{Pageing}Lindsay Marchant.

Me and Angie Gonna be there from the 2nd for two weeks.

Gavsta.

gwilby@stoof.co.uk

We went to the Cronulla 4 years ago and loved it.

Cronulla Hotel.

Located about 3k from the airport its only takes 5 minutes to get here. Its actually worth getting a cab as it will take longer to locate and get on your coach than the journey itself. They only cost pennies anyway.

The proximity to the airport is not an issue. You can hear and see the planes coming in and taking off but its not that loud and they are gone in seconds anyway. There no night time flights anyway so your sleep will not be disturbed.

Rooms are basic but over par compared to usual greek studio type rooms. Basic facilities but very clean and spacious. They are cleaned out every other day and supplied with bedding and new towels. The fridge is good and the supplied hot plate you will probably never use. The only real gripe is the air con. Which is expensive and when on a little noisy, it works well though, however we found that we didn't really need it in September so you may be able to do without.

As the brochure says most of the rooms have a balcony that faces the pool. As for the floors, the ground floor allows you to just hop over the rail and into the pool area while the top floor gives views of the sea and the mountains.

A plus would be the option of a TV in the rooms, but this is currently not an option. The bar area however has about 6 TVs scattered about and with a full Sky reception the guys will put on anything you fancy (I got to see the Superbike round while I was over).

The pool is great. Nice and (relatively) big. Shut and cleaned and checked every night so no problems there. Sun beds are free with mattresses being 2 euro a day. You can get li lows for about 4 euro if you want to save a bit of money. The staff don't appear to mind either way.

The bar (for us at least) is what makes the Cronulla. Jimmy and Tom make it a very pleasant and fun place to be while Suzanne and Dia restore a bit of normality to the place, while always serving keenly priced and very good drinks and food. The frozen Mythos glasses with the cold beer is just what you need on a hot day. It can get busy at night but its never over bearing like a lot of bars, and the boys will keep you entertained and well looked after. The Cronulla bar is worth the stay in itself.

If I was being picky then I could say the only real downer about the hotel is the proximity of the main Kalamaki road directly outside, its quite busy and can get a bit noisy and you do get the odd nutter firing up the road on a bike. But that's true of most of the premises in kalamaki and not the hotels fault.

The beach is quite a hike away, maybe 20 minutes walk but its not worth it when you get there really. The sand is the colour and texture of brown sugar, and what there is of it (not much) appears to have been used as a global community ashtray, its not a great place to be really, the only thing in its favour being the sea, which is clear and warm, but there are much nicer places to go.

I have never heard of or been to a Mermaids before Zante, so can't really comment on how famous it is, however, we probably spent half our time here for dinner. The food is excellent, not in just Zante standards but by any restaurant of its type. The staff are attentive, but not over zealous, the Manager Adele makes a point of coming to see you every meal and makes sure your OK.

The food ranges from traditional greek fare to chicken dipper if you want them. Its all freshly cooked to order and the portion sizes border on epic, great for those with a good appetite, for those without then you won't be leaving a clean plate. We have seriously not had a bad experience there in any of the visits.

They even have a very good wine list with many imported wines, so if your dying for an italian frascati or Australian chardonnay you'll be well catered for.

The greek coffee and metaxa to finish cannot be missed!

This bar will again suit people that wish to have a more subtle experience. Unlike Down Under that always seems to be playing dance music full whack the Apollon is much more laid back. Again the staff are attentive without becoming a hassle and the cocktails are all great. I personally enjoy the Mai Tai and the Long Island Ice Tea, but Angie assures me that the ice cream based cocktails are very good also. Prices seem to be on par with the rest of kalamaki but whatever, they are worth it.

Whatever you do don't use the reps car hire place. They are over priced in the extreme. Also don't listen to the lies they tell you about insurance, the two places that we use have FDW (Full Damage Waiver) insurance. This means what it says, if you crash the car or damage it in any way your covered, the rep will try and tell you your not. Watch out for the excess though, 300 euro at the time of writing. The car hire places you can use with no problems are Hermes and Merlis. Hermes is about halfway up the main Kalamaki strip, next to Apollon and Merlis is right up the top and then down to the right. Both are fine and the prices about the same.

We chose Hermes this time round as they rent out the 206cc and I don't think that any other rental does. A full convertible is brilliant, but of course unlike the Suzuki jeeps you can't go off road but this wasn't a real problem.

