Chania Harbour Front

Departure Day

All the staff and students  were up in time for breakfast overlooking the idylic Chora Sfakion harbour for this fieldclass’s last day. The coach was awaiting and at 0930 hrs the journey started to Chania initially on the long winding climb away from the south coast. Once again the driver negotiated narrowly past the coaches heading in the opposite direction and continued at a slow pace over the mountain pass and down to the northern coast to deposit everybody outside the  municipal market building in Chania at 1130 hrs.

This gave everybody three  hours to explore, shop or do their own thing. Alan, Richard and Ken took in a walk that encompassed the harbour front and then proceeded into the old back streets and found a shady restaurant under the old Venetian castle wall for lunch.

Safely Through Passport Control

At 1430 hrs the coach picked everybody up at the market place and proceeded to the airport where apart from shuffling a few personal items between hold and cabin baggage everything proceeded to shedule. Embarkation was on time the flight went smoothly and apart from a long walk at Gatwick from plane to passport control the fieldclass arrived swiftly back in the UK. The coach for the last stage was awaiting and deposited the whole group back at the university at 2200 hrs for the last few days before end of term.

Student Group Photograph

Consolidation Day

Today the groups reviewed their work and made plans on consolidating their projects. They spread out chasing interviews, working on their DocuWiki input and some returned to the Ilingas gorge as their calculations from previous measurements probably led to some new thought processes.

The end of the day saw the evening round up meeting followed by a group photograph on the harbour jetty. The farewell evening meal then took place with the students in a happy mood as the wonders of the internet had informed them that they had all passed their first year exams.

Farewell Evening Meal

Farewell Evening Meal

Later that night the staff were awoken by gunshots in the village. Having read Peter Trudgill’s  ‘In Sfakia’ they put it down to the father of Saturday’s baptised child still celebrating or some such other local custom as yet not documented. However it can probably be put down to a still existing fascination with guns left over from when the locals produced more than a few brigands.

The last night in Chora Sfakion allowed Ken to summarise in his mind elements of the fieldclass giving rise to the following  thoughts on what had been again a very successful week.

The Fieldclass Labyrinth

The Labyrinth is an elaborate structure designed as a DocuWiki by the legendary Dr Howard. Its function is to hold the Fieldclass, a creature half Physical and half Human Geography. Alan Howard had made the DocuWiki Fieldclass so complicated that he could barely escape it after building it. This was evident by the way he communicated with it on his Dell mini 9 every day. Even though he was aware of its heat tolerance and looked on his Dell as to a son he let it fly so close to its limits that it indeed crashed to destruction.

The main function of the Labyrinth is to see how many students claim the mythic role of Theseus by conquering the Field class. They have all been given a Garmin GPS and tape measures by Richard to help escape this modern maze that covers a 20 mile stretch of rugged coastline occasionally specked white with rural retreats and cloven with gorges galore.  Also to help in modern times they have been given video cameras and computer laptops.

Some groups’ perceptions of the DocuWiki is to liken it to the prehistoric Labyrinths which served as traps for malevolent spirits or as defined paths for ritual dances. The fact that these spirits still existed was evident when, in Loutro, they made the regular ferry boat disappear – or fail to appear, which is maybe a similar thing. However, the spirits were replaced that evening after the baptism by the ritual Cretan dancing that commenced on the path that encompassed the Loutro waterfront

Other groups reckoned Labyrinths can be thought of as symbolic forms of pilgrimage where people can walk the path, ascending toward salvation or enlightenment and obtain higher course grades.

Another group analysis might be that Labyrinths are used by modern mystics to help achieve a contemplative state. Especially in Sfakia, walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and this quietens the mind.

In medieval times, the Labyrinth symbolized a hard path to God with a clearly defined centre (God) and one entrance (birth). However, as so many people could not afford to travel to holy sites and lands, so Labyrinths and prayer substituted for such travel. Indeed, during the week most students probably offered up a prayer or two in order to find the right path out of the DocuWiki Labyrinth.

