Return to NZ

It was with some sadness that we waved goodbye to Averil and Theopolis from the stern of the ferry on Thursday morning. They had been wonderful hosts and we had had a lovely time seeing a few new sights as well spending time relaxing with the family. Life on Naxos certainly takes on a different pace than one that we are traditionally used to. Theopolis owns a paint supply shop and he heads off to work early, opening his business around 7am. By 2pm he closes for the afternoon and comes home for a swim before eating the main meal of the day. Ave usually prepares this meal. Vegetables, fish and cheese are the mainstays of the diet, along with bread and olive oil. Meat is generally reserved for special occasions but is certainly not eaten every day. Local red wine is served each day, not in large wine glasses we would use, but in a small glass we would call a tumbler. Following lunch a rest or siesta is taken, before starts the second part of the day around 6pm. Theopolis opens his business again for another couple of hours. It is quite common to socialise with friends or family late into the evening. A light meal or just a snack may be eaten, and bed time seem to be never before midnight.

The ferries that service the islands are huge ships and this one took six hours back to Piraeus, the port for Athens. We had a very smooth sailing so there was no chance of any seasickness. We spent another night at our B&B at Peana, before catching the first of our flights on the journey home. The flight to Singapore was only ten and a half hours (those extra three to London make a huge difference) and we arrived at 5am local time. As we had a 15 hour stopover we had booked a room in the transit hotel and got some sleep. Singapore airport is a like a city mall full of shops and restaurants, as well as places to sit and relax so we had no trouble filling in the extra six hours till our next and final flight. At nine and a half hours it wasn't too bad, and certainly much preferred to the 14 hour flight from Vancouver we endured on our last trip home two years ago.

Getting through passport control is very easy and automated with the new electronic NZ passports. We actually had to wait longer for our luggage. Barbara and Keith were there to meet us and take us out to Lincoln. The weather was a bit of a shock to the system!! It was only 5degrees which was at least a 20 degree drop on what we have been having for the last month. Fortunately the sun did come out in the afternoon so that might it a bit more palatable. We are going to stay here for a couple of days before we head over the the Coast for a couple of days to catch up with my friend Shirley. We have had a Dooby Bear and Kermit with us. They are part of her class and we have been sending them a separate blog about their travels to them. I want to visit the class and take the toys back. Next it will be back to Fraser's to collect the bus and head off to Clyde.

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Olive Press Museum

Olives play a very large part in the lives of the Greeks. You don't have to look far to see an olive tree growing. Many of them are very old and live to an average age of 600-800 years though it isn't unusual to find them well over a 1000 years old. Even a tree that looks past its used by date will spring back into life with a good prune. On Crete there is one that is over 3000 years old and although we didn't see that one we did see the tree in photo below which is at least a 1000 years old. It was on the site of the winery we visited and had some religious significance so the olives weren't able to be harvested.

Today more modern presses are used to obtain the oil but in days gone by this was a much more labour intensive job and all those with olives to press would bring them to the local village press. One of these traditional presses can be seen in the village of Damlas, and is set up as a museum. It was a half hour drive from Agia Anna and Averil thought that it was a place we would enjoy visiting.

We found it fascinating. It was in the village and open to any visitors to visit at any time. On the wall were information boards that explained the process, in both Greek and English. The olives arrive as soon as possible after harvest from the trees. Even this process is labour intensive as they are raked into mats to be gathered up. Next they are tipped into the mill to be crushed. This was operated by five people pushing on large poles and walking around the mill to turn it.







This crushed mixture was then scooped out and out into large sacks. These were then out in the press. Hot water was added to warm the crushed olives and the press was first wound down by hand and then turned further by the aid of a winch.










The oil and water streamed out into the first tub. The oil floated to the top and drained into a second tub and the water was siphoned out into a drain. The oil was then scooped into container using a gourd. The owners of the press kept 10% of the oil as payment.










Averil and Theopolis harvest some of their own olive trees, in a more modern press than the traditional one we saw but they still don't get enough to supply a whole year's needs. Ave told me that they use about a 100 kilos(litres) a year and this is for a family of three adults. Theopolis buys the shortfall from locals he knows who have a surplus.

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Stuffed tomatoes and aubergines

This meal is one of my favourites and Ave made it for us one day, mostly using vegetables from their own garden. I watched closely so would know what to do once I get back into the cooking mode again.

First the vegetables are prepared, by washing and trimming them. Use a mixture of tomatoes, peppers, aubergine and courgettes, Next they are hollowed out.

Save the tomato pulp, sieving it and keeping the juice separately. Place the pulp in a bowl with finely chopped onion, a clove of garlic, salt and pepper, parsley, and a small tsp of dried mint or some fresh mint. For each vegetable used add one tablespoon of uncooked rice and mix together well with a cup of olive oil.

