Pyxis - Mykonos (Island Tour)

Mykonos (Island Tour)

Pyxis

Karen & Richard

Wed 18 May 2011 22:58

Wednesday 18^th May – Mykonos (Island Tour)

37:27.870N 25:19.550E

Today we enjoyed breakfast in the cockpit before starting on today’s activities. Mid morning we said goodbye to Rolf and Christina as they headed on their way, we then topped up the main tank with an extra can of diesel when the mini tanker came past, and then headed across the road to hire a car for a day to explore the island. The chap there was very helpful and marked up a map of the island for us.

Once we had the car we made a short trip into town so Richard could visit the Port Police and get our Dekpa (cruising permit) stamped up-to-date. After that, having loaded up with our swimming gear we headed off to explore the island.

Our first trip was to a petrol station as the car was empty. We looked at a couple and noticed that all the prices were the same, so no point shopping around. We then drove down to Korfus, an anchorage for when there are southerly winds, so that we could take a look for another time; it was very pretty as well as very sheltered from all except northerlies.

The next visit was to Ano Mera, the main inland village on the island, and fairly un-touristy. We walked around the square and headed to its notable site, a 17^th century monastery church; it was closed but due to re-open later so we decided to come back. We went to a bakery for a couple of traditional Greek pastries and headed off to see the beaches.

First, we visited Kalo Lavadi, recommended by the chap who rented us the car. It was a pretty setting, with not many people around; we sat on a wall by the beach and had lunch. Unfortunately the loud music of the one motorboat moored in the bay disturbed the peace somewhat.

Then it was on to Elia. This is one of the best beaches according to the Greek Island Hopping Guide and predominantly nudist in the summer – however it was too cool and breezy today with the south westerly wind pushing waves and debris onto the beach. Not many people were out, and certainly none baring all – I dipped a toe in the water and thought it was still a bit cold for me (bit of a wuss).

Next on the list was Super Paradise (yes, not a very Greek name, is it). We decided to try to find it cross country and discovered that the rest of Mykonos is very like Mykonos town in that you get charmingly lost down unlabelled narrow roads with no signposts, but very nice nevertheless. Needless to say finding it involved us getting lost along the way – at one point as we headed up a really steep track I was really worried that our traction would fail and we would slide back down, then at the top we discovered we had gone the wrong way anyway and arrived at a dead end.

Another one of our wrong turns saw us back in Ano Mera. As the monastery was now open, we stopped and went round before heading back out into the unknown. The monastery was well worth the visit; the church was very ornate, although renovation work taking place at one side of it took away some of the atmosphere.

We then headed off to see the beach at Panormos, again struggling to find the turning and asking directions at a garage. For Richard this became a spend-fest when he spotted good price, high quality engine oil; this is not always easy to find and often high ouch-factor expensive. So, we now have enough for next year’s fuel change! Panormos is on the north coast and was beautifully sheltered when we arrived so we sunbathed for a while, enjoying the scenery. After an hour, the wind suddenly changed direction and became cold so we headed back.

Back on the road, we finally found Super Paradise beach having resorted to the main roads and the map; this is the first time that I have had to step onto a beach via a nightclub-style entrance door and bar, complete with music that I am sure you could hear in space.

On our way there, we did our good deed for the day as we followed a quad bike down the long winding road. It pulled up to take a photo and then we did as well, as I got back in the car I noticed something on the ground. I picked it up and it was a French driving licence. We thought it may belong to the couple on the quad bike and so caught up with them. When I wound the window down and asked if she was Sandra, the couple looked rather startled at the question; however, when they said she was and I returned the licence, they were very relieved.

We then headed off to its near neighbour, Paradise beach, getting even more lost en route and finding ourselves driving alongside the airport runway, past two cars stopped by an overturned car (we stopped to ask if they needed help, but they were fine apparently) and then onto the beach. This was similar to its ‘Super’ version with loud club music but with the added bonus, for the boys, of a girl strutting her stuff, dancing on a table by the bar along with a number of others on the dance floor.

That was the last of the party beaches.

OK, OK, in between all of this, I failed to pass several large supermarkets we discovered and totally failed not to stock up on bilge stores. In fact we managed to sneak in a few trips at the end of the day too so we have arrived back late and shattered.

We dropped all the ships stores off and dashed off to see the sunset from the lighthouse on the north west corner of the island. We arrived just in time but sadly the sun was well hidden behind heavy clouds so it was not very spectacular at all. Back at Pyxis, we have parked the car in our parking space – the marina here has a roadway down the quay with parking bays marked out for the boats – posh eh? Not really, but very convenient.

Interestingly the cruise ship on the quay behind us this evening was the one that had unnecessarily forced us to take avoiding action in the Ionian last summer; we did consider calling up the captain for a word or two.