Presently, the religious significance of Labyrinths has faded, and they serve primarily for entertainment. Recently, their cultural aspect has seen a resurgence in the form of the DokuWiki Fieldclass Labyrinth constructed by Dr Howard for the enlightenment of modern University students. Indeed, on this present trip it has spawned several other staff and student group Labyrinths to be explored and exploited further by Academics and Examiners alike.

Start of Walk up the Samaria Gorge

Samaria Gorge Day

This day was spent in the Samaria Gorge which gave the students time to observe and compare many aspects pertaining to their work plans. They could see differences between a gorge that is managed for mass tourism and the Ilingas gorge already studied. They were able to spend time surveying businesses operating in the gorge and further more there was a whole range of  nationalities walking the gorge who could be trawled for the data needed by each group.

Photograph Taken at the Iron Gates

Once again the groups split up in order to maximise their time in the gorge. However most trekked up to the ’Iron Gates’ where a group photo was recorded for posterity. This was to be put up on the field class DocuWiki which was now showing a momentum of its own with all the attention it was receiving every evening from the student groups.

All the students were back at the loading jetty for the 1730 ferry back to Chora Sfakion. It travelled via Loutro taking in the tremendous coastal scenery that the students were beginning to know quite well.

On arrival at Chora Sfakion everybody joined the congestion as hundreds of tourists disembarked to collect their coaches and disappear. This was part of the scene that was watched most evenings from across the harbour whilst seated on the hotel Livikon’s restaurant veranda .

Loutro Waterfront

Second Field Survey Day

The majority of students and the staff proceded to take the ferry to Loutro. On arrival the students poured into Loutro whilst the staff walked round the peninsula past the church and toward Fenix (Old Phoenix). This again allowed one to take in the uplift that had happened in approximately 365 years AD. The nick (knick) point always seems to draw the staff’s observations even though there is no perceivable change in the landscape from the previous year.

On the return to Loutro it was found that the students were not getting as many interviews as they wished because the bar owners and hoteliers were busily working on preparations for a 50 strong Scandinavian wedding party and a local baptism. All was not lost however as half the students were invited back for the evening baptism celebrations. It was therefore decided to return to Chora Sfakion by the regular 1230 hrs ferry.

Today the ferry was not so regular and decided on a no show, so with money returned from the ferry kiosk a boat was chartered for 22 staff and students to Chora Sfakion. After a heated discussion between the captain and several Cretian families who had seized the opportunity to hijack the boat the students and staff managed to get the boat back for themselves and had a leisurely trip back along the dramatic coastline  to their now welcoming base.

Evening Baptism Party in Loutro

In the evening the students invited to the baptism party in Loutro departed from the Notos Mares diving centre being taken by Lefteris the brother of the owner and himself a student at Newcastle University. Indeed there was lots of boats coming and going between the new port and Loutro all through the evening..

Back Street Bakery in Chora Sfakion

First Field Survey Day

The students had previously presented their plans for the Human Geography project day. The split between the groups appeared even with three groups working Loutro and three groups staying in Chora Sfakion for their surveys.

That was the plan. However some students overslept leaving only two groups going to Loutro for the day. The staff decided that they would stay in Chora Sfakion overseeing the majority of students and go to Loutro on the Saturday which was planned as the swap  over location day for the Human Geography project.

The day was spent feeding the DocuWiki pages, loading readings from the GPS’s to the mini computers and attending to some minor cuts and allergies with the students as they passed by the hotel during their forays out  into the life and times of

Students Meet For The Evening Roundup

Chora Sfakion.  Students from the Loutro trip started to arrive back during the afternoon on taxi boats with different stories of toil and adventure experienced during their travels.

All the students were back in time for the regular 1800hrs round up meeting and then they had time to relax. It was interesting to find that the groups were motivated enough to meet up and continue working during the evening. Later on however the hardy ones continued to socialise with the  locals by hitting the late night bars and cafes prior to turning in.