Fill the hollowed out vegetables with the stuffing mixture and place top/lid back in place.

Place peeled and cut potatoes and any other root vegetables you may have, around the stuffed vegetables if desired. Pour another half cup of olive oil over the vegetables with the saved tomato juice.

Cook in a hot oven, 220 degrees, until it starts to boil. Lower heat and continue cooking until vegetables are soft.

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Theopolis's gardens

While Averil and Theopolis have a house and four apartments out here at Agia Anna, there is no ground for gardening other than the few pots that Averil has on the stairs and balcony. I have a feeling Theopolis would like the 'good life' of self sufficiency, as he has three separate properties where he grows fruit and vegetables. One such plot is quite close by but it has an issue with water and of course nothing grows well without a good supply of that. However in saying that we walked around to it the other night and harvested a a couple of kilo of tomatoes and there were heaps of eggplant ready for the picking. We need to go back with a sharp knife as they have a very tough stalk.

Another piece of land Theopolis has is relatively new and is high up in the hills above Naxos town at Kalamitsia near Melanes. The advantage of this place is that it has a good water source with a natural spring but unfortunately it has goats! He is hoping that the fencing he has put up will be adequate but it is also in an area with a building of historical significance and so there are lots of visitors and they aren't always so careful with securing the gate. On Saturday afternoon we went for a drive to have a look at the garden and the building. It used to be a summer retreat for Jesuit monks and was built in the 17th century. It is quite an amazing place.

 

Theopolis has bought part of this property which would have comprised some of the original gardens. He has done a lot of work to clear it, prune back trees (mostly olives) and to plant some crops and new trees. There is a date palm (but the fruit is too high to harvest) a huge fig tree, pomegranate, almond, and olive trees. He has planted bananas, grapes, more olive trees and seasonal crops such as beans, tomatoes, aubergine and peppers.

His third garden is on the other side of the town and is quite well established. We haven't yet visited it this time but I know that he has all sorts of fruits and vegetables growing there too. I seem to remember lots of citrus as well as olives, artichokes, and bananas.

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Naxos

After leaving Crete we flew back to Athens and a couple of hours later we were on a flight to Naxos, the largest island in the Cylcades group of islands. We had debated whether to fly or take the ferry. The ferry required an hour and a half bus trip to the port of Pireaus and then a wait of about four hours, followed by a six and a half hour trip. Based on this knowledge we decided the extra cost far outweighed the shortened travel time. So it was two thirty when we landed and Averil was there to meet us. As always she was very pleased to see us and it was only a short drive to their place at Agia Anna. It is such a lovely spot, so close to the beach and with the narrow streets, bougainvillea in flower it is really is the image of Greece one imagines.

It is lovely to enjoy some home cooking after three weeks of eating in restaurants and Averil has been creating some lovely Greek meals for us. Green beans cooked in olive oil and tomatoes is certainly one of my favorites. But octopus with pasta isn't to be sneezed at either. And of course a meal wouldn't be complete without a salad and a glass of red wine. The tomatoes are to die for. It must be the hot Mediterranean sun that does it.

A swim each day is also in order. It is a mere twenty steps to the beach, which has golden sand and beautiful clear water. The water temperature is a little more bracing than on Crete and in the Ionian waters. Nevertheless it is very refreshing.

Averil and Theopolis have four apartments that they let out during the summer. Since we last visited they have done them all up and they have made such a great job. We just love the tiles in the bathrooms and the lovely clean colours they have used. So any of you out there planning a holiday to the Greek Isles I can certainly recommend this as an excellent place to stay. At this time of the year the tourist season is almost over for the year and it is starting to quieten down. Many of the restaurants, hotels and apartments out here at the beaches have closed up until next summer with the families who run them returning to their villages or Athens. For us Southlanders both the air and water temperatures are still very agreeable and it is nice not to have to fight for a space on the beach.

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Cretan food and wine

Restaurants are everywhere in Chania and especially in the 'old town'. As we were staying in a hotel we had to chose a place to eat each day. It is after dark ( sunset was just after 7pm, and there was no twilight) before most people come out to eat and by 8pm the place was packed. Different restaurants seem to specialize in either meat or fish dishes, as well as having some very traditional Greek dishes. It wasn't until our second night that we found Stachi's, a vegetarian restaurant. We had seen it on Trip Advisor as without this knowledge we would have been hard presses to find it as it was a little off the beaten track. Our host, Stelios was truly passionate about his food. He explained how he had carefully prepared each dish and recommended what he thought we would enjoy. In order to be able to sample several different dishes we chose half servings of chestnut stifado (casserole) , stuffed zucchini flowers, spinach and potatoes and a beautiful Greek salad. Along with this we got some fried aubergine to taste, and then completed the meal with a piece of apple cake. Our host liked to take time to talk to his guests, explaining how he made his dishes if you were interested. We so enjoyed our meal that returned a couple of nights later, to try some of the same dishes again plus a coule of new ones. The Boreka pie was a local speciality, made wih zucchini, potatoes, greens and topped with a pastry. Our favourite would still have to be the chestnut stifado and the aubergine dish.

