Talking Location With … author D L Garner – CRETE

11th June 2020

#TalkingLocationWith... D L Garner, author of Greek Awakening – CRETE

The research for my first novel – ‘Greek Awakening’ was derived mainly from the time that I spent living on the island of Crete when I was younger.

Also, I am British born and bred but of half Greek descent, (although from a different part of Greece to the island in the story), but I do have extensive knowledge of the Greek culture, language and food.

During my late twenties/early thirties, I spent three years living in Crete; and just as the main character in the novel, I too worked as a holiday representative. I did this during the Summer months in the tourist resort of Stalis, where the story is set; and during the winter months, I taught English in the capital, where at one time I also lived. This game me extensive experience that I could draw upon for the book.

My time living in Crete also enabled me to gain further knowledge of the island’s history, people and culture in addition to how the seasonal tourism industry operates there. I was able to experience first-hand, working as a holiday rep, it allowed for an honest portrayal of the role, how it is structured and how this area of the industry is managed overseas.  In addition to an insight into how many tourists behave whilst on holiday. I was also able to understand how other tourism businesses function such as hotels and restaurants, seeing how the summer season operates as a whole, within a seasonal tourist town.

Whilst in Crete I spent extensive time in the resort of Stalis, where I lived for most of my time on the island; as well as time in both the capital Heraklion and the popular but pretty tourist town of Agios Nikolaos. I also had the opportunity to visit many places on the West of the island including Malata, Rethymnon, Chania, in addition to Agia Pelagia and the island of Santorini which is easily accessible from Crete on a day trip, all of which are popular tourist excursions.                                                                                                                                                    I have included these places within the story and aimed to do so as descriptively as possible in an attempt to allow the reader to try to imagine the scene.  During my time living there, I also took numerous photographs which I could draw upon to aid my writing within these descriptive parts.

The main character, Helen is from Australia and I had previously spent a year living and travelling around the country which enabled me to experience the typical Australian way of life.  Therefore, I felt I was able to make comparisons between the Australian lifestyle and the Greek tourism one.  This I used in the novel when the main character is torn between settling for what she feels is a completely different lifestyle to her own and as a result less preferable to her homeland Australia.

The book is aimed as being a light-hearted beach read, targeted at young women mainly in the twenties/thirties age range; and it also gives an insight into the island for anyone interested in visiting.

Top Tips for Visiting Crete

The best time to visit Crete is out of high season, so opt for mid-May, June or the beginning of September.

Crete has only one tourist season April to October, after which all the hotels and tourist establishments shut down for the winter when it is also surprisingly cold.

As Crete is a large island it has three international airports but the two more commonly used by tour operators are Heraklion and Chania. Heraklion is the capital and near to the many party resorts which are over-commercialized, brash and consist of mainly one long road.  Therefore, I recommend either heading further down to the East of the Island to the touristy but pretty town of Agios Nikolaos or its nearby village of Elounda, (you would still fly into Heraklion if you were staying here).

However, if you do wish to stay in a party town then opt for accommodation in the old town areas with their white-washed buildings that give a more Greek feel and consider hiring a car for a day or two to visit other areas.

Alternatively, and highly recommended is to fly into Chania airport and stay on the North West of the island which although touristy is pretty without the brash.  This area also has the charming towns of Rethymnon and Chania which have Venetian architecture and more character.

The best thing to do is to hire a car to explore the island or even just the area nearer to Chania, in particular, to visit some of its off the beaten track beaches which are worth the drive and considered the best beaches on the island.

One such beach is Elafonisi with its pinky-white sand, clear calm waters, lagoon and sand dunes.  Although a two and a half-hour drive from Chania, it is an extremely scenic drive passing villages and a monastery.   Try to avoid in high season when it can get crowded.  Another great beach is Balos with the same crystal clear water and white sand, however, this one can be reached either by car or you can take a boat cruise from the small town of Kissamos.

If you like trekking then a day trip to Samaria gorge is worth doing and plenty of tour companies offer transport to and from the walk, this can be a challenging but fun day.

If you want to visit Santorini for the day, with its whitewashed architecture, it is considered the most photographed island in Greece, then there are many day excursions with small cruise liners but can get extremely busy to the point of overcrowded.  So if this is high on your to do list then certainly consider visiting out of high season.

On the whole, I would certainly recommend flying into Chania and staying in the North East area of the island.   In addition to the places mentioned, there are plenty more interesting towns and beaches to visit, so if possible hire a car at least for a couple of days.

Crete, especially the North West area has many pretty restaurants that are delightful to sit in, often in courtyards or at the edge of the sea; so, I would recommend staying somewhere with accommodation and breakfast only.

D L Garner

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