Our last day and having checked out and stored our cases in the hotel luggage room we headed out again along the southern coast. First stop was up a single track, step, winding hill to a viewpoint overlooking wonderfully named Anthony Quinn Bay named after the actor because he allegedly fell in love with the bay whilst on Rhodes filming the Guns of Navarone. He also played the lead role in Zorba the Greek, although he was in fact Mexican.
The views were glorious.
Another little church dedicated to Profitis Ilias (Prophet Elijah), I found a longwinded explanation as to why most Greek churches on top of hills/cliffs etc are so named but it's not interesting enough to repeat here.
There was an abandoned café there so I tried to get Ian to pose as though he'd died after waiting so long to get served - but he didn't trust the chair sufficiently to fully embrace my idea, so it didn't quite work.
Along with many photographers, I love the colours and textures of rust.
There were a couple of young girls up on the headland who asked me to take their photo and so we had a chat and asked them which one was, and how to get to, Anthony Quinn bay. We also told them about the dolphins we'd spotted earlier but they think we'd more likely seen scuba divers or people snorkelling as they are loads around (on reflection I'm not sure they're correct as there wasn't any sign of a "support boat" around).
Sure enough the drive to Anthony Quinn Bay was easy and, to our surprise, there was no charge for parking although it was a bit of a free for all. Once we were satisfied we'd parked safely, we clambered up the headland between the two bays (not sure what the other bay is called).
A little rock agama.
Down at the shoreline, it was one of those places there was nothing much else unless you wanted to sunbathe or swim. We walked across to the other bay with the intention of stopping for a drink but there were no tables with a decent view and as they were charging €10+ for a small beer.
We then drove to Epta Piges (Seven Springs) with the intention of walking through the forest following the route of the springs up to an artificial lake. There is a 200m foot tunnel which leads to the lake but our guidebook warned that you needed a torch and that it wasn't really wide enough for two way traffic. We opted for the overground route, which wasn't obvious so we set off in what we thought was the logical direction, climbing around and over logs and scrambling up quite difficult terrain. After about 10 mins we met a German couple coming down who had walked for some considerable time and never found the lake. We went on a little further but in the end gave up too; the walk wasn't pleasant and my poor camera was in danger of being damaged and actually so were we - either by cracking our skulls open or falling over. So we turned around and went back to the café where a few peacocks were strutting around on the other side of the little stream. We crossed the bridge and crept slowly and quietly towards them but, as I sat down to take this photo, suddenly a whole herd of people came traipsing by; whether they'd just arrived, seen us and assumed we were on the track I don't know, but the kids were shouting and the adults just didn't give a ****
The colours on this agama were amazing.
When we checked out this morning we'd asked how long we could use the hotel's facilities for and were amazed to be told "until you need to leave for the airport" (they did know our flight wasn't until 23:40) so having hung on to our swimming towels we decided to head back for a late snack from the pool bar and spend a couple of hours lounging by the pool as the strong winds had lessened today. The plan was then to drive back to Rhodes Town around 17:00 and watch the place come to life after dark before stopping back at the hotel for dinner en route to the airport.
The guy at the car rental place had marked on our map where we could park free near the old town and we found a suitable spot and walked to the nearest entrance (actually we'd parked really close to one, but didn't realise so had quite a long walk). The soft, late afternoon light on the honey coloured stones was beautiful.
Sneaking a quick peek into this house, it looked very basic to say the least.
The town was completely different without the hordes of tourists and we thoroughly enjoyed wandering through some lovely little streets.
Is this view spoilt by the motorbike, or does it give a focal point - discuss.
I waited ages for this couple to move on, but they were obviously slow readers and if I'd waited any longer I'd have lost the cat.
Ha, finally managed to get this street people free - although the light had really gone.
Local produce on sale.
But even if I did like semi sweet wine, I don't think I would have been tempted to try this one.
When we got to the main centre, it was considerably busier, with the bars and restaurants all starting to fill up.
This is one of the large dogs by the steps in the photo above. I'd never seen one like it before so as well as seeking permission for the photo I asked the owner what it was and he said an old Turkish breed - I think he said Kangal but I could have misheard.
We then wandered out through the closest gate to see the harbour areas. This boat is fabulous, it sells shells and I wish I'd taken a closer shot (I've got used to being shouted at for taking photos of merchandise and so don’t get too close).
We realised the sun was setting fast so raced back to the Knights' Street with the hope of getting a people free shot - the best I could do.
Then returned to the harbour area for the windmills etc.
I couldn't manage to satisfactorily straighten the mills in this shot.
This is the MY "Megan" I don't know who owns her or what they do with her, but sadly just the name is now synonymous with privilege, luxury and unnecessary excess.
I'll allow the motorbikes to spoil this shot; they belong to the harbour pilots who had come to the entrance to talk another luxury yacht safely back into harbour.
One of them told me there was a seal amongst the rocks and proceeded to berate me when I was too slow taking the shot - excuse me, I was set up for a castle/lighthouse, at dusk, which wasn't expected to move! So you may or may not spot a seal in this next shot.
A couple of vessels returning home for the night.
I thought this was a new design, but then realised it's two different boats alongside one another.
One of the many Pirate Ships returning full of drunken day trippers.
I know it's a Rhodian deer and the markings are just guano, but it really does look like a female Kudu.
This is the superyacht the pilots were guiding in - I was too close to get a full shot.
Not the best of shots but the windmills do look very good at night.
Time now to head for the car and luckily Ian was able to work out a route through the deserted backstreets that took us straight back through the nearest gate to where we'd parked the car.
Back to the hotel and it was Asian Night and actually one of the best meals we'd had there. Suitably fortified we headed for the airport intending to stop for petrol at a particular garage which we'd identified as being the cheapest (petrol is seriously expensive here). Except it was closed and so we had to double back and use another one. We asked the attendant to fill it up but it only took about €14 which didn't sound right for 3 days so we asked him to try again and he got another €30 in so that sounded about right. Then we had a call from Budget to say there wouldn't be anyone to meet us at the car park after all and we should just park and leave the keys in the airport. We weren't particularly happy about this as although we knew we'd not added to the numerous scratches, without someone checking over the car you just never know. Anyway I took a photo to prove we'd topped up the fuel, checked in our suitcase with BA (who confirmed the lounge was indeed closed as we’d suspected) and went back to the Budget counter in Arrivals which was unmanned but the young girl came back from her loo break fairly quickly and assured us there wouldn’t be any problems.
We went through security etc and sat around until time for boarding which was a bit of a farce as it often is in small airports but something you just have to put up with if you travel. The food onboard was perfectly edible and the fizz, although not adequately chilled, was still drinkable. Arriving so late into Gatwick at least meant that Passport Control and Baggage Reclaim were both quiet and luckily we didn’t have to wait long for the transfer bus back to Long Stay Parking.
All in all probably not one of our better holidays as Rhodes was rather more touristy than we’ve been used to of late. We’ve also come to realise that having had the privilege to visit some of the world’s most exceptional sights and sites, not all holidays can hit the highs. So now I’ll “fess up” as to why I picked it; thanks to a BA deal it’s secured my Executive Club status until March 2023 (Ian until April 2023 but he’ll drop back to Silver at last!) and I’m planning to make full use of it in 2023..