Where,s Kathy and Jan ?

[carol]

Come on girls, we are dying to hear how you enjoyed Halki, I guess you are probably busy but spare us a line or two pleeeease ;D

[kathy]

Sorry! ;D ;D ;D
We only got back yesterday because we stayed in Leeds, then picked up GCSE results on the way home. Today has been a mad dash for uniforms, (the twins 6th form places were results Dependant)
Right, Halki was amazing! It wasn't too busy either. The two Petros, remembered me, and were lovely as they always were, Yannis from Costas said he recognised me as soon as we sat down! Nick from the next bar along gave me a big hug, and so did Dimitri from the bakery! I couldn't have had a warmer welcome back!
It was just too hot for us, so I have cancelled August next year I'm afraid. In a couple of years we won't be tied to school hols, which will make it easier.We didn't meet Jan until about Sunday or Monday, but they found us and are a lovely couple, good fun and good company.
The reason we didn't meet at KS was our plane developed an oil leak mid air, we had an emergency landing in Zagreb, Croatia and were there for 7 hours, fire engines racing towards us, scary stuff. We had a leased Lithuanian plane & crew for the rest of the journey.
We got to Rhodes at 11pm, nowhere to stay and totally exhausted. Luckily Jane V. came to our rescue with a hotel name in Rhodes town, which had one room ( 5 of us!)
Next day we waited at KS for 5 hours for the boat, Jane thought it was due 2.30, we got there at 12.00 just in case, but it came at 5pm.
I will write more soon!!

[daisy]

wow that must have been nerve wracking as well as a right pain.

Still bet you soon forgot when you arrived and had such a lovely warm welcome.

[kathy]

It was an awful day! I was nervous flying home too because I had time to think about it! I don't love flying, but i'm not usually particuarly nervous! John hates it at the best of times!
The first glimpse of the island was lovely, everywhere looked so pretty!
We dumped the cases and were drinking beer in Costas in minutes!!! ;D ;D

[sunfun]

:DWelcome home Kathy! Good to have my partner in crime back. ;D That must have been SO scary!
Glad you had a wonderful time.I bet you were more than ready for a drink at costas.You must have all been shattered too.
Can't wait to hear all about it!

[carol]

Kathy you poor thing and there we were Liz and I thinking about you arriving in Halki at the pointy end of the ferry and you were not even in Greece. That must have been terrifying for all of you. I really cannot imagine what it was like, I am a very nervous flyer and I am not sure that I could get on a plane again if it happened to me. Pleased to hear that once you got there it was as lovely as ever, did your family enjoy it ? Good to have you back safe and sound xx

[kathy]

Carol ..... At least i did get to the top deck right hand side at the pointy end!!! In fact only one person beat me onto the boat, but I was first to the stairs!!! ;D ;D ;D

[jan]

Cooeeeeyyy! I'm here and recovering from the holiday... considering I'd done nothing apart from make a cup of coffee in the mornings I feel absolutely knackered!!

Ok... Halki was absolutely delightful and we will definitely be going back next year (hopefully for longer too!). It was very much our kind of holiday. The island was beautiful and the people were extremely welcoming. ;D ;D ;D

I did look for Kathy at the pointy end of the boat but it turned out that we'd actually got on the earlier ferry anyway. I spent a few days looking for a Scouser with three teenage girls but we only ever saw the girls two at a time and never heard them speak so we didn't think it was them! As luck would have it, two days before Kathy was due home, we sat at a table for dinner and who should be sitting next to us but the elusive Scousers! . What a lovely family, we had a great old natter. ;D ;D

Right at the beginning of the holiday I recognised a boat name and caught a glimpse of the chap piloting it but he always seemed to be nattering away with lots of folk. When I managed to catch him on his own (I'm like Sherlock Holmes when I get going), guess who it was!?!? Yep, that Kinygos chappie from Halkivisiting forum! hehehe. What a lovely chap he is, very knowledgeable about all things fishy and watery. ;D ;D

Kathy and Kinygos it was great to meet you both. ;D

All my anxieties about the Kiki Studios (the left hand studio)accommodation were unfounded. We only used it as somewhere to sleep in ad that was much more comfortable after we'd hired a fan from Zifos (only 1 Euro per day!). But it had everything we needed; we didn't need to take teatowel or washing up liquid etc.

