“
We just didn’t expect the contrasts,”
said Kim Thompson, who along with
her husband Craig (more well known
as Thomo) are a well-travelled veteran Kiwi
adventure riding duo. “One day we were
riding through mountains in Greece which
could have passed for the Swiss Alps and a
few days later we travelling along a rugged
coastline in the Deep Mani,” continued Kim.
“The mountain passes compare with the
best we have ever ridden. The endless
hairpins, up and down, appear as stacked
Paella pans,” added Craig, “And then there
was the food. Did we mention the Greek
salads? Delicious vine-ripened tomatoes,
sweet finely sliced red onions, fleshy black
olives and the large slab of fresh feta
cheese on top, combined with crusty
wood-fried oven bread. Yummmmm.”
It was back in September 2018 when we,
Mike and Angela of By The Backroads
(formerly Britton Adventures), set off on
a 10-day Greece reconnaissance trip.
From the onset the aim had been to
design a tour that incorporated a number
of Greece’s historic “must sees” as well
as getting a feel for the everyday Greek
lifestyle. And where possible we wanted to
travel on the country’s scenic back roads.
We developed the Greece tour route by
listening to advice given by local people
we met along the way, as well as plenty of
online and in-person research. Another
consideration during our recce trip was
looking for Greece ‘circa 1986’ which was
when Mike had first visited and fallen for
this charming Mediterranean country.
The information we received from Greek
locals was invaluable. We also made
ourselves stick to a few rules. Number
one rule was that if we saw a tour bus
parked up we moved on to investigate
overnight accommodation elsewhere.
Incorporating historical Greek sites such
as Ancient Olympia and Delphi came with
the certainty that we would inevitably
encounter large groups of tourists at these
sites… but that didn’t mean we had to
overnight where they did. After all we’re
motorcyclists, free spirits, so if possible
we don’t stay with the crowds!
The tour started and finished in Athens.
From the front door of our Athens boutique
hotel we looked straight down the road to
Hadrian’s Arch (built in 131 A.D.), and from
the hotel’s rooftop restaurant the Acropolis
was laid out in front of us, particularly
glorious at night when it is all lit up. These
sights so close to our accommodation
made it easy to get a sense of Greece’s
ancient history right from the start.
While we were considering the possibilities
for our route on our set-up trip our friend
at the bike rental implored us to include
the mountainous region in the north
near the Albanian border. “Look here is a
hotel I recommend,” she said waving her
laptop screen at us where slides of a very
impressive stone building came into view.
“And the roads to get there are so exciting,
KIWI RIDER 23