Full-year forecasts were confirmed yet, in contrast to C&W, the shares hardly budged, continuing their long-term stagnation around the 140p mark.So is Vodafone a utility or not? It's sheer size and the fact that its fastest years of growth are behind suggest it is. Maybe it's all about massaging expectations, and, as I've had cause to write many times before, every week brings a new example or two of this black art. Perhaps C&W chief executive Francesco Caio's strategy of presenting the City with a "discursive valuation" of his company a few months ago has paid off.It was all enough for me to cash in some of my C&W shares, registering a modest gain of 6 per cent on the shares that I've been buying in the company since the great telecoms, media and technology share collapse.Certainly not as impressive as the returns I've seen on mmO2 (130 per cent) or Vodafone (40 per cent) but better than might have ever been reasonably hoped. Families (often with teenage children) searching for adventure make up a growing proportion of the market.WHERE DO THE FERRIES GO?Most islanders are only interested in one thing: travelling to and from Athens. As a result, the ferry system has evolved with the Greek capital (particularly its ports at Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio) at the hub of the wheel, while the islands, which line up in neat chains, provide the spokes.The system has become more complicated in the last five years with the arrival of new high-speed ferries and catamarans. The latest trend is to run fast boats direct to the most popular islands - for a price - with the slower ferries providing interconnecting services to the other links in each chain. The net result is a cut in journey times between Athens and the main islands, but fewer sailings to less popular destinations.
Ferries, catamarans and hydrofoils are augmented, in high season, by day excursion boats. These are also pricey, though departure times are often more convenient than those of ferries. Crossing to different chains without returning to Athens has always been tricky because connecting services are usually limited to a few boats a week, even in high season. More planning is needed if you are going to do this, if only to ensure that you get back to your starting point in time for your return flight.WHERE SHOULD I START?More than half of all tourists visiting Greece fly in via Athens, for example on easyJet (0870 600 0000; ). The ferries are an obvious draw, but the Olympics cleaned up the city and saw the development of fast new transport links that have turned central Athens into an appealing destination in its own right Of course, you don't have to visit the capital.
Crete, Rhodes, Kos, Santorini, Mykonos and Skiathos are all viable starting points thanks to their international airports, though they are not so good if you want to visit more than one chain of islands.WHEN DO THE BOATS LEAVE?As an outsider it is sometimes difficult to find out. Islanders tend to know the times of boats thanks to a mix of experience and local networking; as a result, Greece has yet to acquire a full-blown printed ferry timetable. The nearest to it is a monthly publication called Greek Travel Pages. Most ticket agents in Greece have a copy, or you can go to . Other useful online sources are the Athens newspaper Kathimerini ( ), which is printed in English and carries the day's departures from Piraeus and Rafina. If you can read Greek capital letters, then the Port Authority site (egov.yen.gr/eng/info/01-dromo/01-piraeus) is worth checking for Piraeus departures several weeks in advance.Branches of the Greek National Tourist Organisation (known locally as EOT) also provide photocopied lists of the current week's departures. I had feared the worst from Cable & Wireless last week. Whatever happens, Scotty should, unlike the giants of the City, be grateful for any interest - from both large and small investors..
