• Spend 8 nights at a family-owned hotel, reminiscent of the sponge merchant’s villa in Clift’s Honour’s Mimic

• Visit the house where Clift and her family lived, and the places recorded in Mermaid Singing, from the ruined Chora Castle to the Vathy gorge and the convent at Argos

• Discover the rich history of sponge diving and seafaring practised by the island’s men, and the powerful matriarchal culture of Kalymnian women

• Swim in jewel-like beach coves and dine on fresh seafood at waterfront tavernas

• In twice-daily workshops, share your enjoyment of Clift’s writing, taking your own writing skills to a new level and publishing a short passage daily on a communal blog

TUESDAY 01 APRIL – FROM KOS TO KALYMNOS (D)
We recommend arriving in Athens before the tour commences, to recover from jetlag before travelling on to the island of Kos, and onwards to Kalymnos.

Meet your tour leader Nadia Wheatley at Kos airport at 4.00pm and travel together to the small port of Mastichari to catch the ferry to Pothia, the port town of Kalymnos where Clift and her family arrived after a wild caique-voyage in December 1954. Within minutes of setting foot on the island we pass ‘the yellow house’ where Charmian and her family made their home. Our own home for the next week is the beautiful Villa Melina, reminiscent of the sponge merchant’s villa where the Australian heroine of Clift’s novel Honour’s Mimic stays on the island. After settling in, we gather for an orientation talk by Nadia, followed by a short walk to the waterfront for dinner together. The traditional tavernas are similar to those that Clift frequented. First of eight nights in Pothia.

WEDNESDAY 02 APRIL – LOOKING FOR A MERMAID (B, L)
We gather after breakfast today for our first reading and discussion workshop. Our theme is Clift’s aim of ‘looking for mermaid’ on Kalymnos. What did she mean? And what sort of mermaids do we ourselves hope to find in our time here? Nadia provides background about the history and geography of Pothia and Kalymnos before our first excursion takes us to the Monastery of St Savvas, with its panoramic view of town and sea and its rich interior in a Byzantine style. In the same area, we visit a small folklore museum, which recreates the interior of a traditional Kalymnian house, complete with women’s costumes. We continue to Vlichardìa for lunch together and a possible swim, before returning to Pothia waterfront for an orientation tour, which includes the exterior of Charmian’s house, its nearby neighborhood and the Italianate municipal buildings. As on most days, the afternoon provides time for writing at leisure – in your room, in a café, or on the hotel’s terrace. This is followed in the early evening by a second group workshop, in which we share our discoveries and journal observations. There is the option to provide a short passage for uploading to the daily communal blog. Dinner tonight is at leisure.

THURSDAY 03 APRIL – SPONGE DIVERS AND MATRIARCHS (B, D)
In Mermaid Singing, Charmian Clift describes the cultural effects of the island’s economic dependency on sponge diving: the wild courage of the divers, the tragedies of drowning and disability, and also the unique matriarchal society that developed in response to the long absences of the seafarers. Today is devoted to exploring this complex Kalymnian cultural legacy. In the Maritime and Folklore Museum, we see artefacts from this recent past and touching personal photographs. We also pay a visit to the only two sponge warehouses still operating in Kalymnos. After a break for lunch we step even further back in time at the town’s Archaeological Museum, where the renowned Hellenistic statue known as ‘the Kalymnian Lady’ is displayed alongside Minoan and Neolithic findings. In our evening workshop we discuss Clift’s observations about the role of women on the island, and the effect that this aspect of Kalymnian culture had on her own political philosophy. We continue to a waterfront taverna together to celebrate the ongoing culture of Kalymnian women.

FRIDAY 04 APRIL – THE ROMANCE OF CHORA CASTLE (B)
With water and a snack in our small packs, as well as our notebooks and sketchbooks, we set off after breakfast for the village of Chora – once the centre of island life – where we visit the old cathedral of Panagia Choras, before making our way up the path that leads to the ruined castle where the two lovers in Clift’s novel Honour’s Mimic ‘play at princes’. Once inside the walls, a hillside of bare rocks and wild herbs leads us to a number of tiny chapels with ancient frescoes on their whitewashed walls. Our morning writing workshop, held in one of these chapels, is followed by mapping the landscape we see in the breathtaking views to north and south. We are not aiming to produce artworks, but to develop a tool that will aid our observation and writing skills, and to further our understanding of the island’s history and geography. After we return to the Villa Melina, the afternoon provides time for personal writing at leisure before we regroup for a discussion of Honour’s Mimic, with particular reference to the way the author uses the place and culture of Kalymnos as the driving force for her plot. How does Clift break the mould of the romance novel of her era? The evening is at leisure.

SATURDAY 05 APRIL – EXPLORING FURTHER AFIELD (B)
We gather after breakfast for discussion and reading of Mermaid Singing. Today our focus is on how Charmian Clift adapted to running a household in the primitive circumstances of 1950s Kalymnos. After a couple of months, how was her quest for a mermaid going? And how was she developing her writing voice? What can we learn from her methods? We then travel by bus to a number of the places that the author visited as she began to venture beyond the town: the Crusader castle of Chrysocheria with its iconic bell tower and photogenic views to nearby windmills, and the convent at Argos, in its secluded and peaceful setting. We travel on via the Sanctuary of Apollo (dating to the tenth century BCE) to the village of Panormos and the area of Brosta, to see the threshing floor described by Clift. There is time for lunch at leisure, and perhaps for a swim at a nearby beach. After returning to the Villa Melina, the afternoon session of writing and rest is followed by an early evening discussion in one of the kafeneia in the central area of town.

