A Sunday Afternoon Drive from Kalymnos Port

Photos:

Top - Vathi Harbour viewed from the road above, showing the valley stretching out behind it.
Fruit and thyme picking.
Climbers clinging to the rock face - pick them if you can!




Jordo has prompted us - with his comment on the blog - to investigate the small harbour called Vathi on the south eastern side of this island. We are not keen to sail around there as the weather forecast is not great and the harbour is small, so we think about getting a rental car, but find out it is only 15 mins by car, so flag a cab from the waterfront not far from where we are moored.

We have also had a conversation with a young Canadian couple over dinner in a local restaurant, that they are here for the climbing and Kalymnos is one of the climbing centres of the world. They talk to us of sheer cliffs of rock which they have been climbing and make us feel dizzy with their stories.

We are lucky today. We have as our driver Ekevos (pronounced scarabos) who is passionate about the island of Kalymnos. He does not think we are doing the right thing just seeing Vathi and feels we should see the whole island. A bit of negotiating later, and we are on our way to the Sunday afternoon drive of the year.

We leave Kalymnos Port and make our way up the steep road around the harbour's edge with a sheer drop and panoramic view south over the harbour and beyond as it snakes its way up and over the surrounding bluffs. We are heading for Vathi and pass by many fish farms on the way which we view from the road far above. The island's economy is enhanced by the many fish it supplies for export from these farms. They are vast but tucked into several bays and indentations which we pass as we travel north.

Ekevos talks to us about the island and its produce. As we are going to Vathi he talks of the oranges and mandarins and vegetables which are grown in this fertile valley nestled in the rocky barren landscape of the remainder of the island. The honey which is produced from this region is regarded as very special because the bees take the pollen from the (pronounced Timari) wild thyme plants which flourish on these barren slopes. We stop the car and collect some thyme which I later use in our cooking on the boat. In fact we stop several times, to pick oranges over the fence of his "friend's" orchard, to buy locally produced olive oil and luscious goat's milk cheese and to view with amazement the climbers clinging like ants to the cliff face which we see on the western side of the island near to the village of Masouri.

We see cabbages 4 times as large as they should be and butternuts which are monstrous in proportion to the ones we have in NZ - more like trifids. We admire Thalindos Island, see the ancient 'castle' on the top of the range of hills near to the chora and before we know it are back in Kalymnos being dropped on the pier. Thank you Ekevos - the grandeur of this island has left a lasting impression on us with its many faces.

The day is wound up with a visit to the Yacht Club Cafe to catch up with our emails before we leave on Monday morning for Bodrum.