Arrivederci Italy, be good to us Greece

Wednesday 18th April

We spent our last day in Italy at the laundromat, filling up with LPG and sitting in a free carpark near the port of Brindisi. We meet an English guy called Les who’s been traveling for 7 years, catching the same boat and also his first time in Greece. He was a great company during the trip.

We’d booked our ferry online directly with Grimaldi Lines. Originally we had wanted to camp on board the ship but only ANEK Lines offer this service and, 1) it was nearly 400 euros, and 2) they were fully booked for the week we wanted to travel. Unfortunately this trip was much more expensive so to save money we opted for Pullman seats for 218 euros instead of 100 euros more for a cabin. The sailing is 16 hours so it’s going to be a long night.

We got on board without any dramas and found our seats in the lounge. Last time we sailed with Grimaldi we were on a cruise ship, this time we’re on a tatty old freight and passenger ferry, similar to the Commador Clipper that we’ve used to at home.

We manage to get some sleep in between the numerous announcements, which caused the dogs to bark (which are allowed anywhere on the ship) which woke up the baby who screamed its head off and inbetween the excessive snorting from our fellow travellers.

Thursday 19th April

2 hours later than planned we arrive in beautiful Greece, its baking hot, glorious sunshine and not a cloud in the sky, at last!!

We try out two free camper stops at tavernas. The first has a rope across the drive and the other looks like the gypsies have moved in so we head back the way we came and decide to stay in a Campsite so we can at least get a good nights sleep.

We’re staying at Kalgoria Camperstop which is near to the beach, it’s 13 euros, showers and WiFi and the host is really friendly.

The site is good, cold showers mind you or if you want it hot you have to use the portable solar bag shower which incidentally I did use in the morning and it wasn’t that bad, if we can find one we’re going to buy one.

20-21 April

We move off the next morning after deciding the site is to far from the beach, like 6 minutes walk, and the beach isn’t what we’re looking for and head towards Killini Marina. The parking apps that we’re using say that you can stay overnight in the Marina, but we were told by the customs offer that under no circumstances could we park within the marina. We found a spot along the road but the beach was full of algae, so we stopped to have our lunch and moved on. We’re not on a great start to Greece it seems.

At the minute we’re using the motorway it’s easier and a straight route so unfortunately we’re not seeing a lot of small towns or having much interaction with the locals. Along the way we come to a screeching holt, diesel for 1.26 a litre we’ll have some of that please.

We head to a carpark at Kastro Beach which is recommend on the parking apps. It’s a carpark with the beach just over the sand dunes. There’s 3 German campers already here with one family that looks like they’ve been there for at least a week. There’s some building work going on nearby with some of the building materials in the carpark and over the couple of days that we’re here the lorries and diggers start work just after 7am in morning! A German motorhome the size of Eugene turns up and they have 5 massive dogs including 1 dog which was attached to a wheel frame. They must be so cramped in that camper and when they came back from the beach with 5 stinking wet dogs, eekk.

We stayed here 2 nights, the beach is great and the sky was clear for us to watch the sun set over Zante.

The wind is still quite blowy but we got ourselves settled on the beach, the sun was baking hot so to protect our wrinkly skin we smothered ourselves in suncream, then the wind picked up more so we get out the windbreak. Over the next hour the wind was whipping the sand over and around the windbreak and it bloney hurt. It was impossible to sit there any longer so we had to admit defeat and pack up we were completely covered in sand and we looked like a couple of fat sheets of sand paper, well one fat one not so fat!

Sunday 22 April

We hadn’t stocked up before we left Italy and the cupboards and fridge are bare so we head off in search of Lidl only to find it closed on a Sunday so we head into town. We find somewhere to park and have a stroll around. We pop into the shop for bread, milk and eggs only to find they don’t sell these essential items and there’s no bread anywhere in town on a Sunday. It’s almost lunch time, well it is for us Gurns, so we make a bee line for the cafe to find they’re not serving lunch until after 3pm, we are actually starving. We resort to the only place selling food a cheap takeaway further along the road which was actually wasn’t that bad. Keith had the usual burger and chips and I went for the Gyro which is chicken chunks with salad, tazaki and chips all wrapped together in a flat bread, it was delicious and with soft drinks only cost 6 euros for us both.

We find a carpark for the night just down the road. There’s an old toilet block there so we can empty the toilet cassette that we’ve got bubbling away in the garage.

