4/4 - Volcanos

Our first full day in Santorini and we were recharged after a full night’s sleep – even more for the kids who hadn’t awoken at all (even for dinner) after crashing at around 4pm the night before. So, we were up before 7am and part of the household’s waking routine. Marika had a French-Canadian school tour that was going out to the volcano (well, all of Santorini is a portion of the rim of a giant volcano, but there is a smaller island [islet] by the name of Nea Kameni in the centre of the bay that is the “centre” of the giant volcano – and still somewhat active), and George suggested that we join it.

So, after some rushing about we were ready to go with George by 9am to pickup the school group. We drove into Thira (the main town and tourism centre) and waited for the bus to arrive for the students. Many of the roads in Thira are too narrow for bus access, and so it was for the hotel the students were stayingt at. The students finally arrived and we were off back to the main port (a long winding road down the cliff side) with the bus left well behind us.

The boat we hopped on was a beautiful highly varnished wooden sailing ship (though operating under power) by the name of Odysseus 31 – quiteappropriate. While it initially looked quite small (particularly from the cliff tops) it proved to have more than ample capacity. With everyone aboard it was off along the coastline of the caldera to Thira port (the old port). That was quite a beautiful trip as you’re exposed to the soaring cliff-face from its base. Though Maria was concerned that she’d suffer seasickness (and she hadn’t brought along any travel sickness pills), that proved to be false and no one suffered any illness.

At Thira a range of customers were picked up and off we set for Nea Kameni (the volcanic islet). Just some quick info on the islet (garnered from reading the brochure and impressions) – it’s the result of 6 different eruptions over the last 430 years; with the most recent being 50 years ago. Its still active in that sulfur fumes issue from one region of the island (though very sedately), and is a national park.

Arriving at the “harbour” (Erinia Cove) of Nea Kameni we found ships already docked along the pier – so our ship was berthed alongside another, and we crossed to it, then onto the pier. By the time we were getting on the pier another had berthed alongside us – with passengers being passed across two ships.

The entrance to the national park is an un-prepossessing table behind which stood a man, a cash register on the table, and a straw-like umbrella (such as seen on tropical islands in Oceania) providing cover. Very low-key. Entrance was Eu2 (2 Euros) and we were fortunate enough to be near the front as it soon become a massive bottle-neck with people from 3 ships waiting to get through.
The park itself is chiefly a set of paths (usually only 1, though there is more variety near the top) that led from the harbour to the top and active portion of Nea Kameni – a distance of a kilometre or 2, and reasonable gradient. The landscape is fairly stark and well … volcanic. Some low sparse ground cover could be found in a couple of places. One feature of the islet emerged – its an extremely windy place. The wind became a feature of the day – making it very cold and “encouraging” us to move from one side of the ship to the other in order to be in the lee of the wind. With a 20-minute walk each way, it was soon timeto turn around in order for the ship to be on its way to Palea Kameni.

Palea Kameni is the smaller (and older – formed around 47 AD) nearby islet where hot springs emerge. It is famous because you can swim in the waters (I seem to recall it being something like 50 Celcius where the waters emerge – with a temperature gradient based on how far away you are from the outlet), and there is a beautiful little Greek church right on the shore there. So our ship pulled up some 50 metres away from the outlet region. In the 10 minutes beforehand people – chiefly the students –had been changing into swimmers. We hadn’t brought any since we didn’t know it was an option – but that proved to be a blessing. Over the side of the ship they jumped in 1s 2s, and 3s, with the ship’s crew running about trying to monitor they only jumped over from the correct side, and that they all could swim. Precautions were in order, because in general they were shocking swimmers (I saw one girl dog paddle the whole way – and 2 lifesavers were tossing in for assistance) by Australian standards for people in their mid-teens. Anyway, it was an interesting spectacle to observe their shock on entering the cold water and haste to get over to the warmer water. Of course they soon had to come back…now they had to swim into the cold water and get onto the wind-swept ship. There was goose-pimpled flesh everywhere with people huddling in corners in their jackets trying to get warm. As I said…we were lucky not to have brought swimmers.

Travelling back to the main port then onto Thira port (where we hopped off) we chatted with one of the two Canberra (yes Canberra!) couples we’d come across on the ship. They were both military, with him currently on leave from active deployment, and she’d come to meet him for a holiday together. The other couple (two young public servants) we subsequently had a chat to over lunch up in Thira.

Disembarking at Thira port we had 3 options for getting to the top of the cliff and Thira town. Walk the 500+ steps up, catch a cablecar, or ride a donkey. We had already decided on the later. Donkeys share the same cobled staircase as people – it being about 5 metres wide all the way up – so it gets chaotic and clustered when a group of walkers pass a troupe of donkeys making their way up or down. A tout for the donkey rides meet each disembarking ship. We were quickly ushered off to the base of the stairs and immediately after paying the fee (EU4 each) Zoe was hauled off by one of the donkey wranglers, set atop a donkey, and was gone. Maria soon followed. Grant and I had to wait longer, with him riding in front of me on the same donkey. Most donkeys were quite large –standing not that much lower than a horse. The ride up was bumpy but enjoyable, with Maria claiming that her donkey believed it was a racing horse. The wranglers pretty much ignore you once you have paid, and it was very amusing watching some female tourists (probably true for male also – just weren’t any around) standing around amongst the mules and jumping at the slightest twitch of the mules.

Arriving at the top of the stairs we were amongst the businesses on the caldera face – chiefly restaurants and bars that overlook the great view – and charge accordingly. Again touts stand at the doorway, encouraging you to enter and divest yourself of some (most) of those dollars weighing your pockets down. We walked in further towards the main square – eventually picking a little “take-away” next to the “Two Brothers Bar” that served a mean … Then a bit of tourist shopping – postcards, simple gifts – and a bit of groceries, before we headed off to the bus-stop (really a square). Wandering the little cobbled streets and shops of Thira was only equalled in fascination by observing the larse faire driving habits of the loacls and tourists. At the bus stop we found we had just missed our bus and the next would be over an hour (no, the busses are not particularly regular), so Marika kindly came and picked us up and whisked us home, before heading off to work again.

Shortly (5pm) it was time for Grant to head off with Stavros for a game of soccer. Grant was very nervous, playing with a group of older Greek boys. He shouldn’t have been, because when he returned we learnt that he had scored a number of goals and (according to Stavros) was rated a very good player. We joked that upon return (to oz) Grant should tell everyone that he had been attending an intense international training camp in Greece.

The evening we spent at home with the time difference between Japan and Greece (7 hours – so it being the early am in Japan) takings its toll on Zoe and slowing Maria and I down. After a lovely home-cooked meal from Marika there was time for some conversation before everyone hit the sack (Marika because she had a 5am departure to see off). A great day.