Sasha and Fido got me out of bed, Fido twice. Sasha remained outside until getting up time which turned out to be 05:30. A large, hairy dog was waiting patiently outside the gate. I heard barking in the night, which was probably her, but I thought it was the neighbour’s dog.
The walk was under a clear sky with plenty of stars and the reminder of the moon. There is only one row of chairs and umbrellas at Alonaki and only the poles for the umbrellas remain at Azzuro. It’s the end of the season so packing up time.
All dogs appeared at the beginning and the end so I was happy. Crossing the car park, where stood a lone motorhome, a lady appeared from within. It turned out to be Maria who Ursula had met at or near Elafonissi. She and her motorhome had been there for a few days. Ursula recommended Maria stop at the camping at some point during her stay. She had already met Heidi so was able to make her acquaintance with Oskar and Obi. She spent a lot of time petting the dogs especially Skinny who was predictably soppy. We had a chat but there was a chill in the early morning air so I returned with the dogs.
Sasha, Isabella and I, accompanied by the ball appeared shortly after. We had a good walk, with Isabella performing well with her assistant. It was much warmer by now and there was only a very light breeze. A good time for a bike ride up the mountain and around Paleochora I thought.
Several runners passed me as I rode against a gentle wind towards Paleochora. There is usually a road race at about this time. I went up to the top of the mountain, around the port and stopped at the bakery for bread. I concluded I had enough food for this evening but I must buy dog and other food tomorrow.
I rode back against the flow of returning runners who’d presumably been to Krios and back in the time it took for me to do my bit. Amongst them was Yiannis Petrakis and a couple of other familiar faces. As for their names…
I heard barking as I approached the compound where three small girls were approaching. They wanted to see what was within so came to the gate as I unpacked my bike. They amused themselves with Sasha and Isabella and seemed well at ease with them so I suggested they might like to see the other five which I promptly released. They were delighted to see the others and then asked if they could come in to pet them. They appeared unperturbed at being surrounded so made themselves at home on the decking. I had been hoping for a cup of tea so I left them with the dogs and started my washing up and tea making. A voice at the gate announced the arrival of a parent who took away one of the girls for breakfast leaving the remainder. They were happily playing and amusing Luis. Later, another parent arrived and took the other two at which point the first had reappeared.
They are German and aged around five to seven. Eventually, the parent of the second girl returned although the girl would happily have stayed longer. My tea was totally drinkable by this time so I sat down and fell asleep.
Quite a chunk of the morning passed me by and the cacophony from the previous day started up again nearby. Some different voices so I suspect it was a staff meal of some kind. It dragged on for a while.
I dug out the tent sides with the intention of taking one to the repair man near the Paleochora camping. I contacted the support department of Thule to see if it’s possible to get spares. I can then decide on the best course of action once I know.
Manolis brought me some lovely pomegranates of which one will be consumed this evening. He arrived just as my visitors were asking to come into the compound earlier.
Strong Suck is doing its best at decimating the mosquito population as I poured out another pile of corpses earlier. I left it going all day but only one was inside when I emptied it.
Isabella found another bone whilst out so has been in a constant dilemma for much of the day. Dare she leave the bone?
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