2374 miles later...

Heading to Manchester's Terminal 1.

And we're in Kalymnos. The journey was straight forward to be honest, however it took a long time and this was because we had to use many different forms of transport. We used the good old British Rail network to get from Carlisle to Manchester, and then Monarch airlines provided us with the flights down to the island of Kos.

A coffee passes the time, early on Thursday morning, whilst waiting for the Kalymnos Star.

Once on Kos we waited for four hours in Mastihari so that we could catch the first ferry across to Pothia, which is the capitol of Kalymnos. This wouldn't have been to bad if we were in Mastihari at a decent hour, but at an hour past midnight only one Tavern was still serving food and drink, which passed some of the time.

Our first view of Kalymnos from Mastihari, Kos.

Heading for the Kalymnos Star, as the sun starts to illuminate Mastihari Harbour, Kos.

Once on Kalymnos we were soon transferred across the island, by coach, to the Hotel Philoxenia, which sits 20 minutes walk away from many of the popular climbing sectors of the Grande Grotta. Even though it was still early in the day, we had little in the way of energy, so instead of heading straight for the crags we potted around Masouri, Armeos and Kasteli for the day, before retiring to the pool in preparation for the following days climbing.

The limestone of the Grande Grotta makes for an interesting back drop whilst swimming in the hotel pool.

And if your wondering how I knew the exact distance from Carlisle to Kalymnos I asked Google Maps who not only gave me the distance, but also a detailed route plan for driving the entire 2374 miles, and an option for a route if I wanted to walk the entire way. It would have only taken me 14 days and 19 hours!

More pictures of the holiday can be seen here.

Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...
Iain