Chill out day...

What a wonderful feeling to wake up at 1.15pm, I feel almost normal for the first time. Greg and I head over to one of the local cafes in the marina and order a full English breakfast with bacon, fried eggs, sausage, beans, toast, OJ and coffee, it's absolutely perfect. We spend a few hours just doing nothing and a little blogging and internet stuff.  We decide to stay for another night at the marina as too lazy to go this afternoon.  We go for a walk into town and hear music and singing and walk straight into a wedding on the street.

All the women are stylishly dressed and dancing, while the men stand around. There is a guy playing the guitar and singing.  It goes for ages.

We head back to the yacht for another siesta ( bad thing) and then go for an early dinner of yummy pizza at a restaurant close to the marina.  I order a Vesuvius (hot!) and Greg has the four seasons.  They are both delicious and the heat just perfect on mine.  We wash it down with one of the Levkas local white wines.  All of a sudden we hear horns tooting and a beautiful lite blue vintage car drives by with another bride and groom as all the cars are bipping their horns; it's fabulous to see.

It's an early night for us thank god!

It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday

We all awake with far too little sleep from our last night, the grand final.  We are all feeling blue as we know Belinda and Rob will be leaving us this afternoon.  Even Nicolas pops over to say farewell.  Greg is cooking up his famous bacon and egg toasties while Rob and I have our final dance on the pontoon to our holiday's favourite song Budapest. 

We have one more no more Ouzos  before the guys pack up in record time of fine minutes, they don't want to waste a second.

 We all walk them over to the bus stop and say out farewells, we are all trying to be strong.

Nicholas walks us back to the marina and we say our farewells and maybe we'll see him tonight as he has a DJ from Athens mixing the music so could be fun.

We walk back to the yacht and it's looking a little shabby so guess we better work bitch!

Then we head over to Daltons for a chicken gyros pie as we are hungry by 4pm.  Then it's siesta time. We both have a deep snooze and wake up around 8pm.  We are feeling pretty slow but manage to get ready and walk into town and see what happens.  We immediately bump into Nicolas and then walk around the square and have a few chilled out drinks which we enjoy with the local meza plates.  We head over to the G Spot around 11 as the DJ is starting at midnight.  It's pretty busy and we enjoy the friendly banter of the locals and Nicolas joins us for a few drinks as well.  Have to admit I prefer Chris the DJ from last night, his music was more my thing.  After too many shots we head home around 2am.

We end where we began

Everyone has a great nights sleep and I enjoy a skinny dip first up in the morning, it's perfect.  Belinda chops up the peaches, melon and bananas for our fruit salad with Greek yoghurt and honey, yum it makes us feel very healthy for once!

We head off around midday after a lazy morning, the skies are looking grey and rain is coming. An hour into our journey back to Levkas it starts to pour with rain. We are all on deck in our wet weather gear sipping on our last bottle of Moet how perfect!

Rob and Brlinda wanted to end the journey where it began at Levkas, which is a great sentiment.  We picked Rob up at the bus stop 8 days ago.

Just as we tie off at the marina the lightening strikes and the thunder roars, it's teeming down and we have arrived, look out Levkas!  We end up next to an Australian clue  from Mona Vale, they have been here a while as they are having electrical issues.

The crew have been amazing and we are all feeling sad about the end of the trip although we are not talking about it.  Belinda and Rob head off to buy their bus tickets for tomorrow, they are catching a bus to the mainland then a ferry over to Corfu.  They will love it in Corfu.  Rob still has another four weeks holidaying in Paris, Rome, London and Berlin lucky guy.  Belinda is heading off to London to her family for another birthday celebration then back to Sydney.  Greg and I have another week on the yacht then back to Mesalonghi to winter the yacht and hopefully sell her.

We have a late lunch then get organised for our last night.  I have already arranged the laundry and it's ready to be picked up at 7pm so I dash out before we are all ready to hit the town.

We head back to our favouite lane ways and of course start with a few rounds of Ouzo at Boschetto Bar, then head over the the Vintage Bar.  Belinda asks the owners to recommend a taverna and they show us one just around the corner, it's a real family restaurant.  Mama invite us into her kitchen and opens all her ovens and pots to show us what she has been cooking all day.  We settle for dolmadies , stuffed tomates, octopus with potatoes, lamb klefkita, beef Stifado and beef with garlic, wow what a last night feast, it's all fantastic! 

After dinner we head back to the lane way  and find the G Spot Bar and it's going off! It must be midnight by now so we spend the rest of the night dancing the night away.  Chris the DJ is awesome as he plays all our favouite music from the past, we are loving this place.  We meet one of the owners Nicolas and the Romanian crew from a 100. Ft yacht, we are all a having so much fun.

What a great last night and we have all had the best holiday EVER! 

Next stop is Fiscardo

After very little sleep we enjoy a yummy spinach pie at the local bakery and depart Big Vathi around 11am.  We are all a little weary today.  The boys come over to say goodbye as they head off as well.  

