Relaxing at last!! Fun in the sun.....

Ghai sas.....

Hope everyone is well. No excusee for not blogging sooner other than laziness. We have to actually walk about 500m to get internet access at the moment which is such hard work!

Here's my tips for the week:

Travel tip: Everything you ever heard about Italian drivers is true! Do not drive in Italy (especially the South West coast unless you are heavily insured and have a valium infusion in situ!

Boating tip: To remove stains from teak deckwork / tables etc (especially good for red wine stains!) you will need some lighter fluid (I used Zippo) and carpet stain remover (I used a spray can of Vanish). First pour the lighter fluid onto the stain, then spray on carpet stuff. You have to be patient. Leave to dry (may take a while) then agitate gently with soft scrubber and clean water. Rinse copiously with clean water. Works a treat! Thanks Sarah!

Our news: We are in Platarius on the mainland coast of Greece across from the southern tip of Corfu and are finally managing to relax. I have actually managed to get Craig to sit and do nothing for a while and we have been settled here for four nights now after spending tow nights in Gouvia marina after returning from Italy where we had a very full and interesting holiday for a week.

We stayed in a little rustic B & B in the village of Laureana Cilento near Agropoli on the South west coast. "Blu di Prussia" is owned by an Italian artist (Domenico Palombo, or Meno for short (hope we've spelled that correctly!) who lives in residence with his lovely daughter Marta and his wife Teresa. We know Teresa through a mutual friend in Brisbane and the invitation to visit them in the land of Pompei and the Amalfi coast was too good to resis.

Getting the ferry across to Bari in Italy was a story all by itself. We had to first ferry to Igoumenitsa on the Greek mainland from Corfu and then wait for the "Superfast II" to leave at midnight. We had booked 'Air seats' which are kind of like those you would get on an aircraft only even more uncomfortable. 'Deck seats' meant that you had to hang around in the bars and on the deck all night and being an old lady, I didn't fancy that! Turned out, after the lights went out that everyone on the deck came in to the air seats area anyway and I came back from a visit to the bar to find a chunky Asian gentleman spooning up to Craig! He hadn't even noticed.

We arrived in Bari, Italy around 08.30 local time and picked up our hire car. We realised pretty quickly that the road rules are a little different than what we are used to. We had accident in a tunnel when a van crossed on to our side of the road and we had to swerve to avoid it, just clipping the kerb and the wall of the tunnel. Every day we were there we saw at least one accident and most cars had dents in them somewhere. The southern Italians also don't seem to believe in toilet seats (bit of useful trivia for you there.... pack your own if you are planning to vist!). Blu di Prussia had lovely toilets however, so you are safe there!!

On the way to Laureana Cilento we visited a fantastic place called Matera which had been recommended to us by Teresa. We were driving through the very average looking new town wondering what the big fuss was about when we were suddenly treated to the marvellous spectacle of the old town. There has been habitation in this area since the neolithic era with houses and churches being hewn into solid rock. Many still survive and have been added to over the centuries. We spent a lovely few hours pottering around and apart from a particularly grumpy Italian tourist (who continually complained during a guided tour) we were in heaven!

We arrived in Laureana Cilento in the early evening and were treated to a lovely rustic Italian meal which seemed to go on for ever. With full bellies and a few glasses of house red under our belts we collapsed in a heap and slept soundly till midday the next day. It was nice to sleep in a bed that didn't move for a change! All the rooms in Blu di Prussia are furnished with antiques and Meno's paintings and it's a bit like living in an art gallery / museum. Have a look at their website for some photos.... http://www.bludiprussiacafe.it/. There is a lovely little piazza outside and the views from the village are out of this world.

We did the tourist thing over the next few days visiting Agropoli. Paestum, some local caves at Castelevita, Pompei and, of course, the Amalfi coast. Each is a blog in itself, but I don't have the space here so will try to post some photos soon.

One of the highlights of the trip was driving along the Amalfi coast. At one point we had to reverse and tuck in both rear view mirrors to let a bus past on a bend. I went into a chemist shop and asked if I could get some valium without a prescription, however the answer was no and I had to suffer! We reached Positano in need of a stiff drink and found a parking space eventually right at the top of the hill. As we were walking down towards the beach Craig asked a lady directions. This lovely breath of fresh air turned out to be Michelle from Carlton and we ended up spending the rest of the day with her. Michelle spends 3 months of the year in Positano and became our informal tour guide and turned out to know practically everyone in town. She is also a (self confessed) Goddess of Elimination and decided that I needed my negative energy purged (due to all the dramas we have been having which we were telling her about). I was given a napkin containing salt and told to face north at an opportune time and throw the salt over both shoulders. I did this later on in the afternoon while we were walking along a lovely beach path and so far I haven't broken more elbows. Thank you Michelle!.

In the evening we got the local bus up the colossal hill (thank you Michelle!). I have never seen so many bodies packed into a small space but the views were spectacular. We dined at the top of the hill and had the best anti pasto which didn't leave any room for pizza. The first Italian game of the world cup was on and the place was buzzing. What a great night!

