Original subtitles

(upbeat ethnic music)

- From the bustling streets of Athens and the historic port

of Hydra, to the beaches of Zakynthos

and villages of Kythera,

our journey over the coming weeks spans

many of the Ionian islands, some well-known,

others that few ever get to visit.

But before heading off,

you probably want to know a little bit about me.

My story starts as boy growing up

in the inner suburbs of Sydney.

Like a lot of Greeks early last century,

my parents moved overseas to find a better life abroad.

They arrived with very little and worked extremely hard

to give my sisters and I a loving upbringing.

They also made me believe that if I too worked hard enough,

I could achieve anything.

54 years later, I've built a successful business.

And that has enabled me to do things I once only dreamed of.

One of those dreams was to step foot on all 227 inhabited

Greek Islands, and I'm going to take a big chunk out

of that in this first series.

In the last episode, I finished my time on Kythera,

before upping anchor and making a move

to the spectacular island of Zakynthos.

Being my family home, it's always hard to leave,

but where I was headed had me really excited.

Next stop, was a place that rivals the most stunning beaches

on the planet, the famed shipwreck cove,

otherwise known as Navagio Beach.

The white sand, azure water and towering cliffs

are spectacular!

This episode sees me exploring the foundations

of the island a little deeper.

But before doing that,

I have a quick side-trip that will take me

into the blue at a dive site

few get the opportunity to explore.

Then it's back to Zakynthos to try the local wine

and produce, meet some of the resident turtle population,

and explore the heart of the island.

Most people only know it for the beaches,

but there's a lot more to this place than you'd expect.

I always wake up early.

On this occasion, it was a good thing in more ways than one.

Apart from the sunrise being absolutely magic,

I had received an email overnight from someone

very important in the world of Greek archaeology.

The head of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities,

Miss Simosi, had invited me to put on the scuba gear

and go for a dive at a very special place,

the Columns of Pylos.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime

and I wasn't going to miss it!

What we see in front of us, is Navarino,

where the last battle was fought between sailing ships,

right here in the 1820's.

And over to my right, that's it there, Captain!

- [Captain] Yes!

- That's Néo Kástro.

And that is where we are going now,

to this wonderful museum, on underwater antiquities.

And we hope to do a dive this afternoon

if the weather is good.

Pylos is a large port town,

and generally not an overly busy tourist spot.

Mind you, it probably should be!

There's a lot going on here,

including ancient ruins from Mycenaean times.

It's the only place in Greece that has a museum

dedicated to the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities.

They are specialists at unearthing hidden treasures,

lost to the sea and buried beneath silt.

I'm walking up to a castle known as Néo Kástro.

Néo Kástro is Greek for new castle.

And you're probably saying, not another castle.

But this is not just another castle,

behind these walls is the museum for underwater antiquities.

And underwater archaeology is really the last frontier

of investigation in to archaeology in Greece.

There is so much to be seen.

We're going to go and meet Miss Simosi.

A very staunch lady, she's the head of that department.

Built in the 15th and 16th centuries,

the castle has an outer wall,

entered via an imposing gateway.

Inside, it opens up to reveal an expansive area,

where the towns people would have lived

in relative safety from invaders.

The fortress itself is great to explore,

with the remnant towers,

old cannons and stone buildings providing a sense

of its past glory.

Central to the grounds are some beautifully restored

buildings that house a collection telling

the story of Greece's underwater treasures.

The restoration work and museum were initially

the idea of Georgios Papathanasopoulos,

the first curator of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities.

His legacy was continued by others, most recently,

by this lady, Aggeliki Simosi.

I'm lucky enough to be here, with the head,

of the underwater Ephorate, Mrs. Simosi.

She looks after 60 people in her department.

Unbelievable.

She's been doing this for a long time,

I can't say how she is though, not on camera!

(both laugh)

- Her commitment has to be commended.

A life lived with such passion,

is something we all aspire to.

In the collection are fascinating treasures,

you'll find nowhere else.

There's a diverse range of things to look at,

spanning hundreds of years of civilization.

It's amazing, I look at this,

and I see the delicate job that archaeologists have.

The unification of infants in burial was quite popular

in antiquity and I can see the detailed work

that's involved in bringing this stuff to the surface.

It's amazing.

As a result of the recent global financial crisis,

the Underwater Ephorate has gone from 180 staff to just 60.

