Island life

Hey everyone!

Island life is truly therapeutic.. Over the past few days I've really reminded myself that I'm on holiday.

There's a really cool group of people staying here at the hostel. Most are from Canada, Australia and America but we've also got some Irish and one English bloke who goes out of his way to make a fool of himself.. hahah.. all in good fun.

So the past couple of days for me has been a lot of fun. I've had a chance to check out the black sand beaches, meet some cool people, swim in some crystal clear waters and even hire an ATV!

The four-wheeled ATV's were a bit of a splurge on the budget but I decided that it had to be done. It was a great way to see the whole island (which is actually a lot bigger than I had thought) and was definitely a highlight of my stay up to now.

Ps. this is as many photos as I had time to upload.. haha

Free like a bird

24 hours ago marked the moment when I packed my bag and left Athens. The boss was not happy at all... Despite what you might think about hostel bosses and how they should understand a backpackers way, this bloke was fumin'. He even mentioned that I wasn't welcome at any of the four hostels he owns in Athens. Oh well.. He was just a genuine 'malaka' anyway.

From Athens, I caught a Blue Star ferry to Thira port on Santorini. The boat left Athens at 7pm and arrived at midnight. As a result, I bared witness to one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen over the water. As it became darker, only the little lights on islands passing by and the stars were visible. Somehow at this time, I managed to break into conversation with a German couple who were travelling on holiday. Turns out this German bloke's company made the glass for the sky walk over the grand canyon! How's that!?

Later when midnight struck and the ferry made port in Thira, I got off and started to think about how the hell I was gunna get to the hostel on Perissa beach (the other side of the island). Good old fashioned island spirit kicked in, however, when I was talking to one of the guys holding up a piece of cardboard with another hotel's name on it. I wasn't going to his hotel, but he said he would drive me all the way to my hostel for nothing. Top bloke.

This crazy chain of events didn't end when I got to the hostel. As the reception is only open from 9 in the morning, I had to find something to do. So here I was standing outside the hostel with my big bag and hat and along come a big group of American guys who scooped me up, bag and all, took me to a local bar, threw a vodka shot down my throat, put a Corona in my hand and proceeded to convince me that "not all Americans are assholes". I wasn't complaining. This went on until about 3 in the morning when these blokes were kind enough to let me crash in their hostel room until light.

hahahah.. oh god... in the morning when I got up, they told me that they were all American Coast Guard and that they were on their way back to America having fought and captured a bunch of Somalian pirates... They tell me their ship is floating out in the Caldera. Might go check it out tomorrow..

Sorry about the lack of photos. Will post some up next blog.. They charge for internet here and my 30 minutes is up.

Thank god I'm in the islands..

The seven day week

You're right... My blogging diligence has gone down the drain in the last couple of weeks. It's not that I've lost interest in the act of blogging, far from it. It's this bloody hostel.

Yes, there is the odd group of travellers that come through here that we have fun with but overall this place is becoming a bit of a prison. The last thing I want to do is make this website a bulletin for complaints but as I've seen all of the main sites in Athens a couple of times each, my posting options are indeed becoming exhausted.

My birthday week was a lot of fun but after it's hype died down, things returned to normal here at the Easy Access hostel.

You may laugh when I say this, but this job isn't by any means the easiest job in the world. I generally work a 7-8 hour shift from 7pm till close. There are no days off and the boss and his wife are always on our tail. Because it is a night shift, you'd think I get all day to sightsee right? Not really. I usually close up at around 2 or 3 in the morning, so sleep in's are crucial if I am to be in any sort of hospitable state for the next shift.

The hostel is indeed becoming a bit too familiar but the 22 euros a day that gets tucked away into my locked bag feels kinda nice.

I've worked out that I only really need to work here for another couple of nights to support my island expenses but I do intend to work here for another week or so, until my replacement arrives. The extra cash for Italy will definitely be needed down the track, taken into account the stories I've heard at the bar for hostel prices over that way.

