Crete HF Walking Tour

3 October 2017  

Our third HF Walking Tour of this trip starts today. This time we are in the village of Spilia on the island of Crete and are here for a week.

Where Crete is - the biggest Greek Island

Our walks on Crete

We disembarked Star Breeze in Athens where we were driven straight to the airport to catch a RyanAir flight to Chania (pronounced without the 'C' but with all other letters). The same chaotic rules apply with RyanAir as they did with EasyJet - we had priority check in and boarding, we stormed the plane first, stowed our bags, buckled ourselves in, survived the second mass storming of the remaining passengers and took off 30 minutes late, which is really early for RyanAir, to land safely 40 minutes later. The pilot stopped the plane away from the terminal while we waited for, as the pilot described it, "to be advised where to park this plane". Eventually a little car came out and we dutifully followed it to a spot and we all got off.

Our transfer then picked us up from the airport and we were driven to the little village of Spilia in the western end of Crete where we are to spend the whole week.  Spilia Village Hotel is a beautifully converted maze of old stone olive processing buildings. We had the main receiving room with an attic, a large wooden door with a large terrace outside. The walking group is made up of 18 poms, us two Aussies and two HF leaders. 

Introductory walk around Spilia, Crete

In the afternoon we all gathered in the foyer then set off for a walk around the quiet little village where we were orientated and had a chance to meet our fellow walkers, all of whom we were to get to know very well over the coming week and whose company, without exception, were to enjoy. 

Start of first walk

Our first walk was from Spilia to the coastal seaside village of Kolymvari via a hermit's cave  from the 6th century and Greek church with several monks still living there. The walk is also about the leaders assessing everyones walking capability for the upcoming harder walks. Lunch was held in a nice Taverna beside the sea. The perfect weather made for an idyllic first days walk. Unfortunately Julie had come down with a throat infection and couldn't talk for a couple of days so I had to do all the talking as well as carry the backpack like I always do.

Hermit's cave

A believer

The cave

Monastry

A sick Julie 

Julie (middle) outside taverna where we had lunch

Next day Julie was too sick to walk and wisely spent the day mostly sleeping and trying to get better. Meanwhile I did the Sinkari Gorge walk which starts high in the hills in western Crete beside a Greek church in the middle of nowhere.

Sinkari Gorge

Griffon Vultures circling above us

The track initially went steeply down into the gorge before somewhat levelling out as it led us through sheer cliffs either side. Being on my own and of male like build I opted to be back marker for the group. When we got to the area where the Griffon Vultures were nesting and circling above us I realised being last in line meant that I would be first in line in the eyes of the vultures. I took my opportunity when the group stopped for photographs by dropping a photo of George Clooney on the ground. It was then I made my move and easily got near the front of the group behind the leader. The walk ended at the seaside village of Polyrinia. 

End of walk in sight

Arriving home, Julie was feeling much better after sleeping most of the day which again reinforced her belief that everything gets better. When I die I want my tombstone to read "I didn't get better Julie".

Next day - Samaria Gorge walk. This walk is the walk to do in Crete and is one of the icon walks in the world. Julie was feeling well enough to do it, her voice was coming back but she still had a bad croaky cough.  The walk drops 1200 metres steeply at the start and tracks 17 kilometres to the coast. It is rugged all the way and narrows to just three metres wide near the end. Following rain it is closed due to raging flash floods. If injured the only way out is on a donkey led by a couple of park rangers. The walls above are sheer and absolutely spectacular. The geology is amazing as the walls are made up of contorted sedimentary layers. The gorge has been carved by a single small stream.

Start of walk

We were all up early and away by 6:30am with a bag each for breakfast and lunch. Breakfast was had on the bus while we travelled narrow windy roads high up into the White Mountains of Crete. After an hour or so we arrived at the start of the walk at a height of 1200+ metres, had coffee, and set off downwards and downwards. The gorge is enormous and beautiful to look at and difficult to walk. Immediately the track steeply zigzags down into the ever narrowing valley below. Tall pines shade the well formed but rocky track. 

....and 1.2 klm down we go

We were all free to walk at any pace and were given a taverna to meet at by the sea at the end of the day where we had to catch the 5:30pm ferry (last for the day) to our waiting bus an hour away. Miss the ferry and you stay the night at the end of the gorge and find your own way home the next day. 

At the start, Julie and I were towards the back with the leader bringing up the rear. One of the guests, Bill, who is 80 years old and an experienced HF leader for years was just in front of us. Actually he initially kept walking close to Julie's heels and she was sure he was going to fall so she made sure he let him pass.  Bill no longer leads as a stroke 5 years ago left him without much speech. 

