OUR GREEK ISLAND HOME

My voyages to Kastellorizo are without question the most meaningful I've ever taken. My ancestral home is a place I was desperate to experience. Just as my home town of Byron Bay is Australia's most easterly point, "Kazzie" as we fondly call it, is a Dodecanese island which claims the same title in Greece. Being that it is in the very south, on my first trip I flew to Istanbul, then Izmir and travelled by bus with family and friends down the Turkish coast arriving in the resort town of Kas. From there I felt like I could reach out and touch the place.

We needed our passports to cross the liquid border and it was amusing to watch the boat's captain hoist the Greek flag on passing the ocean border. Something we witnessed a few times during our stay as we returned from day shopping trips to Kas.

On approach to the Limani (main harbour, there are two - this and Mandraki) the coloured homes jump out to greet you each with a personality of its own. It's gorgeous. The photos I had seen did not do the place justice. From a distance it looks like a little dolls village perched by the sea. The houses and restaurants line the harbour with only a few steps between their front doors and the water, my idea of heaven. Though after a long dinner and ouzo we could have easily pushed our chairs back and ended up in the sea. We were told this has happened before.

During our time in Kazzie days looked like this:

...swimming in the crystal clear water, brekkie at a cafe in the Limani, lying in the sun reading a paperback, swim number two, three and four, lunch at a cafe in the Limani, siesta (you have to as even the elderly stay up past midnight), doing one of the many walks (early morning or late afternoon to avoid intense heat), cocktails in the outdoor bar at the Megisti Hotel, dinner (My Big Fat Greek Wedding style) with an abnormally large group of new friends and extended cousins we'd just met, dancing at Faros bar - and repeat.

Sipping my strawberry daiquiri at the Megisti Hotel on dusk (a must), I watched kids race up and down fishing for octopus to proudly bring back to their family restaurants. Incidentally I heard a story of an octopus jumping directly onto a friend's plate! I imagine it was trying to escape one of the huge turtles we saw daily while drinking our Greek coffee.

Dancing with wild abandon at Faros positioned on the extreme edge of the island, looking right I could see the lights in Turkey and left, Kastellorizo sparkle in all of it's evening glory.

The locals and Kazzie's (Aussie Kastellorizian descendants like myself and Alexandra my daughter, are warm and friendly (finally I didn't have the loudest laugh in a room) and the island has a fascinating history. In all my travels I'm yet to find another place with as much character, and, what it lacks in size it certainly makes up for in heart.

I recommend:

Taking a boat to the "Plakes" or limestone beaches

Visiting Kazzie's famous Blue Grotto

Catching a water taxi to St George Island to eat, sun and snorkel

Profiti Ilia (water day) on July 19. This is a fabulous day full of tradition, greek dancing and getting wet!

Watching Anchor, Cross & Heart: The story of Kastellorizo played at the museum (the former Ottoman mosque which dates back to the 18th century)

Eating at the restaurant at the Horafia (climb the stairs to the Church of Agios Yeorgios)

Day tripping by boat to Kas to shop for fresh produce, designer (wink) sunnies and handbags, Turkish delight, rugs and towels, and to eat in one of the many restaurants. Take your passport and be sure to check the weather forecast!

Staying at the Megisti Hotel, to date the only way I do Kazzie.