[All photos taken by Brenda Hall in 2013]
Cromer, Norfolk Coast, England
The Fisherman’s Cottages on The Gangway at Cromer are heritage listed. I was very fortunate to be offered one of these cottages as a secluded getaway where I could write Thalassa without the innumerable distractions that exist in my own home.
Walk towards the North Sea with the cottages on your left. A turn to the right takes you to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution museum and to the beach where the crabbing boats pull up early each morning. A turn to the left takes you to Cromer Pier.
Brooklyn, New South Wales
Brooklyn is a village on the edge of the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales, one hour’s train ride North of Sydney towards Gosford. Many locals and other boaties from the Sydney region keep their motor cruisers and yachts in the marinas located in Sandbrook Inlet, sheltered by Long Island.
Dangar Island, New South Wales
Dangar Island is a fifteen minute ferry ride from the Brooklyn public wharf. No cars are allowed on the island with the exception of a local council utility. An electronic buggy is driven by volunteers to assist less able bodied members of the community. More commonly, residents transport their goods by wheelbarrow.
Milos, Greece
Milos lies at the southwest end of the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea, north of the Sea of Crete. With a population near to 5000 people, it struggles through each uneconomic year on tourist receipts that are minimal in comparison with better-known islands such as Santorini and Mykonos. The Lagada Beach Hotel is in the ferry port, Adamas.
The coastal scenery of Milos is stunningly beautiful, its small villages largely unspoiled and its people friendly to strangers like myself who land serendipitously on the island. The Thalassitra was taking boat tours to Kleftiko in 2013 … though the story in Thalassa bears no relation to that boat or to her owners. Tour guides tell that the coastal caves were once used by pirates.
Klima is on the east coast of Milos … a gorgeous group of traditional syrmatas, with genuinely slippery coastal paths.
Pollonia is a cute port on the west coast, gateway to Kimolos Island.
Sarakiniko is an amazing lunar-scape on the south coast. Under the full moon it defies description. Just go.
Firopotamos is a tiny village on the southern coast of Milos. There is one steep, narrow road leading down to the village, with a precipitous drop to the sea on one side, and high cliffs on the other. There is no room to pass another vehicle.
At the bottom of the road is a pretty Greek Orthodox church, Agios Nikolaos. This is the setting for Thalassa but it is entirely coincidental if my story bears any relation to the actual history of the Church or its people. There are many votive churches in the Greek Islands, whether this church is one of them, I don’t know.
The Venus de Milo statue was discovered on the eastern side of Milos, on the steep hill above Klima. My characters are fictional, but the story of the discovery of the statue and the tussle between French and Turkish authorities over ownership is a matter of record … in so far as Greek storytelling across generations can be presumed to be factual 🙂
Brenda Hall 