Sunday morning was a lazy one, a couple of swims, and replacing both tubes on the bike which by now had two slow punctures. Lucky I had the spares!
I wanted to have a proper look around Githio nearby, and had a tasty lunch there. But the town overall, despite the initial positive impressions, gets a solid ‘meh’ from me. Too many hucksters and ‘poseurs’ for my liking, and the areas outside the centre are typically run down and filthy. There is however a nice promenade that stretches for a couple of miles, full of evening walkers and – gasp! – cyclists!
Retiring to the campsite with a bottle of wine, I spent a comatose evening lolling about outside the tent before heading to the beach to look at the moon. And what a sight it was.
Maybe I was lucky that night, but the perfect conditions prevailed for some spectacular views. A bright, three-quarters moon with speedy cloud formations and distant storms incoming. It had it all: the beams of light poking out from behind charcoal black clouds, hitting the churning sea and bouncing back off the mountains. Wispy cloudlets with delicate purple-brown hues danced around the edges, and periodically the dark billows would sail over the mountain villages before dumping their heavy load and moving-on. Spectacular stuff, inspiring to any artist. I imagined Homer frantically scribbling the Iliad and Odyssey under such conditions, as if looking into the eye of Zeus. I was also reminded of the paintings of Turner, and what he spent his whole life chasing but never fully managed to capture. All I had to do was sit on a dark deserted beach and the glory revealed itself to me. It was simply mesmerising.
Monday was a work day. I installed myself in a cool little outdoor office on the campsite and dispensed with all tasks. It was looking like a busy week and, since my next destinations south would be rather remote, I decide to stay until Wednesday to ensure good WiFi for upcoming teleconferences.
Besides, there are some coastal villages nearby that are not so accessible, but within walking distance. Also, the campsite is particularly nice, especially since most of the weekender camper vans has disappeared first thing that morning. I also took the opportunity to repair the damaged tubes. I’ve had 8 punctures in the last two weeks, each time requiring several patches to plug.
Tuesday and Wednesday were much the same: little excitement, a few trips around on the bike, plenty of swims to cool down (it’s still unusually hot, around 32 degrees), and hours tapping away on the laptop in between calls and hummus sandwiches.
Thursday? In the words of the late Mitch Hedberg: ‘I’m tired of following my dreams. So I’m just gonna ask where they’re headed, and I’ll hook-up with them later’.
In that spirit, Friday was a day of total indolence, sleeping outside my tent for most of it, going for a swim when things got too hot, and drinking a bottle of the cheap local plonk.
Refreshed, Saturday was to see me back on the road south, however this was prevented by two events. Firstly the sight of an impressive-looking recumbent bicycle – more correctly a Velomobile – which pulled into the campsite; and secondly a chance contact with the local animal shelter, where I have offered to volunteer my help.
The Velomobile belonged to a retired Swedish mariner called Alve Henricson. It’s an enclosed vehicle, looking like a bobsleigh on wheels, with a trailer of two large solar panels. These provide power to charge the gearbox, which provides assistance when going uphill, or when the speed goes below 25km/hr. An impressive-looking machine!
Alve saw my bike and came over to chat. He immediately recognised my Big Apple tyres and we discussed the road conditions and our respective routes. He s a seasoned traveller and has cycled all the way south from Nordkapp, the most northerly point of mainland Europe, in Norway. He is the founder of the 202020 challenge, where similar-minded velomobile owners aimed to tour through 20 countries each, on their own bespoke routes, during 2020. Obviously the pandemic has dented this ambition, but I was still impressed with the mileage he has covered, and his general outlook. We went for dinner at the nearby beach tavern and spent a nice evening discussing the trials of touring, and life in general.
I also was in touch with the local animal shelter, the Melios Animal Protection Society. As I can’t get back into the Czech Republic for the next month at least (due to state of emergency and my expired residency permit), I’ve decided to overwinter in Greece. I can work the day job from here, and make myself useful in other ways. They were delighted with my offer, so I will be visiting on Monday to work out how I can provide some practical help. The animal welfare situation in Greece is quite poor, there are a lot of stray and abandoned dogs and cats, and I’ve come across some horses in a horrendous state. Also, something I’ve noticed is thatthere are surprisingly few birds around.
The shelter is run by two local ladies and three volunteers. So I should be able to lay-low down here in cheap accommodation, learn some Greek, and see where we sit in a few months’ time regarding the virus situation.
Sunday turned out to be a scorcher, so I opted for yet another day of sloth; reading, swimming and cycling around the local hills.