The Emergence of Lola Croft

With the picking lock skill I acquired at the start of the year and my immediate mastering of Quad Bike driving, my transformation to Lola Croft is well underway. I already have the boots. That's boots with a 't' not a 'b'- trust me, I am under no illusions on that front!

That is something my wealthy, Spanish benefactor-to-be can factor in to his budget when keeping his mistress happy...

Not that you'd know it yet, but this entry is about my fabulous time on Santorini and all the really interesting things we encountered (not the boring stuff, I'll leave that out).

As the ferry pulled in, I caught sight of our hotelier Georgi from the window, and made a note of where to scramble through the hordes of waiting people to. As it turns out, no scrambling, scratching or kicking required because by the time mum and I were let off (well and truly after all other passengers left AND after they loaded every one else ON for the next leg of the journey- they wouldn't let us off!) it was running down the ramp with hands waving above our heads before Georgi left without us!

Ten minutes walk from the hub of Oia is a little village called Finikia, which is where “Georgi's Apartments” is located. If you want to stay with the local's, this is where you come.

Due to the village consisting of narrow, winding, white cobblestoned streets past local's classic looking houses, cars could not enter the area, and this is how we came to meet Youssou.

A cute little donkey with an inclination for walking into walls, Youssou complained minimally as he made the six minute walk to Georgi's, back piled high with luggage.

When we reached our destination we were greeted by Georgi's wife, Tania, and led to what can best be described as our own private little cave house. Decorated in the traditional white and blue, our cave house had such a fresh and homely aura about it, and the view from our balcony was terrific!

Our hosts were both so sweet and helpful, and allowed us to leave the dining room one morning and set up breakfast on the rooftop. The view was just beautiful! There really are a lot of places built into the side of the clifftops in Santorini, and much of it is exactly as you see in calendars (although all of those photos have surely had the abundance of power lines photoshopped out!).

We forced ourselves resignedly to squeeze in a couple of sunsets with wine, tzatziki and dolmades from the porch.

Me, Georgis and Youssou

Our cave house

Sunset from Franco's

Perhaps our most fantastical sunset however, was the one we experienced from Franco's Bar in Thira, the capital of the island. It really was an experience, in the true sense of the word, as each and every sense was stimulated into participation. Perched at the very edge of the clifftop, overlooking the cerulean sea as the sun began it's journey to the west, wind gently brushed the skin as we feasted on delicate morsels of cheese, olives and wine, the salty scent of the Mediterranean wafting up to meet our nostrils. Touch, taste, sight and scent were perfectly synced with the mood enhancing sound of classical music, grandly pouring from the speakers above us. As we drank our cocktails and waited for the sky to turn to pink, it was easy to lose all sense of thought process as we became swept up in the captivating dance of dipping Gulls in time with the music. Actually, listening to the classical music reach it's crescendo as the sun set on one of the most picturesque backdrops in the world, was a phenomenally intoxicating experience. It's moments like these which, upon reflection, really remind you how fortunate you are to live in a world rich with natural beauty...

I love this place, and I love that I have finally allowed myself to surrender to this journey.

And it really is a journey. I already know who I am, but I don't know the world and where I fit into it. I'm really enjoying starting to live as the person who I've become.

Thira, Santorini after sunset

About 18km in length, Santorini is not of a challenging size for exploring over a few days, however the hills certainly make it hefty enough to avoid walking and push biking everywhere. So, mum and I decided that it would be fun to hire a Quad Bike for 24hrs, and boy were we right! The two of us had an absolute blast zooming around the island, past vineyards, small villages and a colourful assortment of beaches. Because of volcanic rock, all the swimming beaches on Santorini are black, which makes for a completely different feel compared with Aussie beaches. I should say, all but two. Actually marked on all the maps are two specific places – the White Beach and the Red Beach. The day we visited the latter was a particularly steamy day, and by the time we had parked the bike and headed over the hill to face the beach (Wow!), we were well and truly ready to make ripples in the Sea. The Red Beach is actually breathtaking. You turn the corner and are bombarded by a rock face of deep, burnt red, and an ocean so blue and clear as crystal that you can actually see all the different coloured pebbles beneath the surface, from way up on the cliff! What a magnificent sight to behold! Tiny little shell like pebbles replace sand on the shore, and larger rocks become your stepping stones into the water. A little fresh at first immersion, after a couple of minutes the water becomes comfortably refreshing, particularly on such a hot day. Although the water is soooo salty here! I could have started dreadlocks without any trouble, and if I had a leg cramp, a single gulp would have sufficed...

The magnificent Red Beach

Lola Croft

After a long day exploring, we filled our tank with fuel for tomorrow's escapades, and drove our wrinkled prune-like bodies home to Finikia.

The next morning, we two were in high spirits with grand plans to while away our last few hours before the ferry back to Athens. Chatting animatedly, a spring in our steps and a glint in our eyes, we made our trip out of Finikia Village to the carpark where we had left the bike overnight. It was still there! What luck! It wasn't until we jumped on top and the Quad didn't start that our smiles of certainty began to falter. Fallen victim to one of the occasional tourist traps, we discovered that overnight our full tank of fuel had been syphoned. So much so that we couldn't even start the thing and drive it just around the corner to be returned. I should take this moment in time to let you know that the closest fuel station was 8km away.

Fortunately, being the charming young woman I am, I flashed a killer smile and bent over the rental counter in a certain way which spurred one of the men at the garage to syphon fuel from someone else's bike and give it to me. (I didn't know that he had stolen it at the time or I would not have been party to it! Well... maybe... But we reeeeaaaallllyyy appreciated it!)

We returned the bike with no more dramas, and decided to reward ourselves for dealing so well with the situation by making our way down the cliff at the top of Oia to Ammoudi Bay, a tiny fishing village below, for lunch.

Prawns and the deliciously sweet, mouth watering flesh of fresh Silver Snapper tangoed on our tongue while we washed it down with ½ a litre of local white.

It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Until, the white hot sun blazing upon our shoulders, we endeavoured to make the return trip back up the hillside. Seven hundred steps later we reached the top, alive and wheezing. LOTS of wine + scorching sun in the middle of the day + excessive exercise = a really stupid combination of elements. What were we thinking?! Oh wait, we weren't... we were tipsy... Next time, I think I'll opt for the donkey.

Back in Athens now. It's midnight and we've just gotten in after navigating our way through the protest in Syntagma Square, which is massive news here in Greece. The people are angry at their country being in such debt, amongst other things, and they are taking a stand against the government, the EU, and a lot of other things that I don't understand. There are hand made signs and flags up all over the square fighting for just about every topic under the sun- gay equality, democracy, animal rights- and there are people camping there. It seems to be fairly peaceful so far, although the numbers in attendance have grown significantly since we were here a few days ago. In fact the atmosphere is rather electric- there are so many people out and about, drinking beers and eating from road side food stalls. I forced mum to walk through it all with me so I could be a part of it!

Succumbed, I'm sad to say, to a very late comfort dinner of McDonalds which we've brought back to consume at the hotel. I've opened the door to the balcony for a bit of fresh air and oh, there's the Acropolis all lit up in front of me. It's a tough life, but someone's gotta live it.

Calendar shot?

Postcard?

Mum, myself and Thira

Eerily awesome