Switching between an e-bike and a yacht, I saw parts of Greece few Australians visit

The hills are prodigious but we're cycling with the legs of Odysseus, the fragrant scent of oregano and pine wafting past us, vistas of cobalt waters below us. Someone ahead yells "Goats!" and we screech to a stop like clumsy galahs. I wouldn't have it any other way, since we're biking on the Island of Spetses off the Greek Peloponnese and the goats were here first.

Auspiciously, they're hanging out beside a majestic viewpoint, so our Dutch-born, resident Greek guide Esther suggests we take a break to admire the vistas. She also wants to tell us a story about the world's first female admiral, Laskarina Bouboulina, who commanded a fleet of ships from Spetses during the 1820s Greek War of Independence from the Turks, which led to the formation of the modern Greek state.

It's a tale of bravery and bravado that cemented Bouboulina's place in Greek history and folklore but is little known overseas. We use some of that bravado to swim through a tiny opening in the secret Bekiris Cave on Agii Anargiri beach and later, in town, visit her neo-classical mansion, maintained as a museum by the sixth generation of her family. We omit to mention that we're sailing around the Saronic Islands and Peloponnese on a magnificent teak three-masted Turkish gulet motor yacht so as not to inflame historic feuds.

But, if the truth be told, the good ship Thalassa cuts a striking figure in every port and is a class apart from the gaggle of fibreglass yachts lined up beside her. It must also be said that our legs are not Odysseus-like. We storm those hills thanks to sturdy e-bikes, which make us feel not only powerful but also invincible.

Bouboulina's life-sized statue had greeted us when we'd moored the previous dusk in front of the Poseidonion Grand, a Greek Belle Epoque hotel built by Sotirios Anargyros, descendant of one of Spetses' wealthy shipping families. We'd strolled along the old port admiring the grand Venetian-style captains' mansions and glamorous yachts tied to shore with long lines. After enjoying sparkling-fresh seafood at Mourayo, where most guests arrived by dinghy, we'd opted for a horse-drawn carriage ride back to the boat.

So there you have it: the perfect combination of sailing, swimming, biking and feasting guilt-free on fabulous Greek food. UTracks' Peloponnese and Saronic Islands Bike and Boat trip offers a week of sailing across the Saronic Gulf, with stops each day for swimming and cycling along the Peloponnese and all over some very special islands to discover ancient temples, explore out-of-the-way villages and down ice-cold beers in remote tavernas.

There are 18 of us onboard, half from California, plus two Brits, two Austrians, two New Zealanders and us two Aussies. Each couple has a handsome air-conditioned teak cabin with good storage and an ensuite bathroom. There's an indoor dining area with a library and games nook, a dining table plus pillows for relaxing on the back deck and an upper deck with chaise lounges.

Our talented guide Esther is joined by the indefatigable Dionysios, from Athens, who's named after the god of wine, orchards, festivity and theatre, a perfect moniker for him. He also knows a lot about the history and mythology of his beloved homeland. Our Greek crew of six completes the team.

Each day, we enjoy fabulous Greek yogurt plus cereals, fruit, eggs, bacon and pastries for breakfast, and lunches of salads, dips, chicken, meat, pasta or seafood. There's also a festive dinner on the first and last evenings. On the other nights, we choose where we'd like to eat in each port, which is a terrific way to sample the local specialties.

We meet our fellow guests over dinner on the back deck while Thalassa is moored in Salamis. She sets off early next morning bound for the Methana peninsula, which sticks out like a sore thumb from the eastern Peloponnese. Our swim stop in a secluded cove is sublime, and the first of many. The crew lets down a ladder and sets out noodles, flippers, SUPs and kayaks so we can enjoy paddling and swimming in the velvety deep blue water. After a freshwater hose off, we lounge on the upper deck gazing across the island-dotted wide blue sea before lunch is served. Our hearty band, which settles into an easy camaraderie, adapts to this daily rhythm with remarkable ease.

