On Friday, we arrived at Santorini by ferry, and caught the shuttle bus over to Fira - the capital of the island. Fira is a town of white-washed houses built on the edge of the 400m high flooded caldera. About 3,500 years back Santorini witnessed an awesome volcanic explosion which occurred in the Aegean Sea and as a result created a huge caldera, approximately four miles in diameter. The narrow streets of Fira are lined with all kinds of souvenir shops, jewellery shops and restaurants. Once we had checked into our hostel, we did a walking sightseeing tour of Fira, and then onto Fanari Restaurant for dinner - which had the most incredible views overlooking the volcano, with the sun setting over the ocean behind it.

After dinner, we made our way to the Tropical Bar as well as the Highlander Scottish Bar - both of which we timed well enough to maximise their happy hour drink specials. Yesterday was a free day to explore the island. A few of us took a bus to Akrotiri (south west of island) and jumped on a boat which did a circular trip allowing us to see the white and black beaches and then dropping us on the red beach, where we spent most of the day. The sand, due to it's dark colour, was so incredibly hot to walk on - but a combination of the dark sand, the sea and the backdrop of mountains, made it one of the most picturesque beaches I've visited in a long time.

After a day on the beach and in the sun, last night we had a sunset picnic in Oia, the northern tip of the island. We caught the bus out there, had plenty of eat and drink (all organised), and then watched the sun slowly disappear behind the ocean, making for a brilliant sunset. From there, back to Fira and again to the Tropical Bar and the Highlander. Last night carried on until sunrise this morning - managing to see sunset, moon rise and sunrise, all within 12 hours :)

After a few hours sleep this morning, we're now ready to make our way by ferry to the last of our islands, called Ios, commonly known as the 'party island' so we'll see what that has to offer for the final couple of days.