On a day trip to a little-known island, Yvonne Fontyn finds some steep hills and some frolicksome seas Symi is one of the Dodecanese, a mostly arid, volcanic group of islands between Greece and Turkey, of which Rhodes is probably the best known.Mountainous Symi has very little water and, in the dry season, all that is consumed on the island has to be shipped in. Bar tourism, the island has no industry of its own, except collecting and selling sponges. Summer temperatures routinely go over 40°C.I didn't know all this when I agreed to go on a day trip to Symi while I was staying on Rhodes.My travel companion was attending a conference for psychologists in Rhodes city and she invited me along. All the organiser wanted for the ferry and lunch was $70 (about R1,000) - in retrospect a scary amount but when in Rhodes . Anyway, when you travel overseas these days, whether you are spending euros or yen, you stop doing the arithmetic and just pay.On a fine morning, I boarded the ferry at 8am with a group of psychologists from all over the world. Freudians, Jungians, Gestaltists and Rogerians were all thrown together. The conversation was interesting.story_article_left1We pulled out of Rhodes with its gorgeous medieval castle and city walls, and pretty soon the scenery became a lot more mundane as we passed the Dodecanese - one uninhabited volcanic island after another. The group is made up of 162 islands, with only 26 of them inhabited.The boat was packed, mostly with Greek tourists - it was school holidays in Greece. Sitting downstairs, inside, meant one didn't see much. Sitting upstairs on the deck meant sharing with a lot of enthusiastic smokers. The psychologists were eagerly talking shop and I contented myself catching the breeze while peering over the side.As we approached Symi, oohs and aahs broke out. I soon saw why. Cute, Italian-inspired houses climbed the hillside in white and pastel hues - postcard perfect. We docked at around 10.30am.The seafront was a row of average-looking shops. There was a grocer's, a restaurant, some curio shops and a boutique. So, what to do? There was a monastery, a famous one - that was a must-see, said our tour guide. The cost of the return taxi was €50 (R700). To go or not to go?It would have been best to share but we decided it was too expensive. So we wandered off along the seafront, had an iced coffee at the taverna and admired the piles of sponges on offer at several of the shops. A Philistine I may be but I prefer the brightly coloured synthetic ones.There were also boutiques selling designer clothing and shoes. Why Prada and Gucci on Symi? Maybe they knew something I didn't. We didn't buy anything except the iced coffee - you get through hundreds of them in the hot weather - and water, of course.By now the temperature was nudging 35°C, at least. I looked up at the houses perched on the hillside and the winding path leading up, took a few steps and chickened out. The sun was beating down."I'm going to the beach," I said, leaving my companion - who was clearly made of sterner stuff - to explore further on her own.Around the corner from the port, dozens of restaurants line the seafront, all the way to the beach. It's a food lover's delight. We were booked to eat at Odyssia, part of our $70 cover charge, and I passed it on the way to the first swimming beach.Once there, I paid the €3 fee for a lounger and joined the holidaying Greek families and foreign couples roasting themselves in the sun. After a fair time of baking myself, I was ready for the Aegean - famously turquoise and calm enough to wade in quite far.full_story_image_hleft1I had seen little swimming shoes on sale in one of the shops and I could have done with a pair - it was rocky and pebbly as you approached the shoreline. But the water - ah, the water - was deliciously cold, calm and crystal clear.One of our group had said time had become "irrelevant" when she'd gone in. I agreed. (But you do need the shoesies, especially when you wade back ashore and scramble over the rocks.)So far I felt a little underwhelmed. I've been to a few Greek islands and this one felt average. After a while, some of the psychologists came down to the beach, still lost in conversation.As I was lying on my sunbed, the island's tourist road-train passed behind us, the theme from Zorba the Greek blaring out. I thought as a journalist I should be aboard, seeing the island, taking pictures. But it was so hot . I went back into that delicious sea for another dip.Then to lunch at Odyssia. The owner came over to make a fuss of us and his charming daughter served us. So far, it had been my kind of perfect day. I ate salad made with the crispest cucumbers, feta and onions, followed with amberjack, the fish of the day. I had never heard of it before - I thought the waitress said "lumberjack" - but it was beautifully fresh, smelling and tasting of the sea.story_article_right2A siesta would have been perfect but the ferry was almost an hour's walk away and so we set out.Later I wondered if the trip had been worth the money and time. After all, there were still parts of Rhodes I needed to explore.But back in South Africa, I did some more research on Symi and came across a fan club, whose members praise its friendly B&Bs and guesthouses, its unspoilt beaches, its sunny weather throughout the year.The locals, they say, will go the extra mile because they haven't been spoilt by tourism.The site symivisitor.com has breathtaking pictures. It turns out, those perfect, uniform houses are thanks to strict rules imposed by the local council - building must be done in Italian style as a nod to the island's colonial past.There are people in the Symi fan club who return every year and wish to see the island remain a well-kept secret.Now I'm going to have to go back and discover all these delights for myself.sub_head_start IF YOU GO... sub_head_endGETTING THERE: The journey to Symi, which has no airport, involves flying to Rhodes or Kos then boarding a ferry. The cheapest fares from Johannesburg to Rhodes for travel next April are on Qatar (R8,372, qatarairways.com) and Egyptair (R8,648, egyptair.com). Both flights involve two stops, the second being Athens. Quicker but more expensive would be to fly to London (ba.com), Frankfurt or Munich (flysaa.com) and then to Rhodes or Kos on a low-cost carrier such as Ryanair, easyJet, Condor or Air Berlin.Ferries to the island are operated by Dodecanese Seaways (12ne.gr/en) and Blue Star Ferries (bluestarferries.com). The voyage from Rhodes takes about 45 minutes and about three hours from Kos. For a really useful guide on getting to Symi - and what to do when you're there - see The Symi Visitor (symivisitor.com).REFUGEES ON SYMI: Like all the Dodecanese islands, Symi has also had to cope with refugees arriving on its shores - some 8,000 to date - and there are a number of initiatives to help them. Tourists are unlikely to encounter any refugees. For more information - or if you'd like to help - see Solidarity Symi's Facebook page...