I just can't wait to pack my bags and leave this place of work for the islands which to me represent a reward for working on the road.

Anything but a quiet afternoon

You may all be wondering why I'm posting a blog so soon after my last. Let me tell you why.

Yesterday afternoon at about 7pm, I had just finished my shift at the bar and with a new South African mate of mine, I was looking for a bar or pub that would play the Western Force (AUS) v Stormers (SA) Super 14 Rugby game. I'd called a couple of places already but they were playing the Liverpool soccer match. Anyhow we needed to find somewhere quickly before the game's kick-off at 8. So I had just found the contact details of our last hope when I heard loud explosions outside. Chris, the South African and I rushed out to the dorm's balcony to see what was going on. What we saw shocked us..


There was a massive group of angry Greeks rioting in the street outside the hostel!! They were all wearing motorcycle helmets and were carrying long bats with the Greek flag attached at the end. They seemed to be rallying outside under this massive Greek man wearing a stained white singlet and jeans. He was screaming out something in Greek to the crowd who were getting more and more worked up. I felt like I had gone back in time to some civil war period.

The massive group were being contained (hardly) by a line of Greek riot police who had special protocol for this sort of occurrence.

Soon we had found out from some American guys who just got back from buying KFC in the midst of it that it was a protest to the immigrants of the area who typically account for an increasing crime rate and inhabit dodgy old apartment buildings in Ommonia, reducing the appeal of the area significantly.

It was all pretty exciting and soon the hostel's balconies were packed with backpackers staying at the hostel. We all got an unpleasant surprise however, when the riot police started to fire off tear gas which tingled the sinuses and put a tear to our eye.

I managed to take a bit of video but had to be quick because the riot police didn't like their picture taken.



Just before the riot started to move out of sight further down the street, a Greek journalist with his cameraman passed the hostel and with a smile on his face he yelled out: "Another beautiful day in Athens!!"

The time has come..

Stretch back, if you will, to a time when a vote was held on my blog regarding my hair style.

The votes were clear and annonymous, yet at the time I was lacking the materials, and to some extent, the kahunas to perform the shave.

Last night the receptionist from Amsterdam brought along his shaver as a favour to me and of course you, my blogging community.

So, at 1am I closed the bar, grabbed my co-worker and put this shaver in her hand.

This is what followed..

This is where the shaver ran out of battery f0r a bit..

The Birthday

The big birthday has finally come and gone for me here in Athens. Over the last couple of days I spent a lot of time wondering what it would be like to celebrate it in Australia with family and friends but the matter of the fact is that by conducting an adventure of this magnitude, I was bound from the start to run into some down sides..

On my birthday's eve I was actually rostered on for the night shift which turned out to be a good thing and a bad thing considering the significance of midnight's arrival. For one, everyone was buying me drinks but on the other hand, drinks had to be made right up to and after 12, when I shook hands with people from all around the world who all said "Happy Birthday" in their own language and accent. Coincidently, that particular night was the busiest night I've had at the hostel since I started working. I earnt around $AU330 and about 22 in tips. This softened the pain that encompassed closing the bar later than usual before going out with a group of Columbian/Mexican and Canadian girls to the ice bar for my free entry and drinks. The night was actually pretty tame overall in comparison to the last couple of nights which I considered my birthday leadup.

As we stayed up until sunrise once again, Seth and I decided to join some French Canadian girls on a short day trip to Agena, one of the Greek islands. The island was absolutely amazing. It was clearly a hub for fishing and other boating activities. Here, we had a chance to buy some local fruits, bask in the sun and marvel at all the boats moored there, ranging from 60 foot yachts to little run-about fishing boats. I couldn't stop thinking to myself: This was the Greece I had imagined. These days, it really is too easy to judge a country on it's capital city.

Back in the bar tonight for the night shift... Looking forward to trying out a new mp3 CD.