Southwards to Kyparissi- Serious Arctic

Day Five and the sun came out

After a very pleasant month in Leonidio, we headed south to the tiny village of Kyparissi, one and a half hours (15 miles as the crow flies!) away. We visited the place briefly five years ago and we struck by the tranquillity compared to the busy hubbub of Leonidio. The only fly in the ointment was the weather forecast which was predicting a spell of five days of dirty weather with snow and sub-zero temperatures. It turned out that the forecast was pretty much spot on and although it only got down to 4C the surrounding mountains had a white coat.

Seaside houses

Fortunately our rather smart AirBnB house is warm, and waterproof and everyday we managed to grab a break in the weather and get out for an explore of the area - though climbing was deffo off the menu.

I have had a whole heap of work to be get on with, especially a major update of the Kalymnos App so I haven't had any trouble keeping occupied. 

The only question is - where next?

The wild access road to Kyparissi

Leonidio Reprise #3

The Red Cliffs above Leonidio

We first visited Leonidio in October/November 2017. The plan was to escape the crowds that flock to Kalymnos in the Autumn and to try somewhere new. We picked up Colin and Andy at Athens airport and drove the steady three hours to the small harbour village of Sampatiki - our base for a week or so. We headed into town for shopping and got the first clue we weren't alone - there were over 50 vehicles parked up under Mad Wall. It turns out it was half-term over much of Europe and a good % of the Continents' climbers had the same thoughts as us. We climbed of course but it was a bit of a struggle, finding both parking and free routes on occasions. The time we spent at Kyparissi and Nafplio were much pleasanter.

A lovely pad in town - complete with friendly cat

A year later we spent a couple of weeks touring the Peloponnese and didn't see another climber until we rolled into Leonidio. This time we were greeted by a thunderstorm and a lightning strike that cut the power to the town for 36 hours - no heating, no internet, and after a few hours, no water as the pumps weren't working - not a great start.

Sherri wasn't mad keen on a third attempt but after our Schengen induced Cyprus sojourn we needed somewhere to spend a few weeks, with a decent amount of climbing - and Leonidio came to mind. After a few cold and snow days at Frygani we rolled into town and were pleasantly surprised, the place had a much more friendly vibe than we remembered and it wasn't too busy. The nights were still cold - around 7C but the days were about perfect - I suspect we can suffer a month here :-)

Cyprus - Still Here

Winter sun in Cyprus

Eight and a half weeks later and we are still on Cyprus. We completed our time outside Schengen a couple of weeks ago, and are eligible for the next ninety day run within the block. Normally we would have pushed off sharpish, with Leonidio the current most likely destination. We have dallied because of the Omicron Variant sweeping across the world, it seemed safer to sit it out here - where we don't interact much with people and where society seems very sensible in their handing of the current restrictions.

The weather has been cool and unsettled for a couple of weeks with day time temperatures about 12C and nights down to 7C - though it still seems to be one of the warmest places in Europe - they have even had snow in Kalymnos.

Stormy weather

I have continued to climb once or twice a week and explore the local area plus further afield. We even had a short break over in the east, a lovely pad in the resort of Protaras close to the Cape Greko climbing area. It turned out that we were virtually the only people in town - everything was shut up for the winter - so much for the plan of eating out a couple of times!

Flights booked for Athens next week - Leonidio bound for a month or so - back on the road again :-)

Cyprus - that's Different

Cyprus - nice a quite away from the coast

Our 90 days in Schengen were up, so we had to leave Kalymnos - cheers for that all you small minded Brexiteers. We needed to make a decision, and returning to the UK in November was bottom of the list. There are four destination that are in the EU and aren't in Schengen - Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus - and a visit to any of these is allowed for 90 days and it doesn't count towards your tally. Of the four it turns out that Cyprus is a good winter destination so we hopped on two planes - that's been a while - and checked into a pad near Paphos for six weeks.

Stormy weather

First impressions are very favourable - the weather is mild, everyone speaks English and they drive on the left. The coastal area is very busy, with lots of modern developments - but inland is a whole different world. The island isn't a main-stream climbing destination but there is certainly enough to pass a few weeks, the three main areas for sport climbing are about thirty minutes drive from where we are stopping - though one of those is the reserve of the hard men.

Ancient remains.

And then there is the history/archaeology - the place has been inhabited for millennia and has been a crossroads for the Eastern Mediterranean. There are the most amazing remains from the Greeks and Romans and all those who came later. We have already visited the Tombs of the Kings and Old Paphos and there is more to come.

Kalytastic

The UK in Autumn

 So we headed back to the UK from Coatia via a lazy three day drive through Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Holland, followed by an overnight crossing to Hull - back to sunny (not!) Sheffield. We only had six days at home, and the weather was best described as 'mixed' - it rained every day but the sun came out most days too. 

Colin cane down for three days and we had a couple of great autumnal walks, with spectacular colours and a lot of folks - Wyming Brook and Padley Gorge. Then he dropped us off at Leeds/Bradford airport for a easy flight down to Kos on an almost empty Jet2 flight. 

Kalymnos in Autumn

Six weeks less than two years and we rolled back into Kalymnos - we never knew what was trundling down the line when we left back in 2019. Apparently the autumn here has been the busiest season ever, with crowds, queues and the locals making up for lost time. Our first week was still busy - 40 scooters at Ghost Kitchen one day - but week two has been remarkably quiet - just how we like it.

North and South

The battering roaring blast of the Bora

Our continued exploration of Croatia get rather blown off track by the Bora, a cold blustery wind that blows out of the interior and across the Dalmation coast. It started blowing in Baška and 12 days later, down at Paklenica it was still roaring - they say wind can drive you mad - they may well be right. Unsure of how long it might blow for or how widespread it might me, be we decided on a rethink - and Kalymnos in November came out top of the list of Plan Bs.

Initially we thought about driving, or flying from Croatia but both were problematic especially as we would probably be trying to do the return journey in December. After a lot of mulling we decided the easiest option was to head back to the UK, get our flu jabs and then jump on one of the many near-empty planes flying down to Kos to bring tourists home at the end of the season.

We have about four weeks left in Schengen in the time up to the middle of January - the current plan is to spend them in Kalymnos then relocate to Cyprus - which like Croatia has a separate 90 day limit. We have never been to Cyprus so that is a plus, the winters are mild and there is some climbing - that almost sounds like a plan.

Brexit Bollies and Options Galore

Rovinj - Croatia

 We arrived in Europe about eight weeks ago which means that we have already used up 2/3 of our allotted time in the Schengen Area - what a pain! We visited the Spanish and the French Pyrenees, the Briançon and Maurienne areas and Arco/Lake Garda in Italy.

And then - far too soon, it was time to exit Schengen - saving about 30 days of our entitlement in case we want to visit Kalymnos in the autumn, or if we need to head back to the UK.

So we got all our documents in order and rolled up to the Croatian border - where precisily nothing was checked, no passport stamps, no questions asked - all a bit of a surprise.

First impressions are favourable, everbody speaks English, the cost of living is cheap, the place is very civilised and there is some half-decent climbing. 

We have three months at our disposal, so we intend to explore the place from end to end climbing along the way.

After three months we can dip back into the Schengen area or head to another of the countries that are in the EU but not in Schegen - Hungary, Bulgaria and Cyprus. Or even visit the Balkan states.

So in many respects Brexit has been a sorry mess, but it has thrown up new options and tempted us to new places, which is the real positive to have come out of it - thanks Boris and your bunch of charlatans.