Rob is on the helm and does a great job, he is a natural.  We loose a fender along the way but Rob calls it out so we practise our man over board and retrieve it without an issues.  We arrive at Fiscardo around 2 pm and get the last possie on the wharf, right next to the Swiss people who helped us at Ithaca.  They are really nice people.

We are staying two nights here as Belinda wants to celebrate her birthday dinner here.  It's a special place as Belinda and I were her in 1998 and loved it.  We order in the lobster for her special birthday meal tomorrow.  It's really hot so we jump in the water at the back of the yacht just to cool down, it's crystal clear.  Then the bubbles start to be poured as we savour the delights of the beautiful town of Fiscardso.  

The forecast is for some big winds tomorrow so we are happy to be tired to the wharf.  The skipper of a cruiser ties us off to his boat as well as he has a lazy line.  So far we have met the nicest people at every town we have stopped at. 

After numerous bottles  of bubbles we get ready for dinner.  First stop is for ouzo at one of the local tavernas who provides a delicious meza with the ouzo.  Then we head to the other side of the harbour for dinner at Apegio.  Ole is our waiter and he is really fun.  We are all in our Moet  yacht shirts.  He gives me some purple chillis apparently the third hottest and it is hot, but I love it.

It's already midnight so officially Belinda's birthday so we start the celebrations.  Ole can't make out Belinda's nick name, Barp Barp so calls her bum bum which is hilarious as he wishes her happy birthday bumbum.  Just as we finish dinner, Jacob, Martin and Christoph find us and invite us for some drinks.  All of a sudden Belinda and I are back in the room as we were feeling pretty tired. 

We meet the guys at the Greco Bar for numerous rounds of drinks and party tricks.  We laugh the night away.  I get to record Jacob and his Jack and Jill joke, he has the best accent.   No sign of Mike as he is still getting over the previous night with the boys.

Belinda and I head off to bed around 4am as Rob and Greg head back to the boys catamaran to continue partying, thank god they are anchored away from the Quay.  The stories they tell us the next morning are outrageous as Rob and Greg arrive back at about 6.30am with Jacob and finally Jacob departs our yacht at 7am.  They are heading south to Zacinthos in the really big weather. Luckily they have a few skippers on the cat.  Rob is speechless for the first time and the helicopter has expanded  to Europe.

Happy birthday bum bum

As we slowly arise for breakfast for Barp Barp's birthday, we are all tired and weiry from last nights shenanigans and grateful the boys have left for Zacinthos.

Greg, Belinda and I head over to Melinas for breakfast. Belinda has a savoury omelette and Greg and I have a favouite cake, orange pie, it's so moist and delicious.  The cappuccinos are also very good here. We slowly make our way back to the yacht and no sign of Rob as yet.  We pop our first birthday bubbles.  It's really hot and the wind starts to pick up.  I snorkle at the back of the yachts and check on everyone's  rudder, we only have about two inches so need to move forward a tad as we are getting pushed around a little by the wind.  The other yachts are all OK.  We also have to use the tender as a plank as the plank won't reach to shore.

Rob finally pops his head out around 2pm. Belinda and I see the boys bring our fresh lobsters in for our dinner, can't wait for that!  We walk around to the beach but the water is no good due to all the weather so we try another spot in the harbour which is very refreshing. On our way back we go off for one more Piña colada at the roof top bar, which is really relaxing.

We have booked a table for 9pm at the Captians Cabin where we are having Belinda's  birthday dinner and it has been  set up beautifully for  dinner with fresh flowers for Belinda, the staff have been amazing.  I dropped off a chocolate ice cream cake earlier on for dessert.

We receive our complimentary ouzo at the end of our meal but can't drink it as we are so buggered. But Rob and Greg manage to help us finish them off. Belinda and I take a walk and the boys converse with the waiting staff.  We are able to take home all the spaghetti for dinner tomorrow night and we hit the sack around midnight.

It's a slow start to the morning as Greg and I am up earlier as the swell rolling into the quay is really uncomfortable all night long jerking the yacht.  The Swiss couple  have left for Corfu already.  We head over to Melinas for breakfast and Rob and Belinda join as an little later on.  It's really hot already. We enjoy crepes and coffees in the sun.

I do our final provisioning while Greg tops up the water then we are off to another anchorage.  We head into a rolling swell north to Meganissi.  Robs on the helm again and does a great job.  We stop off for a sunbake at a private beach on Meganissi for a few hours, it's just perfect.  I get stung on the butt by a wasp which really stings, luckily Belinda has some stingoes for me to use.  I organise lunch and we enjoy the sun.

We arrive at Port Athina around 5pm, just in time for ouzo on the mats and sunset, it's beautiful and not really packed out as we get a good spot and Rob swims ashore and ties off.  All of a sudden Bob calls out to as from the shore and we are surprised to him him as we met him a while ago in Monganisi. 

