Woke up bright and early today feeling excited as we put our swimmers on for the first time this whole trip! We had a volcanic island cruise planned for the day, but had to satisfy our bellies with a hearty breakfast first. We sat down at a little cafe and ordered a big serving of eggs (because we hadn't eaten eggs in 5weeks!).
After this we caught a bus down to the new port where we boarded our traditional cruise boat- the 'Odyssey' :)
We first sailed across the caldera to the magnificent volcano. Here, we stopped and hiked all the way to the top where our guide showed us some steaming craters, shared some fascinating information, and the views were breathtaking (silly me forgot the camera).
We then sailed to a smaller volcanic island (Palea Kameni) where we jumped off the boat into frighteningly deep (but clear and blue and just beautiful) water and swam about 70m to the hot springs. Here it is believed that due to the high concentration of iron and manganese that the warm water is good for the body and has curative properties (I'll believe it once I see the pimple scar on my forehead vanish!).
Once we were back aboard and drying off in the bright sun, we then sailed to the little island of Thirassia (only 270 inhabitants, can you believe it?). Here we stopped for the perfect after-swimming meal of grilled meats and seafood on skewers, accompanied by a healthy serve of hot chips and quite possibly the best tzatziki I've ever had in my life!
After a couple of hours here just relaxing, we then sailed past Oia and back to the new port where we caught the bus back to our hotel to shower, watch another amazing sunset, and gorge on more amazing food.