Bleeding from my hands, arms and legs, and adrenaline masking the shock, I make my way back across the bridge I had run over just a few minutes earlier, and ask the waitress of the first cafe I come across if I can wash my wounds in her bathroom.
I’d risen early and gone for a run, heading along the waterfront and over the pedestrian bridge that connects Argostoli to the wider island. However in the scrubland on the other side I had tripped on the uneven ground and gone flying, landing hard onto the dusty track.
Sunrise on Argostoli harbour
Shaken by the impact, and bleeding in quite a few places, I wash away the dirt in the sink and find a pharmacist who, concerned at my dishevelled appearance, sprays the cuts with antiseptic and provides a range of plasters. Back at the hotel, Coman has been getting worried at my absence so when I arrive back looking like I’ve been in a fight he heads straight to reception to fetch iodine and patch me up.
Taking my shirt off, my torso is also grazed and as the adrenaline wears off the throbbing in my chest makes us both concerned I may have cracked a rib. With ripped palms, an aching toe, gashes on my arms, cuts on my knees and a painful chest, the forthcoming yoga retreat is looking somewhat optimistic.
Argostoli harbour
However we have an appointment down at the port to collect our hire car so, with Coman shouldering the majority of our luggage, we head back to the ferry point and pick up our vehicle for the next few days.
Our first stop is to be Skala on the far southeastern corner of Kefalonia but soon after we leave Argostoli we spot a sign for Agios Georgios Castle, a hilltop fort that’s on many tourist itineraries for its breathtaking views, so we swing up the road to check it out. Parking at the entrance, we climb the steep slope only to find the ticket office closed and the iron gate locked shut. Nevertheless we find a nearby café and over a much-needed coffee gaze over the straits to Zakynthos in the distance, taking in the glorious panorama.
At the entrance to Agios Georgios Castle
After another 45 minutes drive we arrive at the little town of Skala, and down a little road right alongside the beach come to the Sunrise Taverna, which has been recommended to us by Polly, one of the managers of The Darkness, who has spent a lot of time sailing around the Greek islands.
With a truly gorgeous setting and exquisite food it more than lives up to its billing, serving us a strawberry and balsamic salad and zucchini tempura with tzatziki. Feeling quite sore and still bleeding from the cuts on my hands, a medicinal glass of Robola wine helps soothe my nerves and wash some more painkillers down.
Lunch at Sunrise Taverna
From Skala we continue up the eastern coastline to Poros, passing beautiful coves and blue, blue sea, before the road snakes up into the stunning mountain landscapes that take us on to the town of Sami, and the famous Melissani Lake. A cenote sinkhole that was revealed a few hundred years ago when an earthquake caused the roof to cave in, Melissani’s underground lake shimmers in brilliant blue glory, with stalactites and caverns adding to its mysterious allure.
Joining the queues of other tourists we are punted around the lake for ten minutes or so by a gruff Kefalonian grandfather who has obviously been doing this job for decades, repeating the same stock phrases over and over again, as if stuck on a loop.
Melissani Lake
Photos taken and sight ticked off the list, we check into our nearby apartment for the night and then drive a few kilometres over the promontory to the celebrated beach of Antisamos. From above, its spectacular, aquamarine waters and white sands look ridiculously inviting but on arrival the mirage of Caribbean-esque powder turns out to be sharp pebbles underfoot and not the easiest surface to navigate.
However saltwater is said to be good for healing, so I bob around in the sea, hoping the cuts and grazes are responding to a saline bath, before lying on the sunbeds at Acron bar, which pumps out sunset tunes in an Ibizan-style and provides a cocktail happy hour I take advantage of.
Antisamos Beach
Back in Sami we have dinner at Contessini restaurant, in its dramatically situated harbour, the striking views adding yet another breathtaking vista to Kefalonia’s treasures. The menu is adorned with photos of the film version of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, most of which had been shot in Sami, Antisamos Beach and the nearby mountains. The locals are of course duly proud of its fame, and the continued tourist income the book and film provides.
The next morning over breakfast in nearby Agia Efimia however, Wendy - a blunt-speaking waitress from Leeds who’s lived on the island for 33 years - tells us she had worked as an on-set translator on the film, and she doesn’t have a good word to say about its stars Nicholas Cage or Penelope Cruz. Seems the beauty of the island hadn’t rubbed off on the Hollywood a-listers attitude.
We however, despite my injuries, are blissfully chilled.
