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'Sometimes I find things I didn't know I needed until I discover them on a shelf.' 'I bring my shopping list of essentials, but having not been to a store in over three months always leaves me wandering up and down every aisle to search for things I might've forgotten to write down,' she wrote.

The freezing weather has caught several hikers off guard, including a Brisbane man aged in his mid-40s who was rescued by helicopter on Monday afternoon after getting into trouble at Lake Petrarch near Lake St Clair.

Stay on an organic olive oil farm on the island's shores, with just four eco-luxe villas on the seven-acre Levendis Estate. A ferry ride away, Ithaca may be famous for being the home of the legendary hero Odysseus, piraeus bus to Meteora but it is much sleepier than neighbouring Kefalonia.

On volcanic Milos, explore the lunar landscape and soft sandy beaches along a shoreline that also features sea caves. Inntravel has a ten-night walking trip in September starting in Athens, Meteora greece taxi fare to airport including B&B but not flights, from £1,095pp (inntravel.co.uk).

Villa company Scott Williams has many properties on Paxos, best day trips Meteora including the simple stone Koulka House, with a pool, sleeping four in the hamlet of Kastanida on the west coast. A week in Koulka House costs from £830, excluding flights (Lunar landscapes - and island-hopping in style

Among the Ionian islands, Kefalonia may have become busier since its 2001 starring role in the film of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, but there are still quiet corners, including the small peninsula of Cape Liakas, taxi from Delphi to delphi which doesn't attract day visitors thanks to its no-through-road and a rocky beach rather than a stretch of sand.

Hire a boat to see the best bits, pottering around the coast to stop at Galazio beach, which is accessible only by water, and to marvel at the natural rock arch of Kamara. Better still, rafina to Delphi airport taxi cost head over for lunch at one of the tavernas on Paxos's smaller, vine-covered neighbour, Delphi airport to city taxi cost Antipaxos.

While the monasteries are among the most-visited sites in mainland Greece, the company's guides use hidden trails known only to the locals that follow in the footsteps of the first monks who arrived in the area in medieval times.

Ionian Island Holidays has a number of villas in the area, including the simply furnished two-bed Villa Jason, with private taxi Meteora greece pool in the village of Horto. A week-long trip, with flights, transfers and car hire, costs from £971pp (The tiny islands that will make a huge impression

Stay in the Erofili Hotel by the fishing village of Armenistis, and take a dip in the seawater pool or in the sea at nearby Livadi Beach. A walking trail through the pine forest starts here, linking four villages and private taxi Delphi greece spanning 15 miles. With plenty of wood and stone, the stylish cottages - some contemporary, others more traditional - share a pool surrounded by rocks, and a restaurant on the site of an old monastery that uses produce from Thalori's own farm. Seven nights' B&B costs from £978pp with flights and transfers (It may be one of Greece's most popular holiday destinations but Crete still has some off-the-beaten-track areas. In the remote, rugged landscape of the Asterousia Mountains in the south, a collection of 20 cottages form Thalori Retreat, which takes its name from its position between the sea (thalassa) and mountain (ori).

There are superb sea views, too, from rooms at Pedi Beach Hotel, which is right on a pebbly beach in the pretty village. A week's B&B costs from £1,059pp, with flights and transfers (Sunvil also runs holidays to Ikaria in the Aegean, which is one of the world's Blue Zones - places where people live the longest as a result of their healthy diet and easy-going lifestyle.

Greeks come here to ski in the winter and to swim in the summer. With pretty villages, lush forests and hidden beaches, the area where Mount Pelion drops into the sea has a sprinkling of small pensions - or guesthouses - rather than big hotels.



Arriving at the laid-back Dodecanese island of Symi is part of the experience - too small for its own airport, it is reached by ferry from Rhodes. But it is worth it to be greeted by superb views of one of the most picturesque harbours in the Aegean, with its colourful red-roofed houses, all of which are listed buildings.

Tucked away near the bottom of the peninsula is Citta dei Nicliani, a rustic but chic hotel in a restored 18th Century tower, with just seven rooms plus two new interconnecting suites in a separate building.

A villa for two costs from £2,200 a week, or £2,500 for four, with car hire but excluding flights (oneoffplaces.co.uk). On a hillside with sea views, the villas are set within their own gardens and share a pool, open-air cinema and taxi Delphi airport to piraeus price a large library. Enjoy a massage using herbs grown on the estate, taxi from Delphi to delphi practise yoga in the pavilion, or walk to the nearby beach.

You can also hire a catamaran complete with skipper and chef to sail round the less-well-known Cyclades. Tick off Serifos and Sifnos, private taxi Delphi greece Naxos and Paros as well as the wild, mountainous island of Kythnos.