To sail from island to
island is wonderful. To be able to see your next destination is
comforting. Travelling from Lesbos
to Lemnos, Samothraki, Thassos and now Kavala in northern Greece is what
sailing in the Med is about: day sailing in perfect conditions. Over the last month we have mainly
sailed. The engine has been used but not nearly as often as last season. So for
us this means less money on fuel and more comfortable sailng. Peace and quiet.
The personality of
each island is apparent when you visit them in succession. We are lucky to be
able to stay as long as we like this year in each place due to our year long
visa for Greece.
Limnos or Lemnos had
the visage of a place affected by war: the Gallipoli campaign. My grandfather
William Burtenshaw walked the shore of Moudros Bay in 1915 before that fateful
landing on 25 April on the Gallipoli Peninsula. As we visited the graves of the
young men who had been left behind I felt a connection to the site through
Will. I wish mum had talked more to him and then to me about what he remembered
of this place.
Limnos is a
comparatively low island. We had grown accustomed to high craggy cliffs,
occasionally pine dotted. This island appears windswept. The harbour is
extensive. You can imagine all the ships waiting in the bay, the hospitals set
up on the land surrounding. The
Hellenic Airforce is based here. Jets were always flying over, practising
manoeuvres. The military presence is palpable. It is particularly evident in
the main town, Myrina. The local
café owner said that the Australian Ambassador to Greece visted the site and
his restaurant where he heard about the plans for the 100 year anniversary of
the landing. Australian warships plan to be there too. They hope people visit
this site as well as Gallipoli.
Samothraki is a
beautiful and peaceful island. It seems to be trying to attract tourists for
eco tourism. It is certainly a place for hiking and bike riding. Samothraki is
a comparatively small island with a population of about 2000 which doubles in summer.
Only one ferry comes here from the mainland and it is not connected with the
other islands. Seraphin, a café owner told us that this lack of connection has
made it hard for tourists to get there
so this is hard for business. The small population, the lushness of the
landscape, and the interesting archaeological evidence of past cultures make
this site a worthwhile addition to any trip to the north Aegean. Hiring a motor bike made the excursion
inland possible as there are few buses.
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| Samothraki |
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| I think I can....... |
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| Stylised Nike Figure at Chora Samothraki. Original found in Great Sanctuary site, now in Louvre. |
Thassos is certainly much
more affected by tourism, manly Greek. The two ferries which service this
island arrive and depart on the half hour and cost 3 Euro. Often they appear
nearly empty.
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| Thassos beach |
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| Thassos |
Again we were able to
moor side to the dock. A short walk into the main port on the island brought us
into tourist land. We discovered a little beach about 500m away where we could
escape the heat for a dip and use their wifi. Locating wifi has been vital. At
last in Thassos we signed a contract with Vodaphone for 12 months which will
give us 20 gig per month. This will not be enough however so we still will
search out free wifi.
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| Thassos |
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| Beautiful green blue bay Thassos |
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| knarled olive tree |
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| Thassos beach |
Hiring motor scooters
on Samothraki and Thrassos enabled us to see much of both islands. From
waterfalls and deserted beaches to archaeological remains and small tavernas by
the sea, both islands had their charm.
Thassos also
introduced us to Gert and Ina in their Cat. Having set sail from the
Netherlands they are now thinking about ending this part of their journey. We
spent time with them singing and Steve and Gert jammed together. Steve has
missed these sort of opportunities so really valued their company.
Now we are stern to
the dock in Kavala. Town life for a change. Today we “Lidled”. All boaties know the value of these
excursions. We bought a fishing rod in town to troll with and hopefully enhance
our chances of catching our dinner.
Shops provide opportunities to idle our time walking around the town.
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| Kavala dock looking to the castle |
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| View back to dock from old town |
Rocks are always
available to view. I mean archaeological sites. Yesterday we caught the local
bus to Philippi, named after Philip 11 of Macedon. There were artefacts from
Greek to early Christian times. Roman and Byzantine ruins also exist here. The
museum, air-conditioned, was a welcome respite from the heat of the day.
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| Phillipi |
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| Phillipi |
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| Add caption |
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| Protected mosaics |
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| Bronze figurine in museum Phillipi |
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| Glass Phillipi Museum |
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| Clearly EU money used to build the Museum. |
Hoping to find the mud
baths we walked into Lidia. Dusty and hot, no shops or a taverna so we turned
back to Kavala. That night we listened to some blues, badly played Steve said,
being played at the café opposite the boat. Hopefully we will hear some good
blues at the “Bikes and Blues” festival being held this weekend. We will ride
our bikes there as it is only a couple of kms away.
More on that latter.