Richard who had a first floor end balcony room mentally logged them in as he  swears he could now identify them on their return to the hotel with their louder than normal voices.

Students Arrive in Loutro for Coastal Walk

Coast Walk from Loutro Day

The students who were made aware at the previous evenings meeting of the forthcoming day’s  events took a leisurely breakfast, bought their lunches and then the ferry tickets to Loutro

The ferry trip allowed the students to study the coast line for interesting points of study on their later walk back to Chora Sfakion. It also allowed the staff to see if the winter had brought on any drastic changes from the previous year.

On the Coastal Path

After arrival at Loutro the walk then started back. A lunch time stop over at Sweetwater Beach also allowed for a swim in the sea water cooled by the spring water that issues from under the beach  The majority of students continued on the harder part of the walk back to Chora Sfakion in up to 40 degrees centigrade heat

A few who were for different reasons unable to face continuing the walk stayed on Sweetwater Beach and came back on the evening taxi boat ferry arriving  just in time for the 1800hrs groups round up meeting.

Students arrive on Ilingas Beach

Ilingas Gorge Project Day

The students mostly arrived at Ilingas beach on time, with only a couple slightly late as they got lost getting out of Chora Sfakion. Alan spent some time updating the student groups on the project and the day ahead.

The students then started to ascend the gorge in temperatures that eventually reached 38.4 degrees centigrade. On the way up to their lunch stop they observed likely locations for taking measurements on their way down. The gorge was full of flying insects and unfortunately quite a few people were stung mostly when they accidently trapped the honey bees under arms, in leg joints and in clothing.

Students working in the Ilingas Gorge

The students then spent the afternoon descending the gorge sticking to their work plan or not, depending on the group’s new perceptions of the tasks ahead. So now armed with measurements, observations and GPS data the students returned to base.

Students arrive at Chania Airport

Travel to Crete Day

The field class started off with everybody meeting on time and a fast trip to Gatwick Airport within the hour.  The buoyant mood was somewhat dampened when on checking in  it was discovered that the French traffic controllers were on strike which was causing major delays on flights through Europe. All was not lost however as the Monarch flight got clearance to overfly Belgium and Germany on the start of its trip to Crete. It took off at 1100 hrs which was only 30 minutes later than scheduled take off and ahead of some planes that were supposed to have left 3 hours earlier.The flight was uneventful apart from some staff and students being given some lunch packs that were surplus to requirements.

The coach was waiting to meet everybody which never ceases to amazes the staff after the laid back booking arrangements. So after one of the slowest and probably safest journeys with no one succumbing to sickness on the switch back roads the coach arrived at Chora Sfakion.  The staff were then bought back to normal with the usual untoward happening when the coach driver tuned in to the other upmarket hotel owned by the same owner as the two star Livikon hotel that was the usual booked accommodation.

Everybody arrived safe and sound - Now relaxed

Alan the course convenor for once was taken aback. Was this an upgrade?  How lucky!!. However instead of  rescheduling all the field work to fit in with the new location and despite the fact that this is one of the few fully nudist hotels in Crete he quickly redirected the driver to the correct location. So by eight o’clock in the evening everybody was booked in to the correct hotel. Further more some were in the harbour-view restaurant whilst others were in the harbour itself.

Chora Sfakion

Preparation Day

The students completed a preparation day in  which they worked for the first time in their assigned groups.  They went over the projects they were to undertake and practised with a GPS and the measuring instruments they would use in the field.

A positive reaction was obtained when they were tasked with producing and recording a two minute video. Each group worked on a different aspect pertaining to the Spakia region. These were:-

Crete – tourism activities in Sfakia and across the island

Sfakian biogeography – an overview of fauna and flora

Gorges in Spakia – distribution, development and characteristics

Spakian Climate – weather including extreme events

Cretan Culture – including food music and customs

Crete and War – including Spakia’s role in World War II

The completed videos were then uploaded to each group’s Wiki page as a start in creating a comprehensive log of  the 2010 Crete field trip.