I was surprised not to hear the wind battering the van as the forecast said it would be windy all night. I was not looking forward to going out early morning in a strong wind as it makes the dogs scatty and we get sandblasted into the bargain! It was not still when we went out as there were occasional gusts which kept most of the mosquitoes away and effectively lowered the temperature. The walk was uneventful and we were back at the camping just after 06:00.
Luis and Charlie came along the beaches today leaving Fido, Oskar and Obi to guard the van. The wind was beginning to become more pronounced and progress was slower as the wind was mostly against us. The sea remained reasonably calm so I hoped a swim would still be an option. A couple of tents sheltered in the rocks further down the beaches so we took a detour up alongside the road. The guy who drives the water bowser which tries to keep the roadworks dust level down, came past on a small motorcycle beeping his horn and waving cheerily. I had my back to him but he guessed from the dogs who it was despite there being only four.
No fishermen were on the rocks so we stood a while before making our way back west. We passed the tents, this time at the water’s edge. The dogs behaved nicely and showed no interest in the tent or any of the paraphernalia nearby. Skinny and Isabella were larking about noisily and somehow Skinny found himself with a short length of chewed lead attached to his collar. He stood still as I joined him to the remainder which was in my hand.
As I stood looking out over Alonáki Beach a couple of women were walking a dog. I contemplated avoidance techniques but then proceeded on a course to meet them. Naturally, Luis, Isabella and Charlie were interested in the other dog but these meetings can often be less than cordial on the parts of Luis and Charlie. As a pair, they complement each other. I turned up the volume slightly on my remote control and continued. As soon as there was any advance towards the other dog I reminded mine they were wearing collars and the possible consequences of disobedience. I called them nicely and they came to me nicely but only under duress. The women probably thought they were well-behaved dogs…
The wind was squally as I walked to the beach for a swim. I was alone in the sea but a man appeared to lay down his towel on the beach. I wondered how long he might stay there but it wasn’t very long! As I was heading back to the shore, there was another squall, wavelets appeared making swimming more challenging. Then sand blew from the beach out over the sea. I turned so I was swimming backwards into the blown sand and continued towards the beach. I squall subsided so I got out of the water and shook off my T-Shirt which was secured under a rock to avoid its own swimming session.
I had a shower in one of the cubicles to emerge as Bona was on her cleaning rounds. I informed her that cubicle was clean and tidy and she jokingly enquired if I’d like to take a shower in the other cubicles and wash the floors there too. I had sandy feet so directed the shower onto the floor so as to leave it clean. I laughed politely and scuttled off as I wanted to cycle to Krios.
Gregor was there with his dogs so we passed the time looking at a small navel vessel moving slowly west to east parallel with the coast. I first saw it as I cycled along the approach road to the beach. It wasn’t sending any AIS information so was probably Greek as they like to be very secretive. We watched it for a while and with the help of the zoom on his camera, Gregor was able to see but not make out the flag it was flying. More sand and dust devils were appearing as we sat in the shade under the Juniper trees. He finished his watering duties so we both left as I wanted to get back to the dogs. The return run, mostly against the wind, was challenging as I was being blown around. The road is not busy and the motorists are considerate so leave plenty of wobble room for cyclists.
I let out and fed the dogs then prepared by breakfast. Today has been quite busy as I had a support call from Luise at EG and we messed around with setting up confidential spreadsheets on the EG SharePoint site. I’d misunderstood exactly what was required so it took longer than it should. I then received an email from Barbara Craven in Melbourne regarding one of the new websites. She’s been having problems so needed some help. The Doggy Dinners were consequently neglected so they were a little later than normal.
Lots of meowing from outside the gate announced the arrival of the young female I’d not seen for a couple of days. She was pleased to see me and came into the pussy compound for some food until two stray males decided to have a power struggle in the storeroom nearby. I left them to it until it started to drag on and Luis was getting annoyingly worked up. No other dog was making a sound – not that they needed to as Luis was making enough disturbance for all of them. I picked up the hose and chased the two stray males off elsewhere into the camping. The dogs are getting much better at recognising and reporting alien pussies and not barking at the friendlies.
The wind continues so I shall retire within to eat some food. I suspect there may be a few dogs inside this evening as it’s rather blustery out here.
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