On the way back to Laureana Cilento we got a bit lost and arrived back at the B & B at 04.30hrs.

Meno has his studio in Blu di Prussia and it was lovely to watch his current painting developing every day. What talent!

The area is alive with history and Pompei was amazing. Much bigger than we expected. We swam at some lovely beaches around Agropoli and ate far too much food. We treated ourselves to a pizza with french fries and frankfurt sausages on top just because we felt we should try it. Worst food we have had on our trip so far!

We had a lovely car trip back to Bari for the return home as there was hardly any traffic on the roads. We stayed in Bari overnight and in the morning after having massive hassles finding the car rental office, dumped the car at the airport. They weren't worried about the damage at all and merely said that it happens all the time! Surprise, surprise.....

The ferry back to Igoumenitsa was a day time trip and far more civilised. We watched the crew cram scores of semi trailers on the the garage decks with most ending up about one foot apart.

We missed the last ferry to Corfu as we were late leaving, however found a nice hotel near the port and overnighted in Igoumenitsa catching the ferry back to Gouvia and our lovely girl Shirley Valentine the next morning.

We laid low for a few days as we were exhausted and it has been nice to relax here in Platarius moored to the town quay for 3 euros a night. It is great entertainment watching the charter fleets preparing to leave. I don't think I've heard anyone say "all hands on deck" for centuries! Some of the crews get very excited....

Anyway, enough from us for the moment. We are hoping to catch up with some friends (Sandy and Maree on Freedom) who are on their way from Croatia, via Italy (not Albania!) in the next few days and will then decide where to go from here. Weather is now settling and we expect light winds for the next week or so. But as you know, things can change. I have more salt available if needed!! Will try not to leave it so long before being in touch again.

Take care.

xx

Craig & Lesley (Shirley Valentine)

Never a dull moment / It's all Greek to me!

Hi everyone....
Well, we have now been in Corfu in the Ionian islands of Greece for nearly 3 weeks now, the land of taramosalata, ouzo and not being able to put your dunny paper down the toilet (not quite sure what that is about yet!).
The sun started to shine (in true Shirley Valentine fashion) the moment we arrived in Greece and has not stopped since apart from the occassional thunder storm. Thermals and ski jackets seems sooooo long ago and I am actually thinking of packing them up until we need them again.
We are getting around in swimmers and shorts and t-shirts all the time now (unfortunately so are a lot of very obese men in the marina. DT's certainly don't look good on some people!).
We are still in Gouvia marina waiting for my arm to heal. We had Anna, Craig's youngest, with us for a week as she waits for her registration to come through for work in England. We managed to get out and about for a few nights while she was here as we had an extra pair of hands and spent some lovely evenings on the island of Paxos (Lakka and Mongonissi) and had a lovely lunch time swim at Emerald Bay on Anti Paxos. Also had a night on the mainland at Platarias. We got charged 3 euros!! What a rip off! :-)) So much cheaper than Croatia.
We continue to meet lovely, special people. In Mongonissi we met a lovely family from Wales who were on one of the flotilla boats and have now met quite a few other Aussie and Scottish crews! So good to see the lion rampant flying on boats and Craig and I take turns at which one of our 'unofficial' flags gets put up first on our port flag halyard while we are at anchor.
We also continue to have the usual equipment break downs that happen on boats. We had problems with the holding tank, which refused to empty (don't laugh Stephen!!). We had to pump it out and Craig actually got in the water to clear the pipe which was fairly solid with crunchy stuff. Seems to be OK at the moment, however we are gathering all the info that we can to stop it happening again. Not a pleasant job! Poor Anna just missed out on a trip on another boat so gave us a hand to fix it. She was a real trooper!
Our outboard motor for the dinghy was also damaged during the storms off Albania which we discovered when we went to use it last week and it wouldn't turn off. Once again a trip to our favourite maintenance man has solved our problem and a new part has been ordered.
As the title of this blog suggests, we continue to have fun and games. The marina has been abuzz with activity over the last few days as there is some sort of yacht regatta happening soon. There is testosterone everywhere (and some people that you don't mind seeing in DT's!). There have been TV cameras up and down the pontoons almost constantly filming all the super yachts.
The other excitement was a fire on a boat 3 berths down from us last night. Craig had gone up town and I was on the boat alone when I smelled burning. I looked out to see smoke pouring out of a hatch and a couple of guys running around the boat. I tried to help where I could and loaned them a fire extinguisher, hoses etc. The boat on the other side pulled away from the pontoon and I was beginning to think that I should do the same. Craig was nowhere to be seen and then appeared sauntering up the pontoon. Three fire engines arrived and soon the fire was under control. I spoke to the poor owner this morning who told me that there had been more damage done by the water that was poured in (they had been at dinner when the fire started!) than by the fire itself, however he did appreciate that people were only trying to save his boat. I felt so sorry for them!!
Anyway, I am being hassled by Craig as usual. We are taking this window of opportunity to pop over to the West coast of Italy where we know some people near Salerno and have to leave soon to get the ferry to Bari where we will then hire a car and drive to the B & B. Shirley will be safe and sound in the marina here and we might as well do something while I am out of action. I will be in touch soon and hopefully will be able to get some pictures up. We will be back on board on the 20th of June and will then be heading south.

