More snow

FRIDAY 2^nd JANUARY

Temperatures are back up to around 16C and so we would head out to Hora Sfakion.  Leaving Sellia we encountered an old man, and presumably his wife, leaving the village both riding on their donkeys, something we are seeing less of these days.  We stopped to show Stef the little ‘fairy’ dale where today the water was gushing down the hillside and pouring into the pools before flowing out and under the road to fall down eventually into the sea at Souda.She was delighted at seeing the ‘cobra plant’ for the first time.  (I really must find out the botanical name for this member of the pitcher plant family.)  Despite the wet weather the ground and leaves in the small area were quite dry.

We passed through Frangokastello having told her previously that the castle can no longer been seen clearly due to all the new buildings.  It’s becoming quite a settlement and we were surprised to see so many cars outside the tavernas that were open.

In Hora Sfakion we watched the ‘Samaria’ ferry come in and see the vehicles and people disembark, the first vehicle being a builder’s wagon with the cement mixed on tow.  It was really pleasant we for a minute we thought Stef was going to take another swim when she saw a sign in the harbour saying 'No swimming' only someone had crossed out the N and put a G instead,  but she decided against it. Perhaps because her swimwear was still in the car.

After lunch in the harbour side taverna we took the Imbros Gorge road surprised to find that the road was still being widened and 3 tunnels had been built.  One of the tunnels was close to the small taverna that hung over the Gorge. Now there was just the burnt out shell of the building with no access to it.  We had to stop several times to allow the heavy plant machines to move the rock and soil broken away by machines and watch the debris being loaded into a convoy of wagons that we had passed on our way up the winding road.  The new road will be much better especially for the coaches coming down from the north of the island but I missed being able to take photo stops and admire the scenery.  We had hoped to return home via Kalikratis, a mountain village that until recently was only inhabited in the summer months.   

Last year we saw people living there in the winter months due to the improvement of the roads to the area. At one time Kallikratis was the only place we could see the grape vines growing in the region. It was also to be another day of seeing the snow in the mountains – fabulous.  However it wasn’t long before we found ourselves in it.  A pickup passed by and assuming the road was okay we continued along the narrow road, but as the snow in the shady part of the mountain route brushed the underneath of our Yaris Keith decided to turn around.  

We hadn’t gone far when Stef and I had to get out and push as the car wheels failed to grip in the deep slushy snow.  On the move Keith kept going so Stef and I had to walk to where he had safely parked in a temperature of 6C but with the exercise and a snowball fight we didn't feel cold.  Good fun although I had been using the video camera on this section  and when we played it back there was a lot of expletives from all of us, including nervous laughter from Stef as well!!!