All language subtitles for m.g.o.s05e02.1080p.hdtv.h264-cbfm_track3_[eng]

(THEME MUSIC)

In the first four series of
My Greek Odyssey

we visited islands
of the Saronic,

the Ionian, the Dodecanese,
the Western Cycladic

and the Northern Aegean.

In series five, we're seeing the
Southern and Central Cycladic.

Islands you've never heard of like
Levitha, Anafi, Donoussa,

and ones you know well like
Santorini and the big one, Crete.

Last episode saw me arriving on
Crete, where I'll be spending

several weeks circumnavigating
the island by land and sea.

So far, I've explored Chania and
a few highlights in the southwest.

This time around I'll be heading
into the mountains,

getting an education
on the geological history of Crete,

as well as hiking through
the massive Samaria Gorge.

Plus, I'll be making my way to
a couple of spectacular

nearby islands
that surprisingly few people visit.

Crete is 260 kilometres long,
from east to west.

Throughout that span runs a massive
mountain range

with the highest peak,
Mount Ida,

commonly known as Psiloritis,
reaching almost 2,500 metres.

This mountainous heart forms much of
the island's character,

both in a physical sense
and culturally.

They're a place of myth and legend,

adding to the diversity of
environments that can be explored.

From cool high country summits
and arid rocky slopes,

to deep gorges with waterfalls
and lush green plateaus.

To learn about how
the island formed,

I met with Dr. Babis Fassoulas,

a geologist who talks with almost
as much passion

and excitement as I do.

We're looking at 300
million-year-old rock here.

How do you know it's 300
million-year-old rock?

We know it because of these
kinds of fossils.

These circular type of fossils
are corals.

We know that these particular
corals,

they lived 300 million years
ago, and then they were extinct.

After that, OK.

So we know that this is 300 million
old, right? Wow.

This morning, I was stepping into
a time machine

and going back millions of years to
discover how Crete was formed.

To most people, these are just

uninspiring rocks and you drive
past, without even a thought.

But for Dr. Fassoulas, this is a
page from a scientific journal.

A slab of stone with a story of
Crete's foundation etched into it.

Let's go to the next location.
(SPEAKS GREEK)

We're just going to...
anybody can see this.

Anyone can come here and see this.

Yes. It's a little bit dangerous
because it's the highway.

But we hope with the construction of
the new road,

this will be more quiet
and easy to be accessed.

I think we've got a gap here.
I think we've got a gap here.

Oh, wait, after that.

Our time machine wasn't a DeLorean
like Back to the Future.

Instead, it was a rattling old
Ford Ranger, I think.

The dust on it was so thick,
I couldn't tell.

Our journey was taking us inland
where over millions of years

the forces of Mother Nature
have built the mountains,

which have then eroded in parts,
exposing a timeline

of Crete's creation.

Professor, you brought me to a bunch
of rocks on the side of the road.

I don't know how you can make this
interesting but anyway,

let's have a look.

Yeah well Peter, this is a very
interesting place.

It's actually like we're driving
through the time.

We're now 50 million years earlier
than the former stop.

So what we're going to see here
are some unique rocks.

You don't find them often.

They were formed 250 million years
ago in shallow water.

These rocks are called
stromatolites.

And the reason that I brought
you here is because this

is a special rock, which will bring
us quite back in time.

3.5 billion years ago when it all
started, actually also life started.

So these rocks are formed by some
bacteria,

which are called
stromatolites.

These stromatolites actually
are extracting the iron

from the water
and they release oxygen.

Actually, these bacteria turned the
early red oceans into blue oceans.

So are you telling me that the ocean

three and a half billion years ago
when everything started was red?

Exactly. It was a red sea.

It was a red sea and something in
here...a bacteria

that's in there still, right,
extracted the iron

and turned it blue!

Exactly.
Wow.

This bacteria extracted the iron,
deposited the iron into layers,

the dark layers that we see here,
all the dark layers

that we see here.

Oh, you can see up there.

This section, you see.
It looks like lots of worms.

They look like worms but actually
they are developing like pillars.

