As evening arrived, I went for a hot shower after my fridge-moving operation. I was dirty from cleaning inside the van and sweaty from squeezing into small spaces to screw brackets to stop things from moving. At least the fridge is back in its proper location and not poking out at the front. The gate also closes and remains Skinny-resistant so far at least.

I put on some clean shorts and a t-shirt on my return from the shower before preparing the Doggy Dins for consumption. The temperature was significantly lower than previous days and I even stayed inside all evening. At bedtime, I retired to my boudoir where I slept until the alarm sounded.

Our Early Walk was uneventful. It was dark as there remained only an almost indistinguishable slice of moon when it eventually managed to creep above the mountains. The sun is slowly working its way back towards Paleochora from behind the mountains to take up its winter position of rising from the sea. Always more spectacular than from behind the mountains.

Kostas was busy when we arrived at the end of the Promontory but had left as we walked back for the beach walk to Plakaki. There were a couple of cars in the beach car park but no discernible bodies on the Promontory or the beach. We walked in the darkness to Plakaki where the sea is higher than it’s been for a while. Something to do with the moon I suspect.

Walking back, a woman was reclining on one of the ABB sun beds. Skinny and Isabella went to greet her however I think she was more pleased to see Obi. I called them so we could continue on our way.

Kostas had returned as his pump was thrumming away from its location at the back of the cave. I didn’t see him as he was busy filling the rock pools.

We went over the rocks then started back towards the camping. A guy in a large car arrived but rejected Skinny and Isabella’s advances even though I said they were friendly. He asked if they were all mine.

I made up the Doggy Dinners as well as a cup of tea. I put the dinners in the pot then drank my tea before mounting my machine for an exciting ride to the pass via Panorama then back through Paleochora, ACS, the ferry and the puppies of which there were none to be seen.

I made good time back to Grammeno as I had the wind behind me and stopped at Alonaki for a quick swim. The sea was not rough but certainly interesting. Apparently, I swam 58 metres in 26 minutes, much of it against the wind and waves. The return was rather lazy as I relied on the elements to bring me back to my shoes.

At the end, I was the only person swimming as it would appear the others had got out. I rode back to the camping where cars were unloading kit and tents were being erected. All very industrious but probably only for the weekend. Next weekend is the Holiday so it will be very busy I should imagine. I understand thirty tents arrived today! As for departures, I know not.

I released and fed dogs and made more tea before planting myself in the chair. It was still a little windy so I adjusted the guys for the sun blocker and collected up the food bowls. Charlie always seems to decamp to the SDC with his morning bowl.

I didn’t do much with the remainder of the morning but sprang to life in the afternoon to rearrange some of the hoses. A long hose is attached to the cooler fan to supply the water which evaporates to cool the air. The hose was draped along the ground in the direct sunshine which was inevitably heating the water. I’d used a much shorter hose to connect the shower so swapped them over as well as fixed them down. There are times when dogs leap from the decking to assist the others in barking duties. A particularly large dog is not necessarily too careful about where she steps. I felt the hose should be anchored to the decking to the back of the batten I’d screwed in position to prevent chairs from accidentally wandering into the void beneath.

There were two pallets, a newer one on top of a very decrepit one. This served as my shower platform and by its nature suffered the ravages of frequent drenching. The lower pallet was useless so I removed it to put some concrete blocks at the corners upon which I could rest the uppermost pallet. Naturally, in any exciting project such as this, I had assistance from Isabella then Oskar and Charlie. They also enjoy a good nose around. To be certain everything was working as expected, I took another shower and then concentrated my efforts on processing the DDs so that I could cook some beans for later. There are no prawns or mayonnaise in my refrigerator so perhaps the rat has been visiting again. In fact, I’d left a nectarine on the counter to finish ripening to discover Isabella had it first thing. She would not have been able to have removed it from that location however a rodent could. Transporting a nectarine over the roof and out of the area would have been too difficult for a rodent so I imagine the nectarine had to be abandoned by the thief. I was looking forward to eating that this evening.

I just nipped to the loo to discover Tony, in his astronaut costume, his spray gun in hand and tank on his back, all set to start the regular toilet decontamination process. Very kindly, he offered to put this off a few moments so that I might use the facilities beforehand. I ducked under the tape and used the loo. What a good chap he is! After decontamination, the loos remain moist for some while…

I’m actually ahead of the program this evening. The DD’s are ready to go complete with utensils, the Doggy Rice is cooked and waiting in the pot, the three evening barkers are in the van, the cats fed and all the water bowls are full. The day is cooling down nicely so soon I shall turn back the ferocity of the cooler fan and most like adjourn inside once the dogs are dealt with.

I see Michalis has just taken the enormous plastic tank which has been lurking around the camping for the past couple of months. It will be good not to have to navigate past that with my bike in the mornings.