The travel log of Vic and Steve

The wind continued loudly overnight and into the morning. We all got up early and packed, found we had no hot water for showers and cleaned up the muesli before leaving the villa at 8:30am to head to the car rental return and the port for our fast ferry. Everyone in NZ started posting their Aurora photos which look spectacular about then so we enjoyed looking at these on the boat.  Above - top left expressing our feelings about leaving the Greek Islands with a final Selfie outside our bedroom door. Top right our Ferry. Bottom settled in for our short ride to Mykonos.  The boat came, we were a bit nervous as there was nobody else at the port until about 15 minutes before arrival then suddenly activity occurred. Loads more people got off than got on. We didn't need printed tickets and we didn't need individual ones either - Steve's ticket was scanned and he was asked how many in his party and we were waved on. This was a sea cat so airplane style seating, our tickets came wit

Our run of hot, windless days came to an end on our last full day in Tinos - Friday 10th of May. We woke to a Wellington like wind on a windy Welly day and the temperature had cooled to 18/19C which was pleasant enough but so much cooler. No sitting by the pool today.  Photos above - the weather we woke to and Steve and I by the port covered up for the wind. Bottom right I wanted to include at one stage the obsession in this country with rip off oreos, every supermarket / mini-mart / tiny hole in the wall place has masses of them disproportionate to everything else they sell. We have tried many versions and flavours now paying everything from $2 for a packet to $5 in the Tinos mini-mart. Our plan had been to get up exploring the island early but the hills were all covered in cloud so instead Paul went for a run while the rest of us read and ate. I found a clause on our ferry ticket that our e-Tickets must be printed for boarding so we headed into the city for lunch and visit to the tra

Lots of photos to share today! we had a fabulous 2nd to last day in Tinos driving to the northern end of the island, looking at villages, fabulous views and ancient ruins. The day started out with a lazy breakfast on the deck and a short sit by the pool while Paul took his run. Lots of reading done and I started my work blog. Above is Tinos port town in the distance from the top of the hill above.  Right - I do love the windows here, they don't photograph well, napping in the sunshine on our deck, bottom left their view from the top of the hill above us (Photo from Lib) and bottom right a Crow taking a bath on the edge of the pool.  Then we were off in our wee rental car, Paul did an amazing job driving these narrow winding roads on the wrong side of the road and often with goats or other hazards to contend with. We went really high up into the mountain like hills and often there was no crash barrier just a massive drop down a cliff face. The views were spectacular. Hills covered i

  Wednesday (May 8th) was a mixed bag really. Steve, Libby and I got up and headed into town on the 8am bus. It was a 20 seater, perfect size really as only one other passenger joined along the route. Also very cheap. When we were waiting at the bus stop all the cats came for a visit, we find areas where they are fed by people with either cat biscuits spread along a seat or low wall, or masses of bowls with food in them.  The cafe we chose for breakfast didn't open until 9am so we wandered around - and I stupidly, walking along as a typical tourist not looking at the ground I tripped over this low post thing and went sprawling. My right knee took the bulk of the hit and surprisingly isn't as swollen or bruised as I'd expected, especially for the pain it's causing me today.  Left - top left beside the bus stop is a tiny house. First yoga studio we've seen is in Tinos. Bottom right one of the tiny narrow alleyways. Bottom left buildings near the harbour in town.  Once

  I woke early as usual and about 7am could hear some clattering so went outside to see a herd of goats all taking turns drinking from the pool - I didn't want to move closer to take a photo but there were about 30 of them and they kneel down to drink so it was fascinating to watch. Then as quickly as they arrived they were gone jumping off the walls and heading down to the sea. Steve, Paul and Libby have encountered them since at the top of the hill behind us in the mountainous terrain.  We decided to make Tuesday May 7th a stay at the villa and relax day, there was no wind all day and it was hot and sunny so we had a fabulous time. First up was breakfast, since we didn't do a supermarket run we decided to walk to the nearest of 3 places along the two beaches close to us. Their menu delivered verbally to us was - scrambled egg, fried egg or avocado on toast. For the three of us who ordered avocado on toast we were pleasantly surprised to find it had salmon and avocado on the t

  We packed up and headed to Tinos today, catching a ferry mid-morning which took about 30 minutes. There were 2 x cruise ships in and we encountered a large bunch of American's on our way to the port then others on the water taxi. The wind had dropped and Paul had been out for a run while the rest of us showered and packed. This ferry arrived early - shocking - so boarding wasn't as chaotic and we got to explore the boat a bit before it left the port. Other than being told off for putting our backpacks on a seat the trip was pretty uneventful and we were on Tinos.  Top left - on the ferry to Tinos, then ferries in port. Bottom right on the water taxi and bottom left the first pic I took of our view.  William our host came and picked 2 of us plus our luggage up while the others caught a taxi to Horizon Villas. The architecture here in Tinos is completely different architecture than the other islands we have visited, less densely populated buildings wise and even more arid. Our