Put simply, the water had
communities of blue-green algae.

Through photosynthesis, it converted

the iron-rich water into energy
and oxygen.

That oxygen eventually saturated
the seas

and ended up becoming the air
that enabled life on earth.

Over time, the bacteria formed layer
upon layer of microbial mats.

And what we're looking at now is

the end result,
called stromatolites,

which translates to layered rocks.

Professor, we understand how
it turned from a red sea

into a blue sea.

And we got the beginning of time for
Crete anyway, 250 million years ago.

What happened next?

Well, next we have to go to another
nearby place

where exactly I will show you how
Crete was developed as an island.

So we're getting higher and higher.

A little bit higher, and we will see
all this formation of the island.

Let's go.

They come up this high in the
mountain, Professor, the sheep.

Look at them.

They just had a haircut.

They just had a haircut, yeah.
Look at them.

Where's the shepherd?

He should be waiting somewhere here
to bring the food.

That's why they're all running
for food.

This is fantastic. I mean,
it couldn't be any more remote.

There's nothing happening up here
except a few sheep.

Look at them all. Look at them all!

There's like 500 of them!

So we continue?

Absolutely! Let's get going but
just, let's not hit any of them.

Wow, Professor, this is a little bit
more creative.

Yeah, it's massive.

Now, what's happening here?

We know why we've gone from
a red sea

to a blue sea, oxygen, life starting
three and a half billion years ago.

But what happened in Crete?
What's going on here?

What we see here, we see
the ocean bottom.

A deep ocean bottom with
the silica layers,

the white and the marble,
which was formed at that depth.

And because this ocean was between
Africa,

which is in the south and Europe
that is in the north,

it was squished.

And the rocks you see were bent.

Some came up, some turned, some up,

and that's how the mountains
are formed.

So they're pushing together,

the two tectonic plates
and mountains came up.

This came up. Imagine, for example,
that you're Africa from the south...

In the south. That's there.

I'm Europe, which I'm coming
from the north.

We start to push and finally we bent
the rocks

and we rose them up
to create the mountains.

Wow. Hang on a second.

We're like 500 metres or 1,000
metres up in the air,

and you're telling me
that's the seabed.

Exactly. This is the sea bottom.

How can you prove,
what evidence do you have

that is the sea bottom
there?

OK. Let's wait for a while.

I'm going to take you up
in the mountains,

at the highest point,
to show you exactly the proof.

OK. Let's do that.
I love this stuff.

All this from rocks, it's amazing.

As we travelled further up
the mountains,

the journey through time kept
getting more and more fascinating.

We passed the Nida Plateau,
which sits

between the east and west peaks of
Mount Ida at 1,400 metres altitude.

It's a barren landscape used as
grazing ground,

which is probably where that
flock of sheep was heading.

It might not look like it now,

but apparently people come skiing up
here in winter.

Now we are at an altitude
of 1,500 metres

and look, what do you
think it is?

I don't know. It looks like a big
Friday night.

What is it?

This is the sea bottom.

We know that it's the sea bottom,
because these are sea sponges

that were living at the ocean bottom
some 50 million years ago.

Now we see them up in the mountains.

1,500 metres up. So this is proof.

You've proved to me that the
mountains have come up

out of the sea,
been squashed together

by two tectonic plates,
north and south.

And this is north and south.

So we're talking about Europe
over there.

And Africa over there.

It's the only way it could go.

That's why they are inclined now.

Thank you, buddy. You've taught me
something today.

I love it.
What a day.

There was no double speak or
technical jargon from Dr. Babis.

He explained the geological history
of Crete

in such simple terms that
even I could understand.

Not only was it educational
and awe inspiring,

but we had a great
time together.

I've been blessed to meet several
academics

just like him, who possess
a wonderful skill of being able

to simplify and communicate
decades of acquired expertise.

They have an undying passion
and endless thirst for knowledge.

But more importantly, they know how
to put it in layman's terms.

We often think about
the remoteness of these

small Greek islands, right through
the Aegean and the Ionian seas.

But that also exists on the biggest
island in Greece,

Crete, but for
a different geographical sense.

