A Greek Island Postcard from Audlem

This is the first of a series of articles by Audlem residents who have interesting businesses or have been involved in jobs that are a bit out of the ordinary. Mike Mason of Cheshire Street has a successful travel website. Here's how it came about.

"I was sitting on a sandy beach on the Greek island of Thassos. The sky was an electric blue and the sea sparkled like splintered glass. I could hear an Eagles' song drifting faintly from a nearby taverna and I held a cold beer in my hand. It should have been paradise, but it wasn't. There had been drawbacks. My 18-month-old child had been taken ill at the airport and was now a howling nightmare, my wife's nerves were shredded from lack of sleep and my elderly parents had turned grumpy in the heat. I'd been eaten alive by mosquitoes and to cap it all, I'd accidentally trodden on a sea urchin. My foot was the size and colour of a pumpkin and itching like crazy. That night, unable to sleep in the heat, my foot on fire I got to thinking of all the things I love and hate about Greek holidays.

The result was a website – Greek Island Postcards – that spelled out all the best and worst of holidaying in the Greek islands. I knew nothing of website design but this was nearly 12 years ago when the web was in its infancy, a playground for geeks. There were few other sites and not many visitors to see my mistakes. Each year I added an island, or updated an old one. Today there are more than 30 islands listed, with photo-galleries, recommended restaurants, visitor comments and, at the height of the summer, around 3,000 visitors each day. Type 'Greek islands' in a search engine and it's top or near top of the rankings, even above the Greek Tourist Organisation.

Most Greek island websites today are run by travel agents or the tourist industry. Not unnaturally they prefer to paint a rosy picture for would be travellers. My site had never been that. I've always given warts-and-all descriptions of the resorts. It's got me into trouble sometimes. For a country that depends heavily on tourism, critical write-ups on a resort can be bad news for the local economy. I've had threatening emails, been denounced by the island council on Samos and warned to stay away from Greece if I value my health. But there has been praise too for the independent views, not only from tourists but from the Greeks themselves.

Don't get me wrong. I love the Greek islands. I go every year – twice a year if I can. The Greeks are the friendliest of people, good natured, honest and charming. But they are also totally unreliable – buses run when the driver feels like it, ferries sail when the captain stops fishing, tavernas don't open or don't close, water can disappear for hours. Beaches are pure sand and the water warm and crystal clear. Yet there are roaming packs of half-wild dogs and litter everywhere. Apartments have stunning views but toilets don't flush and showers don't work. Visitors love it or hate it. For those, like me that adore the place, it's paradise on earth with 50-60 habitable islands to choose from. I can head for a busy city port like Rhodes, slum it in a heaving resort like Laganas on Zante, or relax on an idyllic single beach island like Agothonisi.

The Greek Island Postcards site has been a great hobby and I'm thrilled to get so many visitors and so much feedback. If you are thinking of a Greek island holiday then take at look at at www.greekisland.co.uk for no-nonsense reports on many of the most popular islands.

As to the future? Well, as I near retirement I'm looking for new challenges. I've met friends in Audlem that enjoy rock and popular music, especially the album scene, so we've pooled our resources and put together a music album review site called AudioSavvy. It's still in its infancy and it will be launched in a month's time. We hope it will grow, just like the Greek islands site. And we hope it gives us just as much pleasure to run and enjoyment for visitors too."

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.