As we left 'ABBA land' and headed to our next Island in the Sporades, I kept finding myself smiling, like the Cheshire Cat from 'Alice In Wonderland.' So before I got lock jaw, we set sail for a bay on the South of the island Alonnisos.

The area is known for the rare Mediterranean monk seals . A considerable amount of work has been done to preserve these endangered mammals, with a modicum of success, but sadly , despite numbers rising we didn't manage to spot any. Well not this time, although we were graced by a pod of dolphins playing in our bow wave. Stunning as always!

After a stonking sail we arrived at a small harbour called Votsi. The water reminded me of a favourite bay of in the Ionian Sea 'Lakka', - picture postcard turquoise. I was thrilled, couldn't wait to dive in, but unfortunately there just wasn't enough depth or space to confidently anchor. So, disappointed we decided to try out an anchorage on the tiny island next door- Peristeri.

We chose a small bay called Peristera, on the south, well tucked in away from any wind. We were the only yacht there - result. It was a wonderful anchorage, though after many attempts we just couldn't get the anchor to set, so disappointed,(again) we headed back to try a different spot on Alonnisos.

Our 3rd attempt at finding a place to stay.This time we settled on the East side of Alonnisos , a delightful spot, a cove along from the the quay at Steni Vala. Again we were the only boat, so we anchored in the middle of the bay, feeling quite snug as the steep sides of the cove were quite high and almost enveloped us. They were a lush green and amongst the other trees and a few villas, were a line of pine trees stood to attention, as if keeping an eye on us.

We had a glorious couple of days, enjoying the isolation of our private, almost land locked cove and visiting the Quay at Steni Vala in the dinghy. The shop and cafe owner was a really friendly chap called Kostas . He told us he and his wife have founded a Pirate museum in Patitri. Amongst the groceries I noticed a few books he had written . The one that caught my eye was called The Escape a love story set during the Second World War In Alonnisos. Obviously I bought a copy which he modestly signed for us.

Kostas also pointed us in the direction of a nice walk over the hill to a tiny fishing port.
It was a tad steep in a few places and very hot so we considered that we deserved the Mythos when we arrived. Although we didn't eat in the taverna, I noticed the cute sailboat salt and pepper set with napkin sail and olive sticks in the crows nest, laid out on the table. I admired it and ended up buying it for 5 euros, obviously lost in translation, but I was a happy bunny, with a very funky, functional, table centre piece.