with lazy jacks, but I am pretty sure the 311 had all that as well) for free because they had a couple looking for a smaller boat and they thought that Beneteau 331 “would be perfect for us with our experience”. We specifically told them neither of us have sailed for 20 years so one can only hope sailing is like riding a bike. Desperately studying the harbour manual so we don’t make complete fools of ourselves. 

As you can see my camera man is off doing something more important so you will have to put up with my efforts: Still not our yachts but it is Lefkada Town on Lefkada Island!  Lefkada marina (in Lefkada Town) is the (according to them) largest and most modern marina in the Mediterranean.  It has berths for 640 yachts.  

We are moving on to  Syvota a much smaller less touristy spot on the east coast of Lefkada Island, as soon as we meet up with our group.

We stayed on board the boat at Syvota. Very nice little bay.  

Day 33 - Lefkada

Left Santorini earlier than intended to keep the lady in the London office of Sailing Holidays happy because we weren't travelling direct from London there was some concern that we wouldln't meet up with the main group. We caught the  ferry at 2am in the dark rather than the civilised 2pm one we were going to catch. For all my careful planning we have missed sailing into Santorini during the daytime to catch the view.

Had an hours sleep on Santorini and then got a cabin on the ferry for a few more hours sleep. Went into Athens to pick up the shirt Ronnie left behind - his favourite shirt and we are travelling pretty light so it was worth the slight detour. Onto the bus station to catch the bus to Lefkada – five hour trip.  Saw Corinth Canal – tight squeeze which is probably why the ships don’t use it. Have now done a circuit (pretty much) of Greece by bus. Amazing countryside.  Very nice bus trip.

This is not our yacht nor our yachting group but it is a yacht:

Special Note - photos

Super techno wizz that I am, I have now added photos right back to the first post!

I have also worked out the problem with the background/print colour on the first few posts.  Have been working hard between swims just for you! Free wifi here, obviously.  Many hotels have 3 hours for 3 euro which would be okay if the wifi was consistently on but it drops out all the time everywhere as far as we can see.

Editor in Chief has also checked for spelling too!  Sorry.

Rowers may want to check Day 14 - Florence for Florence rowing club photos.

Day 32 - Santorini

Photos do not do Santorini justice. 

Dinner tonight at Dimitri's at Ammoudi Bay (not to be confused with Armeni Bay- pffut no one goes there!).  250 steps down 250 steps back up.  These are Greek steps.  250mm - 300mm high separated by a 1 metre wide tread that slopes and adds at least another 100mm height each step.  So I figure it is the equivalent of about 800 steps all the while avoiding the donkey droppings.  Where was the donkey was my question?.

One other hardy couple took the stairs back up with us (everyone else sensibly waited in queue for taxis) but they paused for a good long break half way up. 

Day 31 - Santorini

Santorini,
We were going to catch the overnight ferry to Santorini but the boat was not scheduled this week so we came early arriving at 11pm.  Rena and Sani were waiting up for us to arrive and gave us an uppgrade to a fantastic cave apartment next to the pool. We have our own patio with lounge, umbrella and fantastic view of the caldera.

Absolutely totally quiet, secluded and superb.

Day 30 - Athens

We went to the Parthenon at the same time as an Arab Sheik and his entourage including his secret service dressed in black suits in the 37 degree heat. Police escort, camera crew etc.  The Japanese tourists took more photos of him than of the Parthenon even though no one knew who he was.  The camera crew were taking photos of each other with the Parthenon in the background.  Surreal.

Ronnie was busy taking photos of various vegetation and flowers. He saw another person doing the same and identified them as a fellow botanist.  Then we saw her photographing oleanders and realised we were mistaken.

Japanese tourist blog: Saw Australians taking more photos of plants, leaves and flowers than the parthenon today.  Very strange.

Day 29 - Athens

We narrowly missed the protests against the Greek Austerity measures.  12 Riot police buses and lots of excitement. 

The highlight was the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier.  They look a little silly in their costumes in the photos but it was really incredibly fascinating to watch.  They take it very seriously and as a consequence it is very moving.  They stand still in the sun guarding the tomb then change guards every hour.  We were lucky to get close as the next day they were barracaded off in case the protesters got too close. 