It's not the sea that separates
the populations,

but these massive gorges.

Here at Aradena, this town has been
separated

from civilisation
for centuries by this gorge

and this one little track that takes
you from one side to the other.

Until in 1986, they decided to
build this bridge.

And boy, did it make it a lot
easier.

People have inhabited the mountain
areas of Crete

for thousands of years.

Throughout most of this time,
the deep gorges and high

mountain passes have been natural
barriers that kept towns isolated,

and made travelling between them not
only time consuming, but dangerous.

Even today, there are just a few
major roads

and bridges connecting
the island.

So there are villages dotted about
Crete that are quite remote.

The ravines and hills have some of
the best hikes you'll come across.

And the trek I was about to do

was to traverse through one of
Europe's longest gorges.

It's also the most popular walk
on this island.

Now, I've done my fair share of
walks through the Greek islands.

But my absolute favourite
is the Samaria Gorge,

which we're going
to do today.

But this time with an expert
in Christoforos. Are you ready?

I'm ready. Are you?

I am, but I've never walked
with so much camera equipment

and sound people
and directors.

Do you mind walking with
all of them?

I don't mind.
We will survive, I guess.

I think we will.
Let's go.

We were up at 4:30am this morning
to be at the entrance

as the sun came up.

It's a long hike, so it's best
to do as much of it as you can

before the heat
of a hot summer's day.

The track lies within a gorge,

so you get some shade and it stays
fairly cool for the early miles.

But as you get low and the sun
gets high, it starts to bake.

You know, Christoforos, I like this
walk because it's all downhill.

This is made for a big guy like me.

It's not exactly all downhill,
but...

Oh, the majority of it!

The majority of it is downhill
like this.

We're starting from 1,200 metres of
altitude

and we're getting to zero,
to sea.

So we're dropping 1,200 metres.

Exactly.

And we're going 16 kilometres.

That's the main trail, 16
kilometres, all the way to the sea.

So we end up, where do we end up?

What's the place that we end up at
the sea, the beach?

What's it called?
It's called Agia Roumeli.

Agia Roumeli?

Yeah, it's a small village where
there are no roads.

It's accessible only by boat
or on foot.

Now, you've been doing this walk
since you were, what? How long?

My first time was when I was
16 years old.

In the last 10 years, I stopped
counting

how many times I've
been through.

Careful here because the rocks
are quite slippery.

This first bit is the steepest bit.

There isn't anything like this
again is there?

Actually, now we are going
through the so-called Xyloskalo,

which in Greek translation
means the wooden stairs.

Believe it or not, it was carved by
human,

by the Ottomans, so they can
have easier access inside the gorge.

So they were sticking small pieces

of wood in the rock so they can make
a small stair.

That's why they call it Xyloskalo.

Right. It gets pretty busy here.

How many walkers do you get a day
here in summer?

Up to 1,000 a day
in the high season.

There's been times, of course,
there have been 3,000 per day.

Wow. But look, you can see why.

It's a must-do thing.

Yeah. It is a must-do thing when you
come to Crete, definitely.

Rugged landscapes build resilient
people and those that call

the mountains of Crete home

are amongst the toughest
you'll come across.

It was this harsh environment
that forged

the revolutionaries of Sfakion.

While today there may be some of
the modern comforts available

in the mountain villages, there's
still a sense of self-reliance

that breeds independence
and strength, but they're also

some of the most welcoming
people you'll come across too.

Like I said earlier, this is
the most popular walk in Crete,

and possibly Greece
for that matter.

But despite the huge number of
tourists that do the hike,

there's still a sense
of peace and serenity.

You might cross paths with others,

but there are plenty of moments
where there's nothing but the sounds

of insects and your footsteps and in
my case, some huffing and puffing.

Well, Christophoros, we've gone
from the green and brown

of the beautiful
tree-lined gorge to this river bed.

This is the change, isn't it?

Actually, we will be passing about
21 kinds of habitat.

Now we're walking along the river
bed

where usually in the wintertime,
this is all flooded.

You can see the timber and the logs

that the force of the water
can bring down.

