A bit more like it

A cool morning following a restless night. I was woken by SBD barking at something. I don’t know what it was and probably, neither did he. But he stopped barking when asked which saved me from getting out of bed to emphasise the point. It was the turn of Skinny at 04:00. I think there was something going on somewhere, within the camping but not on Alonáki Beach as we discovered later. I didn’t get back to sleep before my alarm and, in any event, Skinny was on guard duty doing an impersonation of Marley’s Ghost again. I was up and out at 04:30 for a reasonably brisk walk to the end of the Promontory. There was no excuse for Luis to be dragging behind as I mentioned to him. It was not too hot. Not that he took any notice!

We followed our recent routine went over the rocks and then back to our meeting point for some biscuits and to get hitched up. We were back at the camping by 06:30 and quickly out again with Skinny and SBD. We left the camping via the main entrance but took the pretty route passing the reception to avoid the dog in the tent by Sascha’s caravan. The sun was rising, the sky was beautiful and there was a cool breeze. What a lovely morning to be going out for a walk. SBD was full of beans so I decided to extend his walk and take him on three circuits of the Promontory instead of going running with Skinny. On the third circuit, we stopped on the Big Beach and I went in for a swim for ten minutes or so. As I gazed around whilst swimming, I noticed what appeared to be a towel hanging from a tree at the southern end of the Small Beach. I recalled a short barking outburst by Oskar as we passed nearby and could now make out a single figure in a sleeping bag. So there was at least one FreeLoader this morning. We returned to the camping via Grammeno Beach. Altogether, Skinny and I walked nearly 9km and SBD 4km. Both have been subdued today so sufficiently tired.

When we got back, I left SBD out in the main compound for a while so that he could have a sniff around and to gauge the response of those inside the van. Obi and Skinny couldn’t care less and neither could those locked inside although Oskar showed some interest. I put SBD into his compound and let the others out. I made some breakfast then settled down to eat it and to chill out for a little while.

The weekly phone call was at 12:00 as usual followed by a support call from Luise at EG. Her WiFi wasn’t working and she didn’t wish to not have in working on Monday morning. Added to that, the computer sits in her kitchen so she uses it for her own use all weekend. A quick Restore Point sorted out the WiFi. Shortly after, Antonis arrived to update me on progress at Spaniakos. He showed me the photos and we went through the work which had been carried out. I paid him and we discussed the mounting of solar panels above the canopy.

A group of French youth arrived and have been put in the area under the trees in the north of the camping. The pitches down by me are mostly occupied so I’m spared another group. I doubt there will that many more groups although there was an enquiry from a French Venture Scout Group which I passed to Maria to deal with.

I wandered out to wash my spinach and had a quick look around the camping. It’s probably about as full a normal for this time of the year. There were not that many down by the sea when I walked up from the beach this morning. The UK schools recently broke up but I doubt that will have much of an impact here. Conditions for UK visitors were more favourable last year. This year, Turkey is generally more stable and things have been reasonably quiet in North Africa and Egypt. Not that I’d rush to visit any of those locations if I were going with a family. The Greek tourist website announced recently that flights arriving in Greece were down compared to last year.

Today’s high is 34.1℃ and the low 18.6℃. The low was quite cool for the time of year but was as a result of a northerly breeze. The weather for the next few days looks stable with similar temperatures.

Some careful planning may be required tomorrow morning as I suspect there are a couple of FreeLoaders encamped with their three dogs on the Promontory. They kindly gathered up their dogs as we went for our walk but I’m sure they will still be there in the morning. We may need to review our exercise routine for tomorrow.