Kefalonia, Greece (Part one)

 After a couple of weeks sightseeing in London our family was off to Kefalonia to enjoy sun, relaxation and some family bonding.  Since the two halves of our family live on opposite sides of the world time spent together is precious and it was a good opportunity for my four grandchildren to get to know each other well. I chose Kefalonia for two reasons, firstly you can get direct flights to the island from Gatwick and, secondly, it is not as over run with tourists as some of the other islands.

We had an interesting start to the holiday when our flight's take off was delayed for four hours with everyone already boarded.  The delay was due to the aircraft missing it's allotted slot for take off but I have to say that Easy Jet went out of their way to make the long wait as pleasant as possible, including handing out free snacks and drinks and inviting passengers to view the flight deck, a rare treat these days.

The delay meant that instead of arriving late afternoon we arrived at our accommodation in the dark and quite late.  The trip from the airport through the small town of Lassi was exciting, though, as all the restaurants and shops were lit up and buzzing, we were looking forward to exploring them.

Our first view of Oskars

Our accommodation was at Oskars, a small family run hotel about two kilometres down the hill from Lassi.  The owners were aware of our delayed flights and were ready to greet us with refreshing lemon drinks and a chef ready to cook us a meal.  By the time we had eaten it was mid night and the children, well to be honest all of us, were exhausted so off to bed feeling excited for the week ahead.

The view from my room in the morning

It is always a bit of a thrill to wake up the next morning after arriving in the dark.  For the first time you can get to see your view and your surroundings and we were very happy with what we saw.  My room was on the third floor of a small hotel block with spectacular views out over the sea, my sons and their families had large, adjoining apartments with a shady outdoor terrace at ground level and, of course the children couldn't wait to get into the swimming pool. 

Our first view of Argostoli on our walk to the supermarket
You can see the world's longest stone bridge 

But first things first, we needed supplies, our accommodation had kitchen facilities and we needed to buy food.  The largest town on the island is Argostoli and our guide book said it was an easy walk up over the hill behind the hotel. Um, yes, maybe easy if it wasn't so steep and the sun wasn't so hot! Anyway several of us adults set off while one stayed behind to mind the children. Despite the heat we enjoyed the walk, taking in the views, the scent of the trees and flowers, the sound of the birds etc and finally found the supermarket we were looking for.  Piled high with supplies we took a taxi back to Oskars happy to be organised and looking forward to relaxing and enjoying our holiday.

My favourite way to travel

As an enthusiastic lifelong traveler I have travelled in many different ways; by air, by sea, through the Canterbury skies in a glider, piloted by my brother, in a hot air balloon over the spectacular Turkish landscape of Cappadocia and in numerous cable cars but my favourite way to travel has always been by train.

 Flying I find a bit of an ordeal, it is simply a means to an end and is the fastest way of getting where I want to go. It’s no joy to be cramped in a steel tube for endless hours, however until someone can come up with something better it is still the quickest and most efficient way to cross the world.

You can get some fantastic views from a plane like this one of
New Zealand's Southern Alps but I still think the best thing about flying is arriving and getting off.

Travelling by sea is fun although it is more about the actual cruising and life on board ship than the reaching of destinations. It is a holiday in itself and ports of call along the way are usually only brief stops. Although I love the sea, and am always happy to spend time gazing at it, that is generally all you see from a ship. Having said that, ferries, such as New Zealand’s Inter Islander or the Waiheke Island ferry, can be extremely scenic and I enjoy them too.

You get to see some amazing sunrises and sunsets at sea

Gliding, ballooning and cable cars are not really ways to travel, more like exciting activities.  They are great, though and I am very pleased to have experienced them

Left: On the Cable Car near Cairns, Australia

But trains, I love them, not in a crazy train spotter kind of way, simply because they are a great way to travel. I have travelled around several countries in Europe and all over Great Britain and Japan on trains and never tire of them. Just buy a ticket, enjoy the space and comfort, maybe walk around, buy some snacks, a coffee or a glass of wine and use the bathrooms but best of all get to enjoy the passing scenery. You really do get to see a country from a train. I have so many great memories of sights I’ve seen from trains, like Mt Fuji in Japan, quaint villages in England, the magnificent Swiss Alps and the romantic Italian Lakes not to mention amazing scenery in both New Zealand and Australia.

Mt Fuji from Japan's Shinkansen train

When my late husband and I were in Switzerland we took the Golden Pass Train right up into the Swiss Alps, an all day trip which took us from Berne to Montreux and back. It was absolutely spectacular and we felt we got to see a lot; cows with bells on, villages and farm houses, steep snow clad mountains and lush alpine meadows, a sublime close up look at the country. A happy memory of that trip is my husband fizzing with delight, he’d always wanted to go to Switzerland. On that same tour of Europe we caught trains everywhere, across Italy, across France, it was so easy.

Swiss village from the Golden Pass train

I enjoyed the trip from Dunedin to Middlemarch on the Taieri Gorge Train, a trip through tranquil and isolated parts of Otago, New Zealand and the wonderful Kuranda Scenic Railway in Queensland, albeit I found the return trip by cable car over crocodile infested rivers rather nerve wracking!

The Taieri Gorge train crossing a viaduct in Otago, New Zealand

I achieved a long held dream in 2015 to travel on Australia’s Ghan train which goes from Darwin right through the centre of Australia to Adelaide. It certainly was a dream worth waiting for, I loved every minute. The four day trip travels through the outback which is vast and pretty featureless, nevertheless with its own magic. The thing about the Ghan is the high quality of the food and wine provided inclusive in your fare, the fascinating destinations you visit and the social life you enjoy in the train’s lounge. Lying in a comfortable bed and looking out at a sky crammed full of glittering stars and watching brilliant sunrises and sunsets over the dessert are joys beyond compare.

 ( I wrote a series of blogs about the Ghan trip in June 2015.  

Type The Ghan into the search box to find them)

The Ghan - a dream worth waiting for

In China in 2018 I travelled on the world’s fastest train. 

It reaches speeds of 431 kms 

per hour and can cover 30 ks in 

7 minutes 20 seconds It was a thrilling if short experience.

Right:  The world's fastest train as at 2018

Every chance I get I like to travel by train. Recently I took the Trans Alpine in the South Island of New Zealand from Christchurch to Greymouth and back. It was everything I hoped it would be, firstly travelling across the Canterbury plains and then through the magnificent snow clad Southern Alps and finally through bush and over rivers. On the return journey the mountains were bathed in a pink glow from the setting sun, I felt so grateful to live in such a beautiful country.

New Zealand's Southern Alps from the Trans Alpine train

Early in 2024 I am booked to travel by train from Perth to Sydney, meaning I will have travelled from the top to the bottom and the West to the East of Australia. I am so looking forward to it. There are plenty of other train trips I hope to do before I die, although I don’t think my finances will stretch to the Orient Express, but that doesn’t matter I am content to know I can enjoy many train trips in the years to come. In my mind anyway it is the best, and my favourite way to travel.