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Well today is the last day of the cruise and we have to be off the boat at 8am. However we buy another 8 hours of cabin space so we don't have to lug our cases around until 8pm tonight when we check in at the airport.
The view from the breakfast restaurant is brilliant. We love Corfu! I can see the tall tower of St Spiridon's church, the Old and New fortresses and the many Venetian roofs of the old town in the distance. The downside to Corfu Town is that I have already ticked off most of the caches. I was going to hold an event in the park next to the old port buildings but that idea go squashed by the memsahib some time ago. 🙁
We leave the boat, ignore the singular tout and catch the local bus to the old port. As Kathy's knee is playing up we decide that there's not going to be much walking today. We'll rely on cabs and buses apart from the obvious stroll around the Liston, overlooking the cricket pitch, and the shops. We decide to get the tourist bus that does a circular route around town especially as it goes down to a place we both want to visit again.😎
The bus winds its way through the narrow streets at the back of the New Fortress and into the town centre. It reaches the coast at Garitsa, with the Old Fortress on our left. I can see Mon Repos, where the Duke of Edinburgh was born. I've got a lot of time for the old boy, especially as the flagship that he was on was next to my dad's ship, the River Class frigate, HMS Nith at D-Day! (I'm writing this on June 6th, the 73rd anniversary of D-Day and it struck me that my dad was still only 20 years of age then. Later in the day, the ship was struck by enemy action and many of my dad's pals never made it home.)
Anyway that's enough nostalgia for today. The bus arrives at Kanoni and we alight. We can see our goal from here, Pontikonissi or Mouse Island. If you have ever flown in Corfu, you will have seen that little island on your right hand side as you come into land. We gingerly walk down the steps to the harbour where we catch a ride on the little boat that will take us over to the island.
Pontikonissi - Mouse Island has a small church, formerly a monastery, on the island and a trad geocache. 😀 After having a good look around the church reminding ourselves of its beauty, I take off to find the cache and pick up a TB, that has worked its way down from Finland to this spot. It hasn't been to the west side of Europe before but it will now!
Back on the mainland, we enjoy a beer whilst waiting for the bus. I learn a new Greek word "varelli" meaning draught. 🍺 There is supposed to be a cache within 12 metres but it has been reported missing for a while. I have a short look for Kanoni but it's not there perhaps I should have put a replacement down, too late now.😟
We catch our bus up to The Liston and spend the rest of the day shopping and refreshing ourselves. We get everything sorted and go to the airport for our flight.It hasn't been a bad week. I've found 26 caches in five countries, earned four new souvenirs. I've found trads, earthcaches, a SideTracked, a virtual and picked up a few TBs, sounds like a good holiday.👍🏻