Much better sleep, still awake for sun rise, just at 7 the sky is different this morning the horizon is purple and virtually cloudless.
I start to write this, my blog as Russ lies beside me, snoring away. So much for my promise of a coffee at 7!

After breakfast we head to Aspri Limni (i.e. White Lake). It is one of the most weird beaches in Crete, that almost nobody knows. This is a small secret beach, located 500m west of Chrysoskalitissa monastery. This is what it says on line. Russ has already spotted a sign for ‘White Lake’ so off we go. A website describes it as white sand lapping a lagoon. The map,shows it as a white road, so yes a track, bumpy and rocky but not too bad. We arrive to find one other car there.

Now I have to say my review of this ‘beach’ would be nothing like what I read.

It is secluded yes, small rocky inlet of water forming 2 pools just away but fed from the sea. The sand is not white but gritty and rock hard, ie virtually no sand at all and certainly not white! (Maybe the ‘tourists’ have bagged it all up as they were at the lagoon yesterday and it’s all gone).
The bed is that clay type, again not sand. There are still a few palms there, it is the westernmost habitat of Phoenix theofrasti, the endangered palm tree of Crete. The palm species is also met in other palm groves of we have visited in Crete such as Vai, Preveli, Agios Nikitas, Souda, etc, but also small colonies exist in South Turkey. Among them, the palm grove in Vai is the largest.

After taking some pics we move on to what I am hoping is going to be a highlight, Kedrodasos beach.

Learning from previous mistakes we pin it on G Maps and check the actual map, though this time there is just one white road there then it is a 10 min walk. Some of the road is now tarmac, most a rocky road but we are fine with the 4x4 and many cars arrive later and as we discovered are already parked. I have in my notes to,wear our walking sandals so we of course ignore this and walk in our flip,flops! I am very careful as I do not want to knock the exposed ‘I am heeling ‘honestly’ big toe’.

Now, what do I write about this beach? The reviews say “The Juniper grove covers a big area of about 110 acres and is a magnificent place. It is a wonderful choice for swimming and a favorite beach for naturists with white sand and some smooth and flat rocks in places. Fortunately, there are no facilities nearby, making this secluded beach, one of the latest untouched paradises in Europe. It is a good choice for snorkelling”.

So what do,I say. “The Juniper trees are old and becoming spoilt by campers using to anchor tents and their belongings too. Majority of the entrances to the water are rocky all be it some places flat rocks. The far beach is the biggest and is full,of deep white sand. It is picturesque but in our view not the best in Europe nor Crete! There are no facilities and the the trees are on the hilly dunes so cannot really be used for shade easily. Even if they were when we arrive around 1015 they are taken by campers or others. Majority of the sea bed is sand and it is only the beach front that is scattered with rocks so it doesn’t make a good choice for snorkelling at all. It’s neighbouring beach Elafonissi has much more interest on the sea bed.
We set up camp using one of the boulders to aid some shade.
A cloudless sky makes us careful of the suns rays, or so we thought. We plaster on factor 30, enjoy a swim and hanging in the water to keep us cool. Picnic is salad, choc croissants, plums, cheesy twists and cheese and chive spread.
I walk to,the end of the bay passing naturists and the E4 path.
It is not long before I become bored! The sand is too hot to play, the shade is too little. However we overcome the shade bit by a bit of thinking. I come up,with idea of using the holes in the showers curtain where the rings should be and put them through the metal bits of the parasol and then slot them back in. We then anchor the other end of the shower curtain on the boulder. This doubles our amount of shade. I catch up on my blog after our picnic which occupies me for a while. I swim, lay in sun for 5 mins,too hot and get in the shade again. I begin to wonder why we have based our hols,around beaches and wish it was cloudy as it were yesterday!!
The sand is getting on my nerves, the wind picks up,and takes our parasol with it!

It is not long after that around 3 we leave!

The sand is so very hot even with flip,flops on as it is so deep it is very hot to walk on. Finding the path through the trees we head up, I again treading careful but still manage to knock ‘the big toe’. I curse myself as I had hobbled from the sea each time ensuring no sand got in it. Now it bled again and throbbed. Grrrrrrr....again.

Russ bless him, carries almost everything back to the car and is wet with sweat. He gives me some water we left in the car to wash the toe out. Thus nearly burns it! It had been in the sun all day!
I am by now silently grumpy. I won’t show it, we are on holiday after all and it is raining back home.

We head back to the hotel and enjoy a refreshing shower. I go,to the mirror to brush my hair and something weird is looking back at me, a red face, beetroot red stares back at me, just the face, no where else. I turn to Russ, he says “wow” you had a reaction to something?” I take an anti histamine in case. Surely it can’t be sun burn? Used F30, several applications and spent most time in shade. This with my big toe situation and a 10 mile walk in 2 days leaves me annoyed to say the least......
Still there are most certainly others back home enduring much much more not even comparable so we laugh it off and Violet from the Chocolate Factory film springs to mind and we laugh.

Russ is also red on his back so we stay at the hotel pool side. Very windy but warm and some shade. We have a coffee in our Costa Thermos and now as I write this a vodka and freshly squeezed lime with Russ on his Mythos.
It’s now 7pm, Russ reading after dip in pool and we are back to feeling chilled.

When we head back to,the room Violet appears to have tones down quite a lot so not entirely sure why she surfaced a few hours ago.
We shall eat at Glykeria for sure tonight, our last night and will discuss what we will do after checking out tomorrow before we head to Sougia for that 10mile walk....