September 3
So we caught the midnight ferry and was actually very nice! We grabbed ourselves a nice dark corner and rolled out the sleeping bag, and had quite a good sleep! Woke up about 9am and then had a pleasant view of arriving into Santorini at 11.30am.
OMGosh...we hadn't booked a hostel to stay in because many people had told us we would be greated by people when we got off, wanting us to stay with them and that we could barter them against each other and get a cheaper price...well, that was certainly true! As soon as we stepped one foot off the boat, i felt like i was a super star and totally famous! There were so many people behind the barriers calling out (i had no idea what they were saying because it was too loud!)...so we went and chatted to a couple of people, before settling on a hotel in Perissa. A short trip later up the side of the huge cliff and down the other side and we were at Perissa...the hotel is really nice, has a pool and our own private room and balcony, sweet!
The sun was shining, so we took advantage of this and chilled by the pool.
September 4
Today we decided to take a tour to the Volcano, mineral springs, the town of Oia and to watch the sunset there...so we got up early, left the hotel about 10am, went back to the Port and took a ferry to the Volcano which was on another island a few minutes away. Was pretty huge and took us about 30mins to climb to the top and the ground really looked like it was the moon! 15mins walking around, and thenn 20mins down and we were back on the boat, drenched with sweat and ready for the mineral springs...a short ferry ride later, with the smell of sulphur getting stronger and we jumped from the ferry into the ocean and swam down through some rocks into the 'mineral springs'...not exactly what we imagined mineral springs to look like in the fact that it was just a dead end from the ocean...however it was quite warm, and the rocks just above the water were a bright orange colour.
Back on the boat and we headed to another town, or rather another port, as to get to the town you had to climb a million pratically vertical stairs to get to the top of the cliff where the town was...alternatively for 5euros, you could sit on a donkey and get it to take you to the top...guess which i chose! haha...only took about 10mins to the top on the donkey and was quite a fun ride! We spent about 15mins looking around the town and admiring the view, and then we took on the treacherous task of walking back down to catch the boat to our final destination of Oia.
So we arrive at Oia, and again we need to scale a mountain side before we can reach the town. Luckily there are more donkeys to help our plight! 5 more euros well spent and we were at the top and started to look around Oia. Was about 4pm by now, and we had to kill time until 7.40pm when sunset would take place. Apparently the best vantage point was at the edge of town (and also edge of the cliff), so we headed down there about 6.30pm and the place was already starting to get full...we found ourselves a nice little place to sit and waited until the sunset. Was quite nice, but really not as great as the massive hype around it and i can say we def have better ones in Aust, but was still nice to do.
We headed back into town to catch the bus from Oia back to Perissa and our hotel, and nearly found ourselves stranded in Oia, because our bus driver was apparently 'sick', so luckily we talked another bus driver into giving us a lift back with them!
September 5
Today was a very lazy day and after getting up quite late, we went for a walk down to the 'Black' beach - due to the beach being made of dark pebbles not sand - to see if we go could diving or snorkelling...they were booked out for that day, so we arranged to go snorkelling the next day. On the way back we dropped in at the Travel centre and inquired about the cheapest way to get to Turkey. After some internet searches on air fares, we decided to catch the ferry to Kos, then to Bodrum which is in southern Turkey, stay the night, then head to Istanbul the next day.
September 6
This morning we were at the diving centre by 9.30am and were kitted up to go snorkelling...they were 6 other people joinging us, but they were going diving. We headed out to our first site and had the adventure pleasure of being taken on a wave jumping boat, was pretty awesome! Unfortunately the snorkelling was not as impressive, and we decided we were glad that we had not paid to go diving! Another fun boat ride back, a quick stop to have something to eat and drink, and another boat ride to the next spot...here we were promised caves to snorkel in, but once there again a disappoinment, but only one cave and today the sea was too rough to go in, plus we then found out you can only go in about 12m and you can't see anything! haha...but still had a nice time floating in the water, and watching the divers learn!
Once out of the water and back into the boat, and lisa all of a sudden leans out of the boat and spews everywhere! the fish had a feeding frenzy, and i was just hoping the divers weren't about to surface, because was on their side! haha...another spew a few minutes later this time out of the other side of the boat, and she was feeling a little better, and i think it also helped that one of the divers said he had spewed 3 times while he was down there!
So another quick trip on the boat of fun, and we were back at the pier and a short time later back at the beach and dive centre.
We headed straight back to our hotel and Lisa went for a little lie down and i headed to the pool.
That night we ventured into Perissa town centre and had a meal. We asked for water, a coke, chips, garlic bread, a greek salad, and a pork souvlaki (gyros if you are in Greece); what we got was wine, water, chips, toasted bread, a greek salad and a slab of pork on a plate! haha! quite funny...
September 7
Today we hired a quad bike and toured around the island of Santorini (also known as Thira). We saw many, many wineries, and had quite a few laughs when our 50cc quadbike with two people and a bag on board was trying to climb back up huge mountains as the island is very hilly! i think most of the time we went up a hill our top speed was about 20kms, but usually about 15kms! coming down the hills was great fun (lisa didn't think so! haha) and we were able to get up to about 50kms...
We stopped in Fira for some lunch, and watched the owner Mama yell at some customers because they wanted the breakfast menu at 12.50 and it closed at 1pm...then they said fine they'll just have coffee and she yelled and said no, if this is a place for food, go to the coffee shop over there if you want coffee...was quite funny...and so they left...she turned out to be quite a hilarious person, so was an entertaining lunch.
After lunch, we head to Kamari and had a bit of a swim, then an icecream and back on the bike to head to a little cafe we saw to have a cocktail (spelt coktail in Santorini hehe!) and watch the sunset. Luckily we had a bit of time up our sleeve, because boy did we get lost, and instead of going down the mountain, we went up and around it...but was all good fun!
Was getting extremely windy by the time we had our cocktails, so after one, we decided stuff the sunset, it happens all the time, lets head back to our hotel!
September 8
Today is our last day, so we packed up and just taking it easy by the pool until 10pm tonight when we will be driven down to the port to catch our 12.40am ferry to Kos.