And as we walk, we will find other
kinds of habitats as well.

OK.

So this is Agio Nikolos?

Yes. This is Agios Nikolos.

It is believed that it was a
sanctuary during the ancient times.

People were coming here to heal,
soul and body.

Gee, Christoforos, I look at this,
this deep valley.

You're in the middle of nowhere.

It's almost like a really good
hiding spot.

It was actually.

It was during the modern
and ancient history of Greece,

of the island actually,
Samaria Gorge was always a refuge

spot for partisans, resistance,
anyone who wanted freedom.

Right. And people were living here,
weren't they?

People were living here until 1962
actually, when the gorge

was declared a national park
and they had to evacuate it.

Until then, it was inhabited
since the ancient times.

And of course people were almost...

not almost, actually totally
independent from the outside world.

Independent. The water's fine,
but... what else would they use?

Did they have crops, olive trees?
Of course, they would have crops,

olive trees, hunting,
trading timber as well.

We will see on our way some remains
of those establishments as well.

And they were self-efficient.

The nature would provide
whatever they needed.

What did they do in winter
when the water came through?

Were they still living here?

They still had passes to go out
the gorge.

Today, nowadays we just walk
the main trail.

But of course, all those
mountains you see all around you,

they can be walked,
even if it looks not possible.

It is huge.

Huge. Anyway, we've got a lot of
kilometres to go.

We should keep walking.

There's water here but there was
no water at the top.

There is a simple answer
to that, Peter.

Actually, Crete is made out of
limestone, a very soft rock.

So the water goes underground

until it finds some hard rock
to surface again.

That's why it plays a little bit of
hide and seek here.

Ah, right. OK.

Oops.

Remember what I said earlier about

nothing but the sounds of insects
and footsteps?

Well, here you have it.

(INSECTS CHIRP)

You know, when you Google longest
gorge in Europe, Samaria comes up.

But is it the longest gorge
in Europe?

No, of course not.

But it's one of the longest

and one of the most important
habitats in Europe.

That's why it's protected
under UNESCO.

There's a lot of flora and
fauna in Crete.

Yeah, of course. About 250 species.

Endemic to Crete?

Endemic to Crete. Yes.

And of course in here,
25 of them are steno-endemic.

They can be found only in here,
in the gorge.

In Samaria? In Samaria,
nowhere else in the world.

Wow.

I've been lucky enough to walk
through the gorge

with my wife, Helen,
and even run through it

with my koumbaro Terry,
and I never get tired of it.

There's just so much theatre.
The planning and preparation.

The drive to the walk.

The multitude of microclimates
that you travel through.

Then there's the well-deserved
beach swim at the end,

and finally the scenic
ferry ride back to civilisation.

It's the complete package.

I actually don't have any photos

of me doing the walk,
as there's no need,

because the memories are as clear
as if it all happened yesterday.

We've got some spring water
here, hey?

Yeah. You can refill your bottle
here.

This is natural spring water?

That's natural spring water

and there's one spring
every two kilometres.

Ah, fantastic, isn't it? Yeah.
We've seen a few already.

Samaria water, aye?

In Crete, and in many other parts
of Greece for that matter,

the water in villages is sourced
from springs,

not a dam or reservoir.

The water from these natural sources

could have taken hundreds,
if not thousands

of years to find its way through
the rock strata to the surface.

The abundance of springs
is also why the gorge

is so green at times, when other
parts of the island are bone dry.

For hikers, they're a godsend.

So this is the village?

Actually, yeah.

This is actually the centre
of the gorge

that was also a big
trading centre.

And now we're going over the bridge
to get to the old village.

OK.

I don't know about this bridge.

It's safe.

The village was abandoned in 1962

when the area was declared
a national park.

Those that lived here were primarily
wood cutters and beekeepers.

The settlement and gorge are both
named after

the Byzantine church
on the edge of the town.

The name Samaria is believed to be

a corruption of Osia Maria
or Santa Maria.

The ruins tell the story of a once
busy hamlet

where trade with passing
travellers and the export of honey

and timber brought in enough revenue
to sustain the small population.

