Balos

Balos on a stormy day

Balos on a stormy day

While Markus was with us, on a day of mixed weather we embarked on a trip to Balos.

We drove the long broken road to get there. We paid the 1€/person ‘Nature protection’ charge to enter.

The drive was long, but the view made it worth it. The path down was full with people even on this early autumn day. The wind was sweeping the lagoon. We saw a tourist boat approaching in the big waves and felt sorry for them.

There wasn’t much chance to swim in the big waves, so we walked around. Eventually we found a semi-sheltered spot around some big rocks on the West side of the lagoon, and we had our picnic there.

Then we saw lightning. We picked up our stuff and walked quickly back towards the path. It started raining, so we took shelter in the cafe, like most other people. When the rain stopped we sat on the sunbeds for a while. There was tiredness, and we made our way back up the path.

Resting on the sunbeds in Balos

Resting on the sunbeds in Balos

Kayak to Ravdoucha

Markus always loved to play cavemen

Markus always loved to play cavemen

With Markus we’re always keen to do some kayaking together.

During the time he was here the weather was often windy though, and my energy was quite low from little sleep and I guess a new beginning.

On this day we decided to take the kayak to Ravdoucha, starting from Nopigia.

The wind was blowing, and we had to paddle quite hard. We landed at a very small beach on the way. Then we had another break at a partially sheltered groove in the coastline below a cave. While I held the boat, Markus went up to have a look at the cave. We kayaked past the old pillars, which I later found out were part of some German iron extracting plant during the war. We had a look at Ravdoucha from just around the rocky outcrop, but had had enough of wind and cold splashes, so we turned back.

We put the sail up only to find out it was broken. The wired frame had snapped in 2 points, and the wind was very irregular and not exactly behind us anyway. We paddled back with a good lateral wind.

Pillars in the sea. Iron mining?

Pillars in the sea. Iron mining?