I bought a drone – a proper drone!

A couple of years ago I did all the research on the DJI Phantom Pro drone which I’d seen Sascha flying around the camping. Owning a drone seemed like a fun way to take some interesting photographs and videos as well as discover new places to visit around and about. I’d already bought some cheap (disposable) drones from China however these had both ended up in the sea! They lacked power and range and were quite hard to fly. They also didn’t have a camera. Two were lost in the same way: they were caught by the wind and didn’t have the power or battery capacity for me to get them back. The batteries died and they plummeted into the sea to be lost forever.

Wandering around the camping this morning I knew there were two customers who were leaving and needed to pay. One had been here for three weeks the other only a few days. The other customers I knew as they arrived when I was around or I’d seem them on previous visits. One of the customers told me he was a photographer and made his living travelling around making promotional videos for resorts, hotels, campings etc. He offered to make one for Grammeno in exchange for some free camping but was declined. He told me that the best drones that he used are the Mavic Pro which is a fold-up drone by DJI. It has the same camera as the Phantom but can fold away into a small backpack. The Phantom requires a special pack to be transported safely. He told me he’d recently upgraded his drone to the latest and that he was selling his previous one including all the accessories. It seemed like an offer too good to miss so I decided to go for it. I’m now the owner of a Mavic pro and a huge amount of accessories. He certainly didn’t stint where they are concerned. Two spare batteries, carry case, hard cases, multiple charger, spare propellers and various other adaptors and accessories including a car charger. The whole lot is less than a year old!

I’ve spent most of the day on the camping and have done little else other than chat, deal with customers and wander about. By the time I got round to it, breakfast seemed pointless so I settled for a cup of herbal tea and the penultimate slice of Ursula’s gingery thin cake. I’ll put today down as a fast day so will make up for it this evening. The Instant Pot is defrosting a huge bean concoction from the freezer and the spinach will have to sit it out in the fridge to fight another day as I cannot be bothered with all the washing! Some rice will go on once the beans are reheated.

I don’t think I need worry about my November Challenge average for today as I have completed 17.25km of my average daily requirement of 14.5km. I have also completed eighteen stand hours and it’s only 18:45 as I write. Not much sitting around today!

Progress on the road project has been slow due to large areas of subterranean solid rock. The large machine has been picking away at it most of the time by the sounds carried in the wind. Fido and I inspected the works accompanied by the fluffy dog from the ‘hotel’ we pass after about 1km. She followed us as far as Paleochora and then was not to be seen. Several other dogs joined in for other stretches of the run. Fido spent most of the day resting in the sunshine.

The day has been mostly sunny and warm although it has recently been raining and there is a storm to the west. It kindly waited until we were back from our evening walk before the rain fell but I had to feed them in the rain. It was not heavy so was not much of a problem. I’d not filled up the food container from the storeroom so decided to prepare their bowls from there, in the dry, and transport them to their houses where they had already been confined. Leave them out and they will stand in the rain just in case I might just happen to forget to feed them!

The rice is now in the Instant Pot and the beans are keeping warm over a pan of water on the hob. Some local lunatic is careering around the Grammeno Beach car park which must be a huge joy if the vehicle which was there during the evening walk is still there. Boys will be boys.

Rain patters down on the metal roof covering the van and the canopy so I’m thankful to be in the dry but feel sorry for the Swiss couple who have only a tent. It’s not cold but it cannot be much fun. One of the problems here is that there is nowhere for people to go in the evening if it’s wet or windy. I suggested to Maria that we make use of the restaurant area. It’s not ideal but better than nothing. She and Georgia are nicely ensconced in their house in Chania so the camping is probably not at the forefront of their minds. With rising costs, Georgia needs to apply herself to keeping people here during the winter months if there are to be no Albanians.

More determined rain now so I hope there are no leaks in the doggy house coverings. The transport cages are really not up to heavy rain as the covering is quite old now.