Time to move on again,
A beautiful calm sunny cloudless day for our next ferry trip around to Naxos.
The apartment owner took us down to the harbour and we had some time to chill out and watch the fishing boats come and go.
And some last looks at this lovely little slice of Cycladic heaven.
Our ferry this time was much more of traditional type so we were able to sit out on the shaded part of the deck to watch the scenery drift by.
Koufonisia fades away.
And this is Kato Koufonisia, the larger of the pair of islands with the name and uninhabited. We were actually staying on Ano Koufonisia, the smaller island. You can take boat trips to Kato in the summer.
We again had the chance to see another couple of islands on the way. This is Schoinousa island.
It looked extremely sleepy and laid back. Now that the winds had dropped the sea was astonishingly clear.
Next stop the much larger island of Irakleia.
Views across to Naxos and its solitary cloud.
The harbour was picture postcard perfect and it looked to have a little more life than Schoinousa although much less so than Koufonisia.
They turn the ferries around really quickly and after a few minutes we were on our way to Naxos.
Naxos is pretty mountainous. This is its highest peak, Mount Zas (Zeus's Peak) which is over 1000m.
Across the water from Naxos is Paros, another classic Cycladic island.
These small outcrops are very striking and one has a tiny church on it only accessible by boat.
The beach in the background is Plaka where our next little villa was.
This small pointy hill is - I think - called Stelida. Me and TBF came to Naxos in 2006 and managed to force a way through the prickly undergrowth to the top. We loved Naxos and it was extremely quiet and off the tourist radar at that time. We were keen to see how it had changed.
As you round the Stelida headland Naxos Town comes into view.
Its an lovely and quite extensive town by Cyclades standards. More about it coming in a later post.
We jumped off the ferry and had some lunch in a waterfront restaurant before catching a bus to our little villa. Our first view of the Temple of Apollo, Naxos most well known sight. Again, more to come in a later post.
Our villa was set back a few hundred yards from the beach on a working farm.
It was fabulous, beautifully designed and furnished in a simple rustic style.
It felt a world away from the hustle and bustle of the beach resorts on this western coast.
It had the most gorgeous terrace and my only regret is we didn't spend more time out here to enjoy it, just breakfasts in the main as we were out exploring most of the time.
As before as soon as we dropped the bags we were straight down to the beach for a swim.
The whole of the western coastline is just one long golden sandy beach punctuated by granite headlands. If there's a better long stretch of beach in the Med, I'd like to see it.
Back to the villa to freshen up and back out for meal overlooking the beach.
It was quite breezy again so we were glad that we weren't too near the sea.
Afterwards we took a leisurely stroll along the sandy and rutted sea front road towards Agia Anna where we stayed before.
Lights twinkling across the water on Paros.
Night-time at Agia Anna.
We strolled back, very happy with our choice of location on the island and looking forward to exploring more the next day
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