I was awoken to the sound of rain upon the roof above my head but went back to sleep as it was too early to be getting up. I studied the forecast before quitting my pit to reassure myself it was the wisest thing to do. According to the forecast, there might be a chance of an insignificant amount of precipitation during the time of the walk.
I’d not been up long when it rained again. A squally shower like the earlier event. I put on my boots and readied the dogs telling myself it would soon be over and done with. Initially, things were quite straightforward, the lagoon was full so I abandoned any idea of crossing the rocks. We walked back towards the car park where one solitary Italian van stood bathed in darkness. It was very dark due to the colour of the sky and general greyness.
We went up the track to Plakaki as I felt this would be quicker than trudging up the beach given the propensity towards precipitation. A large lake had formed where the river joins the sea due to the erosion of the shingle bank by the waves and the sea passing over it. Closer inspection showed that it was feasible to cross the shingle bank with dry feet so long as the sea was in retreat at that moment and water was not rushing back from the lake to the sea. All went well and we made it to Plakaki with dry feet. At least mine were…
There was another, quite heavy, squally shower which reduced visibility considerably. I felt it better to be sheltered by the trees by the track rather than exposed on the beach. My haste not to get wet from above caused me to ignore an approaching wave so I led my merry band into the sea, myself with water well over my boots and halfway up my shins. Bother, I thought! The second time in less than one week for my boots to get saturated in seawater.
We squelched back towards the Promontory and, despite the persistence of the light rain, completed the second circuit excluding the rocks. We didn’t hang around so went back to the van where I dried the dogs before posting them inside the van.
I went to feed the felines and then wandered around the camping down to the sea which was making a very presentable job of remodelling the beach. It is now much flatter than it used to be. As with most storms, loads of detritus had been washed up so there’s plenty to keep the punters occupied. I suppose we could wheel a big bin down to collect the rubbish or park the Ferrari there.
My visit to the kitchen revealed two broken jars which had presumably been blown off the window cill onto the tiled floor. With the ‘assistance’ of a posse of pussies, I swept up and disposed of the glass and the remaining jar and lids. The sentiment was good but the practicality was lacking in a land of very limited recycling. It was now past eight, I’d had no tea nor exercised my brain so went instead for a ride up the mountain.
Shingle had been spread across the road on the corner by the big rocky bit and there were exciting water spouts and bangs each time the sea broke against the defences. I’d not planned to go all the way to the top of the mountain but ended up talking myself to it in the end. The PAWS dog was pleased to see me, be petted and receive food from my hand despite having more food available than a dog could eat. It was quite windy down there.
I visited Petrakis and bought useful groceries including some spinach which has not quite made it to the pot as yet. Tomorrow is another day. The sea had flattened Paleochora Beach and the umbrellas engulfed. Yiannis said he’d not seen it so lively.
The run back to Grammeno against the wind was challenging especially as both bike batteries were nearly discharged offering limited support. I went to see the Czechs who were enjoying one of the sunny intervals. They offered to buy some cat food and Vlada returned later on his powerful motor scooter with 18kg of premium pussy futter all the way from Germany no less!
Following yesterday’s activity and the provision of sunny intervals, little of consequence has occurred today. I attempted to change another tap but whoever ‘fixed’ it last didn’t ever wish it to be replaced. I can see the bracket which holds the tap to the wall needs refixing which is a job too far given the squally intervals.
I decanted some of the premium food, which I put into the green plastic container to prevent the cats from helping themselves. Like mice, they can get into most things. The bags of food from the green bin have been moved to a former waste bin which has a plastic crate with a concrete block on top to prevent meddlers.
The rice is cooked so I plan to feed the dogs and then retreat inside to feed myself. Hopefully, there will not be another arrival at 20:45 as yesterday when the Richard guy to came on Sunday decided to check-in to Ξ6.
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