I was awake before the appointed time but then fell back to sleep again. It wasn’t cold or blowy but became blowier as the day went on. The walk was as the previous days. The short walkers were very keen to get back to the van and the other three were more active, especially Isabella who entertained first Skinny then Obi. Noisily on both occasions. I ended up shutting her up as she was driving me crazy but at least it wore her out for the remainder of the day.
I needed to do some washing so bunged clothes and bedding in the machine after a shower. I set off for Paleochora, not because I really needed anything just that it would likely be raining Monday morning when I would need to get some provisions. The wind was against me and the bike battery was getting low however I had plenty of power for the journey. After the shopping, I even went on a little tour of Paleochora before setting off for Grammeno.
The tapes tied around the trees which have been treated for the parasites present interesting challenges for anyone on a bike as it’s necessary to stop and duck under the tapes. The cats are still alive and the trees still standing. As for the parasites, we need to wait for confirmation.
The washing was ready to be hung up so I changed the line so as not to have the wet clothes in the dust. I now have two lines as the replacement was longer than the original however I need more pegs as I can hang up more clothes! It was a little windier than I would have liked but everything is dry so I have a bed to make before retiring.
I had breakfast, did a little more work on Janne’s laptops and then made my weekly call home. The afternoon was short as I wanted to go over some things with Janne before they left in the hope of avoiding a lengthy phone call later on.
We went out for a meal in a little restaurant in Paleochora which I’d not visited before and then Janne brought me back to the camping. If I’d charged my bike battery, I could have saved him the trouble. I plan to put the battery on charge this evening and charge it completely as I may go out for a longer ride tomorrow morning.
The moon is nearly full but is awash with yellow dust which is unlikely to be from the Sahara as the wind is northerly. At 19:40 the temperature is still 17.6℃ or 63.7℉ for the afflicted.
The cats will be lonely without Erica to fuss over them and there will be no more comfy chairs and protection from marauders! Janne and Erica fly out early tomorrow morning. During our meal, we had a little chat about our position in the camping. The new cabins with bathrooms were a success last summer and rented for €70/night each. There are three cabins at present which, if occupied for two months of the year, would bring in around €11,000. The three cabins occupy the same area as their plot which brings in €2,300 per year. One year’s rental would easily pay for the installation of the cabins and then there are staffing costs, linen etc. If you take both plots occupied by us and erect nine cabins, these would bring in a conservative €33,000 as opposed to the €3,300 paid by us. It’s not rocket science to see that things have moved on since we arrived and the business model is changing. We agreed that we need to start looking around for somewhere else as the writing is on the wall.
How this summer turns out remains to be seen. If The Lurgy comes in April or May, it would seem likely people will stay at home rather than travel. The holiday industries in Europe would take a big hit as did the favourite Chinese holiday locations when The Lurgy came to China. The airlines are already expecting huge losses and some businesses may have to close down as they did in China. This would stretch the economy even further and people would not have spare cash for holidays. These things are never simple nor do they operate in isolation. Only time will tell…
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