Island bliss, dead silence and a sheep named Noël

"Wow, we are alive. And so is everyone dear to us."

That's what we tell ourselves every morning when we get up with a big grin on our faces.

Three months have passed since our last sign of life from Crete. Back then we were guests of Dave and Juliet in a beautifully renovated former olive mill. Now it's time to tell you where we spent the winter and what we have learnt so far. And of course there are plenty of pictures and videos to share.

After two wonderful weeks with Dave and Juliet in the west of Crete we went to the "wild" south. There, much is still very untouched. We crossed the snow-covered, over 2,000 meter high "White Mountains" and drove almost 300 km on small roads along the coast towards the eastern end of the island. Every day we had to overcome at least 1,000 meters of altitude. The highest gradient was 16%! We pedaled up and drove down again with squeaking brakes. The maximum speed remains a secret.

We often spent the night on the beach, accompanied by a blazing fire and a dreamlike starry sky. Or we enjoyed the warm hospitality of the Cretans. The combination of our Pino recumbent tandem and the children's bike connected with a FollowMe adapter put a smile on many people's faces. And the evening search for water as well as for a socket for our bike battery provided again and again for spontaneous invitations to the houses of the Greeks.

One evening, not far from a paradisiacal little river in the south of Crete, we were late in finding a place to spend the night. It was already dawn. Then Carsten heard the voices of singing children in the forest. We followed the singing and suddenly stood in front of a small wooden house in the middle of an olive grove. Zakeieh, the mother, welcomed us. She lives there with her family completely self-sufficient. They get their water from a nearby spring. The electricity comes from the sun. Over a fine dinner we got to know each other better and pitched our tent under their olive trees.

A few days later the weather changed. Strong winds made camping on the beach impossible. At night it suddenly rained more and more often. Winter was just around the corner. Zakeieh told us that travelers used to regularly seek shelter from the weather in churches. But today hardly anyone uses them.

When the weather turned bad again in the evening, we ventured our foot into a wayside church. It was beautifully painted. Inside the eternal light was burning. There was even electricity and water. We decided to spend the night there and spread out our mats. The ceiling was decorated with an oversized picture of Jesus. We felt very safe while the wind whistled outside. It made us want to do more.

The next day we spent the night in the church of a cemetery. At night there was literally dead silence. Only the lights on the graves were flickering. Spooky. In a nearby house we fetched water and charged our battery. The Greek couple gave us cakes and fruits. Anna even got chocolate and made big eyes. It was December 6, St. Nicholas.

Culturally, we were impressed by the excavation sites of Gortyn in the Messara Valley. There, 500 century BC, the city law was carved in stone, making it one of the oldest known European laws still preserved. Or the oldest imprint of a human foot from Trachilos. There, in the stones in front of you, you can see the steps of a human being 5.7 million years ago!

In the midst of the constant ups and downs of the south coast, the engine of our Pino tandem got off at the beach of Triopetra. To the next town it was almost 180 km and more than 5,000 meters of altitude. Since we weigh almost 200kg with bike and luggage, continuing in the mountainous region without engine support was impossible. Thanks to video support with the bike experts Rüdiger, Jörg and Rainer, the fault was quickly found: cable break between display and motor! But where to conjure up a new cable? Then we noticed an old refrigerator at the roadside. Someone had left it there. With its red and blue cable we could bridge the broken cable successfully and continue our journey the next day. We were so happy!

Through the volunteer platform WWOOF we met Emma and her family on Rhodes. We immediately liked them in the video call. Emma has an olive farm with 5 donkeys, a sheep, 45 chickens, 3 dogs and 5 cats. She offered us to spend the winter in her cottage. In return, we would take care of her animals.

We took the ferry to Rhodes and immediately fell in love with the animals, her family and her paradise. Christmas together with the family of 6 was very special. During a hike, Katharina discovered a newborn lamb next to its dead mother. We took it in and have been caring for it ever since. It answers to the name Noël. Donkey mother Saina gave birth to her son Elliot a few days later. The animals have grown very quickly to our hearts. We are enjoying our winter break to the fullest.

Anna plays a lot with dog Maya, races baby donkey Elliot and searches for crystals in the surrounding mountains with Alex, Emma's son. Twice a week she is allowed to go to the German school in Rhodes. She likes it there very much. And every Monday and Wednesday, Katharina and she take riding lessons at a nearby farm. Both are making great progress. Their horses are called Rebecca and Thunderhall - the name says it all!

We are in regular contact with friends and family. Anna's friend Elina knitted her a scarf and sent it by mail. Anna wears it very often. And in a few days Kathi's brother and her mother will come to visit. We haven't seen each other for almost 10 months. At the beginning of March Anna's godmother Regula and her best friend Jeremias from Basel will visit us. Anna has made a tear-off calendar especially for this. She can hardly wait.

On Crete, Carsten discovered the Indian mystic and yogi Sadghuru at Dave and Juliet. In an online course, he learned about various meditation techniques and has been practicing sitting still and thinking about nothing every morning ever since. Not so easy! His appendix is fine, but now his rectum is showing its aches and pains. Diagnosis: internal rectal prolapse. That sounds worse than it is. On Crete, we found a great proctologist who lovingly takes care of Carsten. He is on the road to recovery and we can continue our journey.

Speaking of continuing our journey: we leave mid March. We would like to cross over to Turkey by ship and explore the south coast. The hospitality of the Turks, the wondrous rock formations of Cappadocia, the hot springs of Pamukkale and historical places like Ephesus and Troy are waiting for us. We are excited! As soon as it gets hotter, we plan to head further north.

So much for all our adventures. We made use of the winter break to reflect about our journey so far. We really enjoyed traveling without a plan in nature, the time among the three of us and longer breaks at places we liked. Difficult have been the search for overnight stays after dawn, our stays in bigger cities and conflicts among us when one’s basic needs were not fulfilled. We learnt that we are a magnet for the good, drawing attention of people who do us good. We also get to know new characteristics of each one of us due to spending so much time together as a family. This has not always been easy but made us grow. We do not miss working in front of a screen at all but we realized how important it is to have a strong purpose - even for a cycling journey like ours. Otherwise, energy would be used up quickly. Finally, we went over the books and realized that we are able to enjoy a wonderful life with healthy food at less than CHF 10 per person per day.

How we feel inside, you can read in the individual reflections from us:

Carsten: "I didn't know that doing nothing can bring so much joy. My meditation in the morning and the daily bath in the sea do me good. I feel carried and grateful for the time with my loved ones in such a beautiful place."

Katharina: "The winter break in Rhodes has allowed me to unwind. How nice it is to just look up at the sky in the morning and spontaneously decide what you feel like doing today."

Anna: "I discovered how much joy it brings to live closely with animals. Also, it's exciting to get a glimpse of a Greek school. But it doesn't come close to my school."

We send you and your loved ones sunny greetings from Rhodes and hope you are well. We would be happy to hear from you!

Katharina, Anna and Carsten

Our trip in numbers

Kilometers driven: 6,495

Hours in the saddle: 302

Average kilometers per day: 69

Nights in tent: 75

Nights as guest: 134

Nights in pension: 28

Number of sunny days: 135

Number of cloudy days: 59

Number of rainy days: 43