Due to the extortion internet rates on the islands, we offer a summary to you now - sorry for the delay.

Ios
We were once again blessed with our accomodation - Olga's Pension was fabulous. resort style pool, huge room and great staff. A big thanks to Olga for even washing our clothes for us - bless. We hit the town for a free pubcrawl on the first night. We soon learnt that Ios is certainly a very touristy island with a Gold Coast feel permeating the nightlife! The Red Bull Bar was truly about 4 by 5 metres...cosy indeed. The only way to escape the crowds was to dance on the tables, well that was our excuse. Basically we sunned ourselves silly and a hard day involved visits to the beach AND pool combined. Kate also fell in love - WITH THE GREEK SALAD AT 'APHRODITES'. She demanded a photo too so we will put that up soon.

Santorini
Believe the hype - Santorini is devine and a place everyone must see before they die. The trip up the mountain from the port is quite an interesting one especially if you fancy near-death experiences. The Greeks drive like maniacs, even on cliff tops! We saw the sun set at both Fira and Oia and went to the volcano site and hot springs aka the lukewarm springs. We also went to a black sand beach, where the volcanic sand is exactly that - and HOT! The water was beautiful and the view - huge mountains wrapping round you - is amazing. To paraphrase The Castle - 'Feel the serenity...'.

The friendliness of the Greeks is present on the islands just as the mainland. One waiter invited us into his 'house' aka one of the best hotels in Fira - indoor pool and rooftop jacuzzi offerings. Again, we have picture evidence.

After this grand tour we found ourselves in certainly the most amazing club we have witnessed - TAJ MAHAL. This Turkish and Indian inspired club was a visual feast - open air, decadent furnishings, treasure chests (Kate's personal favourite), shishka pipes to smoke from and belly dancers were just some of the marvels on offer. We have big plans for a Sydney branch...

In summary Greece was fabulous in everyway except for the no flushing of toilet paper, crazy speeding cab drivers who rip you off and yelling grandmothers on public transport! We will miss the food - Kate is searching for a means of receiving Greek salad intravenously - the wonderful history and those fabulous islands. Speaking of islands - Tash and Dylan have a company scooter, not car, as a part of their exotic working holiday package on Antiparos - jealousy all round.

Our train trip to the port of Patra was an experience we shall never forget. What started on a nice airconditioned train ended on a hot smelly train in the vein of a good old red rattler! Lucifer himself must have been the driver on this hellish journey.

Just as we were loving our space on the first train to Corinth, a typical noisy Greek grandma plants herself in our quad of seats. She proceeded to tell us what to do and to move our bags, not hers, despite us being there first. The rest of the trip involved her bossing the rest of the carriage round too.

We finally escaped the pugent smelling granny fascist, only to endure the non-airconditioned old train, on the second and much longer leg to the port. Happiness was not the mood of the afternoon.

Arrival at the port resulted in one last greek salad on native turf then a mad scramble for our tickets for the 14 hour ferry trip. When a Greek tells you that something is 100m down the street, know he really means 400. Stay tuned for our pirate themed adventures detailing the ferry trips to Bari and Dubrovnik...you have been warned me hearties (said with eye patch on...).