Greece so far so good

We left home 15 weeks ago. I can’t believe it’s only been that long as so much has happened. I had really expected a meltdown or two by now from one of us wondering who’s daft idea was this anyhow? But so far so good…Fingers crossed I haven’t spoken too soon.

I hadn’t been to Greece before at all and Robbie hadn’t been here since busking around the islands when he was 18 so we hadn’t much planning or ideas before we came. Somehow I had assumed that outside of the beautiful islands, that it would be more or less the same as Southern Spain…I don’t know why I was expecting this or what movie or Greek people I’ve met that allowed me to come to that conclusion, but I couldn’t have been more surprised on arrival. The people are so far, amazing, the nicest we have come across… So kind and helpful, and so easy and relaxed. And the food…..

We have free camped everywhere. Being off-season has helped and we have had wild Ionian beaches to ourselves, showering on the sand and taps to fill water tanks, the kids playing endlessly in dunes. Even the wild dogs have been friendly. We started out in the north in Pindos National park for the usual whirlwind of hiking, climbing and dragging the kids down a river and freezing them forgetting it was November. Then we hit the coast down the western side hopping off at various beaches, and stopped off in ancient Olympia for a quick family sprint on the original 100m stadium and a bit of history homework.

At this point we were keen to get stuck into another work project and lucked out finding the perfect one in the Peloponnese – Dio Pigadia: an eco farm community project, needing a carpenter to build a yoga hall and extra hands for the olive harvest. We arrived here just in time for me to head off on a work tour, and so by the time I returned, Aran and Zev had fully settled in, all of a sudden had 25 new people to talk to instead of their parents. The volunteers during the olive harvest were young people from all over the world living and learning on the way to their next step and next plans. Aran and Zev were welcomed right in, and are spending their days right now joining in with the olive harvest, building projects, cat snuggling, chicken feeding, watering, collecting, doing all the things that at home we hardly have time to do! Life has slowed down a notch and it was been a stroke of luck finding this magical hub to surround ourselves with these last few weeks.