A few of the buildings have been
restored and are used today

by the authorities to house
the guards, a doctor,

and information kiosk.

Other than that, it's the main
rest stop for hikers.

Not for us though.

We were on a mission and kept
ploughing on through

with a Kyriako Bar
in hand.

You'll have to watch earlier seasons
of the show

to learn what that means.

By this time, the temperature
was well and truly rising.

The cool mountain air from the high
point at the start of the hike

had now
become warm and dry.

In a few more hours, the heat
would be through the roof,

so I was keen to press on.

I love that there's no cellular
network connection

for the majority
of the walk.

For me, that means peace and quiet

without having any disturbance
from the outside world.

But in one of the brief moments

I did have a connection,
I took a quick look at my phone

and I realised that
it was my 30th anniversary.

With Helen back in Australia
and seven hours ahead,

I needed to speed up so that I could
talk to her before she went to bed.

In 30 years, I haven't gone a day
without seeing or talking to Helen.

Can you imagine breaking that record
on your 30th anniversary?

So Peter, this is it.

This is the gates of the gorge

and the most narrow spot
of the whole gorge.

Just here?

Three metres wide, about 100 metres
high. We're almost done.

We're very close to the exit.
How long to go?

Two more small kilometres.

Let's go.
Two more small kilometres.

And then I'm going for a swim
at the beach.

And fresh beer.
You bet. You bet.

After this last rough section,

the final two kilometres of the hike
becomes a lot more civilised.

There are beer stalls and a paved
road

where you can pay a few euros
for a lift to the port.

A word of warning, you don't want to
miss the boat,

because there aren't
many options for accommodation.

Missing my ride wasn't an option.

So if you're wondering
why we don't have any shots

of me going for a swim or
relaxing with a beer, it's because

I literally ran the last couple of
kilometres while dialling Helen.

Most people know that Crete
is a massive island,

but a lot out there don't realise
that it's surrounded by loads

of smaller isles, like tiny moons
orbiting around the massive Jupiter.

Many are easily accessible by ferry

or water taxi and they're little
treasures.

So we left Chora Sfakion to visit
one that I've never been to.

This wasn't just any rocky island
in the middle of nowhere.

It's a special landmark
and a mighty pretty one at that.

You can see why this place has just
a handful of year-round inhabitants.

It's arid and rocky
with little greenery,

not much annual rainfall and just
a couple of small settlements.

But in its prime, there was said to
be some 8,000 people living here.

Over-farming and land clearing
led to environmental decline

and the end result made Gavdos
the barren landscape you see now.

However, it does get quite a few
intrepid travellers

who come here to escape the crowds,
camp and swim in the pristine water.

We've come a long way from Crete
for something I'm about to show you.

It's more a geographical milestone
than anything else.

How special is this? I've been
waiting some time to come here.

We are at the most southern point
of Europe,

here at the island of Gavdos
and this big chair represents that.

A couple of Russian guys that left
Chernobyl have looked for

a bit of freedom and solace

away from the disaster
that they went through.

So they built this to signify
a geographical milestone.

You can see the compass below us.
North, south, west and east.

They've even left a little rock here

for me to be able to jump up
onto the seat.

Now, you know I'm not...
Hang on.

There we go.

Now I wouldn't lean back that way

because they haven't put
the backrest right.

But, here we go.
The island of Gavdos.

Southernmost point in all of Europe.

All I can say is, wow and awesome,

awesome, awesome for you guys
out there.

Ah, look at it!

Just under 300 kilometres south of
us is North Africa, Tobruk in fact.

For me on My Greek Odyssey, this is
a final milestone in my bucket list.

I've visited the most western island
of Othonoi.

Explored the most eastern in
Kastellorizo.

Spent time at the most northern
in Thasopoula.

And now the southernmost, Gavdos.
That's the four corners covered.

Now to continue the mission of
stepping on

all the inhabited islands
in between.

Just below the chair
is the beach of Tripiti.

Tripiti meaning hole, because
there's holes in the rock.

That's pretty obvious.

There's only about 100 people
on the island.

