There are two Ithakas; a small Ionian Island, two mountains joined by a craggy ridge, rugged in the west, gentle and more fertile in the east where the shoreline is indented by numerous coves and sheltered bays where it’s said a million olive trees of a type unique to the island grow.

Only 3,000 Ithakians live here but many more can be found living as far away as New York, Cape Town and Melbourne. Like their famous ancestor Odysseus they are a seafaring people and even today many a merchant ship or ferry is crewed by seamen from the island.

Homer accurately described Ithaka as “rocky and unfit for horses but good for goats”! A single road connects the island capital Vathy, with its sheltered fjord-like deep- water harbour giving the town its name, to a scattering of villages in the north such as Stavros and Kioni passing beneath the ancient monastery of Kathara, its bell tower a landmark from many miles away.

Whether you stay for one week or the rest of your life you may absorb these lines by the famous poet C P Kavafy: “Ithaka gave you a marvellous journey, without her you would never have set out. Wise you have become and full of experience. Now you will understand what these Ithakas mean.”

Enjoy!