New Year On Zakynthos

You may recall my list of Winter Challenges which I talked about in an earlier post. These had been set by my on-line message board friends. The first challenge I agreed to was to capture a photograph of the very first sunrise of the New Year on Zakynthos.
I had decided to take the photo from a beach & I'd talked about this with my friend Debbie who was keen to accompany me.
During New years Eve daytime we spent a very pleasant day at Debbie's house & then in the evening, Debbie, her 7 year old daughter, Simone, & me made our way to my house where we saw in the New Year. We put Simone to bed for a while & Debbie & me enjoyed watching The Green Mile on dvd. I'd never seen this film & had always wanted to, an excellent film, though very much a tear jerker on what was already a very emotional time, so a few tears were shed. We'd already decided there was not much point in us trying to sleep as neither of us were tired & so we chatted the night away. We knew the sunrise was going to be around 7.30am but wanted to be on the beach in good time. We prepared a flask of coffee, woke Simone & wrapped ourselves up against the cold. At around 6.30am we loaded the car with quilts, cameras, flask, torches & books as we were unsure exactly how long we would be sitting waiting. Much to our surprise the windscreen on the car was iced up & we had to switch on the hot air & wait for it to clear before we could set off.

When we arrived at Kalamaki beach it was still pitch black with a very clear sky & lots of stars visible. There was already a very slight glow over to the east, a sure sign that the sun was on it's way. As we sat in the car & watched we noticed the glow becoming more & more colourful & soon we decided to leave the car & brave the cold to start to capture some photos.
It was very atmospheric as there was also a mist hovering over the sea as you can see on the second photo. It was also very, very cold. After taking quite a few photos we went back to the car for a short while to have a coffee to warm us back up but were keeping a keen eye to spot when the actual sun made it's very first appearance.


We were not disappointed, in a short while the sun came up over the horizon & we left the warmth of the car yet again to capture the moment.

You can also see a photo below of a very cold Debbie (left) & me (right) on the beach after our photo session.

So a New Year starts & I wish everyone a Happy & Healthy one.



This is also the start of my first full year on Zakynthos & I have my own hopes & dreams for what this year might bring & those people who are close to me know what those hopes & dreams are.
I have not lost faith.