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Day seven began bright and early with a beautiful day beckoning and breakfast overlooking the paradisal vista.
Kamari Tours collected us from our hotel and we felt quite the VIPs with only a small number on the tour.
We quickly found Ashish and Aliya, who we had organised the tour with the day before, and before we knew it we were winding up some tight roads to the Prophet Elias Monastery. Being the highest point on the island it offered some stunning views.
Our next stop was Pyrgos, where we were led on to the roofs of an old castle. This provided the opportunity for the tour guide to tell us a bit about each town we could see.
The wines in Santorini are quite spectacular. There is one particular wine that uses 12kg of grapes in one bottle. One of Santorini's well known wines, Vinsanto, was recommended to us and is a delicious desert wine. (Merlo I tried to get you a bottle but carrying it for the rest of the trip posed a challenge. Hopefully we will be able to shark one from somewhere for Friday drinks.)
After taking in the views of the main island we headed out across the water on board Poseidon to the Volcano. Keeping in mind it was windy and a little rough. At one point the waves seemed much bigger than what the boat could handle.
Here we had the opportunity to visit the active crater. It's due to go off at some point in the next 200 years. 3 weeks ago there was a small tremor and they say that is a sign of a coming eruption. The plates under the volcano move around one meter every year.
Ashish being quite the creative photographer had us climbing rocks and posing all over the place. Although I'm not sure if the 'what's on next' pose went down well.
Next activity for the day was a swim in the volcano hot spring. The green sulphur waters had Sallie a bit worried about the effect on the colours of our bathers but we headed in none the less. The swim to the spring was rather chilling but once there we found it quite relaxing and very warm. Although the floating rocks and orange mud sticking to everything like quicksand was a bit much for some.
Sun-baking on the deck was all the rage as we continued on to Thirassia island. The island has a population of about 270. We enjoyed some delicious barbecued octopus before attempting the challenging staircase to the main town. Upon winding and climbing pretty much to the top we found it was under repair and were sent back down.
Here we also met a young guy from Mildura, who had just come from Gallipoli, and a mother and daughter pair from Beechworth. Small world!
Next stop was Oia. Here we all decided to mount donkeys for the climb. For some reason Sallie was given one of the biggest donkeys and I was given one of the smallest. I was a bit worried for my little beast at first but quickly discovered he had the heart of Seabiscuit.
For the donkeys it was definitely a race up the hill. For the jockeys, we were all just hell bent on surviving. Being third out of the gate wasn't acceptable for my donkey. So when the donkey in front decided to drop it's lunch, narrowly missing my foot which was awkwardly close to it's butt, we went for the overtake.
Sallie was caught deep in the field and further back was Aliya on a white beauty that had no guts. Only Ashish and his dopey donkey stood in my way. Unfortunately we couldn't quite wheel him in.
For another person on the tour the story got worse though. Their entire leg was coated in donkey poop. The donkeys had served us well though and hopefully the ugly dudes riding up behind us shouting at them take good care of their trusty steeds.
We walked around the beautiful town of Oia for a few hours as we waited for the sunset. The little lane ways and the way in which the town is literally built on a cliff face is amazing.
As the sun began to fall, Sallie and the crowd became mesmerized by a group of dogs playing and almost missed the flurry of colours lighting the ocean and cliffs. The dogs were quite humorous and took up some of the best viewing spots as well.
After the sun has set it was back on the buses and into Fira. Here we quickly got some takeaway pizza with Ashish and Aliya before calling it a night.
One of the best days on the trip so far!
- comments
Andrew Unleashing the 'What's On Next?' pose on an international audience? Is that wise? You never know where it'll end up.
Merlo Will get to work and try to locate a bottle of Santorini VinSanto for your return. Sounds like a Friday occasion alright