So onto day 2, the first thing you notice stepping off the plane is the heat - 41 degrees yesterday and will be the same the rest of the week. Bit of a change from the greyness we have become so accustomed to in Melbourne.

After arriving I was greeted by my uncle Greg and went to his place in Glyfada to see the family, eat, then eat, then discuss the real s***storm that is Greek politics, eat again, then wash it all down with a freddo cappucino.

Later on I went to meet with Nicoletta and Elyse in Vouliagmeni, coastal suburbia filled with restaurants and bars overlooking some nice little beaches. Absolutely packed with people, eating lavishly, drinking fine wines, bathing in private beach clubs. To an unknowing bystander, you wouldn't think that Greece was teetering on the brink of economic ruin! To anybody that's Greek or has travelled to Greece, the lifestyle is well-known as always being 'live for today, worry about tomorrow when it rears its ugly head'..the current state is a train wreck that was many many years in the making.

Went for a quick swim followed by seafood and ouzo for dinner at 11pm. Felt like such a wog, it was great. Then back to the house for what will certainly be one of the earlier nights of the trip.

Up at 5am this morning, managed to organise a driver the night before to take us to the port at Piraeus since all the taxis are on strike for at least the next few days. We were just over the moon that he actually turned up at 5:30am, otherwise we wouldve been totally screwed for the ferry.

Two days ago the cabbies had barricaded off the roads leading to the airport and Piraeus harbour (largest in Europe) as an act of protest against the goverrnment's latest austerity measures. So as you can imagine, Athens was chaos. Not that it can get much worse here anyway.

Our driver Dimitri - a dead ringer for Jason Statham - had to drop us off around the corner of the port for his own safety. Been seen by another cab driver taking a fare in an unmarked car during mass strike would not go down well! Pretty sure he could've taken them anyway.

Walked to the harbour to be received by a cranky old guy at the entrance who looked at our tickets then started yelling and telling us to follow him to the boat. He ran straight across traffic, and told us to follow. Hesitantly we crossed as cars slowed and weaved around us. He had already taken off again, yelling for us to hurry up. There was something dodgy about this guy. All he did was take us another 50m to the ticket booth and demand we give him '€1 for beer'. We told him to get lost and he started cursing, followed us for a bit then went off to find another confused tourist once he realised we weren't giving in to his crap.

We got our boarding passes and walked past the same guy again who greased us off, muttering 'you don't pay!'. By this stage he had already roped in another poor young girl who followed him to the ferry, mortified from his fearmongering that she may it. In hindsight, I regret not telling her not to trust this a******.

Went and got a quick breakfast at a nearby kafenio. Spanakopita and freddo cappucino, staple diet for the next 2 weeks in Greece. This was also a significant moment in the trip, the official naming ceremony for my backpack, Freddo. It's going to be a short lived dalliance though, he's being returned to Anaconda when I get back because the harness for the shoulder straps tore back in Tullamarine when I dropped it on the scales at check-in. Heard a tear then but didn't take much notice until I saw it in Athens. Still wearable with some adjustments, but with caution so Freddo doesn't die on me halfway through. Either way, the little-engine-that-could Freddo is in this expedition for the long haul!

So right now, I'm on the high speed ferry to Santorini, a 4 hour trip which will be handy to catch up on sleep and get my first real sun rays on the top deck.

Until next time, think of me being in a much better place than where you're sitting right now. Perfect beaches. Blue skies. A boat full of excited people travelling to a real-life paradise.

Yeia!