This year’s hurricane season/get out of Trinidad trip might not have been as adventurous as last years, but it was just as much fun. It still involved planes, boats and automobiles but rather fewer mountains and lakes and absolutely no glaciers.
We started with a plane back to the UK to spend four days in Bury St. Edmunds staying first with friends and then family.
It was so lovely to catch up with Caroline and John in their new house – well, not so new to them – but the first time we had visited since they moved. A great little house in a fabulous location which meant we could easily walk into the city centre to get our M&S fix! On the Saturday we arrived it was lovely and sunny and we had a great time eating and drinking al fresco and having a good catch up.
The following day we met Andrea, David and Martin for a pub lunch….
….. before going back to their place for the next couple of nights. More catching up, a rather drizzly dog walk and lots of discussion about how to get the best balance of electricity to charge Andrea’s new electric car, feed the grid and power things in the house from the recently installed solar panel bank in their garden. Much more of a topic for Mike than me, so I concentrated on cheese, wine, dog stroking and Sudoku puzzles!
On Tuesday we needed to get to Gatwick to meet Chris and John for an early morning flight to Greece the following day. What started as a simple “see you at Gatwick” first changed to “could we meet at a pub part way just off the M11” and then “would it be possible for you to meet Fiona [niece] at Crewe and bring her to the pub to meet her mum so that she doesn’t have a longer, expensive train journey from Liverpool”. Many, many thanks to Chris and John for coping with my turning what, for them, would have been a leisurely drive in their own time into a got to meet the train/get to the pub and do it to someone else’s timetable kind of journey.
Fortunately, it all worked out OK as did the flight to Preveza the following day. Our fortnight was split into one week in Lygia and one in Preveza, two places Chris and John hadn’t been to previously, though Chris had stayed once at Nidri, also on Lefkada island. Both were places that Mike and I really like though it was very interesting to be reminded how different things can be when viewed from a hotel perspective rather than your own boat. Not that there was anything wrong with the hotels, the places or the experiences – it was just “different”.
Perhaps the most glaring difference with regard to visiting a place by boat or car was the day we caught the ferry to Meganisi. OK, a ferry is a boat – but you know that’s not what I mean. When sailing in the Ionian, Meganisi was one of our favourite islands and we wanted to show it to Chris and John and, I hoped it would become a special place for them too. Well, that didn’t work. Firstly, John had to back the hire car up the ramp negotiating a slalom of big rings on the floor of the ferry whilst being shouted at loudly in Greek as the ferry guy didn’t think he was doing the manoeuvre fast enough. Later in the morning we tried to go to a brilliant beach and beach bar which we previously went to by dinghy but which, as it turned out, was at the end of a track impossible for anything but a jeep driven by a suicidal maniac to reach by road. The “main” road to the “capital” which we had previously walked along many times was actually quite narrow for a vehicle, particularly in the villages where the bends were almost right-angle around stone houses and walls and, to cap it all, a taverna which I have always wanted to visit was closed for a wedding.
But, the day wasn’t totally lost. The ferry ride itself was quite nice…..
….. the coffee stop in Little Vathi very pleasant….
…. and the much needed beverage in Nikiana [once back on Lefkada] revived us somewhat.
Nikiana is a small fishing village which we have never actually visited by boat as the anchorage is a bit exposed – so this was a good example of a positive difference to round off what had been a bit of a let-down day.
Staying in Lygia was great and the hotel excellent – especially as the prices at the bar more or less matched those of the nearby tavernas, so nightcaps could be enjoyed within easy staggering distance to our rooms.
One evening, from just outside the hotel, we caught a bus into Lefkada Town for a leisurely stroll and dinner.
Part of an afternoon was spent walking along the Lefkada canal….
…. and, on another day we did an island tour by car – this time up and down mountain roads which were at least tarmacked.
We went to Egklouvi, the highest village on the island where, I believe, they host an annual mountain run…..
….to Karya….
… and, lastly to Agios Nikitas.
We relaxed by the pool for some part of most days, played Mexican Train on the day that it rained and enjoyed the village…
…. and beautiful scenery ……
….and got close up and personal with a sun-lounger buddy.
