June 23, 2009 at 11:52 pm · Filed under Group 4 Blog
The last night meal.
Today we deaparted Chora Sfakion early and headed for the Northern resort of Chania where we would later fly home to Gatwick from. We all woke up early after a lovely last night meal, where even the wine was provided free of charge, although there was some debate as to where this money really came from. After the meal we enjoyed eachother’s company on the beach, some more than others!
The coach journey this morning was far from plesant as the local wine failed to mix well with the windy mountain road. On arrival in Chania, we all had a couple of hours to enjoy the location, whilst taking into account the differences in tourism between Chania and Chora Sfakion. It was clear that Chania encouraged and had a lot more tourism than the South coast. We eventually checked in at the airport where the person at the check-in desk took an instant disliking to James (not suprising!) charging him 7.50 euros for his 1 kilogram of extra weight. Harriet and Danielle were a bit more lucky. Most people indulged in a bit of duty free at the airport, where the smell of sweaty holiday makers once again churned the wine from the previous night.
Whilst waiting to board the plane, we all reflected on what was, in the words of James Gater, “a bitching holiday”. Thanks to the witty banter of Team 4, and of course Richard Tegg, we all enjoyed a fun filled week where the laughter never seemed to stop. Yamas to geography, Sfakia, and not forgetting Elton John and George “Stavros” Michael. Only time will tell if what happens in Sfakia, stays in Sfakia.
June 23, 2009 at 9:57 pm · Filed under Group 2 Blog
Tuesday 23rd June 2009
Chania and England
We couldn’t quite believe it was time to leave Crete already. The past week has gone so fast. Obviously we couldn’t start our day any other way than with breakfast in our hotel overlooking the beach. Being the last day, we all enjoyed the last morning eating together.
Getting ready to leave
Shortly afterwards we collected our suitcases, said goodbye to our rooms and hotel staff then boarded the coach which took us to Chania.
Chania
We spent the majority of our last day in Chania which was in the North of Crete and located 72km from Chora Sfakion. We decided to go to Chania as we had heard through doing our human geography tourist interviews that the North of the island is much more developed than Chora Sfakion… and they were right!! Chania attracts a lot more tourists, especially British tourists in comparison to Chora Sfakion. Many of the shop and taverna owners were trying to drag tourists into their shops. Also, Chania even had a Starbucks coffee shop – you did not see one of these in Chora Sfakion or Loutro! It was exciting to go to Chania as we found out while interviewing business owners in Loutro that all but 6 or 7 individuals left Loutro in the winter and stayed in Chania instead as the weather was very violent in Loutro.
Globalisation has occurred in Chania!
Please look at our photos on flickr which illustrate the tourist experience in Chania and reflects how Chania compares to the small villages like Chora Sfakion in the South of Crete.
Later in the afternoon we headed to Chania airport. We were all gutted to be leaving the sun and the sea behind. However on the flight home we reflected on our experiences and adventures in Crete. We had frequently been mentally and physically challenged whether it be when we climbing up Ilingas gorge or scrambling over boulders on the sea front to get from Sweetwater beach to Chora Sfakion.
Overall we can all say we had a fantastic time in Crete. We worked hard, we had fun in the sun and we made friends with people on our course… What more could 5 Reading University Geography students have asked for from a field trip?!
June 23, 2009 at 9:35 pm · Filed under Group 1 Blog
Today was our last day in Crete, and we left Sfakia and headed for Chania, where we would spend the rest of the afternoon before boarding our flight back home.
Each of us wanted to share our own favourite moments and memories from the trip
Jo: I was most suprised by how challenging the trip turned out to be, both physically and mentally. I don’t think I realised quite how tough and exhausting the days work would be, but I am so pleased that I did it. Not only was the trip educational, but I also managed to speak and get to know people that I had never met before. I came away from Crete with new friends, and new experiences. My favourite day has to be the coastal walk between Loutro and Chora Sfakion. This was possibly the most physically challenging day, but the break at Sweetwater beach and the feeling of having accomplised the walk made it all worth while.
Becki: Everyone had been looking forward to fieldtrip for months and it was definitely worth the wait. It wasn’t quite how I expected it to be with some days turning out to be quite challenging, especially in the heat , but the sense of achievement we all felt after completing the gorge and coastal walks made it worthwhile. I really am glad I came on the trip as everyone has made new friends and got on as a group. I can’t pick a favourite moment as so much happened in the week and we always managed to enjoy ourselves. I was sad to be leaving on the last day as it has been a fun filled week and nobody wanted it to end.
June 23, 2009 at 5:42 am · Filed under Group 3 Blog
Monday 22nd June
We woke up to our last full day in Chora Sfakion, with more hard work ahead of us. We boarded the ferry to Loutro, as we didn’t go there on Friday, and immediately started asking the tourists on the boat questions. After the 20 minutes journey we bought our tickets for the return to Chora Sfakion, determined to catch the 12:15 ferry back. We split into 2 groups, one of which started at the far end of Loutro, and the other which started by the ferry. The taverna and shop owners seemed more willing to answer our questions, in comparison to the other villages we had visited. One chatted to Celia and Lucy not only about tourism, but about career advice and all aspects of life. They were also offered a job, possibly the quickest job interview in history! Although tempted by a life of sun and sea they declined in order to continue the work in hand. The groups met in a café again with the usual cheeky ice-cream for the girls and a cheeky beer for the boys. This allowed us a phenomenal view of Loutro, and it was clearly a more relaxing destination for tourists than Chora Sfakion or Agia Roumelli. We thought this could be due to the fact that it was so isolated and was only accessible by boat and foot.
