Safe Return Doubtful

Monday morning came and it was time to move on out of the Pindos mountains. I’ve been able to stay about as long as I had hoped. A couple of weeks ago were the frequent thunderstorms that mainly came at night, but made the roads the following days treacherous. Now, as November draws to an end, the temperatures by night are well below zero, and in the coming days, a wintery mix of rain, sleet and snow is forecast.

My plan is to head across to the west coast, where, in a week or so, I will meet my brother Nick, and Lou, returning from Turkey in their campervan. Following that, I’m hoping for a few days up in the Peloponnese.

Moving on never ceases to be exciting; the Greek coast being a part of Europe that is new to me, and not quite sure what lies ahead. I would never go there in the tourist season, which is about 8 months a year here. I managed to fill up with LPG in Nafpaktos, (4 litres for 3 euros), and the guy being patient with my slow-flow told me people had been lounging on the beach until the end of October.

I considered stopping at Thermos, which Theo had recommended over dinner a couple of nights ago, but it is town, and being a Monday evening, many of the tavernas were closed after the weekend.

I continued to the island of Lefkada, hoping to arrive just before dark, but there is a new road being constructed, and just before the causeway to the island the road was closed alternate hours, for blasting in the final tunnel. I was 5 minutes away from getting through, so had to wait 55 minutes.

There have been no campsites in the Pindos mountains. Not that I would have used them, but every few weeks it is good to top the solar power up, do laundry, and take an indoor shower. Most of the campsites around the coast are closed now also, but I had found one that was open in a small bay on the leeward side, too small to attract the infrastructure that is commonplace further north.

Lefkada is one of the Ionian islands, but connected to the mainland by a causeway and a floating bridge. Because of that, and as it is only 20 minutes from an International airport, it is very popular for tourists in the summer.

In Lefkada town most of the businesses are open, but in the smaller villages very few are. The campsite had just two other visitors, both 4×4 trucks with large caravans, each of which with the same sized awning, providing a huge amount of space. Both were couples with young children. A Dutch couple living on the road, and a New Zealand couple on a gap year in their in-laws set-up, with their 3 year old twins. It was pleasant to chat with both, but they were away this morning, the Dutch to Athens, and the NZers back to England. There is some rain forecast.

Roja and I walked Desimi beach. It was an extremely calm evening, and very pleasant at about 14C. It was completely peaceful except for a few boats and kayaks of local people on nocturnal manoeuvres.

Later in Tuesday morning Roja and I took a hike up the nearby hill, and got some good views of the area, then continued to the nearby bakery. By the time we returned to the van our neighbours had gone. Both of them had fed the cats.. initially just two cats, but they had been staying here a week, so by the time the week ended there were more than twenty cats. Now, when the caravans are gone, the cats are a pest. If I leave the van door open for a few seconds they are inside. There’s a large black one that is very aggressive, spitting and screaming at Roja. But eventually they will get the message that I am not going to feed them. And besides, rain is forecast, thunderstorms, and that may keep them away.

I did some laundry and managed to dry most of it before dark. The rest is precariously hanging around van. We’ll stay three days here I expect. it would have been two, but with rain most of tomorrow, I think I will make it three.