#poliegos

On Thursday, as a reward to myself for the job interviews (and the getting of a job) I went on an all day yacht trip around Milos. Scooted down to Adamantas and grabbed a coffee (a really good coffee!) and sat in the sun by the port to drink it. Patted one of the local cats. Gave my friend Ainsley a quick video call as she's looking after my girl Soda - tried to rouse Soda from her sleep but she kind of just squinted at the camera and twitched her ears about a bit while I was calling her name.

Went over to the meeting point and boarded the catamaran we were travelling on for the day. Met the other people in the group - exclusively Americans - and set off. The tour I chose turned out to be family operated, we had a girl named Naya and her brother (Antonio, I think?) and later in the day we bumped into their parents on the seas; as they were on a week-long privately chartered trip, taking people around the Cyclades.

Set off north out of the harbour and around to the west. Our first stop was Sykia, a massive cave (the second photo) with striking, contrasting volcanic rocks in black and white. Jumped in for a swim. It was beautiful. The water sparkled and reflected against the cave. It was incredible to just float and look up to the rocks encircling us above. Had a quick breakfast on board too - fresh bread with homemade marmalade, made by Naya's mum.

Sailed on around to the next stop which was Kleftiko. As the name suggests, it's an old pirate bay. Their boats used to hide in the natural caves and ambush passing vessels. We swam again in a cove nearby. The water there was beautiful and turquoise but possibly a little colder than our earlier stop. I swam over to one small stretch of beach then across to caves on the other side and perched myself on some rocks. Saw lots of teeny fish. The water is so unbelievably clear that you can see everything below you. The boats cast a shadow and from above they look like they're floating on glass.

Our next stop was Gerakas beach. I paddled to shore to cool down, as it was getting hot on the boat, then swam back. A lot of the places we visited are completely inaccessible by land as the beaches and coves are at the bottom of sheer volcanic cliffs. It was spectacular.

After Gerakas we stopped for lunch, which was simple but so tasty. Naya and her brother had prepared grilled eggplant and zucchini, Greek salad, fresh tzatziki, boiled potatoes with capers and lemon, grilled chicken for the meat eaters, and a vegetable orzo pasta for me. It was soooo good. Spent the time sailing around lying on the (super new and very comfy) deck of the boat, reading, chatting with the others.

The final stop was Galazia Nera bay at Poliegos - an uninhabited island only about 4km east of Milos. It's also known as the blue lagoon. Hopefully the photos above demonstrate why. I have never seen such incredibly cerulean blue waters in my life. I had a go at stand up paddle-boarding around, which was slightly comical given how unfit I am after 6 weeks of no pilates and eating what I want on holiday, but I managed to stay on the whole time - then I gave up (once my legs started trembling) and jumped in to cool off.

Took about 2 hours to sail back to port, this time around the north side of the island. The wind picked up a bit for a stretch, but once we turned into the sheltered harbour it was calmer. Motored past the old fishing villages that dot the coast. They basically used to be small two level buildings with a garage for the boat at the bottom and a mezzanine above for the fishermen to sleep, to spare them having to go to port and home every night while working. In recent years they've basically all been transformed into Airbnb's for tourists to stay in during the summer months.