Up before the sun peeked over the surrounding mountains, I was intent on getting to grips with the two punctured tubes. I had the beach almost to myself and it was eye-rubbingly gorgeous.
After a swim, I was approached by an elderly couple from Innsbruck, who had just arrived in their camper. Seeing my bike forlornly dismantled, they offered me a spare tube. But it was too small; I’m sporting larger 29 inch wheels. I gladly accepted their offer of coffee though. Lovely people, we had a skeletal conversation in German about must-visit areas of Greece.
Then it was time for microsurgery. I stood waste-deep in the still, clear water, a piece of chalk in my mouth, and I hunted-down every leak in both tubes. I had those suckers patched in minutes. They dried in the sun while I had breakfast of crushed emergency biccies, a freddo from the now opened beach bar, and another swim.
After putting the bike back together, I headed off along the new coast road to Kyparissi which, in the morning sun, looks like a freshly-cut wound on the mountaisides. It’s not far away, so I vowed to take my time after yesterday’s exertion, thus spending long periods sitting on the roadside to admire the awesome Aegean vistas. I kept my promise to wave back at the Austrians from the ridge, and they duly reciprocated.
The bike had started to act up again. So I thought, ‘right you bastard, I’m going to sort you out once and for all‘. I pulled-in and spent nearly two hours re-seating the tyres, aligning the brakes and the gear derailleurs, greasing and oiling all moving parts, tightening every bolt. My earlier tube repairs were holding up though, which made me happy. I would be seriously screwed if I couldn’t roll, and there are no bike shops around these parts. Every local who drove past offered me help, but I was on top of it. Nice people here, very friendly! By this stage I was looking the real road-warrior: covered in black grease with sweat dripping from my nose. A walk-on part in the next Mad Max movie would be guaranteed had George Miller driven past.
The remaining jaunt to Kyparissi was very pleasant. Few cars passed me in either direction, the road surface was basically perfect and the climbs, when they came, were immediately rewarded. It was hot but cloudy, with a nicely cooling sea breeze all along.
It was mid afternoon when I turned the last corner before town, and it looked the ticket. I availed of another fully-clothed swim on a tiny beach near the adjoining village of Mitropoli then, almost horizontal, drifted-onthrough the narrow whitewashed streets of Kyparissi. Is this the prettiest town in Greece? I don’t know, but it’s definitely up there!
Starving, I stopped at a restaurant terrace overlooking the town beach and had a delicious souvlaki with potatoes, peppers and lime-butter sauce.
It is permitted to camp on the beaches here, but the cute Hotel Paraliako enticed me. I got a room for 30 Euro. The host, Stella, gave me two slices of cake, straight from the oven, topped with candied orange slices. I devoured them on my private terrace. A perfect welcome 🙂
Earlier, while munching the souvlaki, a man looking like Richard Dawkins walked-by. I played with the idea of hunting him down to extol my passionate defence of Lamarck. But then I said ‘fukit’ and opted instead to sup a beer on the balcony, listening to the local women chatting over dinner below. I don’t know what they were eating, but it smelled damn tasty!