Wages are low and there are only six

senior Dive Archaeologists that have to not only explore,

but protect what's been discovered.

And there is so much in Greek waters yet to be found.

Despite the financial limitations they face

and the mammoth job at hand, they work harder than ever.

It's not the picture you typically hear about Greeks.

We're about to go on the dive, 61 year old Greek woman,

having a go.

That's fantastic!

I love this.

Such is Miss Simosi's love of the underwater world,

and the lost antiquities hidden there, that today,

despite no longer being in her youth,

she still dives on these ancient sites.

I guess I would too.

When you see these remarkable places,

it gives you an adrenalin rush.

It creates a sense of wonder that you only get

from seeing such unique, and spectacular things.

This particular location

is known as the Shipwreck of Columns.

It's only 10 metres beneath the surface,

just off Cape Spitha.

It was first found by fishermen, back in the 1920's,

and research through the years has been able

to piece together their story.

The columns are made of a type of granite that's found

in Egypt and only certain parts of Greece.

It's thought they came from a building

that had either been demolished or collapsed.

They cover a large area, dotting the seafloor,

with a small concentration of them a short distance

from the rest.

It's believed the ship transporting them was caught

in rough seas, and as it pitched and rolled,

the columns gradually started to roll overboard.

Eventually, the ship almost capsized,

sending the rest of its cargo to the murky depths.

(calm guitar music)

Not far from the shipwreck of columns

is another sunken ruin,

only this ship had a much darker cargo.

It was laden with several stone sarcophagi.

They're quite big, with lids and carved sides.

The decorations are simple,

with floral motifs and designs typical of the Roman period.

It's estimated that the ship sank in the 3rd century AD,

so for them to still be

in such great condition is remarkable.

As much as I love diving on beautiful reefs,

or swimming amongst schools of fish,

I often find sites like this to be more amazing.

Knowing that these were made by human hands, centuries ago,

and now reclaimed by Mother Nature in such a dramatic way,

creates a theatrical story that inspires curiosity.

Having spent some time in the water with Mrs. Simosi,

I can appreciate why she's still so passionate!

(calm guitar music)

(upbeat ethnic music)

After diving on the columns,

I was buzzing for days afterwards.

It might have been a long side-trip,

but it was well worth the effort.

We spent what was left of the day relaxing in the area,

then it was back to Zakynthos to continue

my exploration of the island.

So far, we had only scratched the surface,

and I was keen to see a bit more of what it had to offer.

The beaches are great,

but there's plenty more to see and do,

things that you don't often hear about.

Of particular interest was the turtle sanctuary.

Despite being one of the busiest tourist destinations

in the country, the island is still an incredibly

important turtle-nesting site.

It's actually the largest such place in the Mediterranean.

It's a challenge for the local marine parks people,

who are responsible for the wellbeing

of their annual visitors: the loggerhead turtle.

How many nests are there in all of Zakynthos bay?

- About 1,000 nests, the average of nests.

- [Peter] And each nest, how many eggs are in each nest?

- About 120 eggs is the average of eggs

that we have in one nest.

- [Peter] And so what is the survival rate?

I would have thought, that's a lot of turtles, isn't it?

That's a lot of turtles coming out.

- [Eirini] It's a lot of turtles, yeah.

- [Peter] And how many survive?

- It's going to be about 60 to 70% of one nest.

And from the hatchlings, that will go to the sea,

it's going to be survival of one to two in 1,000.

- In 1,000? - Yes.

- Wow, Eirini I see planes landing over here,

there's tourists everywhere, there's beach chairs,

there's a hotel here, there's a disco going,

and we have a turtle's nest here.

Many turtles' nests actually.

How do you protect all of these turtles,

how do you protect the nests?

- It's difficult to protect this nest.

- [Peter] You must be constantly telling people to move!

- Yeah!

We have to do that all the time.

Most of the time when we are working,

we are working for eight hours,

and most of that time we inform all the visitors

in one beach, in one area.

We give them leaflets,

and if somebody doesn't understand from the first time,

we have to say it again and again.

Wow. - Yeah.

- Eirini, you've been doing this all your working life,

you're a Zakynthion, you're from--

- I'm local, yeah.

- You're a local.

Your life has been dedicated to protecting the turtles,

it's a wonderful thing.

How do you think you've gone,

from when you started 17 years ago to now,

is it getting better?

