Two Cultures, Two Festivals, in Melbournes February

Melbourne has a strong and vibrant community of Chinese Heritage.

A large influx of Chinese migrants arrived in Melbourne in the mid 1800s as part of Victoria’s Goldrush.

Little Bourke Street is Melbourne’s Chinatown, and was the centre of the 2024 Luna New Year Celebrations on 11 February.

An event full of noise and colour.

From head to tail, the main dragon was half a city block long.

And superstition says that it brings good luck to touch the dragon.

The Antipodes Festival, which commenced in 1987, celebrates the Greek diaspora in Melbourne.

Melbourne is said to have the largest Greek speaking population outside of Greece and Cyprus.

The festival takes part in Lonsdale Street in the Melbourne CBD. The spiritual hub of the Greek Community.

The closing band Xylourides had the whole audience up.dancing.

Such vibrant music from young performers.

Even the Greek flag was up and dancing.

It was a beautiful summer day. Id ridden back from the rain forest, swapped urban cool for nature.

Hit the beach:

Before a night of Greek Culture.

Riding across northern Greece

After leaving Konista, it was a misty ride through the mountains of Western Macedonia skirting Thessalonika to Kavala.

I had decided I wanted to make, what is a bit of an Australian Pilgrimage, to ANZAC Cove on the Cannakale Peninsula in Turkey. Hence, it was a blast across northern Greece.

What were the highlights?

The most fascinating stop was the Porto Logos. A little fishing village on the coast between Kavala and Alexandroupoli.

A quaint village with a small port and restaurants, a secluded beach and flamingos and other bird life.

It’s also the site of the Byzantine Monastry of St. Nicholas.

The monastry is set in the middle of the lake with each of the churches containing amazing frescos and etching.

The Byzantine Madonna and Child in the photos are etched and coloured directly onto brass plate and were breath takingly beautiful.

The city of Alexandroupoli is a beautiful coastal city at the top of the Aegean sea close to the border with Turkiye.

The sad part of crossing this part of Greece was the largely blackened forests and farmland, the legacy of recent wildfires in Northern Greece. Wherever I travel, there are ever present reminders of the current climate crisis

From Albania to Greece via the Vjose River

From the coastal resort town, the villages and landscape changed quickly as rode south east in the general direction of the Vjose toward Greece.

The route meandered through tittle villages, past monuments, and derelict oil fields. Connecting and reconnecting with the Vjose River.

It was easy to pick the Vjose as it carried much more water than other rivers. Drought has ravaged this area, and most of the other rivers had lost their flow to irrigation and electricity.

The town of Memaliaj is built on the edge of the river and a great place to stay and have a swim.

From Memalaij, it was a slight diversion to visit the Lengarica Canyon and the Thermal Baths of Benja.

Unfortunately, the river was very low but the thermal sping was beautiful.

On rejoining the Vjose, its mood had changed. Flooding rains in Greece had turned the Vjose gently flowing blue river into brownish torrent.

A return to high mountains herealded the approach to the Greek Border.

The first night in Greece and last beside the, now, Aoos River was in Konitsa with its Ottoman bridge at the end of the Aoos Gorge.

It was tempting to follow Aoos further south into the Greek mountains to its origin at the Aoos Spring, but my route was across the top of the Aegean Sea to Turkey.