Sat 10 Aug and Sun 11 Aug – Exploring Amorgos

Somewhat exhausted from the 10 hour sail the day before we set out to find some nice breakfast and check out the local town, Katapola. Katapola is sprinkled around a bay that makes a fantastic natural harbour, with a small ferry terminal and a few restaurants, shops and a tiny beach. We managed to find a place that would make us eggs and bacon – what a treat! I started feeling a bit under the water (pun intended) and we decided to spend the rest of the day back on Bini.  

Sunday started slowly, just how it’s supposed to do! After a lavish breakfast with Greek yoghurt, fruit and honey we decided to rent a scooter to explore the island. Amorgos is one of the most hilly islands of the Cyclades so taking the scooter around its windey roads promised to be fun! We found a local place called “Thomas’ car rental”, and even though we share the same name there was no discount to be had. Turns out Thomas must be quite the entrepreneur as we found his name plastered all over the local hotels, restaurants and travel shops. We took the scooter up to the Chora, battling the winds. Luckily our anchorage was quite protected, I don’t think we would have left Bini if we had the same amount of wind as we found fighting our way up the mountain.

The Chora is a magical place, white washed houses, tiny streets and few tourists. It felt a bit like a smaller, more quiet version of Ios. On top of the Chora are ruins of old Greek wind mills, which were thoroughly explored. The wind up here was so strong that we struggled at times to keep on our feet! 

After a small lunch in the Chora it was time to take the scooter to our next destination: the otherworldly Hozoviotissa Monastery. The monastery is built like a swallows nest under a mountain cliff and is a breathtaking sight. It’s built at 300m above sea level and stands 40m high and just 5m wide. We parked up the scooter and walked the stoney path up to the monastery, which luckily had some spare clothes hanging on the front gate for heathens like us. Camilla scored a nice looking skirt while I had to make do with pants that looked like they were last worn by a Chinese farmer. We had a good old look around, played with the local cats and hurt our necks staring up the sheer mountain cliff. The most impressive sight though was the sea state on the south of the island. The wind here gets accelerated by the drop of the land, and the sea on the south of the island looked vicious, with white caps and long streaks of white foam confirming our idea to definitely avoid this patch when sailing to the next island.

Last but not least we hopped back on the scooter and drove all the way to the other end of the island to visit the famous shipwreck “Olympia”. as featured in the movie The Big Blue. While I enjoyed the hike and the views of the wreck I do have to say that as a sailor the sight of a broken ship bopping in the sand always makes me feel a bit icky. We jumped back on the scooter and battled our way back through the mountains and the wind that was still howling angrily around every other corner. After a little pitstop in a local restaurant we were both both exhausted but happy from the adventures of today.