Sea Safari and Pool Olympics

Wow! What a day! After some pleasant morning activities of swimming and sailing - and a massive cycle for Jamie up the hill with the radio mast - we went on Nico's Sea Safari in the afternoon. We set off from the beach in a fleet of five power boats, past the (slightly famous, slightly crocodile shaped rock), and past a yellow volcanic cliff that shows that Limnos was joined to volcanic Mount Athos 6 million years ago before it split off and drifted south. The power boats bounced across the waves and it was great fun, especially since ours had the most powerful engine and we went faster than everybody else! We arrived in Baby Bay, so called (according to Nico) because it is a) small and b) it is a romantic meeting place for young Limnos couples! We all went snorkelling around the bay and Nico showed us sponges under the water, fed sea urchins to the fishes and annoyed a small octopus by pulling it out from under its rock to show us. No harm came to said octopus but it must have been fed up, especially if Nico makes a habit of this on his twice weekly visits. However harm did come to quite a few sea urchins which Nico chopped in half when we got back to the shore, sprinkled with lemon and oil and shared around the group. I didn't taste any because I am too squeamish to eat creatures so recently dead that they were squirming when the lemon juice went on them! However James, Jamie, Ally and Davie had no such qualms and they all ate some and declared them to be tasty. We then had drinks and meze on the beach before setting off back to our hotel. Our ride was particularly lively because our driver allowed Jamie to drive back and he kept going very fast, hitting waves and sending huge amounts of spray over us! The excitement was not over yet however! in the evening the reps put on a "Pool Olympics" to raise money for charity, which was hilarious, especially the witty and amusing commentary. The teams sailed small boats down the pool, dived for spoons, jousted on surfboards etc. and it culminated with very entertaining synchronised swimming. We all supported our favourite staff noisily and had a really good laugh. Meanwhile in the real Olympics, Bradley Wiggins and the women paired rowers have won Gold medals for Britain! The Olympics has been a nice backdrop for our holiday; the reps have put up a list at the information centre of what events are on each day, and there are big screens in the lounge and pool bar where you can watch the competitions if you wish. We have been too busy at the pool and sea to watch it much but we have been keeping an eye on and it's nice to see some Golds beginning to trickle in.