Here on Crete we’ve had the warmest January and February on record and March is looking to smash more records too. I have saved lots of money on heating fuel and electricity during these last 3 months. As a direct result of the fine and warm weather, I have done lots more beachcombing than I did in the same months last year. Debbie and I just love it! To have all these beautiful beaches to explore and practically to ourselves… is awesome!
Since my last post we’ve been back to the beach at Skaleta, where shell finds exceeded all our expectations. We explored areas of coastline further along and towards Rethymnon but none of the beaches were as good as the one at Skaleta.
Chania Harbour Front – so peaceful without all the tourists!
Debbie and I spent a long day in Chania where we did a little shopping, which is quite unusual for both of us! We bought our lunch from a bakery and sat on a bench on the peaceful harbor front to eat. Afterwards we walked to Nea Chora and beach combed there for at least three hours before heading back to the car. I found the best pieces of sea-tumbled terracotta and lots of them, for use in my artworks. As always, I am extremely fussy when it comes to finding the natural materials I add to my artworks. The terracotta pieces are used in all the designs that feature plant pots or urns. So they have to be small, flat and smooth.
Stavros – at the far end of the long beach
Last week we visited Stavros, starting our exploration at the little cove right at the top end of Stavros. There was hardly anything there so we decided to cut across some rocks and scope out the top end of the large long beach. We wouldn’t normally go this far when approaching from the other end, as there’s usually not much to find. But hey – we found lots of teeny tiny baby shells and I was very happy with my collection of turtle flippers!
Parts of Elafonisi we hadn’t explored before and a random little chapel
However, the highlight of March has to be our wonderful two day trip to Elafonisi. We made good time and reached our rooms in under two hours, which I am sure is due to the lack of traffic (tourists) on the roads. When we first arrived at ‘Elafonisi Rooms For Rent’, it appeared fully closed up but luckily there was a mini market opposite and a kindly Greek guy offered to call Stelios, the owner. Within 5 minutes, Stelios was showing us the rooms he had prepared for us, which were basic but fresh and clean with the use of a kettle and a fridge. The building was right near the entrance to Elafonisi beaches and Stelios gave us the keys early so that we could off-load our gear and spend the remainder of the day exploring.
Kedrodasos beach near Elafonisi – new territory ripe for beachcombing!
The weather was absolutely fabulous and warm enough for us to wear our shorts and vest tops and swap our wellies for flipflops. We’d made sandwiches for lunch both days, which is just as well because there were no restaurants or tavernas open yet anywhere nearby and Elafonisi is quite remote. We were lucky to have the mini market open until 8pm, so that we were able to come off the beach when it got dark and buy snacks for our dinner that night.
More of beautiful Elafonisi
We were surprised to find that we couldn’t get across to the other side and the island as it was all underwater. Last year when we went to Elafonisi in May, we were able to wade across, but the sea was too rough and too deep to do that this time. So we explored other parts of Elafonisi that we don’t normally have time to visit – all of which were stunningly beautiful.
Kedrodasos Beach
By the time we had returned to our rooms several hours later, eaten and chatted for a while on one of our balconies – we were ready for sleep.
The next morning we planned to find and explore two more beaches we had scoped out on Google Maps. These were only a few kilometers further along the coast but more difficult to reach as there appeared to be no roads or tracks leading to them. We drove as close as we could to Kedrodasos Beach and then scrambled down the hillside and over and around many rocks until we came to a stunning stretch of sandy coastline.
More stunning coastline near Elafonisi
We walked for hours all along this beach as far as we could and followed hiking signs/routes to access other stretches of coastline. We collected many different seashells and then headed back for the car. I wanted to do the first half of the long journey home before it got dark as the roads along the gorges are quite treacherous. However, we did get lost trying to find our way back to the car, despite leaving a ribbon in a tree (which we never found!). Everything looked so different on the way back and neither Debbie nor I have much of a sense of direction. But eventually we found the way back up the hillside close to where the car was parked…thankfully!
Kalyves Carnival
We both had a wonderful time at Elafonisi and vow to go back again soon. We will definitely think about staying over again as it’s so much nicer not to have to drive for so long and it gives us so much more time for exploring. We can think of quite a few other places to visit and stopover in the future.
At Casino Khan Birthday Party
Playing Roulette at Casino Khan Birthday Party
Other events that have happened since my last post are the Kalyves Carnival and socially, I really enjoyed ‘The Lions’ first gig of the season, held at my local taverna, Vangeli’s. I also loved the casino-themed birthday party a friend held at Vangeli’s, where we were all given a certain amount of chips to play with. Everyone dressed up like a bond movie set and all wine, beer and water was free for all guests. The food was superb and there was a DJ as well as live music, making us all want to dance the night away!