Moving from Lygia to Preveza by car only takes about 45 minutes so on transfer day we had plenty of time to wander round the town before our hotel rooms were ready and, having walked the length of the promenade and back, a beer was in order. It’s a great place to watch the world go by and sitting in one or other of the tavernas along the waterfront people watching and being entertained by boats berthing became an almost daily ritual.
On the day we first decided to venture further afield it rained. In actual fact, two days of rain in the Ionian over the course of a fortnight in mid to late September is not unusual – it could have been much worse – as both Chris and I can testify to from other year’s experiences.
On this day we headed north to go, first of all, to “Jumbo”. Now, unsurprisingly, Jumbo isn’t a town or village and has nothing at all to do with elephants. It’s a shop which sells all sorts of stuff from clothing to cookware, things for the car and garden, toys and games and household products. We had introduced Chris to Jumbo when she visited us in Kalamata and she hoped she might find some artificial oddments to augment her flower arrangements – at a price lower than those in the UK. Unfortunately, and I have to say, much to my amazement, Jumbo didn’t have anything she could use. Ah well, we tried.
We then headed for the coast road where we stopped for a quick look at what we believe is the Ionian’s [if not Greece’s] longest stretch of beach.
From there it was a short hop to the small fishing village, Mitikas….
… and what else do you do at lunchtime in the rain….
…. but find a nice taverna….
….. well actually, it was the only one of three tavernas in the village that was open – but it was nice and very popular, full with local people.
On our trip that day we passed what looked like a massive archaeological site – “Nikopolis”, so the following day Mike and I decided to visit firstly the museum and then the site. The museum was small, but contained some quite well preserved items …..
….. but, towards the end of our visit we saw modern aerial photographs of the site and read that much of it had been destroyed by bombs during WWII and as a result we decided not to visit – after all its not as though we haven’t been to Greek archaeological sites before!
Whilst we were at the museum, Chris and John decided to walk out along the beach road to visit Pantocrator Fort. Had we been with them when they made this decision we would have told them the fort was closed because, when we walked there with Steve and Gill in 2022, that is what we found – or so we thought!
However, not put off by the large front entrance being shut and overgrown Chris and John ventured down a ramp and round the castle. We had also done this – but down a ramp in the opposite direction which just led to the sea with no way of going further. Their ramp also led to the sea but passed a small archway where there had once been a gate which still gave access to the inside of the castle.
Of course, this meant that Mike and I had to go for a second time to see what we had missed.
The most amazing thing was the church on the first floor.
So glad we hadn’t been around to put Chris and John off their idea.
Our main day trip from Preveza was to Vonitsa and Palairos – both villages which we have loved anchoring off. After coffee on Vonitsa’s harbour front we made our way up to the Byzantine castle……
…. back down to part of the village we hadn’t seen before….
……. and then along the bay to the island.
We had a late lunch in Palairos….
…… and then elected to return to the hotel pool rather than swim off the beach.
I am pleased to be able to report that, unlike the Meganisi debacle, this trip was enjoyed by Chris and John – even though it meant going through the tunnel under the Gulf of Amvrakia both ways – which Chris really doesn’t like. Its success might have led me to suggest a day out to the island of Kalamos, another of our favourites, but I think that the “differences” I spoke of above means that Kalamos is definitely a yachtie destination and was best left unvisited on this holiday. It’s a shame we missed out on George’s lovely taverna there but we certainly managed to return to several other old favourites and find new ones in and around both Lygia and Preveza.
Our best evening was at the taverna with no name. Locals, music, beer and ouzo.
All good things must come to an end and, on Wed 25th September we returned to the UK – this time to the North West.
Passport renewal and opticians were priorities. Stupidly I hadn’t accounted for my glasses prescription to have expired so when Mike had his appointment on the Thursday, when I intended to just have to select some new prescription sunglasses, I suddenly found an appointment for an eye test was necessary. Fortuitously, there was a free appointment on the Saturday – phew.
