PHOTOBLOG 13: Dio Pagadia, Greece 05.25
- Rory Dinwoodie
- Jun 7
- 6 min read
Welcome back to another photoblog. This month is a special feature on Lucinda and my time wwoofing at Dio Pagadia, a Permaculture farm tucked away in the olive groves of the Southern Peloponnese. I really enjoyed putting this one together and despite only leaving the farm a week ago, I have been impatiently waiting to get my film processed. It was an incredible month and I hope you enjoy my reflections from our time at this beautiful place. Thank you for reading!
'KALIMERA'
The cawk of the rooster would be the first sign of dawn, and in the hours that followed we would drift in and out of sleep as the other animals began to wake up, each one imitating the snooze of an alarm clock with the commencing of their morning rituals - Vuno's excitable 'ee awws,' Brown Cat and Spotty Cat's hopeful attempts to enter our tent with their desperate meows at the zipped up doorway, and the distant playing of the beloved farm dogs Skordo and Skoni as they ran down the track ready to start their day with an energy that our bleary eyed selves had yet to conjure.
Once the cats had given up their efforts and Vuno had calmed down we knew it would be our time to get up. The decision was usually made for us as the need to escape the rapidly warming tent became ever more urgent. Tying up our boot laces we would rush around the circumference of the tent to open the windows allowing the tent to breathe throughout the heat of the day. Then, it was time for work.
'TIME FOR WORK, TIME FOR WORK, TIME FOR WORK'
Our morning meeting would start at around 8am, or when we had finished scrabbling around making coffee in the outdoor kitchen - the heart of life at the farm. We gathered to discuss what we all did yesterday and the aims of the day's work, dividing up the tasks that needed to be done around the farm.
Our work tasks ranged from gardening, weeding or grass cutting, to restoring old furnitutre, building new structures, or renovating the rental cottages. Each day would bring a new challenge and usually a new power tool to try and decode without causing serious injury to oneself or others.
We both learnt a lot through the work, especially about how long it takes to sand and paint anything, I never thought I could spend 4 hours sanding a single chair by hand and only get half way through. We gradually got more comfortable throwing ourselves into the work, realising that it didn't really matter if we got things wrong as most projects tended to work on a learn as you go along basis.
LAZY AFTERNOONS
The afternoons were free for us to do as we please, often trying to hitchhike to the beach or hide away from the heat of the sun. It took a little time to get used to having so much free time in the afternoon with no need to do anything. By the end of our stay, however, these lazy afternoons would fly by and I still can't be sure what I did on many of them beyond lazing around, playing some guitar and writing in my journal.
Our favourite beach to visit when we were feeling more adventurous to brave the 2 hour walk or try our luck hitchhiking was Methoni - a beautiful small coastal town with an incredible castle and swimming spot with crystal clear water to cool off in.
Getting to town also provided an opportunity to top up on some exciting groceries that our corrupted taste buds were craving after a fairly consistent diet of lentils, beans and wild spinach.
EVENINGS
The evenings on the farm were my favourite part of the day. There was always a quiet peacefulness to them and the sunsets would cast a magical warmth across the olive groves as we took our evening walks up to see the view from the hill overlooking Sapientza island.
As the sun began to set the olive grove would seem to come alive again with noise as it had the morning before, just with different voices. The frogs would pipe up accompanied by the ambient buzz and hum of the insects whilst the solo lines were reserved for the chorus of jackals who would yip and yowl at the top of their voices like a party of teenagers echoing around the valley.
FRIDAY NIGHT IS PIZZA NIGHT
Every week would end with the gathering of wood and lighting of the pizza oven to come together and celebrate the start of the weekend. Friday nights were often when new volunteers would arrive and others would say their goodbyes. We were fortunate enough to experience 5 pizza nights and by the end Lucinda had become the pizza queen, I still had some learning to do on that front.
Pizza night often provided a point of reflection of the week as we all sat around the fire and took time to share our stories. I found it was on these nights that I started to get to know everyone a bit better and it was at these times where everyone gathered together that there was just an atmosphere of joy and togetherness that you couldn't fail to get swept away with.
"Just as I was beginning to question how this place works, tonight reminded me of it’s unique ability to bring people together in a kind of innocent happiness and joy that feels isolated and protected from all that exists outside of it. Coming together to contribute to this space and share in the joy that it brings out in everyone was both reassuring and inspiring, offering a reminder that the option to travel, explore and live a different life can always be there, at whatever stage of life you find yourself in."
Journal entry 16.05.25
'LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.... THE WEEKEND'
Weekends were reserved for adventures. Oar’s ranged from long walks, exploring distant beaches and towns and being led on unexpected excursions by those who picked us up on our hitchhiking explorations.
One of our more adventurous missions was on our final weekend where we rented a car and drove to the Mani Peninsula, one of the most beautiful parts of the Peloponnese. We stayed overnight in an incredible village called Limeni with the clearest water I had ever seen.
SAYING GOODBYE
The morning of leaving the farm was the same as always, offering the reminder that life in Dio Pagadia would tick along in much the same way it had before we arrived. It had been a pleasure to dip into the life and soul of this place, even if just for a month, and in our little ways we hoped to leave something of ourselves in return for all that the place had given to us. Whether it was Lucinda's mushroom mural in Petros' house or the slightly less aesthetically pleasing metal table and chairs I had repainted and revived, it was nice to think that we could come back one day and these things may still be there.
Just before leaving, I walked around and snapped some quick photos of the places we had come to be so familiar with, quiet and peaceful as ever, before we set off and left the farm behind.
END
It has been hard to summarise a whole month and over 300 photos into a single post. Our time at Dio Pagadia is something we will never forget, and we are immensely grateful to all those we met along the way and who hosted us at the farm. I am sat writing this post from Vienna and the travels continue with another month of farming on the horizon in Sweden in July before the inevitable return to work in August.
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Thanks for reading
Rory
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