Another night we went to a fish taverna, quite close to the hotel and we chose aubergine stuffed with shrimps and fish as a starter, then followed it with a mixed fish kebab. We got to taste octopus, swordfish, salmon, and shrimp. We enjoyed this meal and it was interesting to taste the different flavours of the fish. Our table at this particular restaurant was on the road, between the actual restaurant and the footpath. Fortunately the road wasn't too busy as it could have made serving the food fairly hazardous. This is not an unusual occurrence and we have seen many others like it. The last night of our yacht trip was very similar except it was an extremely busy road. I don't think I would have liked to be serving food in a place like that.

One of the last activities we did while on Crete was to visit a winery Manousakis selling the wine under the label Nostos. It was several km out of town, and we weren't keen on renting a car. Driving could be a bit stressful to say the least, so we took a taxi out there, and managed to get the local bus back. The winery was set in a very beautiful spot and had been going for about ten years. A Greek businessman from Washington DC had come back to find his heritiage and had wanted to give back something to the village he had been raised in. The grapes were grown high on the mountains, on a very steep slope so everything is done by hand, as it is too steep for any machinery. They make several types of wines, using their Rhine varieties, including a white, a rosee, and a coupe of reds. With the left over skins and juices they make a distilled drink called Raki. During the tour we got to taste both the wines and the raki, and then this was followed by a plate of mezes(appetizers) and another glass of the wine we enjoyed the most. A very enjoyable and worthwhile trip.

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Battle of Crete

New Zealanders are held in high regard here on Crete because of their pivotal role in the Battle of Crete, May 1941. Most of the battle took part close by to where we are staying in Chania, on the northern coast so it is here that you can find the memorials, museums containing information and the Commonweath War Cemetery. On Monday we took a taxi out to Souda to visit the Cemetery. All the graves were moved from various parts of Crete to this one cemetery and it is very sobering to see how many of our "boys" lost their lives in this battle, along with those from Australia and the UK. There was a book containing all the names of those buried there and it included their ages and home towns. The cemetery is in a very picturesque spot over looking the bay and is immaculately maintained by the Greeks. While were there, two gardeners were weeding and deheading roses.

Yesterday we went to the Maritme Museum, and as well as lots of displays about the history of Chania, there was a whole section dedicated to the Battle of Crete. There are full size models of each of the Allied Forces in their uniforms. I am sure that they were pleased it was May and not summer with those thick khaki uniforms, and when you see where the New Zealanders had to go to evacuate, it is a wonder that there weren't greater loses.

Today we were in the city botanical gardens (they don't resemble NZ ones much as it is so dusty and dry) and we came across a memorial that the Australian and New Zealand RSA had erected in 1991 to commemorate 50 years.

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Chania, Crete

We flew into Chania from Athens on Sunday morning. The flight was very quick with the plane being in the air for only 35 minutes. Luggage always seems to be slow getting off the plane. In fact I think we waited 20 minutes this time. There is a very efficient bus service into the main town which we took advantage of, and then we walked to our hotel. The streets are all very narrow and look much the same and we didn't get off to a very good start. The iPad is excellent for using as a navigational tool, providing you have the map on the screen of the area you are in. It will show you exactly where you are and a dot moves along the street as you do. This is without either cellular or wifi networks. Unfortunately we lost our connection, so a stop at a bar with wifi had us back on track and we found that our hotel was just around the corner.

Our Hotel Danaos is right across the beach from Nea Chora (beach) and is centrally located to both the old and new town. The old Town is certainly that with some of it dating back before BC. There are still many old buildings remaining and the fortifications from Venetian times are very evident. The place is still very busy even though we are now into October and technically into the low season. The late summer temperatures could well have something to do with this. Each afternoon it has risen to well over 30 degrees and the best place to retreat, after a swim, is the hotel room and switch on the air-con  By 6pm it has cooled a little and is very pleasant. This is a good time for a walk before finding a place to eat. And there are certainly plenty of those to chose from. If fact walking along the water front can be a little daunting as the maître d's all try to lure you into their restaurant.

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