Hot girl on hot stone in Greece

Why not, nobody (except us walking past). Sven said, if Caroline was on the stone, the stone would melt 😂😂😂... (he tries to be charming).

We continued our journey in Greece and can now see Turkey/Türkiye on the other side.

Levitha Island

The "last" Island in the Cyclades is called "Levitha"

The Island is still only inhabited by the Dimitris Kamboso family, whose great-great-grandfather settled there in 1820. As of 2009, the population of the island was still recorded as only five - a family with two children and their grandmother. When we went this year, there were 2 Kambosa brothers, one of them with wife and 3 children.

It would not be easy to live in a remote island like this, where the closest inhabited island is 2.5 hours away by boat. During winter, the family risks to be stranded on the island due to strong winds and rough seas and therefore plan accordingly,

In June 2019, archaeologists from the Greek culture ministry's Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities department discovered five 2000-year-old shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea near the island.

Walking up from the boat to the house.

Sailors often use this island as a stop over. The family cooks/sells food for boating visitors. As main course you can choose from 3 things: goat, sheep or fish. Looking at the decoration (broken pots on the walls) it looks like nothing gets thrown away and each piece would have a story to tell.

Lovely atmosphere - really special.

We could watch the little boy play whilst we ate dinner. In front of the wooden tray was a sign "Levitha store". The family sells a few salt, jams, shells and bookmarks.

There are few boat buoys available for the visiting boats. We anchored in the small bay around the corner.

Swimming to get the lines on shore was an experience. Caroline did not know where to put her feet and hands to get out of the water. The ground and rocks were covered with sea urchins, in particular a variety which we have not seen before. They had very long moving spikes and a long red mouth, Seems this variety has arrived to this island only 2 years ago. We took the sea urchin picture with our Gopro. Unfortunately the red moving mouth is not visible.

We were told by one of the brothers, that rabbitfish and lionfish are not welcome here. This is the first time that we used the paddle board to take off the lines. Just too many sea urchins on the rocks.

We took a torch to walk back to the boat. The moon was out so we could see the boat without the additional light. Second picture is us lying on the front deck and looking up at the anchor light and stars.

We were woken up by Goat bells in the morning.

We were a little sad to leave but there is really not much to do on Levitha island other than enjoying the solitude and to admire this kind of lifestyle.

A northerly Meltemi wind with up to 41 knots wind gusts was heading towards the islands, so we decided to sit it out in a less remote location..

Kalymnos Island

The island's particular landscape, with its giant vertical rocks, makes it a perfect location for rock climbing.

Kalymnos is also famous for its sponge fishing industry and almost all the old men of the island were once busy diving for fishing sponges. However, in 1986, the Mediterranean sponges suffered from a viral disease and a lot of them died.

We fixed our boat to a buoy in Ormos Emporeio. It is easy to wait for the strong wind to pass, when you have some good restaurants to choose from (all except 2 restaurant owners were related). We hired a scooter and explored the island.

The daily catch is displayed at the back of the restaurant.

All the islands have to watch their water usage. It has not rained here since May!! They collect rain water or desalinate water. On Kalymnos they have a small sweet water creek.

Below is one of the few breakfast places surrounded by lots of plants. They recycle their grey water well (they run a small hotel next door which is part of the business)

On one of our hikes we walked past these interesting rocks - they have not been painted. Also a nice pictures of the protected bay we anchored in

Our Scooter broke down on one of our excursions.

A helpful young Greek man stopped to help. Being a small island everybody seems to know everyone. Our helper told us to walk into the next village and that he would organise everything. By the time we walked back we had a new scooter waiting for us. First picture is where we broke down and the village we walked to.

The next day we took a local "fishing boat ferry" to a nearby island. A lovely island, with a few small restaurants, greeted us on the other side.

One of the small houses on the island with a difference.

One one of our hikes we heard a goat bell and goat crying. Looking up a wall we could spot a climber without a bell but a safety harness, so searched further. And there it was - a goat hanging at the edge of a rock wall without a safety line.... Risking its life for just a few dry grass halms??

We finally found the white small chapel which we saw from our anchorage. It was a steep walk and high up like many of the Greek churches/chapels.

You never know what can hide behind a rock! Fortunately, I had this feeling, was prepared and armed with my video camera.

Leros Island

We anchored at Xirokampos beach. We did not enjoy Leros that much so left the next morning.

Lipsi Island

A tiny island, only 8 kilometers long, and sparsely populated. It has only 800 residents, all concentrated in a single village. We dropped anchor at Papandria Beach and walked to the village.

The most expensive Greek Scooter we have hired to date cost Euro 50.- per day, but typically they cost around Euro 20.-. In Lipsi we paid Euro 10.- only, but the scooters had definitely seen better days.

The street and beach locations were all creative hand written signs. Went to a bakery which sold lovely cakes and lots of alcohol. It looked like a Patisserie/bottle shop (3rd picture). They are a bakery during the day, then later in the evening a bottleshop/cocktail bar.

We past Goat horns being dried out on sheds and small drying octopus.

Well, Greece has a lot of churches/chapels/monasteries everywhere. We could not believe how many they had on this small island. Private houses even had their own chapels.

The Moon raising - nearly full moon again.