The carpark is right in the edge of the beach, there’s not a soul around until 5pm when families and fishermen come down for a couple of hours, but once they’ve gone it’s incredibly quiet but the wind is not giving up.

23-24 April

Next morning we get sorted at Lidl and head back into town to get some data, Keith needs a battery for his watch and a pair of slip on shoes. All sorted with hardly a word of Greek spoken by us and off we head.

We head to Kasto Beach which is another carpark next to the beach. There’s 2 carparks with a grass area inbetween which has 3 campers parked up. We find our spot in the carpark. It looks like the beach umbrellas are being repaired but we don’t see anyone working there so park close by. There’s a water hose which is turned on so we get a few buckets of water.

 

We take a stroll along the beach after 2 miles there’s still no end to the beach it’s that long but sadly we see a huge turtle dead on the beach and strangely we encounter a few naked people on the beach.

Next morning the builders appear and ask us to move so they can continue fixing the umbrellas. The campers have moved off the grass so we move in. We get some washing done and put this on the clothes horse and put chicken and potatoes in the Cobb for lunch, chairs and awning out, what could be better.

Within the hour the police arrive. The policeman walked towards us with clipboard in hand, oh no we’re going to be fined. He explained the builders had called because we were in the way, but we moved we’re nowhere near them now. He explained the grass area is a public area so we need to move from here now, actually right now. So we start filling up the van, Keith explains we got a chicken in BBQ. After further conversation between us he tells us we can move into the carpark but not on the grass, he actually doesn’t care where we park neither does anyone else, other than the builders. We move over to the carpark and the policeman walks off taking Keith’s passport with him, so I have to run after him in the hope he didn’t want to keep it but he hands it back, phew no fine.

25 April – 1st May

Next day we move off after feeling unwelcome by the builders and find a great place in 2km of forest in Elea. It’s a fantastic place which offers ‘official’ free camping and it’s part of a dog sanctuary. There’s drinking water and forest showers available.

There’s a few campers dotted around but the place is so quiet. We find a place in the shade with the beach just over the sand dunes.

There’s about 6 forest dogs who all seem friendly enough and roam about the site. They are feed everyday and some of the campers gather them up and take them for a walk a couple of times a day. Everyday a shepherd comes through the forest with his flock of sheep and sheep dogs. The forest dogs go nuts when they see them coming through, barking and ganging up on the sheepdogs. The sheepdogs totally ignore the forest dogs trying to goad them and continue guiding the sheep it’s quiet funny to watch them.

The temperature has been hitting around 28 degrees during the day it’s sunny, very hot and the wind had dropped to a whisper. We’re spending all day lazing on the beach, the waters clear, not that warm for me but Keith likes it and we’re sitting out til nearly 9pm. The beach is mostly sand with beautiful beach pebbles which I have been collecting. Some are perfectly shaped to be made into a pendant or a ring, so I’m sure I’ll find a use for them when we’re back home.

There’s not many people around and even less on the beach but those that are are naked, not sure if Greece is a nudist country or it’s the visitors that are stripping off. A fisherman sets up near us near us wearing only his teashirt, a guy walking up and down the beach a couple of times a day with just a rucksac on his back and others just out for a naked walk.

Before I know it Keith has embraced the whole naked bathing and is laying on the sun bed like some wrinkly old pornstar, next day he’s joined the walking brigade not a good sight I can tell you I can spot him by his lilly white ass as he struts his way along the beach.

Me I don’t mind going topless, but saggy tits and a saggy ass definitely not a good look so my bottoms are staying firmly on my backside.

This are is where the turtles come to the shore to lay their eggs on the sand dunes and they are due to start arriving within the next few weeks.  We were lucky enough to see one head right into the  shore, checking out the beach to get a good spot no doubt.

We’re staying here until Wednesday before we move on because Tuesday is a bank holiday and the coast might be busy with the locals enjoying the good weather.

We’ve been in Greece 12 days and so far the weather has been fantastic we’ve spent most of our time on beach just chilling and soaking up the good weather at last. We’ve been able to have our breakfast and cook our dinner outside which is fantastic.

The sunsets have been amazing.

We’re moving off on Wednesday and intend to keep to the coast for at least the next month, hopefully it won’t get too hot too soon.

 

a ;a perchoine

 

Shirena & Keith

xxx