It's only 30 square kilometres.

You don't really want to come here

for any other reason than maybe go
to the beach.

But in Homer's Odyssey,
the nymph Calypso

apparently enticed Odysseus
to the island

and detained him
for seven years.

And after seven years,
she said to him,

"Stay and I'll give you
immortality."

He declined it and left.
Do you reckon he got it wrong?

Yiannis!

There is some form of civilisation
on the island,

but very little
infrastructure.

What does exist is mostly to support

the type of traveller that can get
by with few creature comforts.

It's a place for minimalists.

Those after peace,
quiet and isolation.

Beyond the local residents,

I get the sense that many of the
people here are the transient type,

with no fixed address and free
from the burdens of the daily grind.

I guess you could call them
present-day hippies.

Even those living here full-time
must be quite solitary,

as there's not much going on,
even during the busiest periods.

You can visit one of the small
villages

to grab a meal and get a sense
of the community here.

But the main reason for coming over
is to check out the beaches.

They're amongst the prettiest
in Greece.

Some say they rival
the best on the planet.

We're about an hour's hike from
the famous beach of Saroniko.

This is Agios Ioannis.

It's considered by Discovery Channel

as the second best beach
in the world.

Now, I don't know.

Maybe you need to add two or three
zeroes on it for me.

When you have a look at it,
you see the shack in the background.

It's not exactly the best beach.

It's a beautiful beach,
don't get me wrong.

You don't see many people, because
they're all basically hidden.

This is a naturalist beach,
or a nudist beach.

The whole island's known for it.

It's the sort of place you come to
if you want to camp.

It's not five-star hotel stuff.

In actual fact, there's not many
hotels on the island at all.

And that's the beauty of the island,
it's at the frontier of tourism.

It's a nice place.

I like it, regardless of what
Discovery Channel

is selling at the moment.

Hidden in the dunes and shadows
are shacks, shanties and tents.

It has a strange feeling to it,

because you know there's probably
loads of people

lurking in the background, but you
can't really see many of them.

The heat makes everyone retreat
to the shade

or the comfort
of their caravans.

It's not entirely my cup of tea.

I'm not fond of the idea of parking
up a van

and making it home
for months on end.

I like to move around and constantly
learn and explore.

Perhaps later in life, I'll become
a bit more sedentary.

One thing I certainly appreciate

is that Gavdos hasn't been built up
and developed for mass tourism.

When that happens,
so much authenticity is lost.

There are plenty of other places
for people

after that kind of
experience.

There are few things more soothing

than the sound of lapping water
on a pebbled beach.

Here in the off season,
there's no background noise

of distant traffic or people
talking and splashing in the waves.

It's just the sounds of
Mother Nature at her calming best.

Odysseus was not the only famous
person

to use Gavdos as a place
of refuge.

The famous pirate Barbarosa used
this place as a hiding spot.

The apostle Paul had to stop here

in a weather event on his way
to his trial in Rome.

But I love this beach, Saroniko.

For me, it's my favourite
on the whole island.

In summer, it's absolutely packed.

The island actually gets about 2,000
people, but there's only 100 rooms.

They're all camping.
Everybody's camping.

Now I've been filming all day and I
think that's a tavern over there.

I think it is, anyway.

The little beach-side taverns are a
highlight

of travelling through
the Greek islands.

They typically serve fresh local
food and cold drinks.

However, it's the settings
that make them so special.

This is prime real estate,
with views to die for.

You don't get much better
than a table on the beach,

some mezze
and an ice cold beverage.

On a bigger island, this place
would be packed,

but here on Gavdos,
there's always a table available.

You can even laze around
in a hammock

and let the waves
lull you to sleep.

That's exactly what I did, only to
be woken up by a grumbling stomach.

So it was back to Mia Zoi,

where Kyriako is whipping up a
favourite Cretan breakfast of mine.

I can see we're making dakos today.

This is a pretty simple recipe.
It's a Cretan breakfast.

So let's go. We've got tomato.

We've got mizithra, right?

It's a local goat cheese,

which is perishable in about four or
five days.

It's a barley rusk. What else?

