The best day of the holiday!
We rented an incredible go kart/buggy that we named ‘Herbie’. It was uncomfortable, noisy, featured only one gear and half of its essential parts did not work. It was also incredibly fun, very low to the ground, a little too outrageous to be true and could accelerate faster than most things on the road. Sat side by side with the intense breeze cooling us down we both agreed it was the perfect way to explore this beautiful island. I have only ever cried out a genuine heart felt “yeee-haaa” once before and that was on a jet ski in Vietnam.
Upon collecting the beast it would not reverse, had two suspiciously flat tires, a handreak that did precisely nothing, wing mirrors which did not reflect and dials that could not be read. “It fine! Good vehicle, always work, no problem!” assured the man, shiftily pumping up the tires and altering things with a screwdriver, before handing us a number to call “if problem”. With our heart in our mouths and our faith in the ‘good’ vehicle that ‘always works’ we set of down the main road clinging to the edges as coaches thundered by.
We soon got off the beaten track and it was only after Katie had the idea of jamming stones under the wheels that we could could leave the vehicle without fear of it falling down a cliff/into a car/running (wheeling?) away. But of course Herbie loved us and would not do the latter 
And Herbie did prove to be a robust if slightly un-roadworthy (at least by British standards) machine, whisking us around terrain and road with shaky and rattling ease.
We visited three beaches including the two best of the holiday – unspoilt, secluded and pure white sand with good waves. We picknicked on feta, olives, watermellon, lemons and bread, mostly collected from over-generous restaurant portions throughout our stay.
One beach required us to drop down a cliff negotiating steep hairpins overlooking magnificent views. Great stuff.
We then drove to the end of the island and the beautiful landscaped resort of Kefalos against a backdrop of impressive mountains. To get to the centre of Kefalos we had to tackle a far steeper hairpin; this time I doubted poor Herbie’s torque, and there was no lower gear to rescue us, so it was peddle to the metal, tightened fists on the steering wheel as we screached around, only just making it.
On the way back to Tigaki we stopped off at the remains of a hugely impressive castle bolted to a magnificent cliffside.
After freshening up we drove up the mountains to stunning village of Zia which was certainly inside the top five pituresque settlements I have visited around the world.
With sweeping views around the island we watched the sun disappear into a hazy balm over a taverna feast.
Vine leaves encircled the open air restaurant and as the light faded the lush greens of the mountainside were proudly illuminated in an array of colours.
We browsed the local crafts before wandering back to Herbie. Surprisingly her lights worked perfectly and we could even read the backlit dials as we slowly descended back to the hotel.
…………………………………………………………….
The misleading, money grabbing, cost cutting scoundrels of First Choice (my anger has subsided as I write this) failed to inform us at the point of booking that our last night’s accomodation was NOT included in the price and furthermore they did not have anywhere for us to stay. They suggested getting drunk in a bar to while away NINETEEN and a half hours (Hotel chucked us out at 11am, flight was not till 7.30am the NEXT morning.) I was livid.
Every cloud has a silver lining and in this case that line took the form of a lovely air conditioned room which we booked for only €35. It was a comfy and pleasurale end to a wonderful holiday.
We trudge back to hotel, a source of great amusement to all the locals who glanced at our feet.