We caught the ferry with time to spare and headed back to Chora Sfakion to settle down to an afternoon of work. We sat in the taverna by our hotel and got to work, sharing the notes we had obtained in Loutro. After this and discussing our video, we headed down to the beach for a well deserved break, and managed to get a few shots of us in the sea. We had a group photograph at 7:50 and was ready to celebrate that we had all passed our first year. The group meal was an emotional experience for some, as the realisation had set in that we were going home tomorrow, to start our summer. During the group meal many reflected on the trip, with a few of us listening to Ken’s amazing stories of his travels. At the end we all gave some change towards a tip for the people running the hotel/taverna, and he seemed very chuffed with it when Alan Howard gave him the envelope. After the group meal, and several glasses of the local wine, many headed to the beach for the last time for banter and a few beers. At 9:30 tomorrow we will be leaving at 9:30 and travelling to Chania to look around, then catch our flight at 6 pm.
Now our trip has come to an end the good times are now a memory that will stay with us forever. Now the walks that many had deemed awfully difficult are remembered as being fantastic experiences. We have all been brought together as a group, and now there will be plenty of people to sit by in lectures.
Congratu
Monday 22nd June
We woke up to our last full day in Chora Sfakion, with more hard work ahead of us. We boarded the ferry to Loutro, as we didn’t go there on Friday, and immediately started asking the tourists on the boat questions. After the 20 minutes journey we bought our tickets for the return to Chora Sfakion, determined to catch the 12:15 ferry back. We split into 2 groups, one of which started at the far end of Loutro, and the other which started by the ferry. The taverna and shop owners seemed more willing to answer our questions, in comparison to the other villages we had visited. One chatted to Celia and Lucy not only about tourism, but about career advice and all aspects of life. They were also offered a job, possibly the quickest job interview in history! Although tempted by a life of sun and sea they declined in order to continue the work in hand. The groups met in a café again with the usual cheeky ice-cream for the girls and a cheeky beer for the boys. This allowed us a phenomenal view of Loutro, and it was clearly a more relaxing destination for tourists than Chora Sfakion or Agia Roumelli. We thought this could be due to the fact that it was so isolated and was only accessible by boat and foot.
We caught the ferry with time to spare and headed back to Chora Sfakion to settle down to an afternoon of work. We sat in the taverna by our hotel and got to work, sharing the notes we had obtained in Loutro. After this and discussing our video, we headed down to the beach for a well deserved break, and managed to get a few shots of us in the sea. We had a group photograph at 7:50 and were ready to celebrate that we had all passed our first year. The group meal was an emotional experience for some, as the realisation had set in that we were going home tomorrow, to start our summer. During the group meal many reflected on the trip, with a few of us listening to Ken’s amazing stories of his travels. At the end we all gave some change towards a tip for the people running the hotel/taverna, and he seemed very chuffed with it when Alan Howard gave him the envelope. After the meal, and several glasses of the local wine, many headed to the beach for the last time for banter and a few beers. At 9:30 tomorrow we will be leaving Chora Sfakion and travelling to Chania to look around, then to catch our flight at 6 pm.
Now our trip has come to an end the good times have become a memory that will stay with us forever. The walks that many had deemed awfully difficult are remembered as being fantastic experiences! We have all been brought together as a group, and now there will be plenty of people to sit by in lectures.
Congratulations to everyone on their exam results. We wish everyone a great summer. Goodbye Crete!
Below is a film we made while staying in Crete. The film shows several photographs and videos taken on different days in different locations. Generally, the aim of the video is to give an overview of our adventures and work which we carried out on our 2009 human and physical geography fieldtrip to Crete.
June 22, 2009 at 8:06 pm · Filed under Group 1 Blog
Dear Bloggers!
We find ourselves still sitting here after a solid day of hard work. Not quite how we wanted to spend our last full day here.
From the very beginning, everything seemed to be going wrong, even Richard felt sorry for us. After loosing almost all of our video clips, we decided to start afresh by filming ourselves jumping in the sea. As a result of our refreshing dip, we had a sudden burst of energy and enthusiasm and finished the work in no time.
We were then able to enjoy our evening meal as a group, a perfect end to a fulfilling and educational trip.
Tomorrow we will write our last ever blog, a moment none of us are looking forward to : (
Goodnight Bloggers, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.
June 22, 2009 at 7:57 pm · Filed under Group 5 Blog
The map below tracks the recorded way points which were made on the GPS receiver.
When we made the descent down Illingas Gorge and the walk from Loutro to Chora Sfakion, sites of particular interest were logged on the GPS receiver as way points. For each site the longitude, latitude and elevation of the site were recorded, as well as a brief description being made about the site. Appropriate photographs were taken and were appropriate diagrams of the landscape were also drawn in our field notebooks.
We would like to thank everyone in Chora Sfakion for welcoming us on our visit in June 2009 and all the businesses who gave us free access to wireless Internet which meant everything you read and watch here was produced 'in the field'. Our field trip included three staff (Dr Alan Howard, Ken Beard and Richard Tegg) and 28 students registered for the degree in Human and Physical Geography at the University of Reading.
