Ben and Hannas Trip 2007

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Day 1, 2 & 3 - Crete Greece

So Ben and i were very lucky to be told on the Friday before we left that we were able to take a week off. So we jumped on the internet to see where we could fly to for cheap from Exeter air port. Crete was a bargain so here is our holiday in a nut shell.
Our hotel was in a great spot and after 2 taxi rides to get to the right hotel, we were very happy with our room and its location. Breakfast was included but of course we slept til 12pm most days and missed the couple of pieces of french stick with jam. What a shame hey.
This is our hotel. The hotel Castro. Everyone was so nice to us. We were so worried with the fact that we didnt speak one word of Greek, as it turns out... Everyone speaks very good English. They were so lovely and loved knowing we were from Australia.
Day 2 was spent next to the pool. Thats right... I got Ben to stop, relax and have a rest. A couple of hours at a time. Ben spent most of that time with the ipod attached to his ears.
Day 3 was next to the beach. My towl was over me as there was the ocean breeze making me feel a little cool but it was the best place to be.

Day 4 - Road Trip - Crete!!!

Today we hired a car to take a road trip. Ben got us a good deal with all day and unlimited kms for only 55 Euros. He got them down from 86. Mick would be proud.
This was the first time Ben had driven a left hand drive car on the right hand side of the road. He was very excited and did a very good job. I only had to tell him once to get on the right side of the road. And he twice went to change gears with his left hand instead of his right hand.
This was what the roads are like. The Greeks are the worst people to drive with. They pass you whenever they feel like it. Over double lines. When there is oncoming trafic. Ben and i quickly picked up that you drive as far to the right as possible (in the gutter) and when you reach a slow person, Just go for it. Gee driving in Australia is so good. Between the Brits and the Greeks, Im glad Bens the driver.
We had lunch on a beach, then spent the afternoon in the deck chairs and swimming. Just brilliant.
To finish off the day we went to another cocktail bar where we paid 8 euros for a cocktail. I didnt know until after i had ordered that it cost so much but Ben didnt care. I got the cocktail and there was so much alcohole in it that that was all i needed.

Day 5 - Crete!!!

Today was a relaxing day by the pool. Very cold when you want to get in. But once you are in it is really nice.
Dont worry, Ben is not picking his nose!!!
Our hotel is the one to the left. We didnt have a view over the pool so our room was on the left side.
Wild Sugar Cane reminds us of Port Douglas. Its very tall but they dont seem to do anthing with it.
After a really nice dinner at the Taverna, we walked along the beach and sat on a beach chair for a couple of photos. We felt so relaxed. Exactly what we needed.

Day 6 - Crete!!!

Today was a nice relaxing day. We went out for dinner and took a few photos at night.
I thought this was a really nice photo of Ben. That photographer is pritty good hey.
This was a perfect time for swimming. The water was really flat and the weather was just nice. Not too hot and not too cold. Of course we didnt swim but Ben thought this would be a cool photo as the black shaddows were really cool moving around in the water!

Day 7 - Santorini!!!

Well on our last day we took a day trip to Santorini. I have always wanted to go there and i have to say it lived up to all my expectations!!!
We caught the ferry over to the Port of Athinos santorini and drove to our first stop - Pirgos. This is where the first 2 photos were taken. Absolutley amazing!
We walked the cobble streets and even saw a couple of donkies!
We really needed a nice cold drink and bought 2 cokes for 3 euro each ouch!

We left Pirgos and drove to Oia. Oia is the oldest village in Santorini. It is the village that is well known for its Architecture. (The sisterhood of the travelling pants!) With the White buildings and blue domes. By far my favourite place in Santorini. We had lunch in a little patisery where the waiter taught us how to say, Hello, Thanyou and other words for Bon Apitiet in Greek. Of course as soon as Ben and i walked out, we had forgotten them all!!!

The next 2 photos are of Oia.



After we left Oia, we went to Fira - Santorinis Capital. It had lots of shops but was no where near as lovely as the other 2 places. We had an hour here and we just walked the cobble streets. The photo above is of us at the top of the village looking over the rest of it. Still very attractive and all you see on the TV when people go to Santorini!

Then it came to the end of our trip. We caught the Flying Cat 4 back to Herakloin Port where we had our last meal in our hotel and went off to bed ready to catch our early flight home to England.

We left 40 Degree days with blue skys and no clouds to return to Exeter in a cold strip of 13 degrees. Brrrrr.

Mini Golf!!!

So a couple of weeks ago we decided to go do something that we did reguarly back at home, We went Mini golfing!!! of course Ben won... He wouldnt have it any other way.
My first putt!
Bens first putt!!!
Yeah i probably hit the ball 100 times before i put it in the hole!
Bens skillfull shots were hard to beat! Look out Justin when he gets home.

Thanks Mum and Dad!!!

A couple of weeks ago, Ben was feeling really down. We were waiting for a package to arrive with some great football games in it and he so badley wanted to watch them on our day off. It didnt arrive until the Wednesday, our half day off. Ben changed his tune as soon as we got it and was so excited... Bit like the two of us are at Christmas time!!!! We opened the package to find 8 packets of Tim Tams!!! You dont know how good a tim tam tastes until you move away from Australia. As you can tell we couldnt wait to get stuck into them. We devoured a packet within half an hour. Of course we did share with the others at work. Most of which had never tried a tim tam before. They do have a similar thing here called a penguine. One of the casuals bought one in for me to try and tim tams are far better.
So thanks Mum & Dad!!!

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Plymouth!

We were very excited to have the day off today. It was a really nice warm day (not warm enough for a swim although some of the crazy Brits thought it was).
We drove to Plymouth which is about 45 miles away. We were told by a mixture of people that it was no good then others saying it was really nice. Ben and i thought we would go and make our own decision... We thought it was really good. It was more what we thought sea front places would look like.

Just as we got to the sea front this Navy Ship was being guided in. Cool Huh!!! If you look closely you can see some crazy Brit swimming!!! Keep in mind the water is about 12 degrees.
Another superimposed image!!!
This is what we saw as we were driving into the city centre. Its a church that has no roof. It was basically the shell of the church. I thought the orangie brown walls behind it were part of it but no... For Sarah & Simone it was a masive Primark!!!!

We had lunch at a little cafe overlooking the bay and had a wonder around the city in the afternoon. Was a good day overall. We feel as though we got a bit of sun which is good considering we are in a dark pub all day every day!

Not too much to report on but we have a new couple starting with us later this week and hopefully our travel agent will get back to us later this week so we can organise some other exciting trips!!!

Love you all and miss you heaps.