Continuing our journey southward the next
day, we motored (no wind!) around the volcanic peninsula of Methana towards the
island of Poros. Passing Poros we
decided to anchor nearby, just south of the island near a small beach as it was
supposed to be protected (according to the pilot guide). We had a bite to eat on board and a swim but
didn’t think it would offer the protection from the north wind that we were
supposed to get overnight and so continued south to a lovely little nook just
around the southeastern corner of the Peloponnese – the islet is called Nisis
Soupia and we were amazed to find several yachts already there. We were able to anchor in fairly shallow
water and by sunset we were left alone with one other yacht. We watched as an incredible number of large (very
expensive) motor yachts raced past, either on their way to Poros or back to
Athens (not that far if you can travel at 15-20 knots which most of them
could). We were thrilled with both a
spectacular full moon rise that night and a beautiful sunrise the next morning.
Moonrise
Sunrise
We had planned to carry on down towards
Hydra, and Ermioni the next day, but looking at the weather made us choose to
go back towards Poros and a large bay just northwest of the island to seek
shelter. Our original plan was to make
our way to Marina Zea in Piraeus, Athens for 5 days while I flew to Switzerland
to be with my Mum for her 80th birthday. Tad would stay on Bisou at
the marina while I was away and when I returned we would continue our travels
through the Cyclades. One thing I have
learned since starting to cruise – nothing ever goes to plan and one needs to
be flexible above all! In looking at the
weather forecast it was going to hard going to get up to Athens as the winds
were predicted to be north to northwesterly and fairly strong. Once we found the delightful little cove in
which we ended up staying, at Ormos
Vidhi, Tad decided that he would rather stay there than being in a marina in
hot and stinky Piraeus, and that I would take the ferry from Poros to Piraeus,
the bus from Piraeus to Athens airport and then fly to Switzerland. Of course this necessitated changing my
flights, as I had to allow more time to get to the airport. Amazingly everything was able to be changed,
ferry tickets were booked online and collected at the ticket office in Poros
and I was all set to leave.
Poros town
In the meantime we had met a lovely
Australia couple from Melbourne, Debbie and Lachlan on “Mistral”, as well as a
delightful British couple Andy and Steph on “Norna Biron”. Both live-aboards (the latter for 8 years
now, while the former have just started), they were gracious enough to invite
us on each of their boats over consecutive nights and we reciprocated before I
left Tad on his own. I must admit to
being rather concerned about his being alone on Bisou at anchor should bad
weather come through, but the anchor was well set, we were in shallow water,
the cove was well protected and Poros was only a couple of kilometers away by
dinghy or boat should the need arise.
The Flying Cat 6 from Poros to Piraeus
Inside the Flying Cat 6
The day of my departure for Switzerland I
was up early and ready for the dinghy ride to Poros (it took about 15 minutes
and naturally I had all kinds of fears of engines seizing up, dinghy punctures,
etc.). It went smoothly and we were at the ferry wharf more than an hour before
the arrival of the ferry. We had a tea
at the one café that was open at that hour and before I knew it, it was time to
board the Flying Cat 6 to Piraeus. The
ferry, a huge catamaran was clean and comfortable with a 75 minute ‘flight’
(the seats were like airplane seats) to Piraeus where I found the X96 bus to
the airport. This was a bit of a ‘milk
run’ although we didn’t stop much as it was 9:30am on a Sunday so not much
traffic. Even so, the trip took an hour
and 20 minutes but I was at the airport in plenty of time for my flight. The flight was just over two hours and a half
and then I had to rush to get my bag, get some Swiss francs and purchase a
train ticket to my final destination of Sierre.
Another hour and a half and I had to race to get a taxi to take me to
the cable car up to the village where my parents spend half their year (normally
there is a bus but I had just missed the last bus unfortunately). I had let my parents know when I was arriving
and two of my brothers as well as my Dad were at the cable car to meet me. Dad took my luggage in the car and I walked
up to the chalet with my two brothers.
In case I have not mentioned it before, I
have five brothers living around the world.
Last year I had contacted them all with a view to gathering in
Switzerland for our mother’s 80th birthday. Initially my Mum and Dad had planned to join
us on Bisou for her big day, but one of my brothers announced that he was
planning to climb Mont Blanc in June this year and would be finishing up just
before Mum’s birthday (only a two hour train ride away). So plans changed, and
four of the six children were able to make it to Switzerland for the big day.
Two of my brothers were a huge surprise for Mum (she knew I was coming and that
Jonathan, the climbing brother was coming) and they were the first to arrive in
their tiny village of Vercorin in the Valais region of Switzerland. We all had a wonderful time with long hikes,
bathing in icy mountain streams, lots of yummy food and of course a big
celebration on our mother’s big day.
The lovely Swiss village where my parents spend half their year
The trip only lasted three days before I
was making the return journey (cable car, bus, train, plane, taxi, ferry,
dinghy) to Poros where Tad was on the wharf to meet me. I was so glad that he had stayed safe and he
was pleased that he had been able to remain in our lovely little cove.
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