Rockfall protection

The warnings

The reason

Anyway about 1klm into the 17 klm walk Bill, who at the time was just in front of me, lost his footing on one of the hundreds of extra high steps of the rocky track and headbutted the rocks on the side splitting his forehead open and badly grazing both knees. We patched him up with bits and pieces from our various first aid kits and he was happy to continue. Within 100 metres the same thing happened as his legs gave way so we were all starting to seriously wonder if Bill was going to make it and whether he should be returned to the top with all the complexities that would have for the group, many of whom were well ahead of us by this time. 

Eric was there too

Relief in sight

Bill seemed okay after a little while and a few more running repairs - remember he cannot really speak. So with Julie walking in front - remember her 12 month old broken ankle and no help available from me and recovering from a bad throat infection - with another walker, Pam, who both set a constant slowish pace and Linda our concerned leader behind, I donned Bill's backpack as well as ours and helped Bill down every step to the bottom of the gorge. After a couple of kilometres we stopped for a drink where I discovered Bill had 3.5 litres of water in his backpack. With water available every 3-4 kilometres, with Bill's permission, I emptied all but a litre of water from his bottles and he was able to take his backpack back. 

The track - marking every 1 klm

Our leader (left), Bill and myself

Endangered Kri-kri goats of Samaria Gorge

Quick lunch break for Pam, me, Bill, Linda (and Julie who took the photo)

Julie and Pam st a steady pace to get us out of the gorge in time for the last ferry

Add caption

As a team of five, we soon all got into a rhythm and were able to enjoy the beauty of the stunning Samaria Gorge. Abandoned ancient villages and churches dotted the central part of the gorge and the further we went in, the higher the walls towered above us and the closer they came together.

Samaria Gorge continues on

At one point just 3 metres separated the walls. Finally we popped out the end and we were through.

Lady being rescued using the donkey "ambulance" led by the Rangers

The narrow bit

The end before a 2klm walk to the taverna and ferry

Strangely Bill and Pam went ahead into the village without saying anything. Our leader thought it strange too. Unbeknown to us Bill had asked Pam to take him ahead so he could tell the others what had happened and to arrange a table at the taverna for Julie, Linda and I. We arrived to applause, words of "superman" and Bill shouted his helpers a drink. I was exhausted.

House in the cliff

All the gorge walkers getting off the ferry at day's end

The ferry arrived at 5:30pm and took us to a village where our bus was and after a sleepy bus ride home we arrived at 8:45pm for a late dinner before gratefully falling into bed.

Next day was a day off so we had a day off. We rested weary legs, caught up on washing and had a supermarket lunch. Perfect timing given the big walk yesterday.

Start of White Mountains walk

Next walk was from the quiet little village of Milia high into the White Mountains again. Initially we tracked through olive groves and then headed up steep eroded limestone slopes where goats and extremely prickly shrubs somehow survive. The reason for the walk was the views and how stunning they were. A steep and complex hard walking track down took us to the top of a semi-formed goat track where we stopped for lunch, drank in the views and, in Julie's case, was a good place to leave her camera. 

Up we go on goat's's track with lots of prickles

..... great views .....

I'll just eat this then drop my camera

lunch on the road - spot the camera somewhere beneath the prickles

Typical roadside shrine for lost loved one and your camera

We all set off down the mountain to a paved road and one of the many roadside memorials to lost loved ones. Speaking of lost loved ones, Julie realised her camera was not in her hand and hadn't been for quite sometime - easy to do really. The group was already late to get to the bus rendezvous so they kept on walking while I had to run up the steep goat track, find the camera under the prickle bush, and run back down again. 

Next we traversed a narrow track along the side of a cliff, through some more olive groves, down a long steep trail and eventually into a village with a taverna that had lovely cold beer. All-in-all a good day.

The village with the taverna at the end of our walk

For our last walk of the week we opted for the easier walk for a change which was a good choice. The bus dropped us off in the little mountain village of Theriso where our leader had arranged for the local war museum to be opened for us. I didn't realize the extent of the devastation WWII imposed on Crete. The Germans invaded the island and met fierce resistance from the locals and Allied Australian, New Zealand and British troops. There were graphic photos of hand to hand fighting and executions and numerous images of local resistance fighters. We were all quite moved by the museum and it gave us a lot of insight of what was going on in the streets and fields we had travelled this last week.

A house being lived in by a family. It has no windows or doors at all

The walk had no real highlights other than the continuous distant views from the roads that led us to a taverna for lunch in a little mountain village. For 8 euro each we had more Greek food than we could eat hosted by a lovely family. The final part of the last walk continued down dirt trails to another taverna with lovely cold beer.

Drinks at our final taverna on our last walk

And so ends another great HF walking tour. We made so many good friends, saw many lovely things and experienced a lot of Greek culture. As we were leaving to get on the bus old Bill came to our terrace and gave me a hug. Although he couldn't speak the long pats on the back said it all.

Bye for now gotta go to Athens

JeffnJulie