Are there more hatchlings?

- It's getting better, yes.

We have now more nests than we had when I started here,

one good year it was about 800 nests.

And last year, for example,

it was very good here for Zakynthos,

we found about 1,600 nests!

- In 17 years, you've almost doubled that amount of nesting

that's happening here, which is a fantastic thing.

I know, because I see the turtles everywhere I go.

I've seen them in Kythera,

I've seen them in Monemvasia.

How far do they go around the world?

How far?

- We don't know where they are going, they are small,

they hatch and they are babies when they come from here.

- Right.

Eirini has a challenging job,

made all the more frustrating by the ignorance

of some of the visitors.

As we walk along the beach there are numerous nests,

each cordoned off and signposted.

But some people feel the need to kick the signs over

or even steal them.

The worst thing is having to tell people they need to move.

Of course, with tourists coming from around the world

there's going to be the occasional language barrier,

but you'd hope people would exercise more common sense.

- National Marine Park.

- Oh.

- You understand?

Here problem, no?

You stay close to the sea.

- Watching Eirini trying to explain to this lady

that she was lying inside the exclusion zone

was excruciating.

I even got involved, but it was to no avail.

If I had to do what Eirini does,

my methods would be swift and merciless.

I think I'd be out of a job pretty quickly!

I really have to hand it to these guys.

They persist despite all the challenges they face.

- You can't use this one, no.

- They don't do it for themselves,

but for the survival of loggerhead turtles.

With only a few sites like this left in Greece,

it's paramount that we protect them.

It's a thankless task.

Day in, day out, it's the same routine.

The thing is, turtles return to the beach they were born

on to nest, so they can't simply relocate them.

Also, it's an unfortunate reality that the nesting season

falls right at the peak of the tourist period,

and some folks either don't notice the signs,

or simply don't care.

It's a good thing there are people like Eirini that do.

For those who are keen to see the turtles,

there are plenty of boats to take you to view them

in their natural habitat.

The best place to do this

is on the tiny island of Marathonisi.

Here you're spoiled for choice,

and can hop on a normal vessel or even a glass bottom one.

Apart from the turtles, people and tour boats,

there's something else on Marathonisi

there's no shortage of.

The Peripteros or kiosks, are on every corner in Greece.

They are even on these tiny little islands of Marathonisi.

And there's not one, there's five!

You know, George, Andreas,

you know what I don't understand,

there's five shops like this

here now. - Yeah.

And it's a little beach!

How do you do business here?

- We make a deal.

- Oh, you make a deal? - We make a deal.

We are here today, tomorrow we will go down there--

- All right, okay.

- After tomorrow we are going around the back--

- Yes.

- And in the five days, one day, day off.

- Oh, that's good, that's good.

And is it mainly Greeks that come here or?

Where do they come from? - No, no, no.

Greeks they come here only in August, and Sundays.

- [Peter] Right, okay.

- All the time, it's tourists.

- [Peter] And Andreas, why do they come to this tiny

little island of Marathonisi?

There's all of (mumbles) here, why are they coming here?

- Because they go, they see the turtles in the water first,

and after they come here, to see the place,

where the turtles birth the eggs.

- Right, okay.

These floating peripteros are brilliant.

You can have a swim, check out the turtles, sunbake,

then grab a cold drink and ice cream,

all the while walking little more than 50 metres!

What a magic spot.

You'll notice very few boats are here

and there's no one at anchor.

It's done to protect the sea grass that the turtles feed on.

It's awesome to think that people might have been

in Zakynthos for a few millennia,

but turtles have been coming here for millions of years.

(calm music)

(upbeat ethnic music)

We're just behind the main square in Zakynthos.

And hidden behind here, is this wonderful little gem.

Not many people know about it,

but most Greeks know that the best nougat in Greece,

possibly the world, is here in Zakynthos, at this very shop.

And if I don't take some back with me,

my brother in law is going to kill me.

- Man, that's been mixing like that for four hours!

Unbelievable.

Fantastic.

- We're just about to put the almonds in,

and we're ready to take it out which is fantastic.

We got here just in time!

It's unbelievable.

- Okay, all right.

That's a secret.

He won't tell me what he's putting in right now.

But there is not much of it, so,

is it going to make much of a difference?

The local nougat is known as Mandolato.

