Greece - SPAM
 

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We arrived in Athens and pretty much jumped on a ferry for Crete staight away.  The only thing that happened on the way to the port was that we met an angel.

There we were, two horrible looking Aussies waiting for a train to the port.  We were hot, thirsty, irritable, unslept, unkempt and ugly.  Next thing we know there is a lovely greek woman pressing figs into our hands and beaming at us.   We finished the first, and she gave us a second and even supplied us with serviettes.  Not bad.  What a beautiful woman.  We got on the train together and went on our way.

Two stops later she was busted for fare evasion and removed from the train.  Sort of ruined the image.

After the usual travelling crap we made it to Matala.  We accidently saw the entire town in the first five minutes.  Sort of ruined the surprise for later.

We chased turtles, worked in an information booth and generally got up before 6 after going to bed after 12 7 days a week (only on the days we didn't go out).  Needless to say it reminded us of a very, very long university field trip.  Work coupled with quite a bit of drinking.  Funny how our ideas of getting our budget under control didn't really work out.

Some highlights of the Matala work include:-

First morning survey Leigh saw 23 dead hatchlings on the beach (then proceeded to set them all up for an absolutely stunning photo, can't even tell some of them are a bit dry).

Strange ranting hippies attacking the kiosk, passing cars, cigarette shops and random inanimate objects.

Leigh raping someone else's language and presenting slideshows in German.

Sunsetting over the ocean.

Nicole finding a sister she never knew she had, by the name of Nicol. Everyone thought they were sisters (she was greek, but clearly they had veryunimaginative parents).

Leaving.

Nah just kidding, we nearly cried.

When we finished we finally saw some more of Crete when we hired a bike and went around for 3 days.  We stayed in a little village and had great fun with the locals.  We ate in their restaurant (perusing the menu involved peering in two pots and deciding which looked better) and drinking their wine.

We cruised and saw all the sights (or most anyway) and developed some lovely saddle sores.  We must have looked strange being the only people  in Greece wearing helmets.

We are now in Rethymno sponging off the STPS and staying in their campsite for nothing.  Soon we will go to Hania and DIVE!  (And sponge of the STPS by staying at their campsite for free).

Then other touristy things and then back to Athens to fly to LA.

Love always,

Us.

P.S..  We now have to send this bloody dribble in two goes.  We were just informed by Hotmail we have too many recipients.  Hope we're not the only ones reading it.

Hey there all,

Just a fairly quick one.

Picture this scenario.  Wallet, front pocket of pants, quite heavy with coins and a few cards in it.  The pocket on the from of the pants is secured closed by two broad strips of velcro.  The tourist is aware that trains are a running ground for arseholes (having experienced before) and is taking all necessary precautions.  Actual thoughts of caution were going through the head.

I have the highest respect for pickpockets.  How this little bastard did this, I don't know.  Charge your glasses to the little urchin who clearly learnt from Fagan himself.

I'm off to the copshop.

Leighroy.

Dear <insert name here>,

It must be time for that rather impersonal addition to your daily working (or playing) lives.  Time has moved on, things have happened and the masses must be informed.  At the very least it helps us deal with our memories, talking about them.

We left you all last time when we were in Rethymno, Greece.  This was the official leaving point of the last Gullable's Travels.  Of course, you all received the wonderful news about someone's pocket being picked so we won't cover, or whine, or cry about that old piece of info.

Not much else happened in Rethymno apart from us taking off for a day of half price diving (thanks to being selfless STPS volunteers) that made the day *almost* affordable - it was prohibitively expensive before the discount.  This was a great day.  The water was clear, there wasn't much fish life but it was still an exciting day that will be remembered for along time to come.

After Rethymno we ventured over to Hania where we, once again, capitalised on free STPS accommodation and camped in the middle of nowhere.  Hania is a lovely city, full of character and charm and the invariable Gyros and leather shops.  We had a great time grooving around the city.

We took off for a day and visited the infamous Samaria Gorge.  A 16 km, as the name would suggest, gorge.  It was spectacular.  We were also lucky enough to miss the hordes of Tourists and pretty much shared the path with the odd mule.  The day was very long (especially since we were told the first bus was at 5.30am, but was in fact not until 6.40am...  Somewhere a bus conductor is still laughing about those two stupid tourists that asked that question) but the views inside this gorge were... well, gorgeous.

We caught the ferry from Hania and moved on up to Athens..... Nice place but....  Nah, it was great.  Typically of course, in accordance to the global "Screw Any Photos That Leigh and Nicole Would Want To Take Of The Worlds Spectacles By Constructing Scaffolding Around Them" Act subsection 4 paragraph 6 - the Acropolis and other major sites in Athens were indeed were scarred with scaffolding.  We are sure that everything will look fantastic next year.....

We found Greece an amasing place.  It's really hard to put a foot anywhere without thinking that your treading in the footprints of someone famous or mythical.  You can even find places to stick your feet that some tourist feet probably haven't been, although they're a bit thin on the ground.  We were sorry to leave Greece when the time came.  We were even sorrier to leave Europe seven hours later when we boarded the plane for LA.  The concept of stepping across borders at a whim and finding yourself in another culture was very appealing.  Forget that, off to the land of Quarter Pounders with Cheese.

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