Santorini

Settled into the marina in Naousa and greeted Nic’s brother and sister the next day.  Unfortunately for Sue and Mike the weather has really taken a bit of a turn here.  The winds are up, the temperature down and rain forecast for the next week plus.

Naousa is a smaller town than Paroikia but just as picturesque.  The marina is built alongside the small port which is full of fishing boats and the waterfront is lined with cafes and restaurants.  Behind the waterfront are small winding streets filled with interesting shops.  

Sue and Nic in their element

One of the goals during the visit of Sue and Mike was to visit Santorini or Thira.  The main island and its outliers are the remains of a volcano.  When you sail down you are actually sailing into the caldera of the old volcano.  As a result the seabed slopes away pretty dramatically and anchorages are limited and where possible are tenuous.  There is one marina in the south of the island which seemed a bit crowded and small for a boat the size of Dulcinea.  So given the limited anchoring / berthing options and the fact that the weather was playing up we decided to leave Dulcinea in the marina in Naousa and take a commercial ferry from Paros instead.  A kind of road trip.

Santorini is a 3.5hr ferry trip from Paros.  Calley was beside herself with excitment to be going on the sea in a boat bigger than Dulcinea.  The trip was uneventful and we arrived at a wharf on the west side of the island in the afternoon.  The water at the dockside was heaving a couple of meters which only supported our decision not to bring Dulcinea.  We found some accommodation through one of the helpful local agents at the wharf and were whisked up the cliffside and along to the main town of Thira.  

The gang - a bit windswept

The main island is kind of crescent shaped and the west side is extremely steep rising almost vertically to about 1000ft above sea level.  Then there is a plateau which covers most of the island and then falls away steeply on the other side to a fairly large coastal plain on the east side.  The plateau is dotted with settlements of white houses.  

View over the caldera

Most people will have seen pictures of Santorini as it is probably the most photographed place in Greece and probably one of the top spots in the world.  The classic Greece shot of brilliant white houses, blue church domes, steep cliffs and beautiful azure seas is probably taken in Santorini and the real thing is indeed very stunning.  We decided on a cliffside hotel in the main town of Thira and it is very spectacular.  The town of white buildings kind of droops over the cliffside as if its oozing off the top of the island.  There is one main street at the top of the cliff and then the hotels are all accessed by a myriad of narrow staircases.  All of the rooms seem to have veiws over the caldera to to the neighbouring islands.

Thira town

Unfortunately for us the weather was pretty bad while we were there.  High winds and rain.  Still it could not take away from the scenery.  We had a look around Thira town which was still very busy with tourists.  It must be absolute mayhem at the height of the season.  Calley wanted to go on a donkey ride to the port at the bottom of the cliff but got vetoed by just about everyone else in the group.  Thira has some pretty old narrow streets full of small shops, bars, cafes and restaurants and a spectacular cliffside walk but outside of them, back from the cliffside the town is pretty unattractive.  We  took a bus to the most northerly town called Oia.  The drive over the island between Thira and Oia is very scenic in itself and Oia is very pretty; smaller and quieter but more attractive than Thira and full of more boutique type shops.

One advantage of cloudy weather - spectacular sunsets

We only had a couple of days on Santorini which was enough though.  Its a really amazing place and well worth a visit but the main attraction is to experience the cliffside setting and the views.  The shops and old town can be experienced on a number of other islands.  We caught the ferry back to Paros and the next day was Calley’s 10th birthday.  Its amazing to think that when we started this trip Calley was seven.  She has spent a quarter of her life onboard the boat!  We had a relatively sedate birthday for her and then moved the boat back to Paroikia for a couple of days. 

Every day is a birthday for Calley

The weather has taken a tumble ever since Sue and Mike arrived which is a real shame for them.  It has been windy, raining and cloudy most days and the wind has been from the wrong direction if we have wanted to sail anywhere.  In addition the temperature of the sea has fallen about 4 degrees in the last couple of weeks.  Will try and get across to Mykonos in the next few days so we can have a look around another island before Sue and Mike leave us.