Greek Islands part 2 - Santorini

Santorini was a short ferry from Ios, we arrived at the port to a sea of people and expected to find our transfers to our hotel. They weren't there, but after a confusing discussion with a Greek fella we were in a van and on our wwy. 

We arrived at our apartment, Ampelonas, and were instantly blown away with the view. The apartment had a loft with roof access, which looked out over the horizon. 

We hired another four wheeler and scooter and went into the main town, Fira. We explored, ate gyros and soaked up the stunning views. 

Lyss and I then drove over to the sunset town, Oia, to try and find the bay that Jamie took Lyss a couple of years ago for some cliff diving. After a couple of wrong turns, we found it - Ammoudi Bay. There were restaurants lining the bay on the waters edge, and a rocky path wound its way around the corner to where you could jump in the water for a swim. We swam a short distance out to a rocky island, climbed up to a ledge about 6-7 metres from the water and jumped in. The backdrop was pretty spectacular!

We went back up to Oia to explore the town a bit more, and found an amazing rooftop restaurant appropriately named "Sunsets". We booked a table for the following night and went back to the apartment to settle in for the sunset, which well and truly lived up to expectations! 

The next day we road tripped out to the "Red Beach" - a small beach with a red faced cliff and stones, and the "Black Beach" - again appropriately titled for its black sand. 

We ventured back over to Ammoudi Bay for a bit of a snorkel and some more cliff diving with Nige and Kabes. Partially successful, but in hindsight probably a pretty unsuccessful trip - Nige copped a nasty ear infection, and Katrina was left was some nasty thigh bruises after diving into the water...the video is pretty hilarious though, it may or may not find its way onto YouTube at some point. 

We went for dinner at "Sunsets", for the sunset. We were pretty thankful that we booked for dinner as we had endless people all night trying to get in. We had the prime spot to watch the sun go down with uninterrupted views. It was a pretty spectacular experience!

After checking out on the third day Lyss and I drove over to the "White Beach", which was ridiculously named, because it was covered in black sand and pebbles. 

We prepared ourselves for what was about to come, and left for the airport for the 19 hour trip to Dubrovnik. 

Greek Islands part 1 - Ios

Ios!

After a 5 hour ferry we arrived in Ios. Nick the Greek greeted us at the port and took us to our hotel - Hermes.

We were blown away by the breathtaking view from our balcony and the pool area. We went straight into town for a sneaky gyros and hired a four wheeler and scooter, then hit the main beach - Mylopotas. We relaxed, swam, snorkelled etc and enjoyed the weather.

We hit up the local Mexican restaurant "Harmony" for dinner, then went back to the pool for some pre-drinks and cards.

Nick the Greek took us out to a few bars and we had a top night - giant jenga, danced to a  remix of Circle of Life from the Lion King, ripped our shirts off and waved them around as is custom when banquet by Bloc Party comes on, hit up slammer bar where you put a motorbike helmet on, do a shot and then get "slammed" on the head with a skateboard, rubber mallet and fire hydrant...and finally, stopped past for another sneaky gyros on the way home.

The next day we had a bit of a road trip to Manganari beach which was about 40 minutes by four wheeler/scooter. The drive was absolutely incredible, as you wind your way through the cliffs of Ios and look out over the horizon.

Next stop is Santorini!

The Europe Trip Begins

After a teary farewell to our folks, sisters and close friends at the airport in Melbourne, we got to our gate on time and ready to board...only to be delayed by 90 minutes...

We eventually set off for 13.5 hours to Doha. We had 15 minutes to get to our connecting flight, so sprinted to the gate via another security scanner (had to skull our drink bottles we had only just refilled), but luckily made it as the last calls we're being made to board the plane.

We landed and were greated at  the airport by Nige and KB who we hadn't seen for the past three months while they've been in Canada, needless to say there were some big hugs happening and lots of funny looks from by standers as I jumped on Nige.

We caught a bus to the port of Piraeus, checked in to our hilarious room with four single bends lined up next to each other, and then shot out for a quick gyros and trip to the Acropolis! 

Next stop, the Greek Islands!