Day 28 - Meteora

Meteora where the monastries are built on top of rocky spires.  Incredibly impressive when you think of how it was achieved.

 The dinner gong.  Am thinking of installing one at home. If you are not at the table by the time the third gong stops reverberating, tough luck.

Day 27 - Ferry

 Near Corfu. 

Day 26 - Ferry

Left Venice on the Ferry (ship really as it is huge – 1500 people and 700 cars and trucks) headed for Greece.  Just got the hang of Italian (good morning, good bye and thank you) and have to change to Greek which is very different and difficult. 

We identified our ferry as we sailed past it on the vaperetto to the closest stop about 5km away.  We got off, were informed we had to walk back and dragged our bags quick smart down the road.  We saw a  guy walking behind us and I asked if we were headed in the right direction.  He confirmed this in Italian (but with understandable hand gestures) with the miserable news that despite walking 10 mins in the hot sun so far we were in for another 20 mins or so.  Plod, plod, plod.  Then a few minutes later he pulled up and invited us to get in his car and he drove us to the terminal (a good 4 kilometeres – don’t listen to Ronnies pathetic 2 km guess).  He patted me on the back and shook Ron’s hands to let us know he understood our grovelling “grazie”.  Were we lucky we weren’t flying as we arrived half an hour after check-in..   

The information about how to get to the terminal was found on the internet from an obviously unreliable source. We had been trying to ring and check-in and confirm details with Anek (Greek shipping line) for 36 hours but they had yet to answer their phone.) Our first experience of “Don’t worry about today and let tomorrow take care of itself” laissez-faire attitude.

After returning our heart rates to an acceptable level and drying out in the airconditioning (it is hot today) we returned on deck to see Venice from the sea – very pretty.  We have an outside cabin so we can see the very flat sea.  We have passed five (and I have given up counting) oil rigs in the Adriatic Sea so far.  There are also dolphins.  Ronnie has never seen such a completely flat sea.  The boat is completely steady steaming ahead at 25km.

 The satellite wifi (for which you PAY) is active for about 2 mins before it drops out.  I think I will use my entire allotment connecting and reconnecting rather than actual internet time.

Our ferry!  Not quite but pretty close.  Very impressive but equally  worried about the Greek Economy as the ferry wasn't full.

 

Day 25 - Venice

This is one big city we could stay in longer and come back many times as long as we avoided St Mark’s Square.  Beautiful and quiet if you avoid the tourist areas which is easy to do, if you know where to go, and absolutely fascinating.  I am sure it is not just because there are no cars but that is an added bonus.

Found a 4 euro pizza (usually 8-10).  Who said Venice was expensive? 

We have had incredible sunny weather every day we were here.

Day 24 - Venice

Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Palazzo Grassi Museum (contemporary art museums - we have had enough renaissance for a while).  Walking, walking, walking.   

Vaporetto’s (venice water buses) are fantastic when they are empty but terrible when they are full.  The conductors are fantastic about berating passengers who don’t line up in the entry line behind the barriers as they block the exit area.  A conductor this morning hearded a group of five Americans back behind the chain (the chain tightly binding them in) and then took off without letting anyone on!  Fantastic.  Imagine the outcry in Australia?

Day 23 – Venice

Incredible city.  26^th wedding Anniversary today.  Getting lost in Venice is a given.  Ronnie is very good with a map (which is saying something in a circular city with 6,000 higgledy-piggledy lanes and bridges) but he needs his glasses.  Without them and with me navigating it is certainly a fun experience.  The hotel is yet again fantastic.

We have arrived just in time for the pre - Contemporary Art Biennale.  Some exhibits are open to the public already.  One on our vaporetto stop is By Oksana Mas 2011, Post vs Pronto Renaissance.

It is a depiction of part of The Ghent Altar Piece in St Bravo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck in 1432.  The snapshot of Virgin Mary is depicted by thousands of eggs (birth symbolism etc) which is each delicately hand painted and attached to the board. From a distance you get the overall picture.  He has done 8 of these.