Venus de Milos waz here
Just when you are beginning to think the life of a kayak guide looks like nothing but plain sailing/kayaking let me tell you of what else happens behind the scenes before and after we meet you at the airport or dock all suntanned and smiling ...so after our successful first Milos trip - I had a week to get myself to Gocek, Turkey to co-lead a week on the high seas of the Turquoise Coast - ah Santorini here I come! I have been trying to make it to this quintessential Greek island of Santorini since I first starting guiding on Crete(2005) and it has continued to elude me - due to tight departure schedules, an early departure from several guides due to family illness or the last trip of the season requiring the boats to be cleaned and put away spotless for next year's crew. Each time I have had my hopes to reach Santorini dashed and have had to promise Santorini to wait for me. This time I think: perfect! En route to Turkey ...Santorini with it's caldera awaits for me...
Well just try getting off Milos in a hurry heading in that direction... I discover that there is no ferry until 2 days after the clients have left - which we fill in with boat cleaning, PFD(lifejacket) and spray skirt washing so that DeT's and my small terrace strung with it's makeshift ol'towbelt around the banana palms drying lines is a maze of dripping gear...we also scout out some possiblities of evening hikes, attempt to visit the catacombs(closed for renovation) hike up to a stunning church on a seaside cliff where the trees are shaped by the sculpturous winds our view back to the town above us is breath taking with olive groves and an ancient amphitheatre
DeT and I stumble upon the place where Venus de Milo statue of Louvre fame was found - in a humble orchard grove...where nothing but a plaque marks it's locale...
Rick, DeT and I checked out some other possiblities for accommodations back in Appalonia and of course I was willing to dive into the research ie Jacuzzi testing(cold water of course)at a small boutique spa we were intently investigating(see above photos!)
So then as my online reseach continued the only way to get to Rhodes (the last bastion Greek isle before a ferry to Marmaris and Turkey)as all flights off Milos were booked until October (this is in June) was the 26 hour ferry via Santorini and Crete and several other islands...yes you read it right 26 HOUR FERRY...I watched as my dream of photographic exploration of Santorini quickly evaporated and in fact really my week of having a little R&R and another Shirly Valentine moment in my life slip away....
I did get to see Santorini from the sea though! and we did teasingly enter the caldera and dock for a while so that I could gaze out longingly at romantic "Santorini" - it was 1:30am, dark and windy...
"Yassous Santorini...I promise one day I will step foot on your shores..."
As the boat slipped it's moorings and headed out into the inky black darkness of the sea....
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