Mykonos to Santorini was another few hours in the ferry. Or it could have been more, I can't remember to be honest. I probably slept the whole way. Mykonos had ruined me.

We docked into Santorini mid-afternoon and were immediately blown away by its beauty. Being an old volcano, the cliffs of Santorini shoot up about 100 metres, while the body of water in the heart of the island is 400 metres deep, which is pretty amazing.

After checking in, we had a couple of hours to get ready before heading into town (which was pretty close to our hotel, about time!). The group was treated to dinner at a pretty nice restaurant situated on a cliff-face overlooking the water. Mousaka was on the menu, which is the Greeks version of Lasagna. Wasn't bad but didn't compare to the views. We were surrounded by plenty of wealthy newly-weds, which was not surprising. The island looked like it was designed for a honeymoon.

After dinner, Ed took us to one of his favourite bars, Murphy's, which was apparently good for pre-drinks before hitting a club. I was burnt out though and after a few cocktails I felt like a zombie so I bailed. Lewis decided to come with me and he assumed the role of directing us home, as he usually does. On this occasion however, he had completely lost his bearings. He was dead keen on walking in the complete opposite direction to our hotel where there was nothing but empty fields of darkness which probably led to steep cliff. Anyway, fortunately I'm not retarded and we eventually found our way home.

The next day I can't say I did a lot productive. I decided I would get a phonecard and call the family & friends, which was good. Apart from that I just lounged around our hotel. My body was still far from being healthy. There seemed to be some sort of stomach bug swarming through the group and I think I picked up a mild case of it - I was finding eating pretty difficult. Later that afternoon, we headed to the most northern point of the island, Oia, for the famous Santorini sunset. I had heard much about it and it certainly met my expectations.

After the sunset, most of the group went straight back into town to the bar. I however, went home to sleep off my illness and fatigue, or so I thought. Bit hard to sleep when Lewis gets my Ipod speakers out and blares music full blast next to my head. Clearly he had other ideas for the remainder of the night. After a shower and some vodka I was feeling a bit more up for it and we headed into town around midnight. We went to a place called Tropical Bar, which was another cool little bar. A few drinks were had there and then another place before it was time to head to a club. Club of choice was called Inigma. It had a bit of a greeky feel to it, but it was OK. A few of our friends from the last contiki were there also, so was good to catch up with them and pick up where we left off.

Another non-productive day to follow what had turned out to be a pretty large night. I don't like having regrets, but there was one thing that I really wanted to do in Santorini that I wouldn't end up doing. A couple of friends had told me to get a quad-bike and cruise round the winding cliffs and check out the red-sand & black-sand beaches. I eventually mustered up enough energy later that afternoon to go search for one to hire.. but I had no luck. The guy at the place flipped out when I said I had never ridden one before. So unfortunately it wasn't to be. Instead, I went for a lonely stroll into town to check out the views and some shops. After about half an hour of sweating it out in 40 plus degrees, the pool back at my hotel sounded more appealing so I got some pharmaceutical products from the chemist and an ice cream for the road and went back.

It was one of the girls (Sarah's) birthdays that day so we went out to dinner that night to celebrate. We had it at another nice restaurant in town, on a cliff, on the water. My proposed 50 Euro-a-day budget for the contiki tour didn't stand a chance for what I was eyeing off on the menu. Lobster Spaghetti. It was probably the best meal I've ever had. Although, it probably tasted so good because I'd been living off gyros for the last 2 weeks. In any case, it was a really nice dinner followed by a wise decision to go home and rest before we headed to Ios in the morning.

Ios was only a 45 minute ferry from Santorini. The island was the biggest of the 3 we were to visit but there were only 1100 full-time residents and everything pretty much happened in one little section of the whole island. Our place, Far Out Resort, was the place to be. I think it was owned by an Aussie dude who pretty much owned half the establishments on the beach and in town. The hotel was situated on a cliff overlooking the main beach. Our room's veranda also looked directly on to our pool and pool bar. I don't think I would have chosen another hotel room, let alone hotel, on the whole island if given the choice.

We arrived there just after lunch. Most took to the beach straight away but I decided to kick it by the pool for a bit and not rush. When I eventually trekked it down I found out one of the reasons why this place is commonly talked up as the best party island. The beach itself is beautiful, no waves of course but easily the best beach I've seen in Europe so far. But everything happens across the road from the beach, at Far Out Club, which has a massive pool surrounded by the bar, a few restaurants and a dance floor. I loved it. Music would be blaring and the place would take off around 6pm every day.

After our first taste of the Far Out Club we went back and got ready for our group dinner, which was back down next to the beach. After that we caught the bus into town which was about 2 minutes away. Ios is full of tiny little pubs that play the same 20 songs and are full of wasted people (predominantly Australians). Most of the places also give you a free singlet if your order 7 shots. Any excuse will do. I racked up a pretty good collection by the end of the trip. Ed took us on a pub crawl through most of the pubs on the first night. Drinks were flowing very rapidly. Fortunately Ios is probably the cheapest island for drinks. Everyone was having a great night. We finished the night by heading to a club at 3ish called rehab and then we rounded it up mid morning.

The next 2 days & nights were not at all dissimilar to the first one in terms of what we did. Although they involved less sleep, less food, and probably more alcohol. On our 3rd day I went and did some tubing with some friends (Kirby & Sarah) down at the beach, which was pretty fun.

I love Ios. It's probably my favourite place visited so far in Europe. You can party from 2pm till 10am if you want to in Ios. I think it definitely would have been voted the best island by everyone on the tour. Lewis and I were seriously contemplating staying for another few extra nights and flying in last minute to our next destination, Croatia. But we decided to think with our wallets rather than our hearts.

It was back on the ferry to Athens the next day. I felt weirdly relieved that my contiki was coming to an end. It has been so intense, especially the first part of the tour. At the same time I was pretty devastated. We got back to Athens just before dinner. We all met at the rooftop bar that night to say our farewells. Deja Vu from the last tour. Again, it was pretty sad. Sad in the fact that I had spent 34 days with a few of these people that I might not see again. Having said that, I know I will be seeing alot of them again whether it is meeting up with them somewhere else across Europe, or meeting up with my Aus friends once we all get back home.

Reflecting on the Contiki as a whole, I can say it was the time of my life. Everything happened so fast it is a bit of a blur. Fortunately Lewis doesn't mind taking a photo or two, or two thousand, which I'm sure will trigger memories for years to come. I don't think there was a standout highlight, I loved each city for different reasons and I want to go back and visit them all. (Hopefully I'll see some of them again this trip)

Today we left Athens. We are currently on route to Split, Croatia. The journey includes a 3 hour bus ride from Athens to Patras, a 21 hour ferry ride from Patras to Ancona, a 10 hour stopover in Ancona, followed by another 10 hour ferry to Split. Awesome! I'm currently on the 21 hour ferry ride (from hell). So in case you were wondering why this blog is so bloody long, that might explain it. Not a whole lot to do on a ferry, especially when you're travelling on deck with no bed. Looking forward to a sleepless 48 hours surrounded by nothing but water!

To be continued..