Rowan Bilkey

This was a day we were all looking forward to. Our second day trip in Crete would take us to the south coast. I don’t think any coastal town would have been a bad option, but we chose the right option for us.

Sfakia is a small town thst looks out over the Mediterranean towards Libya in North Africa. It played a role in WWII and the Battle of Crete, being the final departure point for Allied soldiers when the Germans captured the strategically significant island. There is a memorial to Australian, Kiwi and British soldiers in the tiny port that we were keen to see.

We were meant to have an hour or so wondering around the port, however we made one or two stops for Fred along the way, along the mountain pass, as his breakfast decided to come up and say hello again. We had puréed strawberry through the back seat of the hire van. The driver was very good, and stopped again ten minutes later when Fred went off like a fountain again…

We eventually made it to Sfakia, just in time to jump on our water taxi. We left the port and headed out into open waters. The sun was warm and the boys loved the wind in their hair. Eventually the even tinier port of Marmara came into view, and we slowly pulled into port. It was essentially a cafe overlooking an isolated beach with one or two local houses. Perfect.

We alighted and made our way up the Aradena Gorge. Tom had quipped a few weeks ago that photos of the gorge looked like ‘the bumcrack of Crete.” It was hard to argue. However, once you enter the crack, it was pretty spectacular.

We walked up the gorge for 2-3km, admiring the rocky walls that towered either side of us. Mountain goats perched delicately on ledges they had no right balancing on. We explored caves and were fortunate to not see the dreaded Gorge Monster.

Eventually the path took a steep incline, and hikers heading the other direction spoke of metal ladders and gangways. We felt we’d hiked enough for the day and turned around in search of a swim.

We returned to Marmara and stripped off. Despite having the beach almost exclusively to ourselves, Tom was conscious getting changed. The water was aqua in colour, like a postcard. A little cooler than ideal, but nevertheless refreshing and fine once you were in. Tom and I explored some caves that were only accessible by swimming, and eventually the other boys found an alternative route across the rocks. The only way back though was to jump from a big rock back into the cold water. Something both Tom and Jack found a big challenge. Sarah, happily helped when needed to get Fred there and back from the rocks, but spent the rest of the time just swimming in the water, I think she could have stayed in the water all afternoon.

Once we’d all had our swim, we warmed up again in the sun before walking to the top of the cliff for lunch. It was really an idyllic spot to eat octopus, prawns and an assortment of other equally tasty Greek offerings, all accompanied by a bottle of local white. Bliss.

Eventually, we needed to call our taxi again and sail back to Sfakia. The drive home was far less eventful (thankfully) than the first drive. We arrived home that afternoon spent, but full of memories. This was one of the best days of the whole trip.Read more