Over 28C under the awning at 05:20. The night was uncomfortably hot and perhaps a little humid. I got ready, fed the cats, got the dogs ready and we left.

The street lights were on again but only one car was in the car park. We passed Kostas arriving as we left the Promontory and again as he was leaving when we came back. No other signs of life.

Isabella seemed to disappear as we walked up the Promontory but reappeared as we returned to the car park. It was calmer without her so no one complained although they were looking for her.

We returned to the van, I made tea and chilled for a little while before setting out on my bike for some grocery shopping and, perhaps more importantly, dog food shopping. Petrakis was busy for a Saturday morning so perhaps it was a little unkind to ask for a delivery. Anyhow, I ordered 80kg to receive 10kg bonus, gathered up the remainder of my shopping and set off back towards Grammeno.

Alonaki welcomed me with a splashy sea which I was happy to get into as I’d ridden over Panorama and all around as usual. I didn’t stay in long as I wanted to get back. I noticed the wind was a little bit cooler as I rode back wet to the camping.

The same coolness was present as I showered and the water didn’t seem to stay as warm for so long. I should set myself up with black plastic tank to heat the water up for me. What’s in the hose is lovely and warm, just doesn’t last very long. Perhaps this should be a little project especially now I have a kitchen tap which accommodates hot and cold water.

I fed the dogs, made tea, took the frozen plant ‘milk’ and frozen banana out of the freezer to thaw, then sat down to relax. I woke up a little later…

There was no time for loafing around as I had banana bread to prepare and wanted to do some carrot/cabbage/potato mix as I’ve not done any for a little while. This took up a chunk of the afternoon but is all cooked and ready for this evening. I’ve cleaned up and swept the van floor although mopping was a step too far.

I ordered a spare battery for my bike this morning as I’d like to get some decent rides in this winter as hopefully, we will not be having national lockdowns like last year. That said, this area is the reddest in Greece so we have a little way to go. This should be over once people stop moving around so much as the holiday season ends.

A extra battery will allow me to visit the places I would have gone to but which would have left me right at the end of the battery. The bike is coming up to two years in December, the warrantee will be over, so I can do some upgrades including some new tyres as the rear is worn out and the front is one the way.

Having two batteries involves some extra gubbins to connect them safely. You can’t just connect them up in parallel unless you don’t mind the possibility of a fire or even an explosion. I’m also changing the controller to accommodate the extra power available from two batteries so as not to fry the original one. Having upgraded the power, I’ve not forgotten the brakes so have some more powerful and more reliable hydraulic brakes arriving soon. Hydraulic brakes don’t require adjustment, wear the pads equally and are much more powerful.

I can’t remember when I rode to Sarakina, Sklavopoula or Voutas last. Until the first lockdown, I was going on one longer ride each week which included trips to Kandanos, Kalamos/Spaniakos and high in the mountains to Prodromi and down to Azogires.

The day is cooling down. Oskar and Charlie are confined to the SDC, Luis and Fido are in the van listening to the Rock channel of Radio Paradise and Skinny and Isabella are entertaining each other on the decking. I think the rice is done now.

I met Dimitris at the loos, the focal point of the camping, after the bar. He was working as it was around 22:00. He said he was excited that hopefully most of the punters will disperse tomorrow which will mark the end of the busiest time of the season. He’s looking forward to the gradual slow down which will culminate with packing everything away for the winter. He’s not had an easy time with his broken leg but he says it now nearly mended.