Taking the Olympus out of Olympos

So clearly there's been a lack of updates here and as it happens we're now in Turkey. The last four days have been spent at sea on a gulet cruise from Fethiye to Olympos and given that the boat hardly had electricity, wireless internet wasn't on the cards.

Ness' little camera has also spent some time with us in the sea and apparently when they say waterproof, Olympus didn't quite have the abuse we dished out in mind (although we never went deeper than the 3 metres and always washed it out with fresh water). So after two years of taking the little Olympus 720SW everywhere with us, it is now a just-out-of-warranty paperweight. Ahh well, such is the life of a traveller.

Accordingly we have reverted to some ancient technology known as film so photos on the internet are going to be few and far between. And the last time we downloaded the photos from the xD card was on some Greek island a few weeks ago.

But we do have the Macbook's webcam so here's us enjoying a local brew in Göreme - if you look hard in the background you can see one of the "fairy chimneys" this place is famous for.

Welcome to Athens

After yet more fun involving bikes on trains, and more specifically baggage handlers who didn't want to handle any baggage, we made it into Athens and our first stay in a real bed (as real as any hostel bed can be).

As it happened, entrance to the Acropolis was free for some reason the day we arrived so we headed up for a quick look around in the late afternoon sun to get our bearings for our archeological adventures the following day.

Off to the Olympics

No, no, we haven't somehow managed to scam tickets to Beijing nor have we quite qualified to compete in the cycling. But after arriving in mainland Greece we did head down to where it all began in Ancient Olympia.



Unlike the two people behind our legs in the photo, I didn't challenge Ness to a foot race on the original track (potentially because I probably would have lost) although she did appear to raring to go.

Greekos means more Meatos...

Matt happily sacrifices his daily Gelati for something that the Greek definitely know how to cook.



Three days ago we arrived on the Island of Corfu (Greece) after numerous ferries and a day in Bari, Italy. For the past three days we have done plenty of swimming and cycling around the island. We have been entertained with drama, lust and gossip from our fellow country men and women, as we were lucky enough to be camping next to a Contiki tour group!

We are now en route via Ferry to the city of Patra. We hope to visit ancient Olympia and then onwards to Athens.

Mostar

When we reached Dubrovnik, Croatia we decided to rest our legs for a few days, and take a day trip to Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Old town was very cute and much excitement revolved around the old bridge (both of which are really not that old as they have been rebuilt following the recent war). Anyway, for those of you who have heard of this place you are probably aware of the local men who will dive from the bridge, provided they collect enough euros from eager tourists. I was quite impressed with the diving, however more impressed with the shear amounts of money that these guys must pull in every season.



Another excitement for me was that a new country meant a new style of coffee to try. I must admit I look quite stunned in this photo as I had just been presented my tray of Bosnian Coffee. This one was OK, but it was even better when I had another one a few hours later and the waitress was able to explain the assembly procedure in English.

Cheery Pie

I couldn't resist posting this photo, how excited can one boy be for his Cherry Pie? The truth of the matter is that this was actually Matt's Third Cherry Pie...thankfully I was able to help him out. He counts these as three of his five-a-day fruit & veg requirement. Luckily he can afford it with all that cycling!

Before the Bikes was Bulgaria

Flying the bikes into Sardinia wasn't technically the start of our holiday. In between a couple of weddings in Australia in February and April, in March we spent some time carving up the mountain side in Bansko, Bulgaria.