Leaving Santorini

On the way to the port I saw the face of Steve Jobs in the spatter of a bug on the windscreen - no shitting. He survived multiple window washings. Anyway Julie and I were fortunate enough to get a ride to the port at 11:30 pm with the owner of her accommodation, saving us around 20 Euros in taxi fare. The port is really cool at night - there are two ships tied up and they light up the night with an array of lighting while providing a symphony of sounds as they creak and groan pulling against their ropes: squeaking, singing, hooting, ringing, squealing - harmonious indeed. It probably should feel eerie but it doesn’t, I guess because it is so well lit from the ships and that there are quite a few people around. Took a nice photo between the ships with the lights of Oia up in the background.

Lights of Oia in the background

my ferry coming in at 2 am


Today Julie and I got a quad bike and rode around Santorini - first to Red Beach where the strange mineral balance means the rocks and sand are read - the sand was hot and had quite a few larger sharper volcanic rocks in it which hurt my feet. Lying in the shade of the cliff every 5 minutes or so I’d be bombarded by a shower of tiny rocks and that wasn’t too pleasant either! The entrance to the water changed from sand to pebbles as they all accumulated in the churn of the incoming swell. It was rough enough that the boat to White Beach was not operating, which was dissapointing but we didn’t have a lot of time anyway.

Red Beach

me on the way into red beach



Then off to the south western tip o the island to eat lunch by the lighthouse.

view out over Santorini (this is at the bottom tip of the crescent of the island)

view out towards some other island (who can keep track?)


Dropped in at Santo wines for a tasting plate with 6 local wines. Enjoyed the dessert wine Vinsanto and bought a bottle. Views here give Margaret River a run for their money! Some of the wine was nice, some average, overall it was better quality than I had anticipated.

Drove the back way to Oia, then I tried (being the operative word, it was only around 5 but crankiness had set in) to race around to get a lot of pics including the shot I really wanted which I had had as my desktop wallpaper.

Made it back to Perissa in one piece despite being terrified as I rode on the back of the quad for a change. A mad logistical exercise then ensued to figure out the method of transportation to the port and the packing/meeting/eating required schedule. In the end got to the port with no dramas. Julie and I had to catch the 2 am ferry as it was a public holiday long weekend and all other ferries and planes from Santorini - Crete on Monday and Tuesday were booked out. I’m off to Rhodes on Wednesday morning and didn’t want to miss that connection as there is like only one boat per week. It’s 15 hours though! Leaves 8 am, arrives at 11 pm. Yikes.