The passport renewal went much more smoothly. It necessitated a trip to Liverpool as I needed the fast track/same day service and having caught an early train we had time to spare so decided to head down to the waterfront. It was a cold and windy day so, tired of being blown around, we headed for the Mersey Ferry terminal as we had never been inside.
As well as a shop dedicated to the Beatles, there was Gerry….
…..but I believe you have to catch the ferry to get the song.
Having sorted all the necessary things, we were able to go and visit friends in Rawtenstall and it was great to see Steve and Mary who came across from Wales for a trip to the Rivington Brewery. It was quite a surprise – a delightful one – that Phil also came down from the Lakes and we had an excellent evening of catching up and reminiscing about canal pubs.
The canal theme came about because the following day we all had tickets to visit the Anderton Boat lift.
This is a really great place to visit. The grounds are free and there are several walking trails which, unfortunately, we didn’t have time for.
For just £10 you get a boat tour along the River Weaver….
…. and a running commentary from the very informative guide who tells you all you need to know about the history of the lift and the canal.
We chose a tour which did the river trip first and the Lift ascent at the end. Our friend Maggie, who had done the tour once before with the lift descent and then the river, thought that the way we did it this time was the better experience. So, if you book, go for the river first. Dogs are allowed in the grounds and on the tour and there is a nice little café [ with a dog area outside].
After the tour, Phil returned home whilst Dave, Maggie, Mike and I continued onwards to Chirk Marina….
…. as we had booked a 3-night break on a narrow boat.
We really packed a lot into the three days. We did tunnels…..
….. lifting bridges….
…. locks…..
… and aqueducts.
In fact, the Pontcysyllte aqueduct was one of the main reasons we chose this particular stretch of the canal system. Dave was really keen and although Mike is not at all good with heights, he agreed to give it a go. We joked that if worse came to worst he could hide down below with a stiff G&T – but all was well and he managed the trip across both ways – though Dave did have to steer.
This aqueduct is very popular and as well as hired boats there were also trip boats and people crossing in canoes.
At the Trevor end there is a turning basin where the canal also takes a right-angled bend to the left [which, strangely we don’t call a left-angled bend!] followed immediately by a narrow bridge which, if you want to continue down the canal to Llangollen, you have to negotiate. Going toward Llangollen it went really well and it looked like we had been doing this all our lives instead of the three-hour reality.
But coming back the following day was a very different story – these canal boats are NOT easy to steer and having come under the bridge, before which you can’t really see what is happening in the basin, we encountered mayhem. One of the “professionally driven” large tripper boats had hit the small boat which had gone under the bridge before us and they had stopped where we needed to turn. The boat following the trip boat wanted to turn to go under the bridge, but couldn’t because another boat was following us. So, the first of those went further into the basin, which meant we couldn’t and the boat behind us stopped just after the bridge which meant we couldn’t move in any direction. But, we were facing the wrong way and had to somehow turn round. Later that evening Dave said “If it had been down to me, we would still have been stuck in that basin” – but Mike had taken the helm and somehow – which only he knows – he turned us around.
At some points along the canal it narrows to one boat width and when this happens you have to pull alongside the bank whilst someone runs the length of the narrow bit to see if any boats are coming through. If they aren’t you contact your skipper who moves down that section and you stop any other boat going through.
Some of these sections are quite short and it is easy to run [or hobble in my case] a couple of hundred yards, check the situation out and signal to your crew to move. But some sections are a lot longer. Phone reception was very poor – but we did manage to communicate – and had no bad encounters through these narrow sections. Not quite sure what single handers do – or what they used to do before mobile phones?
Anyway, we saw early mornings….
…. and dusks….
…. and enjoyed the countryside.
We would consider another narrowboat holiday – but it would need to be longer, so that we didn’t feel we had to rush. and it would be on what would hopefully be a less popular stretch of canal. However, certainly for me and, I think for Mike, it convinced us that the narrow boat live aboard life is not in our future.
It was then back to Cheshire for a couple of days and evenings relaxing with Chris and John which finished almost as it began – with a taste of Greece.
The following day we flew to NYC – but you are going to have to wait until the next blog post to get the low down on that.
