Corfu

Just a blog update first: We've had problems with our phone line recently which meant we couldn't connect to the internet for more than 2 minutes, hence these pictures being so late and the updates being so few. We're also going to have a bit of a tidy up of the blog some time soon and lose some of the old postings as we know with all the photos it takes ages to load up (if your connection is slow click the stop button once the photos for the most recent post have loaded).

Well it's been so long since we went on holiday to Corfu that we're not sure we went at all; we both feel ready for another break. Fortunately we have pictures to remind us that it actually happened.

We got to our resort at Kalami at 2am U.K. time after travelling since 10:30am. It was dark, but this was the view from our room that greeted us when we woke up on the first morning. Pretty good huh??



On the first two days we just sat around and read our books. Vonny had brought along one of those great British seaside accessories, a beach tent. Funnily enough all the Brits had forgotten theirs and were paying €3 a day for a beach umbrella and €2 for a lounger. We were happy to pocket the money if the price was just a few looks that said "you are freaks". We'd also bought some attachments for our Thermarest camping mats to convert them into little chairs and they were damn useful on those stoney beaches (we've actually started using them at home they're so comfortable).



The first time we ventured out we went north to a town called Kassiopi which is a must for those wanting to experience all day English breakfasts, excessive drinking, and all night parties. A dreadful shame really as it is a lovely little town behind the tourist facade. What made it so different for us was the fact it was barren all around the town, whereas Kalami is surrounded by olive groves which gives it a very secluded feel.



A few days later we were back in Kassiopi to replenish our spanikopita stocks, having hired a small boat to explore the secluded and rubbish strewn bays along the coast. Unfortunately none of those photos have passed our rigourous vetting procedures, however we have included a photo of a boat that looked nothing like ours for your viewing pleasure.



Next on our itinerary was Corfu town or Kerkyra as it is also known. We arrived early and totally unaware that it was a public holiday, albeit one only applicable to postal and bank workers. That will hopefully explain why you may not have received a postcard (no money) or if you did, why it was late (no stamps).



Fortunately the general public of Kerkyra were still doing their usual thing: flocking to the church which holds the body of Saint Spyridon (it has a great ceiling, luckily his body is lying on it's back so he can see it), and holding this fantastic vegetable market. By midday it was getting so hot we went back to Kalami to admire our prize, an entry for the world record of biggest tomato.





We did a bit more sitting around over the next few days having discovered the local wine was only €1.85 for a 1.5 litres bottle and beer was half the price it was in the bars if you drank in your room. Our cleaning lady protested at the empties we were leaving her by putting them outside our room for all to see. However with the resort being entirely populated by the English, this just won us back the respect we had lost with the beach tent. Our colours were nailed to the mast, and we were there for the same reasons everybody else was.

Our biggest adventure came in the last few days when we hired a 50cc scooter and decided to put it through it's paces by taking it off road up the biggest hill on the island (over 800 metres) on a sweltering hot day. It broke down. Coasting down the hill with no motor did allow us a certain measure of stealth, which resulted in us seeing tortoises and snakes that would have otherwise been long gone. Alas no photos exist of this dramatic episode (we really were in the middle of no-where, and it wasn't all downhill to get back), just this photo of Vonny enjoying a nice lunch afterwards.



We had a lovely relaxing time and were ready to come home when the time came. Our plane got back to London at 1am and the Thermarests once again came to the rescue whilst we slept at the airport waiting for the first bus. We both agree that you've never really lived until you've awoken at 5am to see a lady trying on a pair of shoes.

Supergrass

Truth is stranger than fiction they say, and for me this proved it. I was driving the truck up to the airfield to unload the woodchips and I'd taken a route through the lanes for the scenery. It sounds lame but I was interested to see what was happening in a field that had been quite spectacular last year with a crop of oil seed rape. "Blimey" I said to myself, "those nettles have really taken over that field". But as I drove along I smelt a strong perfume somewhat like grapes, and very resinous. It is a smell I am afraid to say I know well. At the next gap in the hedge I stopped and guess what I saw.



That's a very big field of Cannabis sativa if you're not sure what this blog is about (when I say big I mean about 10 football pitches). I can only assume that they are growing it for the hemp seed which they sell in health food stores. When I went to show Vonny before, the lanes were suprisingly busy with cars full of grinning young men. She took this photo of me for the record, I am pleased to report that the whites of my eyes are still white and that grin is purely for the camera; apparently this stuff has a low THC level (not that I've tried it).