My night with the elasticated hand protection was more comfortable than the previous. I may have got to grips with the correct tension to give myself sufficient protection without compressing my hand excessively. As usual, Skinny was raring to go so I gathered up him and IZO and took them through to the gate. The others were ready as Fido was excitedly scrabbling at the gate as ever. As far as I can tell, none of the nearby tents is occupied so I can be a little more relaxed with the early starts. We set off over the field expecting to find motorhomes with dogs moored alongside Alonáki Beach. It was deserted! The Promontory was not, as two cars were parked together which promised a more restrained walk for the dogs. Walking down the easterly path towards the end of the Promontory, we could see the flames and hear the talking from the people on the beach. It would appear that they must have looked at the list of restrictions and decided to see how many they could ignore. Apart from spending the night on the Promontory and lighting a fire, I should imagine they took the wood by damaging the trees. The smell from the fire certainly smelled of juniper wood. I would be utterly surprised if they’d brought their own wood. Some litter was probably left but they might not have had the time for any hunting or wildlife destruction.
The presence of FreeLoaders necessitated some alterations to our walking routes involving more, shorter circuits. We accomplished our task and returned to the camping where Skinny was surprised to find himself clipped to the fence rather than put onto his long lead. He slowly worked out that we would be going for a run so became very excited.
We slowly set out in the direction of Kountoura to complete the usual daily 4.7km run and puppy tummy rub. She came rushing out to have her belly rubbed. Everything was much the same as it was nearly one month ago the last time we ran. Back at the camping, I put on my shorts to go swimming and headed to the beach. I passed a familiar dog on the way and Olivia confirmed that he been cruising the camping for the past couple of days. After the swim, I did my watering before going to look for OddJob who was not hard to find down at the bar. We had a bit of a love-in before I escorted him back and put him in with IZO. I still had the phone number so gave them a call so they could come and pick him up. He was unknown to both Skinny or IZO who were both reluctant to welcome a newcomer. Their memories are so short as it was only a while ago that the two of them were in the same situation.
I wandered up to the office to warn Maria that someone would be calling to collect their dog and stopped off to chat to Peter on the way back. Sascha joined us having been to Spaniakos to meet with Wall Man. Sascha has decided to remain at Grammeno for another six months as work will not begin on the wall until November with completion in December. I said I’d oversee the project and dispense the stage payments. Maria walked by with the father of the guy who owns OddJob at which time I left to hand him over. He left with OddJob, who was delighted to see him, offering his thanks.
I released the dogs who’d been in restricted detention to make it easier for me to hand over OddJob when the time arose. I made a call to Inter Sport in Lewes and then some time slipped by before it was lunchtime. More time disappeared and I watched an interesting video about a couple who travel all over England on their narrowboat. In this episode, they were going from Leeds, at the end of the Leeds – Liverpool canal onto the Aire and Calder navigation towards Goole to stop at Castleford. I stumbled upon their vlogs last night having viewed a similar canal vlog from a lone boater going on the Southern Stratford. Some of the locks are still difficult to operate!
Colin and Shaun have a new narrowboat which they had constructed from part of the proceeds of their home which used to be in Castleford. They are quick to point out Castleford has been rated as one of the least desirable communities in England. They plan to stay a couple of days as their Spaniel, Dylan, requires some dentistry. They gave up their jobs in order to live on their boat and travel around England via canal whilst making vlogs on the way. Colin used to be in media so is good at producing engaging and well-presented videos. I find them interesting as they are of places I have visited with or without a narrowboat. I shall watch their video of the Bingly Five-Rise later.
My hand is quite crusty after its visit to the sea this morning. Many of the scabs have fallen off and I have again coated it with a layer of aloe vera. I expect it will lose more dead skin in the sea tomorrow and start to look more attractive. Tomorrow will be one month since the injury. And on Wednesday I can (officially) remove my bandage and splint – a bit late for that since I removed them on Saturday!
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