No wind today but that situation will change soon. The Early Walk was under a starry sky and most pleasant. The dogs were put in the van, I fed the cats and turned on the water heater and then got ready for a bike ride. I’d not decided where I was going but ended up doing a similar ride through the mountains only this time without the leg to Spanniakos and towards Kandanos. Last time, I went via Anydri at the beginning, this time was via Azogires at the beginning. The initial climb to Azogires was hasty, the air was cold and I may have consumed a little too much battery power early on. The stream running across the road above Azogires was running faster and more furiously than the previous visit only about a week ago so my boots got wet.
The climb continued but my battery was not as full as I might have wished. I chose to follow a track which was a short cut to Anydri but which turned into a footpath unsuitable to cycling. As I went down I was thankful I wasn’t going up but then ended up doing so anyway. I was down to one bar of battery when I reached the highest point of the ride. I needed to reduce power consumption and allow the battery and motor to recover. The descent was not as fast as going the other way, there were goats and sheep as well as debris washed down by the recent heavy rain. I was doing most of the work before I arrived at Petrakis and turned off motor assistance on the way back to Grammeno and pedalled on my own. It’s a heavy bike with fat tyres so hard work without assistance. I suspect a spare battery is going to become an important accessory.
Back at the camping, time was moving on. The boiler men arrived and Peter wanted the washing machine. I ended up eating my breakfast during the first part of my weekly call home.
The boiler is now working and I understand it is more economical to leave it running 24/7 than on a schedule. We’ll see how this works out once the next bill for diesel comes in.
Peter showed me an interesting map of all the paths in this part of Crete. Like all maps, especially paper maps, the information ages quickly. It will be interesting to try some of them out.
A German woman arrived as I was thinking of getting ready to take the dogs. She will be staying in Z5 as I convinced her the weather forecast was cold, wet and windy after today. She told me she was working for some sort of educational project but had a couple of days off on leave.
The Evening Walk was pleasant as the day had remained still as well as sunny, warmer and dry. I did a little shopping today but didn’t take into account that Monday is 6 January so the shops may be closed however they may be open tomorrow to make up!
I’ve done quite a bit today so I’m looking forward to my meal.
Leave a Reply