Something we’re finding tricky here in Crete is finding a way to get around and see the sights without recourse to car hire or a tour. The long, long transfer from the airport has deterred us from booking a coach tour; we’re not willing to waste half a day visiting neighbouring hotels to pick others up. We’ve not seen one single, local bus on the roads around us, so it seems an island bus service may not exist…unless you, reader, know different? So we may need to accept that on this occasion we won’t get to see the Knossos etc.

One trip I would like to make, though, is to Spinalonga. Victoria Hislop wrote about this tiny outcrop in her 2007 novel, The Island.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Island_(Hislop_novel). Spinalonga was the last leper colony in Europe and has a fascinating history. We don’t, however want to go on a pre-arranged trip.

But we have yet to see all that Agios Nikolaus has to offer, so we set off once more, this time to walk around the shore to the other side of town, past the tiny bay where we’d dined on a shared sea bream and along by the curving sea wall, There are few pockets of beach here, so hotels and guest houses have used their ingenuity to create beach-style areas from jetties and man-made platforms. Out to sea there are tiny islands which look uninhabited or have miniature churches crowning them.

Since the heatwave we experienced in the first days subsided, a breeze has set up, making it comfortable and perfect walking weather.

As we near the town harbour there’s a promontary bearing a marble and bronze statue of a bull and a maiden. This is the statue of Europa, overlooking the sea. But continuing round, the buildings thin out and the views become less interesting. There are a few beach bars here but we aren’t tempted by any of them and turn back towards town, deciding to turn in towards the harbour, where one leisure, tourist boat is moored and another is approaching. The side bears a large sign: Spinalonga! And I realise that all we need to do is walk here, to town and climb on a boat. Hooray!

There’s a small ticket booth on the quayside but we’re assured we won’t need to reserve tickets so late in the season. Result!

Across a small bridge there’s a miniature lagoon. Locally known as the ‘Lake’, it is surrounded by steep cliff sides and fringed with bars, the sun lingering on the outside tables long enough for an early evening beer to be enjoyed. Interesting excavations into the steep sides hint at ancient remains but again- no information. Further round there’s a minute, white chapel where tourists are queuing up to take selfies. The lake cannot be totally circumnavigated to we backtrack to the bars to reward ourselves for walking.

Across the opposite side there are more interesting resaurants, so it’s an area we’ll return to for a meal. In the meantime we have our trip to Spinalonga to look forward to.

Novels by Jane Deans [Grace]: The Year of Familiar Strangers and The Conways at Earthsend. Visit my website: janedeans.com