Headwinds, gravel and a nice surprise - Crete's south coast

It's been a very interesting few days since we left Agia Galini on Saturday. The grade of the climb from that town up into the mountains wasn't bad at all. But oh my! The gusty headwind was horrible. But anyway we managed to put in 50km, with another nasty climb on gravel at the end to get to Preveli beach (or so we thought), where we got a simple room for the night.

Trying to fight the headwind

Restored Venetian lionheads, 16 of them, in the square in Spili,
a pretty mountain town

Church built into the cliff in Kourtalioti Gorge

Heading south through the impressive gorge

Hillside village of Frati

In the mountain town at Spili

The final 3km descent to the shore was rough and steep on gravel, and we hoped very much that we would not have to retrace our steps. However, it quickly became clear that there would be no other way out of this gorge! The popular beach that we really wanted to see was in fact on the other side of a cliff, with only a steep, rough hiking trail allowing access to it from where we had landed. No problem, we'd hike across to the beach, but we wouldn't be riding the bikes there.

Part of the descent near Preveli

Next morning we hiked over to check out this palm beach. It was indeed very pretty, and still very quiet at that time. But pretty soon, day-trippers began to arrive via small excursion boats, as well as down the other steep access trail from the other end of the beach.

The beach we rode to and where we got a room.
Note the headland in the background,
 there is a trail going up and over

Breakfast on the tranquil patio of the taverna

The palm beach at Preveli before the crowds arrive

A little oasis of palms along the river

Getting busier

We began to wonder if there was a chance these small excursion boats would take bikes. So we asked, and the guy said yes! But they would not be able to pick us up at our beach as it was too shallow. That meant, if we wanted to take the boat which would land us in Plakias, our next major town further west, we'd have no choice but to cart our bikes and stuff up over the hiking path! It didn't take long to weight up the two options and decide that this was still way better than pushing the loaded bikes up the  dreaded 3km of steep gravel. And we had plenty of time to do it as the last boat wasn't until 5pm.

That's Frank up there with his bike

So guess what we did for the next couple of hours.....back and forth three times carrying bikes and gear up and down those rocky steps! Lots of people passed us...they must have thought we were mad! Great workout in the heat. But we got it done, rewarded ourselves with a beer at the beach bar, and enjoyed a couple of hours relaxing on the beach.

At 5pm, we successfully loaded the bikes and gear onto the boat to the amusement of the passengers, I'm sure. Off we went on a pleasant 40 minute cruise to Plakias.

Bikes on board

The minute we unloaded the gear at the harbour, Frank exclaimed "where are my cycling shoes?" We realized they must have been left on the beach where we were loading everything by the boat. Damn. Next boat back to Preveli beach was 10am next day. So I guess we would be having a second day on the beach there. What are the chances that they will still be there? Were they even above the tide line?

Feeling a little deflated, we got ourselves settled into the lovely Appolonian campground and found ourselves a fine buffet dinner followed by some good live music.

Back to went next morning to Preveli. We were nervous. These were Frank's clip-in cycling shoes that would be hard to manage without. As we approached the beach, we could see a black blob by the water's edge. Sure enough, it was them!!! We were jubilant!

So then we had to endure another couple of hours on this  lovely beach till the next boat went back. It was during that time that we saw the strangest sight in front of us. An excursion boat had just pulled in and who was getting off it but a pair of cycle tourists with their bikes and full gear!!!! We were shocked! Could it be we weren't the only crazy ones! We hadn't even seen another cycle tourist in the whole time on Crete, let alone encounter them here on this remote beach with no road access!

Palm forest by the beach

We couldn't wait to go talk to them. Turns out it was a mother and daughter, Catriona and Hana, from New Zealand. They had taken a boat from Agia Galini, and had heard that you could pick up another excursion boat from Preveli on to Plakias, the one we had taken the day before. They had ridden from Zagreb (Croatia) to Athens, and then were riding all round Crete. We had travelled a lot of the same roads.

They decided to stay at the campground with us for the night, so we had a great chat. It was so nice to have their company and well timed, as it was Monday Oct 8th, Canadian Thanksgiving Day, and we needed help celebrating. So a Czech Canadian, an Irish Canadian and two Kiwis gathered under my maple leaf flag with some Cretan red wine and fine local cheeses and olives to mark the occasion. It was perfect.

Catriona and her daughter Ha na, our new friends, celebrating
 Thanksgiving with us

In the campgroud