The forecast predicted rain and a thunderstorm at 08:00 with a possibility of rain earlier. I felt it would be an idea to get out whilst the going was good so we set off at 05:58 for the first Promontory circuit. There was a stiff easterly wind so it was possible to cross the rocks and the causeway with dry feet and we managed to arrive together at the Promontory entrance.
It seemed very dark as we walked eastwards along Alonáki Beach towards the Plakaki Hotel. There was a cloudy sky with waves crashing against the rocks. All pretty exciting!
The sea was washing over the rocks at the end of the beach and we had to make diversions inland to avoid wet feet. I was keeping a good eye on the sky for the whole duration of our walk as I didn’t fancy getting soaked or being surrounded by seven soaked dogs!
Walking back we were joined by some galloping sheep which seemed to have appeared from nowhere. The majority of the dogs returned when called however Obi and Fido were locked into the chase. I zapped Obi several times so he came back bringing Fido with him. Fido has only a bark collar so is gradually working out that I cannot control him remotely in the same way as Luis did. Probably time to swap the collars around once more.
Looking west from Alonáki, I could see clouds massing in close proximity. My watch had been proclaiming the imminent arrival of the thunderstorm first at 30km, then 25km and finally 5km. I thought we might make it around the Promontory once more so quickened the pace and went for it. There was more thunder, the sky became blacker and finally, a few drops of rain landed on my head. I changed course to head back to the camping. More raindrops came so we broke into a run, even The Rug who’d wandered over from Grammeno Beach. She and Isabella chased each other which hindered an orderly retreat.
We got into the compound just as it began to rain decisively, I ushered the dogs into the van and directed the Rug to the gate into the camping. I fed the ginger pussy and left The Rug to clear up any uneaten cat food from the bowls on the floor and retired inside the compound whilst she was distracted.
Around 7mm fell in thirty minutes or so, there were a few claps of thunder but most of it passed us by. The weather forecast had been absolutely correct with time and amount of precipitation. I finally released the dogs, fed them and then prepared my own. I wanted to wash my bedding as, after all, Christmas is approaching.
It all went in one machine load however the duvet was too heavy for the machine to spin effectively making it stop and redistribute the load. I stopped the machine, removed the duvet and left the rest to get on with it.
The sunshine was intermittent and there were a couple of annoying rain showers. Other than that, everything was dry by the afternoon. I used the opportunity to turn my mattress around although it’s a little like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic as it’s a little past its prime. It’s quite thin so gets a bit of a bashing.
My bed is ready for me to get into and I’ve rearranged the insect netting in the process as well as getting rid of all the sand which has built-up over the summer mostly brought in on my feet.
The movement alarms have just gone mad on the entrance cameras and I can see Georgia’s pickup and another car coming into the camping to pick up the oil containers. The olives are harvested so she’ll go to the mill tomorrow to have them processed into oil. I see the barrier has been lowered nicely.
The evening walk was slightly later with both Mauro and Franca joining us. There were no cars parked in the Grammeno Beach car park so we were hoping for an incident-free walk. A small group of people crossed the Big Beach heading to the point so we kept the dogs on the Small Beach to save running into them, before continuing on our way.
A guy was in the car park with his dog so Luis wanted to investigate and required quite heavy-duty persuasion to get him back. He had another attempt but I zapped him as soon as he headed in that direction so there were no other takers. To be fair, I only had to call the others for them to stay with me. We waited for the guy to continue his walk before heading back to the camping.
Fido was on the wrong side of the gate so was the last to get his supper and was admitted only once I’d fed Charlie who is generally the last. Good for Obi as Fido can be tempted to help Obi finish his meal.
Early on 7 December 1941 there was the surprise attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbour before war had been declared. Peal was the base for the Pacific Fleet however several important ships were not at anchor at the time of the attack. The greatest, single loss was the Arizona which blew up and sank: 1,177 officers and men perished. Many of the other ships were refloated, repaired and continued to serve in the war. From the Japanese point of view, the attack was, in the short term successful, however, it lead to the effective destruction of their fleet later at Midway, and ultimately to their surrender in August 1945.
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