Lesvos & Limnos, last of the North Aegean Islands, 21st June - 1st July

We got back to Mytilene on Lesvos in time for W's birthday on the 22nd and indulgences of all sorts.

Lesvos and Limnos are alike in having a multitude of fortresses, castles and monasteries; and that is where the similarities end. Lesvos is a big island (3rd largest Greek island). We toured it by boat and by hire car to see as much as possible. See the pictures for the delights of island driving, for the "don't fall off the road" signs to the Rules of the Greek Roads. They have a penchant for Expressways (paved two-way roads) and "Unimproved" roads (anything from a sandy trail to a goat track?). Lesvos is lush with pines, olives (40 million trees, a major crop) and deciduous trees: cherry, walnut, oak, plane, pear, almond and more. It also has vines, decent wines, and the ouzo produced here is meant to be the best in Greece. I'm no expert, but my birthday bottle is very nice! There are wetlands and highlands, waterfalls and forests. We visited the lovely stone-built town of Molivos (topped by its castle) by boat. Its cobbled streets are entirely covered with live canopies of wisteria their entire lengths. Although somewhat touristy, it was charming, as well as quite chic (not the usual Greek casual dilapidation!).

We did one of the best bits by car. 20 million years ago a volcanic eruption covered the island with such a volume of pyroclastic ash that most of the trees were buried and petrified over time. More trees, seeds, roots, leaf and animal fossils are being unearthed all the time - the variety is large, from ancient sequoias to the ancestors of today's species of pines and oaks. When found in a vulnerable place, they are covered in plaster for secure removal and transportation for analysis and /or recovery for the museum. Otherwise, there is a petrified "forest" area, where they stand or lie as they were hit 20 million yrs ago. They have crystallised into beautiful colours, from deep reds and yellows, to aquamarine and purple. We visited the excellent museum, where we found a fossil Myrica leaf!

We had a weather window and did a "channel crossing" 50nm hop northwest to Limnos. A huge contrast, and equally interesting. The island is barren of trees (it too has petrified "forest" remains, just none since the eruption it seems). Smaller and more accessible than Lesvos, it has low-lying sands, beaches and wetlands (including flamingos in season) to the east and south, and hills, rocks and sand dunes to the north and west.

We stopped first in the big bay of Moudros, with a funny little village of the same name. It is a huge, safe, natural harbour from where the Allieds orchestrated the Dardanelles campaign, and to where the injured were brought for treatment on hospital ships. A War Graves Commission Cemetery pays tribute to the mainly Australian and NZ fallen young. We sailed on to the capital, Myrina (again overlooked by a magnificent fortress), an attractive, lively, really likeable place. Again we hired a car…

Highlights of our tour were a visit to a little Folklore Museum, where we were honoured with a private ¾ hour tour and lecture from its guide. He had been to University in England and was thrilled to have an audience! Also a Maritime Museum, focussing on the island's sponge diving past. Our guide, Celeste, of Turkish descent gave us the history of the area and real local insight. Her grandfather was a sponge diver, later a clerk and finally an Orthodox priest. Many of the divers were crippled, maimed or died - they dived to depths of 70 meters or more - originally with air hand-pumped down pipes to them. Too rapid surfacing and the bends were an all too frequent occurrence.

We toured all the recommended sites, from Philoctetes cave (where he hid from an angry Hera) to the 6th C BC city of Hephaisteia (remains thereof) and to Poliochni. Poliochni is one of the most ancient settlements in Europe; certainly at 4,000BC, it pre-dates the likes of Troy, etc. It flourished and developed without interruption for over a thousand years and its layers are still being uncovered today. An important little site, yet free entry…. They should charge a modest amount to help with the archaeology costs! We climbed from our boat up to the great fortress above Myrina - incredible views as far as the looming crag of Mount Athos 50 miles away.

Finally, and well off the beaten track, we subjected the poor little hire car to the perils of getting to the Sand Dunes (no doubt one of the "Unimproved" roads, basically sandy tracks). The dunes were striking - extensive and fine, fine sand supporting a unique biodiversity. Narrow your range of vision and you could imagine being in a big desert.

And now it is time to crack on. There are high winds brewing for this weekend throughout the Aegean. We have the opportunity tomorrow to leave these North Aegean Islands and go further west and north to the mainland. On to Khalkidhiki and the finger peninsulas of Macedonia on the mainland - Mount Athos to guide us - another "channel crossing" of 50-60nm & we'll be out of the weather.