Kiki was last on the island of Naxos 20 years ago and had her photo in this exact (near enough) spot.  Things have surely changed since then… but not Kiki – she’s still as gorgeous now as she was then – I’d go as far as to say even more so.

Our first stop today was the Grotto Beach – its windy and rough and full of big pebbles and rocks – ideal for sea glass collecting.

The wind here rivals Geraldton – so it’s quite popular with wind surfers and general lovers of wind.

When following the coast, you come across the most interesting of things… here we’ve found ourselves in the boat building area of Naxos.

Wandering along the sea wall, we came across a number of cats and kittens who all live under the rocks.  That’s mum in the background happy to get a bit of peace.

We stopped at a little beach with much potential for collecting when we noticed another couple of step down onto the sand a few minutes after us.  They were staring at the ground like us and every now and then they bent over and picked something up….. like us.  We got close enough to speak to each other and the lady asked, “What are you collecting?” “Sea glass.” I responded “You?”  She replied by opening up her palm to show 3 small pieces of coloured glass.  Whilst all this gentle banter went on back and forth, we were quietly thinking “Hey – get off our beach.  We were here first.  Don’t make me start a turf war!” But they were friendly enough and the gent even gave me a piece of his glass because he obviously thought I hadn’t found any when really my shorts were hanging down to my knees with the weight of the glass in my pockets….. more fool him!

We took a small break at this beach cafe to empty the pockets and fill the tummy.

Coffee and a crepe?  Don’t mind if I do.

This was a stark contrast to the other side of the island where we were nearly washed off the rocks.

Then it was back through the town for a Greek yoghurt (just yoghurt here) and a regroup before the evening’s adventures.

This person has made the most of the shade.

We found an awesome flotsam and jetsam shop with handmade signs from bits and pieces washed up on the island – possibly used Google Translate here?

It doesn’t take much too make things pretty, does it?