So we've got a tomato. We've got
olive oil. We've got water.

We've got salt, capers.

Now, if you don't have myzithra,

feta cheese is OK,
but myzithra is the way to go.

Now we're having it for breakfast,

but you can have it any time
of the day.

Farmers used to take the rusk
in their backpack,

tomatoes from the field,
have some myzithra in their backpack

and put it all together
in the field.

The good thing about this is,
once you put it all together...

Keep going. Don't wait for me,
right? Don't wait for me.

You just keep going. Don't stop.

It's a bit of water just to soak
into the rusk,

to soften it up because you don't
want to bust your teeth up, right?

A little bit of olive oil.

There's no such thing as a little
bit of olive oil with Greeks.

It's fairly similar to bruschetta
but really, it's the Cretan way.

We got the barley rather than just
normal flour in the bread.

And Kyriakos was just saying,
the tomato

shredded up like that basically
soaks into it and softens it up.

Like I was saying, the longer
it's there,

the better it is, because
it's nice and soft.

Anyway, I'm salivating at the
moment.

And then what he does,
he just dices or chops

some tomato to put it
on top.

So it's a bit more of a
meal, isn't it?

Yeah, malissa. You're learning Greek
as we go. Aren't you so blessed?

Hey, they're so blessed,
aren't they? All right.

What do we do now?
That looks so good.

What do we do now?
We're almost ready.

See, he's letting me putting
the salt on for a change.

See, Helen?
I'm listening to you, babe.

So if you're using feta, you don't
need... We have too much.

You're listening to Helen as well.

So if you're using feta,

you don't need the salt because
the feta's got salt in it already.

This myzithra, the fresh myzithra,
you can't beat it.

So for those of you that aren't
Greek,

you need to go to a Greek deli
to ask for myzithra.

Look at it. Oh, that looks so good.

We've got the capers over here.
They're ready to go on.

Don't tell me you put some more
olive oil on top as well. Mm-hmm.

Of course, of course.

Look at that. That's just a little
bit of olive oil.

No such thing.
I love olive oil.

And that's it.

There we have our dakos,
which is a Cretan thing.

Only the Cretans...
well, others have it now.

They call it theirs
but it's Cretan's.

In the village, you would use
fresh capers.

So what do we do now?
We got to cut this up, right?

Do you want to do that now
for me so I can try it? Come on.

(CRUNCH)

See, you can see,
crunching together.

Now there's no real proper way
to eat it.

It's going to be going all over
the place.

So look at that. It just looks
like a mush.

Now, if it's there for about two
or three hours,

it's going to be a
little bit easier to eat.

So if you with your girlfriend,
wait for two or three hours...

or your wife, wait for two or three
hours and then eat it.

It's a little less sloppy.

But when I eat it now,
I'm going to look like

a bit of a slop eating
this thing, right?

Oh, that is so good.

No, not too much. You don't want it
to soften up too much.

This is so good, Kyriako.

We're in Crete.

We're eating like Cretans

and hopefully I might live long
enough to be like a Cretan.

Thank you, Kyriako.

There you have it, Cretan dakos.

It's the epitome of Greek summer

and the ultimate representation of
the Mediterranean diet.

Time in this part of the world
moves slowly.

The pace of life is incredibly
relaxed

and it takes just a couple of days
for it to rub off.

It was the perfect bit of rest
after a busy start to the trip.

Pretty quiet here.

With the weather map
showing great cruising conditions,

we rose early and made
our way northeast,

leaving Gavdos in our wake,

as we moved closer to Crete
to visit a couple of little islands.

We've come to these two islands
of Paximadia.

Right next to each other.
Now paximadi, that's a paximadi.

They don't look anything like
a dry rusk to me, but anyway.

The nice thing about this is that
you can catch a tourist boat

to get to these islands, to
come to this wonderful little beach.

There's a little bit more
you should know about Paximadia

and I'm going to tell you
about it when we get to the beach.

Onto the beach, Yiorgos.
Right up, aye?

Thanks, Yiorgos.

Now, these two islands of Paximadia
are tiny little things.

