Friday, 31 July 2020

Another Swim

We went down to our local beach again next day for another swim.  Earlier this time.  No-one else around when we arrived but they soon started gathering.  It was a completely different crowd though.  A friend of my daughters' and her brood, cousins and relatives and fishermen friends.    

We had a cool dip, got a bit of exercise and K spent so much time exchanging news with fishermen friends, bob-bob-bobbing in the sea, that he got quite badly sunburnt on his neck and shoulders.  

I had grabbed a place on the one and only bench and  caught up on daughters' friends and their brood and read the magazine I found in the beach bag



Friendly invasion


Fisherman getting ready to fish



The magazine I found in my bag.  2018
NZ Womens Day
I couldn't remember any of the showbiz gossip, didn't even know who the people were but the crosswords were only half done.  I suppose that's why I hadn't thrown it out.  Or maybe it was the recipes.  Except for NZ flavour there isn't much else.  I always ask our downunder visitors to bring a local magazine with them.  A bit of the feeling of home


Looking down at the bay
No wonder it attracts so many people.  But there is nothing there.  The beach canteen has been dismantled.  No more cold coffees or beers.  No shade unless you carry an umbrella

K grabbed hold of one of the local (as in our neighbour) councilmen and told him to put up 3 or 4 benches along the beach and a few of those wispy 'palm tree' umbrellas.  The beach needs a spruce up now the canteen has gone.  Elsewhere on the island there are benches and now on 2 or 3 of the beaches there are special ramps for wheel chairs.  Well done, Poros municipality.  Continue with that good work.  Much as I hate the summer invasion, it is what the islanders live on.  

The greek tourists that fill up the hotels and car parks on the island are tourists that stay in the big hotels and spend money.  They drive around from their villas in the northern suburbs of Athens and they rightly want to enjoy beach, sun and sea.  A swim in clean waters, a table right beside the waves, with a view of the lights of Poros for evening dining and an open air bar to drink a few cocktails in the wee hours.

Keep them happy and we are all happy, all year round
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24 comments:

  1. JayCee31 July 2020 at 06:15

    A glorious place, and it's all yours! Well, some of the time 😁

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    1. local alien31 July 2020 at 08:55

      The girls I was talking to said that 2 weeks ago the beach was empty all day long. The summer invasion has truly begun

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  2. Tigger's Mum31 July 2020 at 06:21

    The concierge of our office went to Poros for 3 days last weekend (he got sunburned too). We guess that's why the swimmers in front of our home wear big hats; which does look kind of strange and means they all have to swim dog-paddle. Remember beaches at home (NZ)? I'm not sure about where you come from but down south a beach was just a beach - no amenities at all, and a slog through the maram grass and sand dunes to get to it. Beaches in cities had esplanades of course, the rest were simply 'wild'.

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    1. local alien31 July 2020 at 08:58

      K always wears a hat but he needs a nice wide brim too. A fishermans hat.
      I grew up around Papamoa beach when it was really out in the wop wops. I don't think any beaches had facilities. Papamoa then had one lane roads and some of them were more sand than tarseal. Those were the days!! Our beachside bach is now worth a million.

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    2. At Home In New Zealand31 July 2020 at 13:01

      I remember Papamoa's sand roads :) You would struggle to reconcile that memory with what the place looks like now - so many houses, too many people.

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    3. local alien31 July 2020 at 22:04

      It was wonderful for us back then. Very hard for me to imagine now

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  3. Tigger's Mum31 July 2020 at 06:22

    PS - F has a stack of North & South magazines she has finished with; shall we send them to you?

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    1. local alien31 July 2020 at 08:59

      I would love some downunder magazines Tigger.

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    2. local alien31 July 2020 at 09:00

      Just clicked up to make sure. My email address is at the top of the page

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  4. northsider 31 July 2020 at 10:31

    You live in another world LA. Smashing photos.

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    1. local alien31 July 2020 at 22:05

      Very very different from your world. Lovely we can share our world's, Dave

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  5. At Home In New Zealand31 July 2020 at 13:03

    Just as well there is a good side to Summer Invasions - your local economy must be booming at the moment.

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    1. local alien31 July 2020 at 22:06

      It's doing very well, I think. We are lucky being so close to Athens.

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  6. kiwikid31 July 2020 at 15:02

    Hopefully the tourists are pouring money into your local economy, good you get to have the beach for the locals sometimes.

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    1. local alien31 July 2020 at 22:07

      Greek tourists really boost the islandz economy. Greeks like to eat and drink!

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    2. kiwikid5 August 2020 at 01:08

      That applies the world over!!

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  7. Susan Heather31 July 2020 at 20:05

    That beach looks an ideal place for a swim on a hot day.

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    1. local alien31 July 2020 at 22:08

      Not during peak traffic. I think we will start swimming very early in the morning

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  8. Cro Magnon31 July 2020 at 20:47

    Do you take a portable BBQ with you? A nice spot under the trees and a few kebabs would be perfect between your swims.

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    1. local alien31 July 2020 at 22:09

      That would turn into a rave!! K has too many friends down there

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  9. Yael31 July 2020 at 23:11

    Every time I finish reading your post I hope that in the next incarnation I will live on a Greek island.

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    1. local alien1 August 2020 at 09:09

      It's not all fun and games but its good for a holiday, so they say

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  10. angela1 August 2020 at 00:35

    Sounds like a nice day. Except for the summer burn.
    Only thing missing was a few cold drinks I think 🤔

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    1. local alien1 August 2020 at 09:08

      We went home for the cold drinks. A few years ago we idle away our day drinking iced coffee and uz at the beach canteen. Not any more darn it. That canteen closing was very bad for the island. It did a roaring trade but the archealogicol people and the dept of harbours , or whatever, decided for us that it had to go. We are still reeling from this incredible stupidity

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