Jees, for the 'relaxing' part of my holiday I seem to have even less time to update the blog than before. I was under some impression I would have very little to do in the Greek Isles, but Busabout soon sorted that out.

I'd been well warned previously about GMT (Greek Maybe Time) but when we were told to arrive at the port in Athens at 6:30am for a 7:30am ferry only to be told there was a strike and we had to wait a further hour, grumpy morning Carlie was not impressed. But we did get on the ferry and after a 5hr trip arrived in Mykanos. First impressions of this island, as with others I've since visited, is that it's very desolate, lots of rock and not much in the way of living plants. This, we were told, was mostly due to the strong winds all round the island, no soil and hence nothing much growing. The beaches, on the other hand, were as beautiful as you could imagine. No sand but rather small smooth pebbles so you can lie down comfortably and walk along without stabbing your feet. Also the water is very very blue and a very nice temperature, even Mum would approve me thinks. We're all staying at a camping village/resort near Paradise Beach although except for expensive food/drink prices (4 euro for a coke.....no thanks) there was nothing really resort-like features. But stilll, for basic accomodations, we still got air-con and a bar fridge so we could stock up at the market rather than spend all our cash at the bar.

First night out was dinner with the Busabout crew at an awesome Greek restaurant then off for some bar-hopping. There was a nightclub at our camping site that had a well known DJ playing whose name escapes me (well known to all but me it would seem) but with the time being 1am by the time we got there and an entry fee of 20 euro, I decided I wanted to sleep more than drink so off to bed.

Next day the camp site was a ghost town, even at 11am when i decided to get up and head for the beach. Sort of a good thing in a way, didn't have to fight for a spot on the beach and just got to have some time to myself.

This island hopping trip has us on each island for 2 nights so now it was time to head off to Paros. Much shorter trip on the ferry so had a bit more time to settle in and explore the town. Bit different here than Mykanos, the town centre is much smaller and there wasn't really a beach in itself nearby. There was the same blue water but surrounded mostly by large rocks so didn't partake in the beach here, mostly just roamed the markets and ate lots of tasty food on the waterfront. Gorgeous sunsets, good thing I got a pic of one before my camera decided it didnt want to work for me anymore :-(

Our second Paros day was dedicated to the Paros boat cruise and I can see why our Busabout guide said previous travellers rated it so highly. Although we were supposed to have the boat and beach to ourselves we had to share with a family and couple of extra people but they didn't seem to mind our antics. Leaving the port we were sailed round the island, having a couple of swim stops, where the water was quite deep so you couldn't set foot on the bottom but the water was so clear you could make out the smooth rocky floor of the ocean. We also had a few cliff jumps of between 5 - 10m which i wisely stayed clear of.......

Lunch was made up of chicken and pork kebabs (the ones on a stick, the ones in pita are gyros here), salad and some fresh cooked octopus caught on the day by the guys of the boat. Since the water here is much more salty than back home the seafood has a built-in salt taste but still delicious. After a couple of hours of food, drink, swimming and beach volleyball on our private bit of beach we headed back to Paros with a few more swim stops.

A quiet night was in order after the big day of the boat so took myself back to the waterfront for a yummy sunset dinner then headed back home to what could be considered a small disaster. Saw one of the guys from our tour being hauled away by the police so we had to call our tour guide to grab his passport and bail the bloke out. And it was left to me to look after his pretty drunk female travelling companion who wanted to head back out in case he came home and decided to punch her. Drama i could do without I can tell you but still, I headed out for a cocktail and left at midnight, happy this girl was in the capable hands of her roommates and she wasn't going home on her own.

So after a pretty average night's sleep we were on the ferry agan to Santorini, which is where I find myself today. I've only been to three of the four islands on our schedule but I can say that this one is my favourite by far. Although getting to my hostel was a bit of a drama with nobody to meet me and the shuttle bus leaving without me, still managed to get a lady from Blue Star Ferry to take me here. I'm staying bout 20 mins outside of the main city of Fira and at first glance it looks like there is absolutely nothing here but brown grass and the occasional white building. But bout 5 mins away from here is the famous Black Beaches of Parissia and the bus is 5 mins in the opposite direction which take me directly to Fira and to the Busabout hostel where all our excursion depart from.

Headed into Fira last night for dinner and I have never wanted my camera more than when we arrived at our restaurant. Most of the outer coast of Santorini is made up of huge cliffs and we were quite far up the cliff with a flawless view of the still blue water below up and the sun setting over the semi-active volcano. After dinner we headed off for a few more cocktails but, since the buses stop at midnight and not wanting to spend 30 euro on a taxi, I headed off early to m nice comfy bed.

After a sleep in (only till 10am mind you) it was time for the beach. Lucky for those of us who didn't want to burn ourselves of the black pebbles, there were plenty of lounges and umbrellas for people who bought something at the bar/cafes on the waterfront. Better than forking our 4 euro for a lounge and another 4 for the umbrella.

Tonight is a picnic organised by Busabout so will be off on the bus later tonight. Sorry this blog is another long one but I didn't think I'd have that much to write home about. With only 4 more days of my holiday left and 2 more getting home, might only be 1 blog left.

Stay turned peoples.