There's no inhabitants, nothing.

And you'd think there'd be
no history.

Well, the Greeks, they've come up
with something.

In popular mythology,
Daedalus and his son Icarus...

who we all know, the wings made of
feathers and wax.

They were actually imprisoned here

on these islands because of
Daedalus's labyrinth out at Knossos.

That's another story.

Anyway, they're imprisoned here,

created the feather wings, flew 170
miles north to the Icarian Sea.

They melted and he fell into
the sea.

The strange thing is
that the sun here

rises in the southeast and sets
in the southwest and he flew north.

He was flying in the wrong
direction.

I'm not too sure, but I think these
guys that were thinking up

this mythology, maybe they were
around a campfire or something.

Who knows what the fumes were
from the campfire.

There might have been something
that's been grown a lot these days.

Oh, I'll tell you what.
This looks good.

Oh, I think it's time for a swim.

Greece's islands are broken up
into groups

such as the Cycladic,
Dodecanese, Sporadic and Ionian.

One group that's been overlooked

are the little gems that encircle
Crete, such as Gramvousa,

Psira, Krisi Koufonisia and
Paximadia, to name just a handful.

It's always been a bit of a mystery
to me

as to why they've been
left out.

I've seen several of them now
and have a few more to go,

and I've come to really like
what they have to offer.

As remote as they may seem,
the majority are actually

accessible by ferry or water taxi
from the mainland of Crete.

But despite this,
they're quiet and undeveloped.

Perhaps travellers are too busy

enjoying the big island to get
across to these little ones.

Ease of access to the many smaller
islands,

as well as the freedom to
move when we please,

are two of the main reasons
why I love travelling on Mia Zoi.

But the best part about life
on the boat

is sharing the journey
with the crew.

The reality is, you don't need a big
cruiser to do what we do.

But what's impossible to replicate
are the people that make it happen.

When we're in Greece,

Captain and Kyriakos are everything
to my family.

They work twice as hard to provide
us the best experience imaginable.

Look at Kyriako right now.

He's driving the tender while the
engineer is undertaking a repair.

It's like when Yiannis pulls out the
medical kit and becomes our doctor.

Then a couple of hours later,

he's seen on the barbecue
telling Kyriako what to do.

These guys really are an extension
of my family and long after

the odyssey comes to an end,
we'll be the closest of friends.

We're headed into Matala.

Matala is really well known
for the '60s and '70s,

for the hippie times, when people
like George Harrison, Bob Dylan,

Janice Joplin used to spend
their nights under the Cretan sky.

They spent them here.
There's some caves here, right?

Yiannis, where are the caves?

The caves is on our lefthand side.

And that's the beach.

Yeah, that's the beach
and there is the caves.

So they would have had good times
on the beach

and they lived in the caves.
Wow.

Can we go right up against
the caves and...?

Yeah, of course.

Stern to? Fantastic.
Let's do it, Captain.

I'm a bit worried,
Kyriako is on the tender.

Was that the right thing to do?
He'll be OK?

He'll be OK.
The sea is like olive oil today.

That's why he can,
only because it's olive oil.

Otherwise, you forget about it.

Heading back to the mainland,
I was really looking forward to

visiting this beachside town.

You see, there's a geological
phenomenon here

that was millions of years
in the making.

With some human intervention,

it led to the creation of cave-like
dwellings that housed some of the

free-spirited Bohemians that came
here in the sixties and seventies.

Many of the great artists
from the time would summer here.

So to say it was exciting
is an understatement.

The next couple of days were going
to be awesome.

You're welcome all of you, anyway,

so I can tell you many stories
about the hippies.

So you're going to be a hippy
soon also.

Today, the place is more popular
with backpackers

and English tourists, but it's still
an unreal place to visit.

In the next episode,
the journey continues

as I delve deeper into
the fabric of Crete.

It's proving to be even more diverse
and fascinating than I had hoped.

I might have been here several times
before,

but there are unexpected surprises
around every corner.

One thing I'm really looking forward
to showing you

is the mighty Cretan vulture.

Captioned by Ai-Media
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