The poo tank alarm disturbed my blissful slumbers somewhen between 01:00-02:00. I dragged on some shorts then went to investigate. It was indeed in full song so I unplugged the pump and associated flashing bacon and siren before returning to bed. I felt selfish so shared my experience with Maria who was delighted to receive my call. Shortly after, someone started the generator for some reason but soon after, I fell asleep so didn’t care. If the poo tank overflowed, it would be going downhill with gravity.
It was therefore with some reluctance that I was woken by my alarm some 2.5 hours later. I considered my options then got out of bed. I gathered together the dogs before setting off across the field. It was around 04:50 by this time. The French motorhome was still on Alonáki Beach and the Greek and Austrian ones were still in Grammeno Beach carpark. Kostas’ car had yet to arrive but we exchanged greetings a little later. We did our walks and I admired the sky. It’s getting lighter later now that the Summer Solstice is a few weeks behind us. Each day the sun arrives that little bit later. No exciting FreeLoaders on the beaches or in tents elsewhere. Charlie and Luis disappeared off for a little while during the final circuit but reappeared just in time for biscuits at the end. Luis struggles to move and periodically refuses to move altogether. Once let off the lead, he is suddenly transformed, a bit like superman with his cloak. He rushes off and gets into all sorts of mischief.
Back at the camping, I kept Skinny on his lead and took him and SBD out through the camping main entrance, down towards Alonáki Beach then to the Promontory. The original plan was to give SBD a little longer and some company. Also to wear out Skinny a little more. My strategy changed. We did more circuits of the Promontory allowing SBD more exercise time. I tied Skinny and SBD to a tree and went for a wallow off the Big Beach. The sea was warm and calm. Perhaps I should have stayed in longer…
Barefooted, we wandered back to Grammeno Beach where we encountered the couple and their son who have been staying in Cedar Bay Villas the past three weeks. The son for only the last of those three weeks. They chatted for a while but needed to get their things ready as they were flying back to UK, their holiday over. I wished them well with Brexit and Boris and we enjoyed a mutual moan.
It was good not to have to run for a change. We covered 10km on our walk so today I’m a little behind with my Move Circle. I can sometimes close this by the end of the run or at least by 09:00. If I’d stayed in the sea for longer, I might have managed it. We will go for a walk shortly so will easily close it as I have less than 100kj to go.
Maria had delivered two parcels and put them on top of the refrigerator in the storeroom. She can manage this without the dogs barking at her and without having to wait for me to come to take them from her. She’s always in a hurry anyway. The larger of the two contains Leisguard for the dogs and the other a cunning electronic switch which is intended for one of my cunning wintertime hot water projects. I need a little time for experimentation. These electronic switches can handle loads of power and do not involve relays so there are no sparks. They are also very compact. All very clever stuff involving electronics and no mechanical bits to malfunction.
The third kitten finally gave in today and allowed himself to be petted. It has taken a while to gain his confidence.
I had breakfast and it was soon time for my weekly call home. Where has the remainder of the day gone? You may well ask.
I heard more peg tapping earlier and can detect a Germanic language being spoken. Either Austrian or Swiss-German. I may find out sooner or later. They are very close to my northern fence so I’ll need to be sure to catch Luis and Oskar in the morning or the customers’ Sunday lie-in may be curtailed.
The dogs are ready for their evening wander. We are now all going out at the same time via the field gate and across into the further field as we did last year. We only have to cross the small road which serves Alonáki and Grammeno Beaches so cuts out having to walk alongside the ‘main’ Kountoura – Paleochora road. This incidentally, has been improved recently. There was a water leak just outside the camping during the winter which involved digging up the road and supposedly reinstating it. Due to the ongoing roadworks, the level of reinstatement was minimal as the contractor probably felt it unnecessary to go to too much trouble seeing as it would soon be part of the improvement project. As it happened, the same trench had to be dug up again soon after so the contractor’s indolence was vindicated. The infill in the trench became quickly eroded presenting a formidable obstacle even to large trucks. Only adolescents in fast cars were immune. Just recently, machines have more properly graded the road surface over the water main trench and the long trench which carries the main water pipe which forms part of the mainline between the Paleochora pumping station and Kountoura. The upshot of this is that all traffic can now negotiate this section of road at full speed. Our unintended traffic calming has been unintentionally removed. I feel it may be a long time before the concept of deliberate traffic calming comes to Greece. All the time drivers simply abandon their cars in the road or simply stop randomly to chat with their friends, there is still a measure of unintentional speed control.
Going out through the main gate when the camping is full can become tricky if there are customers with dogs near to the path. This may lead to a lack of concentration on the part of my mob. They seem to get on ok together and Oskar has been in with SBD since this morning. He invited himself into SBD’s enclosure and didn’t leave when I did. There has been little noise, I can’t see any blood, SBD is still wagging his tail so I assume things are ok.
It’s cooler this evening and today’s top temperature is 32.3ºC with a low of 21.5ºC. My neighbours look as though they are walkers. They possess some musical entertainment device. I hope they don’t plan to chatter all night as retributions can be mine at 04:30 on a Sunday morning!
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