The roads are ok in Zante and most driving behaviour is as you would expect, you'll get the odd biker or scooter whizzing past you but nothing too intimidating. If you not used to driving on the right then stay clear of Zante town until your used to it, as its busy and the roads are narrow.

3 days is a long enough hire time to see most attractions on the island. The attractions we have been to are as follows.

This is the only place you can see the famous wreck other than actually going to it. Unfortunately there is not much there other than the platform as the café/ bar was closed down. There are a couple of stalls selling drinks and ice cream however. The platform itself juts right out over the cliff and you can see the wreck and the beach, along with all the tourist boats. Its very pretty and worth the trip, those with a fear of heights may want to skip as its very high and does feel at best a little precarious. There is no security staff and just a sign advising of no more than 4 people on at once.

If you fancy a walk then there is a cliff top path that will allow further views, but its not safe as the edge is sometimes masked with bushes and the ground itself slippy with stones and loose rocks, unless your confident then I wouldn't bother and under no circumstance allow young children there unattended.

If you decide on a boat trip then you can get to see the wreck up close. It takes a while to get there but its a nice enough day out if the sea is calm. Take some shoes though as the 'sand' is actually very fine coral and sharp and uncomfortable to walk on. The sea is great to swim in too. The other stops on the way are good too visiting various caves and seeing the island from the sea really iilustrates the diversity of the coastline.

You can however get to the wreck quickly from a little port just down the road from the viewing platform, where you can have a little boat ride there and back. This is a good way to get to the wreck without spending the day to do it.

Its not as bad as it first sounds. The queuing outside is cool under the canopy and most of the other travellers will keep you entertained.

The reps at best seem fraught here. We got a cab but our rep wasn't here to even meet us so we had to guess as to which queue to join. There seem to be others that didn't even know what queue for their travellers to join. Ymmv.

Don't take your shirt off or men with guns will shout at you.

Another point to watch is your luggage weight. We were 3 kilos over and got charged 27 € for it, in my opinion the scales are slightly bias as well. Hopefully the money charged can go to be paid for more cleaners.

As a tip then freeze a small bottle of water the night before to take with you. This will sustain you during the wait. You will have to give this up at passport control however.

Inside the airport however does seem a little grim. They do have a new departures hall that isn't used for some weird reason.

The main departure hall is packed to the rafters and there is nowhere to sit (I'm sitting on the floor writing this). If your a wily sort however you can hang about the seating area as a flight gets called and then nab a seat. Its far from ideal however.

The new hall opens next season and will hopefully improve matters. The halls are airconned so at least its not a complete sweat shop.

Once your in the actual flight calling and moment is fast and you'll soon be on your way. Why they insist on a 3 hour checking in time I don't fully understand.

The flight.

We flew with Argo who in turn use Thomas Cook. It was a Boing 737 something. Seat space is limited to say the least but its comfy enough for a.3 hour trip. The service on both flights was above what I was expecting. The food served was of a good standard and although you had to pay for drinks the selection was good and not that expensive.

Currently flying over the Alps with a fresh filter coffee in my hand. This is after a small Chardonnay and a Whiskey and Dry Ginger.

So on the whole a good holiday for the money. We didn't spend over the odds for the purchase price and although spent a fair amount while there you could get by on less. We were out in restaurants every night but could have saved money by eating in or at the Hotel bar. The car we hired was also the most expensive available. Drinking a fair amount can also up the bill.

What has striked me is that Kalamaki is not the quite relaxed place that it was 4 years ago. A lot of the bars (Fire, Down Under, Sophias) are trying to make themselves more of a type that you would expect to see in Lagana. That's fine *in* Lagana but its not required at Kalamaki. The last thing I would like to see is that one turns into an extension of another. That would stop me going back, and the place would loose its identity which struck me about the place initially. Only time will tell.

Touts.

You'll come across 2 types of sellers in Kalamaki. The black guys that sell the CDs and DVDs and the deaf/ mutes that sell the lighters and trinkets.

Both are no pressure both will leave you a loan if you ask them and neither no trouble. The CDs are actually ok quality, not in packaging but the sound is ok. The DVDs are of a VCD quality and are nothing you can't download via the torrent sites.

The deaf mutes play on their disability to try and sell you worthless pap for a fair amount of money. Unless you really need a plastic cow with leds in its nose then avoid. The shops sell this rubbish at 1/4 of the price anyhow.

If your thinking of a good value greek holiday then I still would recommend kalamaki. But get there quick before its original character disappears.

Painstaking written on a RIM Blackberry Curve.

Gavin Wilby. 16/09/2007.