Take care everyone. Talk soon.
xx Lesley

Storms gathering off Albania!

Greek hospitality, hospital style!

After surviving 3 days at sea in storms I tripped in the marina and hurt my elbow. It didn't seem too bad at first, however about midnight I was decidedly uncomfortable and Craig, fed up with my whingeing, decided that we should let someone have a look at it.
We phoned a taxi who turned out to be a lovely local guy called Vassilus who drove at ambulance type speeds to the local hospital and gave us instructions on where to go. What a gentleman!
We wandered into the (very basic, tired looking) hospital and looked for the reception desk where we expected to fill out the usual reems of paperwork. Instead we found an old guy in white scrubs who disappeared behind a door and called out to someone. Very soon afterwards, a young man (quite cute, but very serious and harassed looking) in green scrubs, with the usual remnants of plastering materials approached us. We assumed he was the doctor.
His examination was brief and in a few sentences of very good English extracted the history of my fall. I wasn't even drunk!! He squeezed my shoulder, my wrist and then my elbow just to make sure that I was telling the truth and then scribbled something on a piece of paper and told us to take a seat to wait for an x-ray.
Within minutes a very good looking young lady in a white lab coat approached and apologised for keeping us waiting. Craig cheered up significantly at this stage! I was whisked into the x-ray room and had some plain films taken of my elbow. We were then scuttled back across to the 'doctor' who announced after a brief look at the x-rays (no viewing box by the way) that there did not appear to be anything broken, however he would put my arm in a cast for pain relief purposes and I should attend the fracture clinic on Thursday morning at 9.30 am. The back slab was applied in a practised manner with a nurse who did not appear to speak any English assisting. There was the usual obligatory mess on the floor of course!
Please recall that we did not fill in any paperwork, had no medical history taken and no base line observations. My name was written on the x-rays as 'Lesly Haty'. I was asked if I was on any medication and when I announced that I had reflux he scribbled something on another bit of paper and asked if I had ever had Ponstan and I should take the piece of paper (which I assumed was a prescription) to a pharmacy in the morning. I was told that if my fingers turned blue or black I should return to the hospital to have the cast removed or remove it myself!
I was then asked if I am allergic to anything and was stabbed in the left buttock with something in a syringe and we left. There was no charge and the whole process had taken around 25 minutes. We called a cab and waited, during which time I noticed a large lump about the size of a cricket ball developing in the afore mentioned left butt cheek! Ah well..... it did take my mind off the pain in my elbow.
We went to the pharmacy the following morning armed with passports, travel insurance documents and my 'prescription'. I had a box of ponstan handed to me and was charged about $3! My name wasn't put on anything and the 'prescription' was handed back to me.
On Thursday morning we arrived at the allocated time to attend the fracture clinic. We followed the small stream of people on crutches and with various limbs in slings to stand outside a door with Greek writing on it. We assumed we were in the right place! My lovely cheerful doctor from Tuesday night appeared and confirmed this was the case and told us to wait. There were no chairs, no coffee machines etc etc and there did not appear to be any semblance of an orderly queue that we British so love. Just this closed door with Greek writing. As one person came out, another one entered.
My lovely cheerful doctor (who I assume was a resident or registrar) had told us on Tuesday night that he had been working from 9am in the morning and would finish at 3am the following day and would have a few hours rest before he had to do surgery. He still looked as if he hadn't slept and had merely donned a white coat over the green scrubs. He seemed to be picking who should be seen next and a small child was ushered in with a shout of 'Ella' as we continued to wait. I was ushered in next and a poor guy who had been standing there longer than all of us continued to wait (fairly) patiently.
Behind the mysterious door there were 3 older gentlemen sitting behind 3 separate desks in a fairly small space. No idea what happened to patient confidentiality! I was just happy that I wasn't there to see a gynaecologist..... I assumed that the 'three' were the orthopaedic surgeons. I was led over to one of them who addressed me in fluent Greek and I stood in front of him feeling like a naughty schoolgirl. My young cheerful doctor interpreted for me. The big boss took a quick look at my x-ray (once again no viewing box) and there was a quick dialogue between them in Greek. I was asked if I still had any pain and being a wee jessie I had to admit that I did. The decision was make to leave the cast on and that I should return again on Tuesday to have it removed. The whole thing took about 60 seconds!!
I got bored with the back slab yesterday and took it off. My arm is still pretty stiff and sore but I declined the offer to return to the fracture clinic again. Couldn't stand the excitement! I'll just live with things the way they are I think..........
All in all an interesting experience!
More soon...
xx
Lesley (Shirley Valentine)