In the News

 For those waiting with baited breath for this account of Greyrocks' final weeks in September it is here at last! 

The theme of this post is the ways in which we have been touched by world events:

1.The effect of Climate Change

Firstly the the general warming, for we enjoyed what most agreed was the warmest September in living memory! The sea was a little cooler than earlier in the season, and the evenings became chilly, but there were maximum temperatures over 30 degrees on over half of the days in the month.

Forest fires remained a worry. Chloë and Jack arrived with further tales of the devastation on Evia that they had seen during their short stay with friend Tim and his γιαγιά. On our rare trips outside Paleo we would see swathes of scorched land.

Yet more dramatic has been the volcanic eruption and tremors on the Canary Island of La Palma, which began on 19th September.

 We have been following unfolding events in the Canarian press, and there are appeals for financial help for the victims, but as yet there are no discernible effects on the eastern islands. The national paper El Pais has full coverage in English, and - of course there is plenty on YouTube. We await ash cloud and acid rain.

Eight days after the volcano so close to our home there was a serious earthquake in Arkalochori whilst we were still in Crete. It happened at about 9.15 am and several friends said they felt it. 

Through our final days in Crete there was consternation, sympathy and some anger! The last at a policy whereby only vaccinated homeless could use the emergency shelters and the weather was deteriorating!  (Greece continues to have much ant-vax stuff going on!)

An update is that on October 12th there was a 6.3 earthquake at sea, off of Sitia threatening a tsunami!!

2. Migration

The Canaries has - throughout the summer - been the destination of numerous "pateras" with  refugees from conflict and destitution in many third world nations. The migration crisis is the source of much argument between the autonomous region and central government over the process of transporting them to the mainland, as only a few wish to stay on whichever island has received them. The statistics are striking. 24th September was the day with the most arrivals at 340 in 8 boats into Gran Canaria and La Graciosa. The figure for the year at that point was over 11,000 and that does not include those lost at sea, which is estimated as 785 including 50 children. The authorities expect the high numbers to continue into the autumn.

Crete in general and in particular Paleochora has over the years seen some irregular migration by boat, but on 24th September an incident involving 150 migrants in a "stand-off" took place in the sea off of Paleochora.  Chloë and Jack, who stay on the "stony side" witnessed the action.

And - still on migration and from the tragic to the absurd- Greyrocks performed its annual migration from Crete to Fuerteventura as September ended. It needed to be done without landfall in any "third country" and take no more than two days. Details of the complications are in following posts. We also needed to clear all belongings from the rooms we have used each of eight summers to our new place. Our usual driver was not around so we were joined by Chloë and Jack in an attempt to shift it all in one trip on foot. Bob "borrowed" a supermarket trolley. When he returned it empty an employee came out to assist the old man with retrieval of the euro!

3. Covid data and restrictions

In Paleo there was a sense of "recovery" as more tourists arrived, the kids went back to school and curfews were eased, but there was little music beyond the street musicians and masks were still needed in the supermarkets. Fuerteventura, conversely, found itself the only island still on Level 3 restrictions, and that was what we expected to find on our return. We downloaded and completed the special form for entry into Level 3 islands, giving "return to regular domicile" as our justification. It went into the large folder of documents for travel, but it wasn't needed as on the day before migration the level dropped to 2. (Update: two weeks at Level 2 - as of 14th October Level 1 with all the other islands!)

4. Pulling down statues

Not as in Bristol etc the unseating of colonialist, racist slavers, but the loss of an iconic statue in Paleo. The silhouette in brown sheet metal was created by a Dutch artist, and based on a contemporaneous sepia photograph of early visitors, which has been on sale in postcard form for many years. He donated it to the village, but this was not universally welcomed and it has been located in several places - the most recent of which has been near the Palm Tree forming a pleasing addition to sunset shots!

But sometime in September it disappeared! There is a rumour that it was seen beside the road on the way to Chania. We hope it is there for repair (as it was getting a bit worn and vandalised) and no other reason! What did the guys do wrong - let alone the donkey?