Day 123 – 4th September, Friday. Preveza Greece.

Relaxed. Went swimming. Read our new dodgey book swap treasures. Relieved that we at least have the next part of our route sorted.

Day 122 – 3rd September, Thursday. Preveza Greece.

Spent most of the morning on the internet, tearing my hair out, trying to make ferry bookings to get us and Bee across the Greek islands to mainland Turkey. Argh. Eventually managed to make reservations in economy class, on a 13 hour night crossing from Athens to Rhodes with no cabin or reserved seats. Followed two days later by a 2 hour, early morning crossing from Rhodes to Marmaris in Turkey. This is one journey I am really not looking forward to. Also recently discovered wild camping is illegal on Rhodes and the only campsite the Island had was closed down in 2003! Happy days.
We found the owner and got him to switch the electricity back on so we could use the washing machine; Our bed sheets and Ants sleeping bag almost climbed in unaided. Gross. Washing machines are a pricey luxury we don’t indulge too often, but I’m so glad now that all the towels are clean and no longer smell like rotting seaweed.

Day 121 – 2nd September, Wednesday. Preveza, Greece.

We set off about 11am and travelled the coast road winding round the rocks, looking down on bright turquoise sea. We were heading for the next big town – Preveza, to find a bank, a tourist office and a campsite with wifi, washing machine and a nice sandy beach.
We found the bank – the manager said the cash machine had no money in it and to return in half an hour. We found the tourist office, it was closed until Monday. So we bought supplies and headed out of town to find a campsite. Thankfully we found the Kalamitsi Camping village; Free wifi near reception, and almost empty as due to close for the season in a few days. Perfect.

Day 119 - 31st August, Monday - Igoumenitsa, Greece.

We were in the queue yesterday for the much more commercial Ventouris ferry (the Polaris) to Greece when we met John, an Englishman who now lives in Cyprus. He too was ‘camping on board’ and had a Cyprus-registered white van. The majority of the other passengers and drivers were Bulgarian (apart from the two lorry loads of live sheep which shared our top deck – I think they were Italian!).
John is driving to Cyprus through Greece and Turkey and sleeps in his van along the way. The Bulgarians all slept in their cars and the foot passengers slept in cabins or on the chairs. The boat was not full at all and so they was lots of space and being as we were parked on the top open deck, with electrical hook up, we cooked our dinner in the van and slept until we made our first stop in Corfu about 7:30am.
We arrived on the mainland at 9:45am (new time zone; GMT +2hrs) and went straight to the port tourist office, for a map (no TomTom coverage of Greece or Turkey). Found a campsite 25Kms south of Igoumenitsa and set up for a couple of nights.

Day 120 - 1st September, Tuesday. Sivota, Greece.

Lots of wasps, lots of hornets, 40 degree humid heat and no wine left!!!!! Argh. Must remain calm. I think my body has turned into some kind of reverse filter; I pour water in and sweat pours out, it’s a continuous cycle of salty dampness. Aren’t we as humans supposed to adapt to things over a period of time?