SUNDAY 06 APRIL – BY BOAT TO TELENDOS (B, L)
The morning awakening by the bells of Aghia Triada (Holy Trinity), perched above the hotel, is followed today by the haunting sounds of the cantor singing the liturgy. Our morning workshop is an opportunity to discuss how we are going. Are we finding our personal voice? If not, what skills can we learn to sharpen our journal observations, and then to transmute them into a revised written text? As always, we work in collaboration and with mutual support. At mid-morning we set off for the islet of Telendos, with its secluded beaches, small fishing village and archaeological sites. There is plenty of time for a walk, a swim, a session of journaling, and lunch together before we set off for home by boat and bus. In our private writing time, there is the chance to turn the day’s observations into a short passage of revised text, which we share in our evening workshop before uploading to the blog.

MONDAY 07 APRIL – CIRCLING THE ISLAND (B, L)
After breakfast and a quick orientation session, we set off by bus along the panoramic eastern coast of the island to Rina, the tiny harbour at the end of a stretch of sea that cuts like a knife between dramatically steep cliffs. There is time here for a coffee and a stroll through the little settlement, and perhaps even a dip from the edge of the jetty, before the bus takes us on into the fertile valley of Vathy, site of the island’s main agricultural area. In Vathy, we visit an early Christian basilica and the church of Holy Mary Panagia. After lunch together, we walk through the citrus orchards and vineyards to the village of Methoni, where the bus meets us. Heading now towards the western side of the island, we pass through Arginonta and Skalia, then head north to Emporios for an afternoon coffee or a drink and a stroll to the beach. Making our way back down the west coast, we pass through the villages of Masouri, Myrties and Melitsachas. With so much seen today, our only difficulty will be choosing which of our journal observations we want to write up for the blog.

TUESDAY 08 APRIL – THE END OF ALL OUR EXPLORING (B, L, D)
In the words of poet T.S. Eliot, with whom Charmian Clift once had afternoon tea, ‘the end of all our exploring/ Will be to arrive where we started/ And know the place for the first time’. So in this morning’s workshop we share what have we learned about Charmian Clift and Kalymnos, and what have we discovered about ourselves and our reading and writing processes. By the summer of 1954, Clift had finished Mermaid Singing, which she concludes with a description of a picnic to the nearby beach at Therma. So we set off by foot at mid-morning to Therma, stopping on the way back for a swim and picnic lunch in the little cove at Gefira. Walking back to town through the parish of St Nicholas, we toast Charmian at one of the cafes near her ‘yellow house’. There is time in the afternoon for packing and a final session of journaling before we travel by minibus to a farewell dinner at a waterfront tavern on the west coast, from where we watch the sun set over Telendos. Sometimes called ‘the Lady’ or ‘the Princess’ of Telendos, the mountain on this tiny island has a profile which in the evening light resembles a sleeping woman: a fine Kalymnian matriarch for us to finish with!

WEDNESDAY 09 APRIL – DEPARTURE (B)

We check out after breakfast to travel to the port of Pothia and take the ferry together to Mastichari. There we continue to the international airport at Kos, for connecting flights to Athens and other European destinations. Tour arrangements conclude on arrival at Kos international airport, in time for afternoon departures. Contact us when arranging your travel, as April 2025 ferry schedules from Kalymnos to Kos are not available at the time of publication. Our travel partners at Mary Rossi Travel will be pleased to assist with any arrangements, including comprehensive travel insurance (a condition of joining a Limelight Arts Travel tour).

Hotel Villa Melina 2* Pothia, 8 nights

https://www.villa-melina.com/

Built in 1930 and recently renovated, the Villa Melina is a family-operated hotel a short distance from the port of Pothia. Rooms are simple, but equipped with fridges so that some self-catering is possible. Breakfast includes homemade specialties such as bougatsa and spanakopita, and wifi is provided free of charge in the public areas of the hotel.

NB: hotels of a similar standard may be substituted.

• 8 nights’ accommodation at a family-owned hotel in Pothia, Kalymnos

• All breakfasts and 7 lunches or dinners

• Ferry transfers to and from Kalymnos, from Kos

• All ground transport, return boat fares to Telendos, entrance fees to sites as mentioned in the itinerary, and tipping

• Expertise of and commentary by an Australia tour leader throughout, including reading and writing workshops

• Assistance of an English-speaking tour manager

• Copies of Clift’s works Mermaid Singing/Peel Me a Lotus in paperback, Honour’s Mimic and The Sponge Divers in digital format, and an e-book of The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift

• A laptop and small notebook to write in

• An A4 sketchpad

• A small, light backpack for the walking excursions

• Sturdy shoes and swimming costumes

A $500pp deposit is required at the time of booking to hold your place on tour.

We will invoice you for final payment for the tour, due on 16 January 2025.

When you book on one of tours, we ask you to accept our terms and conditions. You can read our terms and conditions here.