Thasos
Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Sat 2 Jul 2011 05:02
|
40 46.7 N 24 42.4 E
Thasos Town or Limenas Sunday 26th June - 2nd
July
We arrived in the large harbour here and once
inside the eastern mole we were well sheltered from the swell
we had encountered
on our sail across from Keramotis.
Having selected a spot on the town quay we were
soon all fast - stern to with 60 metres of chain holding us out incase of strong
winds later in the week.
We were helped to moor by a friendly French couple
on the boat next to us and also the owners on a Hanse 350 just down the quay.
This place is brilliant
- free water and electricity and no berthing fees!
We do occasionally get some swell inside the harbour when there is a NW wind but
otherwise our stay
has been incident free. The town is quite deceptive
as if you only wander along the sea front it appears to be mostly tourist shops
and tavernas. But it is
actually quite big and further in land there are loads of small hotels, self-catering
apartments small 'pensions' and various normal shops dotted all around
the
streets. We have been spoilt for choice regarding
where to eat out all at very reasonable prices too. We found a great little bar
called 'Cheers' recently taken on by
Carl and Alexander from the UK. They gave us some good local information regarding shops
and places to eat and provided us with a great base to have coffee
and
drinks during our stay.
In addition they were showing Wimbledon and in
particular Andy Murray's matches!
June and Steve arrived a couple of days after us
and June and Jacky went off on a bus trip to the check out the south of the
island. Visiting Potos the second largest
town on the island. The island is very attractive -
steep craggy hills well wooded in the north but sadly quite sparse as yet in the
south following devastating forest fires 20 odd years ago.
The west coast has numerous small bays with sandy
coves for swimming and crystal clear turquoise water lapping the shores.There
are several small harbours with moles
behind which boats can shelter or anchor off -
something we will explore soon. In Potos the main beach is backed by wall to
wall tavernas with there own set of beach beds and sun umbrellas.
We chose a bar called Boomerang to have iced coffee
(freddo cappuccino) and a light lunch. We met a couple from the UK who have been
holidaying on Thasos for 10 years so learnt a bit more about
the island from them. The main road runs around the
edge of the island and there are only a few roads that lead into the interior
hillside villages. June and Jacky visited one - Theologos on their bus trip.
This is
an old village with two churches and a mixture of
crumbling buildings a renovated cottages all with slate roofs and tall
chimneys.
On Thursday Gerry and Bert arrived dead on time
despite the earlier worries of strikes in both the UK and Greece. We had hired a
car to meet them and then used it the following day to explore the island
further.
We visited the inland village of Maries which is
set at the end of a very long wood lined river valley. The olive trees that
spread on either side of the route were numerous and appeared to be
very ancient and the village itself is set on
very precipitous like hillsides! We stopped for coffee in the old square
sitting under a huge trees which provided us with some welcome
shade.
Next stop was for a swim at Paradise Bay which
involved driving down a sandy dirt track ( a bit like a ski run through the
woods in the Alps!) to a tiny bay where we parked the car and found a
wonderful
clean beach for a delightful swim. The back drop
here was beautiful with well forested hillsides reaching up to craggy mountain
like tops and a small island just off the coast protecting the bay.
Our circuit of the island next took us to the
villages of Potamis and Panagia - we stopped at the latter for a late lunch in a
taverna - Elena - which had been recommended by some folks from the
UK.
Following our delicious spit roasted lamb/ pork/
chicken we wandered around the small town set on the mountainside and bisected
by small rivulets sometimes channeled into ducts and other times open
streams.
There was a very large church the roof of
which was being repaired - like all the house here this was covered in what
seemed to be rock tiles - too thick for slate but obviously it can be split
as one does with slate.
it was a charming place and well worth the
stop. The north east side of the island was
very mountainous and the road wound its way through these before a gentle decent
back into the main port of Thasos passing the
huge marble quarry en route.
Saturday morning saw us preparing the boat for a
sail to Limnos - Rob topped up the water tanks and Jacky did some last minute
shopping.
Unfortunately the water heating element brought out
by Bert and Gerry is not the correct fitting ( so all that trouble we had
with delivery and getting Marine Mega Stores in the UK to provide us with the
part was to no avail!) so we will have to try and source one locally if we are
to get hot water when we are on shore power. However the replacement deck shower
head bought through the Hanse office in Hamble
Point was fitted and works fine so that was a relief.( Great service from
then at it was ordered on Monday and delivered to B. and G. on Tuesday!)
Hoping to get Bert up the mast to check out the Windex before we leave and we
may treat ourselves to a 'Full English' breakfast at 'Cheers' too.
We shall be saying cheerio to Steve and June as
they are heading off towards Thessaloniki - hopefully we will see them again
sometime over the next few months.
|