Croatian photos

Australians at Trogir
Michael, Lisa, Suzanne and David.

Michael manged to increase our vocabulary, due to a misunderstanding, which happily was buried later in a pile of beer bottles.
















Monastery on Scedro, now deserted















Pelisjac, or the "half-island". Wine is grown here, but we were mad enough to hike to the top

































Frog pool on Miljet

















Lokrum - he's obviously just come from the nudist beach














Dubrovnik














































Visitors that kept popping back

Italy and Italian Island photos

Otranto - mainland



















Elba












Pompeii - Venus















Pompeii - bus queue









Vulcano






























Ventotene
































Ischia







































Capri

July/August photos from England

Photos from Aigina

The temple is Afia's (aphaia's) temple in the North East of the island. Most people get there by coach, but on this occasion we can be virtuous and say we cycled up, we might also say "never again" because it was b. hot.

There are also pictures of our re-launch, it was tight, but nothing like as much "fun" as when we came in with a strong cross wind!

St George dances on the table

We stopped off at a very shallow harbour on our way to Poros. In fact we stopped because the wind had died, and in Sam's words "it was so bleedy hot". Rather than motor on in the heat we checked the charts and 1.5 miles away was St Georges. We discovered that yes he was a dragon-slayer and that the town celebrates 23rd April.

After a tricky manoueuvre (that may not be how you spell it, but I have only an American spell-checker here, and they certainly can't spell it!), getting into the berth, with only about 6 inches spare below the boat, we spotted a taverna across the harbour and decided that although we had been on the wagon for a week, JUST ONE beer would not hurt. I'm not sure that the beer actually touched the sides and then we wondered about sharing another......

....at the table next to us was a large party of Greeks. They were clearly enjoying themselves, and gales of laughter were making us smile and laugh too. Next thing we know, two beers arrived for us, courtesy of the Greeks, and soon we were invited to join them. Next thing we know, we were not allowed to pay for a thing, but quantities of ouzo were being supplied along with more beer. Now we hadn't eaten since breakfast, and this is late afternoon......

......so when they decided we should all go swimming, no problem, although I had no trunks, and Sam decided to go in wearing her skirt.

.....and when the dancing started, we joined in, I am aware of my own skills, but at least when Sam was dancing on the table, she was being tutored in the art of belly dancing.

In the morning we woke up feeling pretty much as you might expect. In my own case I have no recollection of why my shoes and shirt were on the deck, or how they had manged to get two of us up over the bow - 4 feet above the dock, but we did have the bruises as a clue!!

Obviously, we haven't got any photos of this particular event.

Moni Island near Aigina, July

We spent one night anchored off Moni, near Aigina, and were hauled out the following day. As We got up, and long before the (large numbers) of tourists arrived from Athens we could see a herd of about 20 ibex nearby on the shore. There were some youngsters as well as a larger male, not to mention a few pretenders to his crown. Later he made it plain in a play fight just who was boss, and then turned his back on all of them and strolled casually about his business, leaving the rest to follow in their own time.

It was the sort of scene that it is a privilege to watch, and I am glad that the camera was to hand to record it.

Poros, Greece

Now we are sitting on the deck, with a sheet acting as an awning to keep the sun off. The temperature is a little cooler for the last couple of days, cool enough to pull the sheet over at night, which helps with the mozzies. If fact, at 4:30pm it is a mere 33 degrees down below, much fresher!

We have managed to rip our cruising chute again, a fearsome gust on the way to Hydra. We also managed somehow to break the autohelm (also again) as we were anchoring at Hydra. We came back here to Poros and luckily the autohelm ram is now fixed, and on its way back to us, so we will be mobile again soon. Actually, we weren't going too far over the last 3-4 days, because the meltemi has been blowing, and sometimes a harbour seems a good place to be.

When we arrived back in Poros they had a full scale fire going on. We watched the fire engines racing towards the fire, actually in Galatos on the mainland. They were on the local ferry, making nearly 10 knots. Later there were 4 aeroplanes and two helicopters involved, one of them filling and dumping a large bucket which was filled from the bay.

The town is a tourist town, with loads of waterfront cafes and tavernas, but I'm not sure exactly why visitors come here, as the swimming isn't clear water and there isn't really a beach worthy of too much note. However, it is a very friendly place, and town is convenient. The downside of that is that occasionally we have to get up before it gets hot, and get some boat cleaning, or other task done. Since the sun is strong by 8 am, you can really start to feel sorry for us. (Or not, as the case may be!).

The sunsets here are pretty too, and about that time we also hear a bugle from the nearby naval installation. Apparently one of Greece's admirals sank a couple of ships from the newly independent
Greek state here, when they came to sort out the
rival government, and there has been a military













presence since - not taking any chances, I guess.

Nearby there is an island called Soupia (Nisos Soupia in Greek) which is said to resemble a frog, not sure if I can see it myself, but here is a photo for all frog lovers.













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