Crete

We left on the ferry from Athens at approx 8.00pm on 8/5/09 and arrived in Iraklion/Heraklion (spelt many different ways), Crete around 6.00am on 9/5/09 after having very little or no sleep on the airline seats.

After the vehicles were unloaded from the ferry we drove straight out to the hill that the 6th Div 2/4th Bat defended in 1941 – Twin Charlies. It was a beautiful view over Iraklion.

The drive from Iraklion to Rethimnon on the old road was very hilly with deep ravines. It would have been a difficult road in 1941. We went through small villages where people lived off the land by growing fruit, vegetables, olives and raising goats.

10/5/09

We had camped overnight at the Chania Camping ground and the next morning some of the trucks had problems getting out of the park because of the olive tree branches touching the canvas.

It was to be a very busy day so we took off towards the Maleme German War Graves where 4464 Germans were buried on Hill 107 overlooking the airfield. We also went to the Commonwealth Cemetery at Souda Bay where there were mostly English and NZ’s and a few Australians from the 2/11 Bat.

The cemeteries are a credit to the organisations that have created and maintained them, both are in peaceful and beautiful surroundings.

We then drove towards Sfakia/Sfakion on a very hilly but good highway. It was a very hilly road with some flat valleys for farming olives, cereals, sheep and goats. We were surprised to see so many restaurants on the way – tourism brings in about 20% of Crete’s income. The scenery was beautiful with pink and purple flowers and lots of red poppies alongside the road. They also have a yellow flowering shrub which looks very much like our wattle.

From the top of the mountain we began a massive descent in 3rd gear and sometimes 2nd down to the plateau and Sfakia Port where the allies evacuated from Crete to North Africa. We had hoped to camp on the beach but there was no beach camping so the local hotelier offered hotel rooms for 13Eu (AUD26) per head per night which we accepted. It is a small room with a very small bathroom on the 2nd floor of the hotel but with a balcony with a million dollar view overlooking the village and the ocean.

11/5/09

This morning some of the vehicles lined up in front of the evacuation memorial for flag raising and photos. Jim talked to a local gent (82 years old) about the evacuation that took place when he was 13 years old and he pointed to the rocks where the evacuation took place.

Today has been a day of rest and doing any maintenance required on the vehicles .

Our hotel is situated on the waterfront and there are alfresco restaurants all along the port. It has been hard to handle this type of lifestyle but we have managed to adapt.