Cyprus - Aphrodite Rock and Melanda Bay

Jimmy drove me into Paphos today to pick up my rental car. Picked up by 10:15, followed Jimmy back out to the motorway and then I was on my own. "Stay left, stay left, stay left". I know from driving in the UK that it will get easier but it does take considerable focus and everything just seem odd. Also I keep turning the windshield wipers on when I try to indicate a turn.

For the next 4 days I will have this cute little Nissan. 12 Euro (just under $20) per day.

My first stop was Aphrodite's Rock.

Aphrodite rose from the sea here; so here's the story of her birth:
Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love and Beauty and according to Hesiod's Theogony, she was born from the foam in the waters of Paphos, on the island of Cyprus. She supposedly arose from the foam when the Titan Cronus slew his father Uranus and threw his genitals into the sea.  Charming!

There is a parking lot, souvenir and snack shop and a tunnel under the road to the beach. The signs call it Aphrodite's Rock or Petra tou Romiou (Rock of the Roman).

But which rock is it? The internet says its a "sea stack" so maybe it is the big one on the right in the first picture I posted.

But there are lots of interesting rock possibilities

Legend also has it that if you swim around the rock you will have eternal beauty and love. Couples who swim around it (whichever it is) then write their names on a ribbon

and tie it to a nearby bush for the goddesses blessing. The fact that people have used tissues and bits of plastic bags ruins the effect.

There was a scattering of tourists on the beach. Most taking selfies sitting on various rocks. No one was swimming in that beautiful, clear, but cold, water.

I drove a little further along the coast and pulled off at a sign that said "picnic". There was a path down to this empty beach

and the water was still enough for a paddleboarder.

After putting some gas in the car I took a different road (not the one I had walked down) into Pissouri Bay and stopped for lunch in a restaurant not far from the beach. Avocado and prawns again. Delicious. No wine this times as I am driving. "Stay left"

I drove out of Pissouri Bay between green fields and vineyards, and turned West on the B6, away from Pissouri.

The next opportunity to turn off the road, towards the coast, had a sign for Melanda Beach Restaurant. Jimmy had mentioned that it was an excellent restaurant on a pretty beach so I decided to take a look. It started out as a normal asphalt road, narrowed to one lane, got rougher and rougher until it was not much more than a gravel track. But it did end at a sweet beach.

Nobody there except an English woman sitting in her car, drinking coffee, reading her Kindle and listening to the waves. We chatted for a while after she asked me if I was a bird watcher.

I walked the beach

but didn't go into the next bay as I didn't know the status of the tide.

At one end is the restaurant. Closed now, but the owner said he was hoping to open in March, if the renovations were complete.

It is known for it's fish

and they have their own

fishing boats.

I decided that was enough driving for my first day and made my way back out, dodging pot holes and then back to Pissouri Bay

where I decided to check on a trail that I thought I had seen from the beach. Nope, this was going to need hiking shoes and probably my walking poles too. Turned around.

It did give me a different view of the Bay

The afternoon light really picks up the rock colours.

There is rain in the forecast for tomorrow. If it is just showers I will probably continue exploring the road to the West of me but if its pouring I will probably just stay home.