Travelling with Olympic meant that when we left the island we were taken by a mini coach to a hotel in Ixia until we needed to be transferred to the airport. The hotel was everything we absolutely hate about holidays (built up concrete jungle). We were so thankful that we'd made the choice to stay on Halki and couldn't wait to be transferred to the airport. Luckily we had an afternoon flight but some people had to stay there until their night flights were due.

We've met some really fantastic people on Halki and had a great holiday. it's been fabulous and I want to go back NOW!!!!

I'll post again later but now I need to prepare myself to fight with the crowds and go and buy a new washing machine. The old one finally went kaput yesterday and left me with a load of very soggy towels.

[kathy]

Welcome back Jan! ;D ;D
I know what you mean about being really tired! I need another holiday!
It was great to meet you both, we loved your company and were so glad you played detective and found us!
Sarah (the youngest) developed an ear infection in our last few days in Pefkos, she and I were nearly going to have to miss our flight and return later, but she was bombarded with medication, and given the ok Tuesday evening. ( last year after a short break in Italy she ended up in hospital the day we got back, and on a drip!)
But despite the problems, we really enjoyed Halki - and meeting you two! I am so glad you had such a lovely time! ;D ;D ;D

[carol]

Girls, I know you wont think so but it is great to have you both back ;D ;D We did miss you ;D Jan I am so pleased you enjoyed your first trip, it sort of grabs you doesnt it ? I never thought that all those years ago when we visited for the first time that 9 years later we would still be returning and I still get sooooo excited and emotional about arriving.

Did you visit both beaches and eat in all the tavernas, lots of questions !!!

What time did the first ferry leave Jan ?

I will leave you to your shopping now, hope you get your machine ;D xxx

[jan]

Hi Kathy, I'm so glad Sarah recovered so you could both catch the flight home. How was Pefkos? I hope it was lively enough for the girls. We were absolutely thrilled with our first visit to Halki and will definitely be going back next summer. ;D

[kathy]

Pefkos was actually very nice Jan. ;D Its a fairly quiet place and
We stayed in apartments run by a really lovely Greek family. The girls loved having access to a pool too!
We didn't do much exploring though, which was the intention, it was just too hot! I think we need to give August a miss in future!
;D ;D

[jan]

Carol, a belated 'hello' to you too! Kinygos did tell me you'd posted a 'say hello' for me whilst I was away. I have been well and truly grabbed by the Halki spirit so I know exactly what you mean. In fact, hubby is already looking at villas for next year! Woohooo!

Yes, we visited both beaches and took the minibus to Kania beach too. It was far too hot to walk there so didn't mind paying. The beach was cute and we were the only ones there too so I dragged one of the sunbeds into the sea and sunbathed on that for a little while; a most refreshing experience! It was bliss. We ate at both beach tavernas but tended to go to Ftenagia beach the most. At Ftenagia, I loved that you only had to go a little way into the sea before you could plunge right in. ;D

The first ferry (the other local one, not the Nissos Halki) left KS at approx 4.30pm, I think. It seems like ages ago now but we landed at 3pm'ish, collected our luggage, then we were put straight into a taxi to KS. The ferry arrived shortly afterwards and the taxi driver said it was our ferry. Unfortunately, it wasn't the one included in our holiday package but was well worth the 20 euros it cost us just to get to Halki early.

The new washing machine is installed and has been spinning all afternoon. I'm sure most of the washing I've been doing is from the two cuckoos we left behind rather than our holiday clothes! Apparently, not only could they not work out how to clean up but they weren't able to cook the food I'd left in the freezer. I think the local takeaway establishments have done very well out of the cuckoos for the last two weeks! At least all the animals were still alive when we got home though so I don't mind too much.

[jan]

Kathy, I'm so pleased you liked Pefkos. Kevin told us how lovely it was so I thought the girls might enjoy it a bit more there. We saw his around quite a lot after you'd gone; yet another friendly person. I can't believe it was too hot for you there when you'd worked on Halki all those years ago!! Obviously too many years wearing bovver boots has played havoc with your internal heating mechanism!

[kathy]

Thing is Jan, when I worked there, the temperature change is gradual as the season progresses, so it wasn't a problem, by July and Auguset, you're used to it ! After that, I tended to go early and late season. Before I had children, I avoided the more expensive times to travel ie, the school holidays. ;D ;D ;D
It will only be a couple of years before we will be able to go whenever we feel like instead of slaves to the school timetable.
Kania sounded fun!! ;D ;D ;D