It originated in Venice, but Zakynthos is famed for it.

He's going to turn it off now.

But he said I could actually stick my finger in,

I think you should turn off while I do that.

(Peter laughs)

- Not with the same one.

I took a big chunk.

You're supposed to turn off while I'm doing this.

That is awesome!

So what he's doing now,

is getting the nougat from the bowl,

and just stretching it out on these discs.

They are actually flour and water.

Look at that!

It's not on my hands.

(speaking in foreign language)

And it just goes into the other room,

where it's going to cool down.

This is awesome.

There is a whole process,

this whole process that I am part of at the moment.

He said if I worked in the kitchen,

but I've also worked as a goalkeeper!

Come and have a look at this, it's awesome.

Everything you see here is done as it was 100 years ago,

except for the mixer.

In the old days, the mixing was done using an oar

from a boat.

One man would start the process, and as it got harder,

more would help.

After four hours there would be five guys stirring the pot.

Now that's hard work!

- Okay.

I'm going to learn how to do this now!

- Okay. - Yeah.

- Mate, I'm a pro!

- I think mine is better than his actually, but anyway.

This is like a brick!

- He wants me to come back!

Hang on a second, I'm not that good.

- That was awesome!

- He's hitting back with that gear!

These guys do this not only to earn a living,

but out of passion.

They've been making nougat for generations,

and there are few people left with the knowledge

and experience they possess,

producing this delicious product.

It's incredible just how much work goes into it.

This looks awesome, look at the colour,

look at the texture.

The smell is fantastic!

- It's the honey.

- You can see here, you can see the almond, has cut through.

So you're getting the aroma of the almond,

and the honey together.

- I'm going to have some right now.

I tell you mate, that is awesome!

- You can't eat and do at the same time for two reasons.

Two reasons: one, I'd end up this big;

and two, you wouldn't do the job properly.

(both laugh)

- And this is not speeding up for the camera, this is real!

- 1,500 pieces they'll do today.

It will take about an hour and a half.

Or if I was doing them, about three or four weeks.

Yeah, weeks!

We said it together.

The key to keep it fresh Dionisis is saying,

is to leave it in your fridge.

Fantastic!

- Okay.

- No worries.

- Okay.

- All right.

- This is for my work!

- Okay.

- Hey, Tom!

You waiting?

- [Dionisis] Thank you very much!

- Thank you! - Thank you!

(upbeat ethnic music)

- In the peak of the summer season,

this is a busy town.

It swells with visitors from Greece and abroad,

most of which come for the beaches.

But there's one thing the island is famous for,

that a lot of outsiders are likely unaware of,

and that's the poets and writers born here.

The Venetian influence meant that education has always been

a priority in Zakynthos, and a spinoff of that,

was that the arts thrived.

Out of the many authors that have called this island home,

of particular note is Dionysios Solomos,

the poet who wrote the national anthem.

He's immortalised for his patriotic song

that evokes the history and culture of Greece,

and subsequently many statues,

one of which stands in the centre of town.

In these parts, and across the country,

his story has become legend!

- Around 1821, during the war of Independence,

of course fighting the Ottomans,

he became a very important person,

because they say that he sat here in this place,

and wrote the poem that became the national anthem.

He heard the gun fire on the mainland,

between the rebellion army and the ottomans,

and he was inspired.

- Wow! - And he wrote the words

to the national anthem.

- It's an awesome anthem too, I love anthems.

I don't know what it is.

I love the Australian anthem, I love the Greek anthem,

I actually like the American anthem,

there is something about them.

But to know that he actually wrote it here.

I understand his house is just over there somewhere?

- Yes, they say it was over there, yes, yeah.

- Fantastic.

And there's a few Greek flags,

do you think there's enough Greek flags here?

Amazing.

I'm going to go and sit down where he sat.

Dionysios created a poem that encapsulates

the passion and culture of Greece in powerful words.

It's this rich heritage and the fervour of the people

that helps make this such a great country.

It's so good in fact, that many of those that leave,

find themselves drawn back again.

A perfect example is my neighbour Jim,

who is also a great friend.

He was born in Zakynthos and at a young age,

over 60 years ago, left for a better life in Australia.

He married, raised a family and made a success of himself.

But for the last 30 years he's split his life

between the two countries.

It's not that he prefers one over the other.

It's because this is his birthplace,

and he feels a tangible connection here.

