Mon 5 Aug to Thu 8 Aug – Beaches, bikes, booze, beards and a new generator

Monday

After Cass arrived on Sunday night we kicked off our long overdue catch up sitting in a cocktail bar on the waterfront and watching the sunset (well, you do need to start as you mean to carry on!)

For a while now we’ve been debating whether or not to buy a portable generator, and today was the day we decided that we’d just go for it. Although we have the solar panels and they do a good job of allowing us to keep our smaller electronics charged we do miss being able to charge laptops, drone batteries, speakers, cameras etc. Last year we didn’t notice as much because we were running the engine a lot more (so we’d plug everything in as we were on the move) but this year having done much more sailing we’re missing these little creature comforts. 

Last Friday we’d been to the hardware store to see if they could source a specific one for us (we were after the Honda EU22i) and were told to pop back on Monday so while Cass and I headed to the beach Tom went to the store. No luck unfortunately so back he came and we all had lunch together on the beach. Now those of you who know Tom will know that once he’d got an idea in his head nothing will stop him, so from the comfort of his sun-bed he set about calling the Honda suppliers in Athens and within a few minutes he’d agreed a price and was skipping off to the local bank to transfer the money. Yippee!

Cass and I, supporting all this from the sidelines with a glass of wine in hand enjoyed our lazy afternoon in the sun and in the evening she found us a lovely Greek/Thai restaurant overlooking the bay.

Tuesday

We had hoped to get some sailing in whilst Cass was with us however with 25/30 knots forecast on Tuesday and Wednesday our chances were rapidly diminishing. By 11am the wind was howling and the anchorage was packed so we left Tom onboard to boat-sit and she and I set off to explore the island by bike. Discussing routes with the lady in the rental shop we decided on a Naousa, Kostos, Lefkas round trip of 30km. Cass cycles everyday in Amsterdam so she’s pretty fit, and with my tendency to underestimate the real effort involved in anything strenuous I merrily agreed. We set off towards Naousa at 1pm into a hefty headwind and with the sun beating down. And then came the hills. For some stupid reason I assumed quite a lot of the route would be flat – it wasn’t.

After a much needed break at a roadside bakery we made it to (a very windy) Naousa about an hour later and staggered into a lovely restaurant for lunch. At around 3pm, feeling revitalised we set off again towards Kostos. The hills grew steeper and steeper and the wind blew even harder in our faces, so much so that we hard to resort to pushing the bikes along some of the 12km climb.

Kostos, set in the hills in the middle of the island is really tiny and totally unaffected by tourism and (I think I’m right in saying) that there’s not a single hotel or guesthouse in the village. We sat in the main bar under some huge trees for a quick rest before continuing on to Lefkas, which involved more hills, more bike pushing and more swearing. By now it was 7pm so we only had an hour to get back to Parikia before the bike rental shop closed so we had an ice-cream, a lightening fast walk around then very reluctantly we got back on our bikes for the final 12km. To our utmost delight most of it was downhill and we zipped through some beautiful countryside and back into the main town, exhausted but happy. 

We didn’t have the energy to freshen up before dinner so we had a cocktail in our favourite bar and Tom joined us for a quick dinner before we collapsed into bed.

Wednesday

Naousa is a gorgeous town but yesterday, during our biking marathon we didn’t really have time to explore it, so late morning we got on the local bus and headed back. It’s a small village set in a huge bay on the north of Paros and comes complete with traditional picturesque whitewashed houses and quaint stone-paved lanes surrounding a fishing harbour. It has a refreshing variety of bars and restaurants and we had brunch in a place which wasn’t dissimilar to one you’d find in London. We tucked into a smoothie accompanied by avocado and eggs on toast – a real treat for the tastebuds!

After wandering back though the lanes we walked the obligatory walk across the Venetian Fortress (got soaked!) then stopped off in a waterfront bar for a few glasses of wine before Tom and I headed back to Parikia. We’d loved to have anchored in the northern part of the bay as it looked well protected and very pretty, but getting around here in 30 knots of headwind would have been horrendous. Maybe next season.

Thursday

Today was the day Tom’s beard experiment had to come to an end. The novelty had rather worn off and it’d gone from looking rather cool to being itchy, too tempting to play with and looking a bit moth-eaten. It wasn’t to come off with one sweep of the razor though, oh no. It had to come off in stages, which was absolutely hilarious and had us laughing all morning!

In the afternoon the three of us went to the beach on the other side of the bay and we’d just finished lunch when Tom got a call to say the generator had arrived! Quick as a flash he was back on the little shuttle boat and off to the depot to collect it. He not only managed to manhandle the big heavy box onboard Bini, but also fill up with diesel and petrol too! Very productive, whilst Cass and I were having an equally tough and strenuous time – on the beach, drinking more wine 🙂