Cyprus for first timers...

Little fishing harbour at Sea caves - spot the rainbow?

 Sorry about not phoning anyone yet but Allens internet connection is not working, I've had to go to someone else's house to do the blog this week.

Atlantic seas in the med.

Ship wreck from just before xmas - Skipper still living aboard.

Sanny pinching bananas

Monday morning we departed good old Vounikas at eight in the morning for Lefkas bus terminal there to catch the nine thirty bus

 for Athens.  Dropping the car off at the marina where Kevan is keeping an eye on it for us while we are away. The bus trip was very pleasant although quite a bit slower than it normally is as we experienced very strong cross winds after we started heading down the side of the gulf of Corinth.  The bus driver 

was obviously aware of the problem as he slowed up at every point on the road where he knew there would be a problem with the wind.  Even so this didn't stop the bus being buffeted quite severely en-route.  We eventually got to Athens about three quarters of an hour later than we would have 

Getting wetter by the minute.

normally expected but as our flight was not scheduled to leave until twenty to seven this did not cause any problems.  The trip from the bus station to the airport was, as normal, an exciting event dodging through the  heavy Athenian traffic or more especially through the Athenian drivers who are more 

interested in talking on the phone and generally being very poor drivers.  This is not really unique to Athenians but over most of Greece the traffic levels are such that you can take avoiding action relatively easily not so in Athens’ busy streets.  As a result of this the bus to the airport generally includes the driver having to make many heavy braking manoeuvres during the journey, which inevitably means that baggage gets semi airborne long before the airport or an aeroplane come into sight.

Our flight came in on time and we were on the plane exactly to schedule and then it started to blow, rain and thunder  with a vengeance.  Whilst on the airport apron and still being loaded the air craft felt like you were flying and going through some moderate turbulence,  bucking and bouncing as the rain hammered down on its aluminium shell.  

We sat in our seats for one and a half hours before we got clearance to taxi out to the runway.  Fortunately, the one hour thirty five minute normal journey time was cut by about twenty minutes with a back wind so we were only just a little over an hour late at Larnaka airport.

Our friends Allen and Jean had obviously had a bit longer wait then was planned as we hadn’t had the opportunity to contact them since getting on the plane but true to form they were waiting patiently for us when we came out of the arrivals hall. 

The weather in Cyprus is great for ducks plenty of rain and wind but what the hell we had arrived.  Although warm during the day, sixteen centigrade or so, it gets a little chilly on a night very similar though to what we are used to on Lefkas.

We have been for a ride around the local area today and it seems very strange driving English style on the left hand side of the road and going clockwise around roundabouts.  As this is our first visit to Cyprus we didn’t know really what to expect from the island but our first impression is that it is nearer to Britain than to Greece, all the signs are in English, many of the shop names and owners have English names but we shall get to know much more through the coming weeks. 

Needless to say, we have just picked up with Allen and Jean where we left off the last time we saw them back last summer.  It’s good to see close friends again.