You know Jim, when you told me that you have a house

in Zakynthos that's three kilometres from the beach,

and yet you live 100 metres from the beach in Australia,

I could never understand why you'd keep coming back here.

It's beautiful, isn't it?

- Well, yes, it is, it's beautiful here and beautiful

in Australia as well.

But Greece is our country.

It's inside the heart,

we were born here.

It's a beautiful island Zakynthos, we've got everything.

We've got olives, did you see all of these trees here?

- They are all your trees? - Yes, yes, we grow.

- [Peter] I never understand Jim,

but until you come here you don't appreciate

that the life is easy here.

You know, you're living from the land.

- That's right.

It's a different type of life than to in Australia, right?

Australia is good, it is very nice,

we have a good spot there in Clovelly beach,

but this is different.

We break the life in two.

- [Peter] Yeah.

- Half in Australia and half in Greece.

- You've got the life Jim, you've got the life!

- Yeah.

So that's why we are here, every year.

- Yes. - Every year.

The climate is every day it is 32 degrees,

for months and months.

Not up and down, like Australia,

but we put up with it, yeah?

And we spend more years in Australia,

but we never forgot our country.

- Now tell me Jim,

do you have some olive oil from your olive trees

at the moment? - Yes, of course!

- Well, we're going to have some now!

Have you got something to eat?

Let's go, let's go.

Come on, come on.

(lively music)

It's amazing how you can have strong cultural

and personal ties to a place, even many decades

after having left.

For some, they can depart the place of their birth

and feel perfectly at ease for the rest of their lives.

Others, long for the sounds, smells and flavours

of their youth, and feel most at ease when in the land

of their heritage.

Greeks often fall into the latter category.

I don't know if it's because of the unique culture

or landscapes, or just that we're a romantic people

with an intrinsic bond to our homeland.

Whatever the case, Jim keeps coming back,

to maintain a connection to his past.

(lively music)

There's no denying the attraction to a simple life

in an island paradise.

Here, things move slowly,

and the people celebrate their heritage in a way

that only Greek's do.

Song, dance, fantastic food and community spirit

are foundations of the country.

These traditions are most apparent in the small towns

and islands, away from the major centres.

Out here, it's all about tradition.

It extends into the way the people lead their lives,

the food they eat and even the age-old farming practises.

Watching the singing and dancing took me back

to my childhood.

Coming to Greece with my family and being immersed

in the culture,

it was a wonderful time in my life and helped shape

the man I've become.

I hope that by sharing these same experiences with my son,

that he too will grow to appreciate the simple things

in life and come to embrace his Greek heritage.

(men singing lively in foreign language)

(upbeat ethnic music)

Most people don't associate Greece with great wine.

And when it comes to the islands,

it seems even less likely you'll come across a quality drop.

But that couldn't be further from the truth.

While the popularity of Greek wine may not match

that of what comes out of France or California,

you'll discover that in many cases,

it certainly holds its own.

If you're just willing got give it a try.

I've come to probably one of the most sustainable locations

in the world.

Here in the centre of Zakynthos,

is just a wonderful farm where Andonis makes his own wine

from his own grapes, his own olive oil from his olives,

his own meat from his own chickens.

He does absolutely everything.

Not only does he do it for himself,

but people come from all over Zakynthos to eat at his farm.

(lighthearted music)

- We're going to go and check his wines out.

- Look at these beauties.

- So we're trying the white first.

(man speaks in foreign language)

It's a classic recipe, with three different grape types.

Boy, one of them comes from--

- A little bit green.

- That is super smooth!

I could drink this all day.

It is just a wine to drink with your dinner.

- We're going to try a red now.

I think I'm trying a little bit more than I should try.

- Once again.

- Yes.

(Peter laughs)

- We're going to go and see

the vines where this wine comes from.

Greeks have been making wine longer

than pretty much anyone else.

This means that the consumption of it has become part

of the culture.

A glass of red with lunch or dinner is relatively common.

It's also led to a huge variety

in the types of wines produced.

Every region, and even island,

produces their own style with influences from the climate,

soil and techniques giving them vast differences in flavour.

He's got this whole valley, is his farm, no chemicals,

only manure from the chickens, the horses,

and the animals.

It's right in front of us!

I'm looking at it right now.

- Mm.

I tell you, these grapes.