Apkoi Island

Apkoi has around 50 inhabitants and is still an unspoilt gem.

We attached our ropes to a buoy in Porto Stretto bay. We had 20 cm below the hull at high tide (so less 15 cm left at low tide would have left us with 5 cm only). Sven paddled around with a stick to check that there were no rocks around us, just in case the wind changed. It was just too shallow for our liking. We checked out the village then left to a different location.

Very cute colourful village and only a 30 minutes walk away from where we anchored. Second picture shows permanent little model boats floating next to local fishing boats.

Chose the Taverna close our boat for lunch.

On offer was Red mullet “Barbounia” in Greek. It is a species of goatfish, found in the Mediterranean Sea and are considered the most delicious of smaller type of fish.

from here we could keep an eye on our boat..

Patmos Island

Patmos Island is globally known for its religious legacy, as it is the place where John the Evangelist (aka John the Theologian) wrote the Book of Revelation in the Cave of Apocolypse. UNSESCO has declared it and the monastery 15 minutes away, as World Heritage sites.

We attached our lines to a buoy at Port Grikos.

Wow, Greek people definitely know how to celebrate. One night we were entertained until 4 am and the following night until 2 am (a Wedding and a Baptism celebration). The music and celebration got louder by the hour. In the morning we looked at the tired boat people next to us and just laughed at each other. We ate in the restaurant the next day, their staff looking a little worn.

The Monastery of Saint John the Theologian is a Greek Orthodox monastery built in 1088 (UNESCO classified as stated earlier). It was heavily fortified because of the threats of piracy and Seljuk Turks. I took this picture on the backseat of the scooter 😊.

We were the first and alone in the Monastery, which was super special. Here some impressions.

Entry/Exit door:

The buildings outside the monastery walls and the villages are really nice and a bit different to other Greek houses on previous islands.

We also visited the Cave of Apocolypse. Our timing was perfect. We returned after the church service had finished and between two tour buses arriving. We were alone .

According to tradition, St. John of Patmos received his visions in this Grotto in 96AD. His student, Prohoros, wrote down this vision by order of the Lord, and it is known as the 27th and final chapter of the Holly Bible.

Looking at the 2nd picture you will see the rock splits through where God seemed to have communicated with Saint John and giving him the vision of the Apocalypse. In the back of the cave is a fenced off section were a niche in the rock shows were the saint laid his head to rest.

Pink rock and pebbles on the beach and moon raising above a yacht near us (another one with Helicopter) - then the next night full moon with no boats in front of us us. Magic!

On our way to Samos island, As indicated on sailing maps, we came across bubbling waters (strong tide up to 4 knots)

Samos Island

Samos is separated from Turkey/Türkiye by the mile-wide Mycale Strait. It was the birthplace of mathematician Pythagoras and philosopher Epicurus, and is known for producing sweet Muscat wine.

The nature and sceneries on Samos island are beautiful. It is a very green island compared to other Greek islands. We anchored in Posidonio beach.

We explored the islands by car and visited various towns and attractions.

Over 20 Turkey birds were doing their morning walk.

The houses in Samos are no longer just white and the items in the shops are also a bit different. It is a beautiful island. A few impressions below:

We went to see Heraion of Samos, however there is only one of the original 115 temple columns still standing. There are some other old stone pieces lying around in the grass.

We also went to see the Tunnel of Eupalinos. The Tunnel was built in the 6th century BC and the first in the world to be excavated from both ends using mathematical calculations. They did not meet perfectly (but were close) and you can still see how the two excavated tunnels were joined. The aqueduct functioned for a whole millennium and is more than 1 kilometre long.

We drove to Potami Beach and walked to the Waterfalls. It was a pleasant and easy walk. The long, steep and wabbly wooden "stairs" were interesting to climb, They lead us to a restaurant and continued to the falls.

Pine cone decoration!

Look at the various meals in pots, all cooked in the oven. I asked the owner if I could take a picture. I was not allowed until he had opened the oven, held the tool in his hand and positioned himself nicely. He opened all the pots to show each meal and we had no choice but to eat there after that!

looking back at the restaurant from mountain on the opposite side

We came unprepared - we did not bring any swimming gear. So instead of swimming along high rocks to see the waterfalls, we walked up the hill.

We walked back to the car and drove to Manolates. A windy and narrow road brought us up to Taverna Loukas. The woman were busy opening wall nuts, which they collected from their property.

We tried the home made Muscat wine (made from their own grapes) and home made orange cake, also made from their own produce (they had all kind of fruit trees). As in most places, the begging cats were not missing either.

While the mild Greek weather and the kindness of the people are responsible for the survival of the local cats, one of the main reasons there are so many cats in Greece was the lack of spaying and neutering in the past.

We went to visit Lidl on Samos Island (Lidl is similar to Aldi). We bought 6 bottles of Shiraz from Australia . We were surprised that a bottle cost less than Aud 5.- ! Looks like the diesel is still too cheap.

A great last meal in Samos. These lot of cats were a little more cheeky.

Sven went to pay. When I turned around I had a cat sitting next to me trying to fit in and eat very sophisticated !! But I caught onto him.

Goodbye Samos Island and Greece (for now).

We leave you with a short timelapse video of a sunset behind our boat.

Next blog will be from Turkey/Türkiye