What she remembers distinctly was a chance meeting with the local shepherd who guided her grandfather, Kuru Waaka, through a gorge to a waiting ship, saving his life.
"They just ran towards each other, hugging and crying. It was lovely to be part of that.
"My grandmother just kept crying, because she was so grateful - he saved my grandfather's life really."
Mr Waaka was a captain in the 28th Maori Battalion, which was part of a group of allied soldiers forced to evacuate Crete when it was overrun by German forces in 1941.
He had to find a way through the Samaria Gorge to reach ships waiting to evacuate the soldiers after a massive airborne assault by German forces.
"He never really spoke much about the war, but he did talk about that day when the sky just went dark with paratroopers," Mrs Gibbons said.
Thousands of soldiers were left behind, including more than 2000 New Zealanders.
Mrs Gibbons has since walked through the gorge, but said it was "hard work".
"I got a sense of what it must've been like. And they were having to hide as well."
The Cretan people's respect and gratitude to her grandfather and the other soldiers on her visit in 1974 was obvious, she said.
"Just being there with him and seeing how they responded to him was amazing."
After reaching the port and his ship home, Mr Waaka turned out his pockets and gave what money he had to Antonio out of sheer gratitude, Mrs Gibbons said.
Local veterans of the Battle of Crete decided after the war to do more for the people of the island.
On their visit in 1974, Mrs Gibbons and her grandparents stayed with a family whose daughter was given a university scholarship by Rotorua Crete veterans.
Rita Vrondulaki was chosen to receive the scholarship as the top student at the high school in Chania, Crete, and went on to study architecture at Thessaloniki University in northern Greece.
Mrs Gibbons said she was particularly looking forward to seeing Ms Vrondulaki, who she has kept in touch with.
Five students from Rotorua Girls' High School were selected to go on the trip as youth ambassadors, after winning a social media competition.