The weather has, for the most part been colder during the month of February and this is usual for the time of year on Crete.  However this did not stop me from getting out and about as much as I could.  This winter again there has not been a great deal of rain, so there have still been plenty of days for walks and beachcombing.  Although we DO really need the rain!  All of the Greek Islands need the rain…

David’s walk to the vulture nest site in a gorge on the south coast was fascinating.  Several people brought binoculars and we all saw one vulture on its nest and several flying around above us.  After watching the activities of the vultures for about an hour, we drove to the village of Plakias, walked its circumference and along one of the beaches before ending up in the centre of the village for a lovely traditional hearty Cretan lunch. Wonderful!

Beautiful Falassarna with its pink sand

Debbie and I have enjoyed beachcombing Falassarna and Stavros, both separate days where the weather was glorious and we collected lots of beautiful seashells from all the different beaches to be found in both locations.  Ross arrived from the UK and usually when he’s here, he joins us on our walks and beachcombing trips.  We decided to visit the ruins of the old Catholic Monastery, hidden at the bottom of a gorge on Akrotiri.  I drove us all to the Gouverneto Monastery, parked up and from there we started our descent to the bottom of the gorge.

The Bear Cave on Akrotiri

On the way down we came to the Arkoudiotissa Cave – the “Bear Cave”.  Noted for its stalagmite which is said to look like a bear, It was believed to have been used for worship since ancient times, but was later dedicated to ‘Our Lady’ during the Christian Era.  I have not been to this cave for years!  I remember the first year I was living on Crete, I went on all of David’s walks (before I got too busy with my art business) and that was one of the places we visitied. We continued our descent to the abandoned Catholic Monastery, believed to date from the 5^th or 6^th century and founded by St John the Hermit.  It is built into the cliff with a unique church largely carved into the rock-face.  This amazing site is completely hidden in the gorge and only visible from the last few steps down the cliff.

Our first glimpse of the ruined Monastery hidden in the gorge.

We had our picnic lunch just inside a small cave we passed just before the Monastery, which boasted a little shrine inside.  It felt so warm in there after we stepped in from the biting cold wind.  It really was the perfect place for our lunch on this cold and windy day.  After we’d eaten, we spent a good hour wandering all around this fascinating ruined site, exploring every little bit of it.  It was a long and tough walk back up and we were actually glad that it was a cloudy and windy day!

Ross is fishing off the rock at one of Bali’s charming little coves

A few days later we all visited Bali.  Over recent years the usual seashells that used to wash up so prolifically on all of Bali’s four main beaches, are noticeable only by their absence.  So our exploration of Bali took us a little further along the same coastline and we found another beach below some charming holiday accommodation.  There were no seashells there either but we loved all the beach walking and the wonderful nature that surrounds us everywhere we go.  Ross tried some fishing but many of the coves we visit are quite rocky offshore and Ross’ line and bait got caught up on the rocks.  However he was able to fish off the pier at Bali’s quaint little port.  He didn’t catch anything as they were only short bursts of fishing.  The weather was sunny and warm again for the whole day we were there.

After Bali we had a few cold and rainy days and I noticed how rough the sea was from my windows and balcony.  I suggested to Debbie that we go on Sunday and see what has washed up on Georgioupoli beach.  Rain had not been forecast for that day but it started to rain when we first arrived, so we waited it out for half an hour in the car with a nice cuppa tea!  I can tell you I had flashbacks to the contrasting day we had the last time we were there, when my car got stuck in the sand and the weather was glorious!

A claw and huge feathers from the dead vulture we found at Georgioupoli beach after the stormy weather.

This time we were well wrapped up for this extensive and exposed beach.  The wind was bitingly cold and my hands actually turned a bit bluish.  It’s definitely the coldest I’ve felt on a beachcombing trip.  But as I said to Debbie, ‘at least there should be some interesting stuff washed up here after all the rough seas we’ve noticed lately’… and there really was!  Just a few metres from my parked car, caught up amongst human and beach debris was a dead turtle.  Sooo sad…It was about a foot long so it must have been an adolescent turtle and Debbie was keen for us to find a crate for us to put it in and hide it somewhere in the long grasses at the edge of the beach, to decompose.  We can retrieve the turtle’s shell at a later date.

But this was not the only poor dead creature we found.  I came across a bunch of huge black feathers and then noticed more of the same in the distance.  I called Debbie over and we started to dig whatever was half buried, out of the sand.  There were more black feathers, the largest I have ever seen and measuring over 18 inches long.  The claws on this big bird were almost the size of my hand and we suspect it may have been a vulture.  Debbie was digging for ages, without success as all she wanted to find was the skull!  I will show David the photos on his next walk and ask him to confirm what it is.  He’ll know…
After our two grizzly finds we moved on to a smaller section of the beach and found tons of large and beautiful seashells.  We were freezing the whole time but our beach finds kept us distracted and of course it was all worth it!

At the gorgeous beach in Kissamos where we found lots of tiny seashells and where we enjoyed our picnic lunch

Less than a week later on Saturday 1^st March, Debbie, Ross and I spent a wonderful day at Kissamos.  The beaches we discovered last year, just beyond the main port are great for discovering beautiful tiny seashells of many different varieties.  So once again, for a couple of hours Debbie and I busied ourselves collecting them up whilst Ross did a spot of fishing. We ate our picnic lunch in the warm sunshine as it was yet another gloriously sunny day.  When we had finished eating we walked as far as we could along the coastline, hopping from one beach to another, stopping to observe the amazing rock formations and early (fenced off) hominid footprints.

Another little cove we found at Kissamos

Luckily the warm and clement weather continued into the next day for Kalyves Carnival. This Greek celebration of carnival is called “Apokries”, meaning ‘away from meat’ and signaling the start of fasting or lent.  Similarly the term Carnival traces its origins to the Latin carnis (meat) and vale (farewell).  Ross invited Debbie, Lisa and I to his house on the main street through Kalyves.  We had lunch outside on his terrace and watched the floats pass by, unhindered and without all the hoards of people in the way.  Then afterwards we walked into the busy and hectic square to soak up the atmosphere with a couple of drinks at one of the tavernas.

Kalyves Carnival

So these were some of my beachcombing days and yet there were more… and more walks too.  I’ve created far less artworks this winter as a result of my aim to explore more of Crete more often and spend less time on my art.  Before and for the last 16 years, everything had to fit in around my work.  But now my work fits in around everything else I love doing!  Finally there is more balance in my life.

View of the awesome Lefka Ori Mountains and Almyrida Bay from my balcony

Socially I’ve been regularly dropping in at my local taverna, Vangeli’s.  Once or twice a week I will walk up at around 5pm, intending to just catch up with friends and locals for a few hours.  But more often I have ended up staying until well after 11pm, coerced to remain and have another drink with friends who arrived later in the evening.  The live music gigs are less frequent during the winter months, but still happen.  Valentine’s night was a good one, with “The Lions” playing brilliantly so that I couldn’t stop dancing and Vangeli’s dressed to the nines for Valentines!