I watched the remainder of an interesting documentary about Angkor Wat which I’m sure you know is in Cambodia. I did this whilst eating which is a good way to stay awake. It was mostly about why the temple and surrounding communities were abandoned. The archaeologists suspect it’s to do with climate change – sound familiar? I then watched some interesting shorts about psychology but kept falling asleep so I gave up the struggle and went to bed. It was still very early. I thought I might wake up early but it was 04:25 which I felt was a good result. I loafed in bed for a little while as the dogs were not moving around however Skinny and Isabella heard the alarm so the game was up.
At least this morning was calm and reasonably clear. Only a few moments later some raindrops landed on my head but it turned out to be nothing but passing clouds. We didn’t attempt the rocks as the sea was still quite angry but went to the end and back before walking the beach to Plakaki.
The sea was a lot calmer than the previous day and I was amazed at how far up the beach it had come. There are extensive areas of sand which replace the shingle and stones. I still kept my attention on the sea as it can suddenly turn nasty and catch you out. We had our Plakaki biscuits and returned to The Promontory via the Big and Small beaches. The water has been above the trees on the Big Beach and the small one has been scoured away. The waves were still sending fountains of water high into the air as they struck the rocks. We didn’t hang around as I didn’t fancy a shower right then.
I put the dogs inside and then fed the cats who were very eager to see me. I now know how the keepers at Longleat feel. There is a number of external cats who come purely for restaurant services so there is usually a fair amount of hissing, spitting a general bad and unwelcoming language. For that matter, they hiss and spit at each other so the invaders don’t really have a chance. I try to make sure they get enough to eat without having to feed every other cat in Kountoura and Grammeno.
I went to ride my bike and call in at the place which sells almost everything including gas pipe and cylinder fittings. The shop reminds me a little of a visit to Culverwell – now there’s a blast from the past! I suggested to Kirsti they might prefer to use LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) to heat their van in preference to the electric heating. I’m not up for burning stuff to keep warm but they found themselves with a considerable bill during their previous visit. I have some 25kg cylinders which contain about 1.5 times the amount of gas but don’t fit into their van’s gas locker so an extension and different connector is required to attach it to the bottle which stands outside. I had one fitting which would do the trick but needed the cylinder connector, a couple of meters of gas pipe and clips. The nice man got me everything I needed for the princely sum of €8.30. I continued on my way and back to the camping against the wind once more but this time with full batteries.
An alert showed me that Anke from Germany had just arrived with the German resident friends who delivered the caravan on Sunday. She’d been on the ferry all night so they were chatting and drinking tea when I arrived. They didn’t need me for the time being so I went back to feed the dogs and myself.
I try to close the camping account for each month so wanted to get it done in case Georgia turned up. This involved going to the office for the dreaded paper forms and then making up a sheet for each customer who’d left during the month. I cheated slightly with some as they left then came back so I just juggled the dates and one couple came and left three times – three separate paper sheets: I don’t think so! There were nineteen to fill out but with various interruptions it took a while. I couldn’t get the printed sheets to reconcile with the spreadsheet until I discovered there were two customers missing. There were two separate customers with the same name and one other I’d missed. It all balanced in the end, thankfully. This year I’m shoving the completed month’s handwritten forms through the scanner so that I have an electronic copy of everything I submit just in case I need to refer back.
I needed to make copies of letters I found in the mailbox of which one was from a company in Italy. I didn’t understand the content of the document but it didn’t seem very exciting. There were a couple of water bills which will doubtless help to concentrate the mind about fixing leaks. I suspect this bill covers the summer period not that I’ve bothered to look at it yet.
I scanned the caravan documents for Laura as there is some complicated arrangement regarding ownership. It’s quite an elderly van so can’t be worth a huge amount. I sent them on and have a copy for myself which is all that matters. It will be interesting to see how long Anke lasts at the camping considering she’s arrived at the beginning of December so is in at the deep end.
I sorted out the doggy rice and then concentrated my mind on the gas pipe for the Finns. This involved chopping a pipe I’d bought but never used and then using some 8mm copper to connect the two together so that the bottle could connect to the gas regulator on the van but stand outside in the open as it’s too big to go inside. It was getting late in the day when I rolled the full bottle towards their van and we connected it up. Hopefully, they will be enjoying the benefit of cheaper heating as well as the fact I have the gas delivered which is very convenient as the bottles are heavy. Which reminds me that I have a small one belonging to the camping. I lent an empty bottle to a customer to refill so I claimed the remaining gas. I borrowed an empty from the camping so that I could start the winter season with three full containers.
The cameras tell me the Danish registered British camper has arrived so hopefully they have found somewhere to put the van and I’ll catch up with them in the morning. As of tonight there are sixteen punters on the camping of which four are single. More threaten to arrive!
It has been a sunny day with some cloudy interludes which provided 8.48kWh of PV which all but filled the battery. The wind has subsided. From tomorrow night the weather is forecast to become more unsettled and wet until Sunday. Saturday is predicted to be the wettest day with the possibility of significant rainfall. The weather is generally from the south so it will be cooler but not too cold. The fan heater has not been back on since initially heating the van up after I closed the door.
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