Only one wee visit in the night and it was over and done with reasonably quickly. Hopefully, it will not be too long before we can survive the entire night without having to get up around 03:00.
The Early Walk followed the same procedure as the previous days and went smoothly at a good pace. I’d killed off 72 minutes of my Exercise Ring by the time we were back and 108 after the Skinny run to Kountoura. The total for today is 163 minutes which is because there is cycling and swimming in there.
I needed to get to the supermarket so took a hot shower thanks to the new water heater as I didn’t need to go over, test the water, then decide whether to put on the electric heater or not. I went back to the van, got all my bits together before setting off for Petrakis via the hardware shop. The main purpose of going to the hardware shop was to get a spare key for the workshop. At present, I unlock it in the morning and leave it open all day. The alternative is to unlock each time Xanthippos needs something or to give him access to the key like I did earlier in the year. The key is hidden in the cat house perched on top of the fridge/freezer in the storeroom. He can then help himself to the key and lock up the workshop each time he goes there. He will then have no reason to came to ask me to close up when he’s down. Technically, I’ll be removing the key from its place each evening but will not need to as now I have a copy of my own. I doubt Xanthippos will come back in the dead of night to check I’ve removed the key and if he tells Georgia of our arrangement it/I will make life more difficult for him. I also purchased some silicone spray for the zippers on the tent as well as some small hacksaw blades. From the hardware shop I went to what was the €1 shop which now sells stuff at a variety of prices. I wanted some clothes hooks to put up in the shower so my kit doesn’t feel the need to fall of the loo and onto the wet floor.
Petrakis was the next stop where Yannis was showing me an email from a hotel in Istanbul where he will be spending nine nights from next Tuesday. He’d used Booking.com to make the reservation but the desk clerk had offered him another room at the rear of the hotel as there were building works going on at the front. I answered the email in English for Yannis. Not much point in having a dog and barking for yourself. I did rather a lot of shopping which I struggled to get inside the panniers of my bike. I finally managed to find a location for everything either inside or outside the bags. Riding back became a struggle as I got a puncture so had to push the bike for the final 500m or so. I think the tyre has seen better days.
I received an email from Rad Power Bikes informing me that the bike and accessories had been assigned to the delivery company. The bad news was that the delivery company is DHL which are notorious for not delivering to this side of the island. Hopefully, they will get off their bottoms as this is a relatively valuable consignment however I may end up having to go to Paleochora bus station if they put it on the bus from Chania. We will cross that bridge when we come to it. I unpacked my shopping, released the dogs from their captivity and ate my breakfast as time had considerably moved on. I knew the German family who’d come for only two nights were finally moving today so I needed to keep an eye on their progress. To which end, I took Isabella, in her shiny new collar, down to see how they were getting on. She had her first experience of walking on the lead which was not totally to her liking.
The German family finally left and I decided to brave the sea and go for a swim. I left my shoes and shirt on the beach and went into the water. Isabella, who’d previously been racing around with IZO, had a bit of a meltdown when she witnessed my deliberately walking into the waves. She even came into the water to try to rescue or get to me but thought better of it when she saw the size of the waves and the distance I was from the beach. She finally returned to my shoes and shirt to settle down in the warm sand and drift of to sleep after her play session and subsequent traumatic event.
I stayed around ten minutes in the water before returning to my kit and the sleeping dog on the beach. It was sunny so I started to dry off however it was not as warm as in July and August or September. Perhaps, if the weather’s good, I may even go for a swim on Christmas Day!
I went back to the van where I sorted out my summer clothes and packed them up in vacuum bags. These have the benefit of compressing the clothes as well as keeping them together and clean. At present, they are stacked on the driver’s seat.
By now it was time for the Evening Walk so we set off for the Promontory. The vehicles which had been present the day before were again on the beach although they had not been there for the Early Walk. The walk we very pleasant despite the clouds overhead. We managed to get back without getting wet but now the wind has got up making it a little draughty with flapping tent into the bargain.
As a result of the shopping expeditions, there is a greater choice of menu so we’re having Broccoli, carrot, pepper and the final beetroot on a ‘bed’ of rice. From the bar cameras, I notice Peter has changed location and taken the place occupied by the German family. I’d better warn him that his privacy will be compromised due to all the cameras.
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