At 04:00, my alarm kicked off the day. I wanted to get out early with the dogs as Sophie was catching the early bus to Omalos to walk down the Samaria Gorge. The bus should leave Paleochora at 06:15 but we were both ready to depart at 05:45 so off we went. There was not too much activity in Paleochora at that time and Petrakis was not open. The Anatoli bakery was a blaze of light and had a couple of blokes enjoying some coffee at the outside counter. There was no sign of the bus when I dropped Sophie off at the downtown bus station just before 6am. I passed the driver attending to his bus as I descended the slope towards the coast road back to Grammeno. As it turns out, the bus was late leaving for some reason.
I went back to Grammeno and got ready for my morning 6km run. I was still ahead of the game so encountered a different group of people to the ones I often see. It was still 22C, the temperature it had been all night. Run over, quick shower and reply to an email from a French customer requesting information about a proposed stay at the camping. This was not to the official website but the Google one I created recently.
Off to Petrakis for some shopping but forgot to buy oranges! What a dimwit! I made the mistake of sitting down once I got back and woke up a while later so decided to get some food on the go having washed up from the previous evening. It seemed like a good idea to get some breakfast at the same time – without orange this morning.
There were a few IT matters to deal with but nothing formidable. Matthew sold some wheels but was having trouble tracking down the payment he should have received via eBay.
The wind has increased steadily as the day has progressed so there is a lot of flapping of tent sides. We decided to reinstate the front panels which I had previously stored away for the summer. What is this weather doing! I fixed the outer skirt to the decking but did not much feel like grovelling under the decking to put on the elastic ties. It is gusting to 6 Bft, 39km/h.
I have just received an email from Sascha that they will be arriving from Berlin at 17:50 next Wednesday 4 July. Something else happens on that day but I’m not sure what it is. I understand they will be at Grammeno for three weeks going back for some important festival at the beginning of August.
Sophie sent a text to say that she completed her descent of the Samaria Gorge by 13:00 and accompanied a variety of other walkers including a group of Russian girls where communication was non-existent to a German couple where things were a lot easier. The ferry leaves Agia Roumeli at 17:30 and takes 90 minutes to get to Paleochora via Sougia.
I have been preparing sustenance of the filling nature as Sophie might be a little hungry after her walk. I have prepared a Φακεσ (fakes lentils) and potato soup which is resting on the hob as I write. There will also be some corn on the cob, some steamed courgettes and spinach. All very healthy and filling.
I happened upon the EasyJet website and seemed to have booked a flight on Tuesday October 9 arriving UK at 16:55. It will make a change not to touchdown in the middle of the night for once. The return flight is Sunday 14 at 16:15. The flights were filling up fast so I thought I’d better go for it.
Sophie, together with around one hundred others, is still waiting for the ferry to take them from Agia Roumeli to Paleochora. It was scheduled to leave at 17:30 arriving at Paleochora around 19:00. The ferry will now not arrive at Agia Roumeli until around 18:50 according to the latest intelligence. The only ways to access Agia Roumeli is by ferry or by foot. Those travelling to Chania have to get to Sougia where their bus is still hopefully waiting to take them on.
The boat should finally arrive at Paleochora at 20:40. An update from Sophie confirms that she has just left Sougia.
Ursula, Tony and Heidi are crossing the channel to UK from France and will soon be home for their stay in UK before repeating the process in reverse. I reckon Ursula must be beginning to get the hang of it now!
I’d better collect Sophie from the port. She might be in need of some sustinance too.
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