Our Final Day with a Swim Stop at Kythnos on the way to Marina Zea

-
16thAugust 2018

It is the final day of our cruise, as we leave port this morning to head home to Marina Zea , for our final night on board before disembarking after breakfast tomorrow.

A relaxing day is planned with a stopover at Kythnos Island for a morning swim off the boat before continuing on to our final destination.


We anchored in a sheltered bay at Kythnos Island


and tied a stern line to a rock on shore



There is a sand spit where a few decide to take the tender to the shore, but most of us just swam off the ship.




and some just relaxed on the sun deck

After lunch, along the way we pass Cape Souion , the site of Poseidon’s Temple and we get a great view of it from the sea.


Poseidon's Temple



Finally we arrive at Marina Zea at around 6pm, in time for the Captains Cocktail Party at 6.30pm, followed by the Captains Farewell Dinner.

Another enormous meal is served , after which as many of the crew who were available joined us, whilst the hotel manager introduced and reintroduced some of them. Of course, there were many behind the scenes crew we had not even seen. We learned this ship had a crew of 19, not bad for a ship with only 40 passengers.

Once all of the formalities were over, the crowd started to break up, and Carole and I needed to go for a walk on shore to settle our meal down before we had any chance of getting some sleep. 

The cruise has been great, despite a bit of dodgy weather and I will be looking to see what other cruises Variety Cruises run, as this one has been most enjoyable.

Chart of our voyage

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Muscat, Oman

-
Image
4th September 2018 Arriving in Muscat at 8 am this morning, we are now very close to Abu Dhabi, where we stopped over on the way to Greece to start our holiday. It is going to be a very hot and humid day. Fortunately, we only have a morning tour planned and most of the time we will  be in an air conditioned bus. The port at Muscat is much smaller than Salalah, better suited to the arrival of Cruise ships, and has limited container and bulk freight facilities. Large wheat silos dominate the shore, and there is a large flour milling company in town. Once a Portuguese settlement, the main visible reminders left are a number of forts, located on hilltops around the harbour. A couple of small coastal dhows are berthed at a nearby wharf and are transporting bags of cargo, and other loose items, along the coastline. We saw them depart this morning and they were back again at around 3pm. Our bus is ready at 9am to take us on our tour, and disembarkation in Oman ...
Read more

Day tour of New Delhi

-
Image
19th September 2018 We went down for breakfast this morning at just before 8 am, and the restaurant was full. It seems quite of few tour groups stayed last night and must all have decided to have breakfast at once. There was a bit of a queue up, but within 10 minutes we had a table. Our guide for today was waiting in the foyer for us at 9 am, and our new driver was also on time. So we headed out from the hotel as planned. There are a few sites to see today, and our guide advised that we are going to start at the Southern most attraction, then to the most Northern and finish in the middle of town, near where our hotel is located. The first visit is to the oldest monument in New Delhi, Qutub Minar, the tallest minaret in the World made of bricks. It was completed around 1192 Ad, and was built by Qutab -ud-din Aibak,  the First Ruler of the Delhi Sutanate. At 240 feet tall, it is the centrepiece of a larger complex including the ruins of a mosque and many other buildings. It wa...
Read more

Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee

-
Image
23 rd August 2018 Today’s program is not quite as intense as yesterday, with a planned duration of 9.5 hours, still a long day. We are heading off to Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. Without the need to clear immigration this time, everything goes smoothly and we depart from the ship on time, and drive directly to Nazareth. Our first visit is to the Basilica of Annunciation , built on the site where Catholic Tradition believes was the house of Mary. Here it is believed the Angel Gabriel told young Mary that she would give birth to the son of God. Walking the Streets of Nazareth toward the Church of Annunciation It is a massive, modern Catholic Church built in 1969. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Countries from around the World were asked to send a mosaic depicting Mary and Jesus to be displayed in the church and compound. So large is the building, that it is the biggest Christian Church in the Middle East. Australia's contribution to the mos...
Read more