Once in Methana, the crew sets up the bikes on the pier, each labelled with our name, based on the height details we'd furnished. We're supplied with helmets and panniers and shown how to install the batteries (which have been charging in our rooms).

The ride is 26 kilometres, Dionysios leading and Esther bringing up the rear. We head up the first hill and kazam, it's startlingly easy as I toggle between eco, touring, sport and turbo charge on my bike. The vistas start off as stunning and, as we climb, expand into mind-boggling.

We stop in the tiny village of Kypseli to meet John Pavlis, who's returned from Texas to restore his ancestral home. He shows us his great grandfather's ancient olive press before we toast the good things in life with ouzo on his terrace. We also visit the old capital, high in the hills, and New Zealanders Libby and Raewyn share cookies and a stone bench with a couple of local fellas. There's talk, afterwards, of marriage proposals.

As we cycle back along the coast, I glimpse rustic tavernas fringed with puce bougainvillea and head-high sunflowers, benches perched at water's edge for the perfect pause. Methana, it turns out, is named for its thermal springs created after a volcanic eruption in 300 BCE. Our last stop is at a seaside spring in Agios Nikolaos, first noted in the 2nd century CE by Greco-Roman geographer Pausanias, oft described as the world's first travel writer. Today, you press a button to activate the pump that pours hot water into a small rockpool to soak in beside the sea.

As soon as we return to the boat, the bikes are loaded and we set off for the island of Poros, a sliver of water separating it from the Peloponnese mainland. With its 100-year-old pale blue clocktower on the hill, the port is one of the most popular places to moor in the Saronic islands and the pretty town tumbles down the hillside towards the sea.

Here, we cycle past tamarisk and gum trees for a swim and cold drinks at a sheltered beach before a short climb to the 300-year-old Holy Monastery of Zoodochos Pigi to admire its vibrant Byzantine frescoes. It's a delight, too, to explore the port's quiet back streets as we make our way to Oceanis rooftop bar for sunset drinks. Dinner is at Serenita restaurant, which sprawls across the waterfront in the shadow of cheek-by-jowl yachts. The evening air is balmy, the minerally assyrtiko white wine delightful, and the grilled octopus in black tarama a revelation. Dessert is freshly made almond gelato purchased right in front of our boat.

We sail into Hydra the next afternoon as the sun casts a golden glow over bare muscular rocks that form an amphitheatre adorned with whitewashed houses around its crescent-shaped harbour.

Once a wealthy shipping port with the biggest navy in Greece, Hydra was a sleepy backwater until a young Sophia Loren made Boy on a Dolphin, her first English-language movie, here in 1957. After that it became a bohemian bolthole attracting artists, writers and singers, like Leonard Cohen and Australians Charmian Clift and George Johnston. In homage, we swim off the same rocks as they did. Today, transport is still by donkey and, wandering the village, we find a vestige of its artsy ambiance with galleries nestled besides jewellery stores and an edgy exhibition in the island's old slaughterhouse.

We hop on our bikes for a fascinating tour of discovery enriched by Esther's whimsical storytelling. She tells of Aphaea, the island's very own goddess of invisibility, which Aegina's ruling class decided to honour (and show off their power and wealth) by building her a temple. Handling the steep climb like Homeric heroes, we admire the crowd-free Doric temple's exquisite symmetry overlooking the blue Saronic Gulf. Built in 500 BCE, it's rumoured to be the model for the Parthenon in Athens.

Religion figures large on Aegina. We also visit the enormous modern Saint Nektarios church and monastery, which is one of the largest Orthodox monastic complexes in Greece. Nearby is Paleachora, the island's hillside capital for a millennium. All that remains are stone chapels with faded frescoes. Some say there were once 365 of them, one for every day of the year, although only 36 remain.

Back in the maze of laneways behind the port's seafood market, we visit family-owned Mourtzi's with its encyclopaedic array of pistachio products. Later, as we link arms and dance around the boat to Greek folk songs, we toast our journey with its electric green pistachio liqueur which, like the e-bikes, makes our legs feel immortal.

The writer was a guest of UTracks