I've been to my fair share of wineries,

and the grapes are always, I don't know,

they don't taste good, maybe because they are made for wine.

But these guys.

Not only is the wine good, but the grapes are awesome!

- Oh, mate.

We've just spotted some figs!

I'm going to go and check them out.

I'll grab it.

There's a beauty.

Let's check this guy out.

Now look how soft he is, look at that.

Oh mate.

That's (speaks in foreign language).

- It's honey!

See the small figs are ripe, but they're natural.

There's no chemicals, no nothing.

I tell you.

- You need to be a bit of an acrobat.

Almost everything thing Andonis eats

comes from his small farm.

If he can't grow it or raise it himself,

he swaps with other local producers,

or buys it from neighbours.

It's an environmentally friendly,

paddock to plate culinary lifestyle,

with the freshest and most flavoursome food

you could imagine.

And let's not forget that beautiful wine!

(calm music)

The following morning,

we left Zakynthos for the second time,

only on this occasion there would be no coming back.

Our route saw us travelling along the weathered coastline

of the island, as we made our way north to Kefalonia.

It's a short but spectacular cruise,

with a couple of spots worth checking out along the way.

The white cliffs have been pounded by nature's fury

for countless years.

The result is a dramatic and rugged coastline,

dotted with caves and arches.

For the most part, the weather and cruising conditions

are fairly predictable, and if things do get rough,

you can alter your course to hide between the islands

on the leeward side where things are calmer.

Today, we were blessed with perfect conditions.

We're checking out the Keri caves,

but it's not what I thought it would be.

There's some better caves further up called the blue caves.

I think they are called the blue caves anyway.

It's where you can swim through this crack.

Let's go and check them out!

What I like about these is that,

these caves are being created into tunnels.

in a thousand years' time someone is going to be able

to swim through that to other side.

Good luck to them!

I love the nature here on the west coast of Zakynthos,

because it's so rugged here.

The westerly's that come through here create massive cave

formations underneath and over the last thousand years

you can see that along here,

the rock has collapsed above those caves,

and little formations have survived.

And above those formations that have survived,

birds have come and nested and they've crapped,

or pooed their little seeds that they have eaten elsewhere

and those seeds have formed in to the rock

and created little bushes, all the way along here.

And another little eco-system is being created.

It's absolutely awesome!

I love it, I love it.

Let's keep going!

The thing about the keri caves is that there are caves

that go right through some of these massive rock formations,

and there's a crack you can see just over there,

we're going to try and swim through that right now.

Now I'm going to jump in,

I'm actually not going to go first,

camera man is going to go first to make sure it's okay.

I'm just jumping in for the camera.

(serene music)

Mother Nature has a way of humbling you.

I might construct huge buildings that tower over

the streets below, but they're nothing in comparison

to the ever-changing natural wonders you encounter

throughout the world.

In a thousand years from now,

when my buildings have given way to new developments,

I like to think that these marvels

will still be amazing people.

Just like they do today.

(upbeat ethnic music)

The transit from Zakynthos to Kefalonia

was only a few hours at sea.

Thanks to the passing scenery, the time passed quickly,

and before I knew it we were cruising into port.

You can immediately tell that it's a busy place,

however being such a large and mountainous island,

there's plenty of opportunity to get away from it all,

either along the coast, or the fertile interior.

We've travelled up the Ionian Sea

from Zakynthos into Kefalonia.

This is Argostoli and the colours here

are absolutely magnificent.

I like Kefalonia.

At my age, this is my place.

Not to say that Zakynthos is not a good place,

it's probably more for someone who is a bit

of a night owl and likes the night life.

This place is for nature lovers, the people are fantastic,

it's a great place to see.

I'm looking forward to travelling through Kefalonia.

We're in the centre of Argostoli,

which is the capital of Kefalonia.

And I'm talking to Panioti here,

who tells me that we really don't know

where the name comes from, which is really not Greek.

Because Greeks know where everything comes from,

they know, they think that every word has come

from the Greek and they don't even know here

where the word Argostoli has come from.

- 40,000, just like Zakynthos.

- Bravo, bravo.

One of the most well-known structures in Argostoli

is the Drapano Bridge.

It's also known as De Bosset Bridge,

named after the Swiss engineer who built it.

You know, I love the passage of time,

and what it does in technology.

This bridge, this lime stone bridge was built in 1816.

