So I left Africa and arrived back in England on the 6th June only to leave again on the 9th. At the time I was glad to leave, because although all the Brits can walk around in their summer with nought but shorts and singlet tops on, I froze in jeans and a jumper and had to stay inside and snuggle into a sleeping bag!
So I went to Crete with my friend Emma and a group of girls, including Becky who I knew from the trip to Egypt, and also Patty, Shannon, Claire and Jen. A few days into our stay we were also joined by Lorna and then Ricky.
We spent the 13 days in a villa owned by Emma's brother which was absolutely lush. There was a beautiful pool in which we could actually do laps (when feeling energetic) and it was on a hill overlooking the ocean. The skies were clear blue and it was a perfect temperature each day. It was beautiful. The landscape was very rocky and since I was used to the tropics, it seemed to me quite desolate but it reminded me of the landscape of central Australia, except not red coloured.
There were eucalyptus and all day the cicadas would make loud their song. It reminded me of the bush at night in Australia. We would often go to the local seaside town of Almyrida and eat very well with lovely Greek food. Often we would just order loads of entrees because they were so good and we soon realised that we would fill up before mains.
I had my 31st birthday at the local taverna on the 3rd day and we were introduced on that day to the local liquor called rakki (or something like that) that is quite foul. I never drank it again after than night but the other girls and Ricky managed to have quite a bit (but they had to have several wines first!).
Most of our days were spent lounging by the pool or beach and socialising with each other. On one of the days, Jen and Em and Ricky and I went to Samaria gorge and did the very long walk along it. A very beautiful walk and well worth the day. It is as long as it says it is though. It took us most of the day and I struggled to walk down the stairs due to stiff muscles for days after.
I was one of the designated drivers for the trip. At this point I hadn't driven in 10 months and I also was in a country where I had to drive on the right hand side of the road. I don't know what they were thinking asking me to be one of the drivers. I was quite nervous about it at first but it went fine. I quite enjoyed it actually and was happy to be the sober one for Becky's birthday when we had a blast of a night in Almyrida and I drove everyone home. It was great! I felt like the mother of 7 very drunk children and I was constantly checking to see where they were in the bar and making sure they hadn't wandered off and got lost or finding their shoes when they were thought lost and I was the only one that seemed perturbed. But then the fact that they were so drunk was, in part, my fault since I took control of the kitty money and had control of their drinking habits.
On the 19th, everyone left to go home except for Emma, Ricky and myself. We had 3 extra days, two of which we got to go diving. It was so good to be underwater again. We went into some underwater caverns. The water temperature was certainly colder than I was used to at about 24 degrees (which it was just getting to on some days off Pemba just before I left), but at one point, it got to 19 degrees. I barely coped. It was in the cavern and it was quite a strange experience. We went UP into colder water. The fresh water joined the sea at that point so we went up into it and it was COLD! It was also difficult to see. The vision was very blurred from the salt water mixing with the fresh water. Quite a weird sensation. The diving there was mainly sea grass and not much coral and not much in the way of fish. Some octopi and cuttlefish and shrimp on a night dive and a lobster on a day dive but otherwise it was more the caverns that made it interesting. It was just good to be underwater again. I liked the crew who were fun and they got my vote since they let me stay down longer when the dive guide got to reserve and one of the punters and I still had air left and they were happy for us to stay down. It's been ages since I've used a 12L tank so I had heaps of air on these relatively shallow dives. Also I wasn't guiding so I had nothing to concentrate on. I quite enjoyed it.
On our last day, we drove to Heraklion to catch our flight out. We went to the ancient palace of Knossos near Heraklion before leaving. It was interesting but we were a bit tired to really make the most of it and I think most of my memories of that part of the journey are of singing "Spirit in the Sky" and "One Night in Bangkok" over and over. You had to be there and have the music that we had available to really appreciate this experience.
So then it was back to London and a few days of Em and Ricky's company in their flat and catching up with my mate Simon for a drink before leaving to visit Jodie and Lisa (with whom I used to work) in Wombourne and going out for drinks. Then I carried on to Lancashire and started my job here in Southport.
I am loving being back at work but that is for the next chapter!
