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From Ithaki Greece to Victoria Australia - An ithacagreece.com trip
 
November and December 2006
 

Athens

Up and Away

Ithaca Society

IPS Lunch

City Central

The Shop Drop

Landscapes

Coastline

Beaches

Country Victoria

Suburbs

Upside

Downside

   
Ithaca to Australia - Up and Away
5 years isn't a long time to be away from the country one is raised in, but after living on one of the smallest islands in Greece, where the world outside rarely makes a serious appearance (apart from the procession of tourists each summer accompanied by their Greek dreams) 5 years can feel like a lifetime. Living on Ithaca is like living in a fishbowl, but as wonderful and safe as it is, everyone needs to get off occasionally. In November 2006 it was ithacagreece.coms' turn. First step Athens, and then into the wide, blue (and rather bumpy) yonder of the skies covering Greece to Australia.
Above - Turkey from the sky reminds me, a trip there should be made in the near future.
 
 
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There's no doubt about it, Greece to Australia is a long, long flight. Around 17 hours flying time and another 8 hours in transit at Athens, Singapore and then Melbourne airports. From Ithaca, you can also add almost an extra day going by ferry to Patras and then car or bus to Athens. By the time we reach Singapore, most of the Greeks on the flight head straight to the smoking areas. 10+ hours without nicotine has them scrambling and then running, not walking, from the shoot. Non-smokers took the travelators. The transit area is a commercial hub. Buy, buy, buy. Eat, eat, eat. A veritable city inside a city. Now spit out that gum. This is Singapore.
 
 
As the sun set, we smoothly touched down at Tullemarine Airport on the outskirts of the Melbourne. Melbourne was obscured by a smoky sky. The drive from the airport towards the city must be one of the most boring and ugly. I'd forgotten how that long stretch of freeway dampened the enthusiasm of returning.
 
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