We eat spaghetti meatballs for dinner with a tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese salad it's really delicious.  We set up candles on the deck which look great and spend a lot of time lying on the deck looking into the Northern stars looking for shooting stars, it's beautiful and tranquil. There is no moon tonight.

Greg and I crash early as Belinda and Rob grab blankets and chill out on the deck for the evening.

Ouzo Bay - the Original

We depart Meganissi around 9am for a three hour motor south to Ithaca as we want to stop for lunch at Ouzo Bay.

It's a really hazy day with high cloud cover but it doesn't take long for it to warm up.  The trip is smooth and we drop anchor in the bay just before you get into Big Vathi on Ithaca. We are the only ones around so happy about that.  The water temp is perfect as we float around the bay, bubbles in hand.  There are plenty of fish to eat all our stale bread as we just relax and soak up the sun and the landscape.  Everyone is in heaven as we have another pinch moment.

As we are expecting a change in the wind direction we head into the old town of Little Vathi, a beautiful historic town.  We have a near perfect arrival as we are helped by some Swiss yachties on shore.

Anchor beer in hand Greg can relax as do the crew.  I'm  heading for the first bar that has a TV so I can watch the F1 and  Rob comes with me.  Greg is in need of a ciggy so borrows a bike from a local and goes in search of a shop.

We find a local bar and they set up the TV for us. I'm really looking forward to seeing my adopted son Daniel Ricciardo race today in Singapore.  It's a good race and Daniel comes 3rd and yes I'm sure some of you are saying buttermilk!

After the race we head for one of a favouite Tavernas for a very late lunch or very early dinner.  It's a feast of seafood; sardines, grilled octopus, Greek salad, dips and a kilo of wine, yes that serve it by the weight.

After our yummy meal Rob and Belinda take a stroll through the back streets as Greg and I head back to the yacht to close the hatches. It looks a little like rain.  We meet up later for our Ouzo at a lovely bar on the other side of the Quay and we are served by George who is really lovely, we laugh our heads off all night long and he enjoys our banter.

We head back to the yacht and continue to have a few drinks on the boom, soon enough some of the crew from a cat come over and join us for a drink, the boys are from Europe, there's a very hilarious loud Scot, a Pol and a few other races.  They are extremely funny.  As we are making too much noise the boys go and join them on their cat for a few more laughs.  Belinda and I enjoy our first girly time which is great and we head to bed around 4am. 

We were expecting the 1am ferry but it didn't show up.

Next stop is Meganissi

We all pass out around midnight and awake with no hangover so grateful of that.  The mechanic is due to bring the engine back at 8.45 and he is on time which is great.  It's now all working again and Greg can rest easy.

We are heading to another favouite anchorage called Abelike Bay or Pirates Cove.  We are SOO lucky we get a great spot up close to Ouza Bay.  We tie up to a rock and secure the yacht.  It's now party time.

We swim, drink bubbles and play our music loud as we soak up the rays.  It's a perfect day.  Around 4pm we paddle over to the beach as we have packed our glasses, ice and Ouzo ready for the afternoon.  We can't stop  laughing as the Ouzo takes effect. We float on our mats and enjoy being feed twisties by Belinda.

It's a big afternoon and once the Ouzo has run out Belinda and I paddle the boys back to the yacht. 

We want to have dinner in at Little Vathi and Greg suggests we go via Kokoda Trail, which is a trail from the  beach that doesn't really exist.  I manage to fall out of the dingy twice and Im covered in a lovely clay like mess.  After half an hour of walking like crabs  up the hill we abort the adventure and head back to the yacht.  I don't know how but Belinda and Robert prepare a delicious meal of figs with halomui, cold cuts and bread. It's yummo and then we crash out!

We all have a great nights sleep and are amazed that we don't have hangovers, can't work that one out!

We start the morning with a refreshing swim and coffee, fruit salad and Greek yoghurt and honey, it makes us all feel fabulous!

We then jump in the tender and row ashore to walk into the town of Little Vathi.  It's a small heartbreak hill as we pass the olive groves and fig trees.

We purchase some bread and then head for the Boom Boom Bar for some lunch and refreshments.  We are all SOO relaxed it's wonderful.

We had planned to depart for another bay on Meganissi but are happy to stay where we are for another night.  Everyone is chilled out and so excited to be here.   We stroll around the harbour and soak it all in.

After a few lazy hours we head back to the yacht.  I'm keen to watch the F1 qualifying so Robert and I stay on shore and go to the local Taverna there called Minos.  They are very accommodating as the bring their home TV down for us to use.  One of the local pussys snuggle up to Rob for the afternoon.

Greg rows Belinda back and returns to watch qually.  After a while they loose power so we head back to the yacht.  We have a swim and Belinda prepare fresh figs with blue chees and prosciutto, baked in the oven for our starter, wow so delicious.

I make a basic tomato based spaghetti which is all pretty yummy, with fresh bread and wash it down with a local red wine.  By midnight we are all ready to retire.