We weren’t entirely sure what to do on the Pelion Peninsula. In the end, we decided to go on a round trip and give the kids some more time at a couple of beaches. The first beach we stopped at was Mylopotamos. It turned out to be lovely and we stayed to play with the stream and the rocks. Up the stairs again for a great lunch at Aggelika. Now, we wanted to move on but the Agent had found three girls to go exploring with for the second time. So a second exploration it was.
Afterwards, we finished the loop with a stop at Agios beach and a ride through the apple orchards in Zagora. Back to Camp Sirka for the night.
Muesli with Greek yoghurt for once
View of the Pagastic Gulf
All that honey we are consuming is produced all over Greece. It’s just the first time I get a picture of them
Right through the mountains
And down to the other coast again
Even the tiniest creek washed a lot of debris down. The Pelion Peninsular had a big storm last September and has substantial damage, especially the roads and the now non-existent bridges
We were later told, that neither beach nor stream had been here before the severe storm last year
All that greek honey must come from somewhere, right?
Another “Agent amongst the flowers” picture
20th century Nymph
took some coaxing to get them to wade through the chilly stream
Made it over, now warming up again
Everything is better on the rocks
The agent of entropy has a thing with sticks now
Epic gull pose
Only time I had ancovies, as I had to eat them alone. But soo good, with great bread and treats
The Greek-german dad of the three new friends told us that last year, he went here with the sea kajak. now it is filled up with 1m of debris
Never too early to experiment with hydrodynamics
A man proud of his work
Our initial plan was to head out after lunch. Then the kids made new friends and tricked us into beach round two
This tiny stream carried all the debris you see, ripped away multiple bridges along the way and tore 20 m of riverbank out last autumn
find the bee
Beach would get them any time, last stop on the pelion peninusla loop
The bee in question, had a good ride
this is an example image sparing you the view (and smell) of the impact of this on our poor Number Three
We made it back, down there would be our camp for the night
About an hour’s drive north of Delphi lay our next destnation: Iti National Park. I’d read up on it, opted for a hike to a waterfall and felt generally prepared. Flo did a quick stop at the bakery to buy pastries for lunch and we were all set to start.
And then the hike turned out to be much more involved than I had wanted. The kids and Flo loved it, while I fought vertigo and anxiety seeing my kids move over streams and tree trunks, up steep inclines and hanging from ropes.
In the end, the waterfall was absolutely stunning. It wasn’t the one I had chosen but it was beautiful and we had made it. Plus, when I finally made it there, we met about three classes of Greek pupils aged about 12 years old who did this hike as a field trip.
Driving to Sirka on the Pelion Peninsular afterwards meant another late arrival. But we did the best and opted for dinner in the taverna which was lovely.
Ypati was suggested by the Lonely Planet as a good starting point for hikes
So we started a 2,4km round trip to a waterfall. That’s what I signed up for.
The first “sight” along the way was this wind hole which was actually pretty cool
Next to the signpost telleing us to go left to see the wind hole, we had lunch.
Now it’s starting to look like a hike in a national park
Both kids loved finding the way markers
Then, we came to this dry river bed which was to be crossed. It was the first time I went “hm….”
Looking out over the dried up river bed
Next up, we had to cross a small stream. Luckily, there were enough stepping stones
Why are there metal steps? Why is it so steep?
Both kids and Flo LOVED the track while it wasn’t what I had signed up for….like at all
And then, you had to cross a freaking tiny trunk holding on to a steel cable!
Number 3 did it nearly without help
Yeah….this was not the hike I expected. It had so many climbing parts
And then we were at the waterfall. The sun came through the opening and I stopped complaining. 😉
Waterfall-gazing kids
Family with waterfall
In the shade, with the water spray, the Agent was cold all of a sudden. Cuddling helped
And now….at least for the last part, we had to retrace the track. Up the metal handholds and ropes
And down the steeep parts
Now there was even a bridge over the stream on the way out
For a bit, this dog accompanied us on the hike. I didn’t find out if his owner was around or if he was just living here
Sundown at Camping Sirka on the Pelion peninsular. After the hike, we had to drive for quite a while again to get to the next campground
So we opted for a late dinner in the campground taverna, right at the sea. Fresh fish was on the menu, as well as baked cheese with veggies