It took 14 years to build, to connect Argostoli town

to the mountains over there.

But what's amazing is that they could have run a road

all the way around here, but they didn't,

they built this bridge.

What's even more special is that that swamp over there

was that infested with mosquitoes,

that they brought eucalyptus trees from Australia

to stop the mosquito deluge.

There's a lot to see in this town,

particularly for a guy like me who loves architecture

and feats of engineering.

And just up the road is a curiosity,

I had to have a look at.

(calm guitar music)

Just two kilometres north of Argostoli and just across

from Lixouri is this maze of water

running in to the water side.

And it actually runs through a geological formation

under the earth, some 15 kilometres to the other side

of the island, comes out in Melissani caves

and some other places.

And the reason they know that is because in 1963,

they placed 160 pounds of dye through here,

waited a couple of weeks,

and saw it come out of the other end.

If you can't find this spot, the marker is

that beautiful lighthouse over there.

It's called Agios Theodoros.

It was built in the 1800s by the British,

doesn't look British, the Doric columns,

it looks very, very Greek.

In actual fact it's been repaired a number of times.

It still works and if you come here at night

you will see this beautiful amber light coming from there.

Right behind me, and across from Argostoli,

is a town called Lixouri , and the ferry you see,

the car ferry, goes back and forth all day long,

365 days a year.

It'll cost you 3 euros

for you to go from Argostoli to Lixouri.

And if you want to take your car, it's an extra euro!

(laughs)

Things brings me to a quick story about the rivalry

between the two towns.

Back in 1757, the capital was moved from Lixouri

to Argostoli, because the latter of the two

had a better port.

Those in Lixouri felt hard done by,

as many of the government services

and therefore money and work, left the once affluent town.

The rivalry has been immortalised in paintings,

poems and songs, and continues still today.

Spiros feeds this turtle regularly.

And like the humans that come here to the café,

so do the turtles.

That turtle is a good sized turtle it looks like

it's between 25 and 40 years old.

There's plenty of them around here.

And you'd know as we spoke about it before,

they nest in Zakynthos.

- Who wouldn't like to swim with them?

- Oh, you'd love to swim with them, wouldn't ya?

- Ah, sure, sure. - Eh?

- Sure, sure.

- That's why we come here,

to see things like this, isn't it?

- Absolutely.

- Yeah.

Where are you from?

- Sweden

- Sweden.

You like it here in Argostoli, in Kefalonia?

- Yes.

- Is this your first time?

- Yes, absolutely.

- Will you come back?

- We had a hard time driving a car here in the--

- Why is that? - In the city.

It's very crowded and small roads.

- Yes, of course.

With all the tourism that happens, doesn't it?

But you've got to live with those little things, don't you?

- Yeah, absolutely. - Yeah.

A bit warmer than Sweden isn't it?

- A bit!

- A bit warmer, yeah.

After just a handful of hours in Kefalonia,

I can already tell that this is going to be

a fantastic week.

It's the biggest island in the Ionian and spread around

the coast and interior are lots of towns

and natural wonders that I can't wait to explore.

From Argostoli you can see that it's very different

from what I've encountered so far.

The mountains tower in the distance

and at the lower altitudes the rich soil means

plants thrive, creating a vibrant green that contrasts

with the blue of the surrounding sea.

It's a diverse landscape that's been inhabited

for over 3,000 years,

and with that comes a fascinating history.

Next episode my time on Kefalonia continues.

I'm going to explore the stunning Melissani Lake,

a place of both myth and beauty.

There's only a few such formations found on the planet,

and it's one of the more popular sites for tourists.

I'm also going to meet a couple of the locals,

who spend their days at sea, forging a living as fishermen.

It's an occupation that has existed as long as humans have

inhabited these islands.

But as fish stocks decline,

who knows how much longer this way of life will last.

Plus, I'll be catching up with a friend and trying

my hand as a beekeeper,

as well as visiting one of the famed wineries

that produces the famous Robola,

that Kefalonia is known for.

By now I hope you've come to realise that there's one thing

you can rely on if you ever come to Greece,

and that's you can expect the unexpected.

You never know what you'll find,

and as much as you can plan things,

no doubt you'll be surprised with what else you'll discover.

By all means, have an itinerary.

But take my advice when I tell you to leave some free time

to see what unfolds.

(upbeat ethnic music)

(loud whoosh)