Greece 33 - Prevetza/Boat day/Barking dogs and finally we set off home

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Campsites are like restuarants along this part of Western Greece. You can spend a night at each and still not stay at them all. Suzy is holed up at aCamping Acrodiali. Yet another Italian sounding name. The area has nothing noteworthy in terms of historical sites but what it does have is an unbelievably cobalt blue, crystal clear sea, an endless blue sky and rocky headlands. 21 euros to spend a night in prime seaside location amidst the caravans that have grown into huge man sheds over the years. Our only other neighbours are two Austrian motorhomers.

Our first thoughts as we drove in were that it was a bit tight and not many spaces for us. The type of site we sometimes look at and wonder whether or not to stay. First impressions count and this one was only scoring about 50% of good vibes. The owner was pleasant and efficient but not as gushing as many site owners had been. Her business was made up more from the statics and the flatlets that she rented out to holidaymakers. We were a bit of an afterthought. Free WiFi but only around the bar area. Food but looking mainly fast food rather than authentic home cooking. The blurb sells the site as a meeting place for pleasant and car free holidays. I don't know where you would go without a car. There were no towns or villages of note. We are 25 km from Prevetza and no buses. 60 km from the port of Igoumenitsa. It is in the middle of nowhere although there were the obligatory Venetian walls high up the hillside. A pebbly beach ran down to the sea. Small rounded stones at the waters edge . They gradually became rounded rocks. Collected by the caravanners they held down the roof, the walls and decorated their plots. The blurb continues to talk of the Blue Ionian sea with its magic beaches and beautiful mountains. Attractive places from where you can travel on daily trips. We saw no sign of daily trips - perhaps it was out of season and too early for organised trips. The advertisements said we could travel to Corfu or to Zerlongo.

We sat outside in the sun. Thinking about the boat we should have been travelling on tonight. We watched the sunset. A lovely thing as it set below the horizon.



"Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth "You owe me". Look what happens with a love like that it lights up the whole sky.



11 o'clock arrived - we should be on the boat. Had we known what we know now we perhaps could have gone across Greece to Thessaloniki. In the end we gave up thinking and went to bed. An uneasy sleep . We were kept awake by the barking of the three dogs owned by one of the Austrian van owners. They started at 12, they yapped through the early hours of the morning and never gave up until daylight. They annoyed us but I wonder why their owners could ignore them. We made our minds at that point that as lovely this site was we could not stand another night of constant barking.

Waking up early we feel dazed after the night of barking. In many European countries there are feral dogs and cats . You get used to them. These three animals were really annoying . We think their owners must have been deaf.

We headed off to Igoumenitsa to have a look around the town and call in to the office of Minoan to find out if the strike would indeed finish tonight. The port wasnt up to much. A long street that ran all the way up the town lined with cafes serving the needs of the townsfolk and the people waiting for the ferries. It was possible if there was no strike to visit the islands as well as travel across to Italy. The port was again quiet as the grave. The car park was empty, the booking hall devoid of any life. We queued up behind another customer. They were booking on the first sailing to Brindisi. They got their tickets but no berth for the night. We handed over our tickets and exchanged them for the 12.00 boat Saturday night. Everything looked down and out. Patches of rough ground, motorhomes parked up in some places and folks sitting on benches or their own seats. It is not a pleasant port. We have one more night to kill before we head home. Our stop for the night Camping Kalamiiti. It gets an average review from ACSI - Drapano Bay scores highly. We were not expecting much . So what have they in common? They are both close to the beach . They both have restaurants. They have shower blocks . This is where the comparisons have to end . Our first sight of Kalamiti was a dream. Flowers everywhere. Honeysuckle dripping over the walls. Pink, red and mauve bourganvillea. Red geraniums. Trees but these were tidy and not as shady. The restaurant looked fantastic and served home cooking. The welcome was rich. As we walked in a Geordie voice boomed out - the receptionist is on her way he shouted. A Geordie couple they were living in a huge RV with slide outs. He was an ex lorry driver who travelled back and to Iran. The receptionist was friendly and showed me the toilet block which was clean and functional. She showed the washing machines and was proud of her home and site which had been started years ago by her grandfather. A family affair it showed the best of Greece. We parked up and settled in and then the phone rang.



Hello Mr Jones - it is Minoan here. You are booked on the 8 am boat and it is now running early at 6 am . What followed was a farce. We have tickets in front of us telling us we are leaving at 12. Oh no you are not I have you on an earlier boat. The arguement flew backwards and forwards. In the end we managed to get moved to the earlier boat however it meant we had to run to the site owner and check if we could move outside the site to be on the right side of the gate in order to get out in the morning. We would be leaving at 3 am and wanted to make sure we would not be locked in and stuck. Also we did not want to disturb other campers at silly o'clock in the morning.

We set the alarm for 2.45 giving us just half an hour to have a bit of breakfast, freshen up and unplug Suzy. Thank goodness Glenn had fixed our headlight or we wouldnt be going anywhere. Any half decent policeman would have stopped us in our tracks.

At 3.15 we parked up and walked into the booking hall and exchanged our tickets for our new ones. Glenn was told to take the motorhome , his tickets and his passport and go to the port entrance where he would be searched . After he could go to quay 12 and wait for the boat. I was told to go through airport style security on my own. A strange experience to find myself on my own trying to find Glenn. I see him coming and join him. We try to find the quay . A Minoan official spotted us and guided us to the right place . There were already about 30 lorries waiting for the boat and a handful of vans , cars and motorhomes. We started on the long wait. We drank tea at 4 am , coffee at 4.30. At 5 am a boat came in . We watched it load up and sail out. At 6 am our boat comes in and the whistling starts. The crew have referees whistles and they use them to tell you where they want you to go. They gesture with their arms . It is hard to understand sometimes what on earth they want you to do. They scowl when you get it wrong. In the end we make it. Suzy is safe , we have our cabin and now have to find something to do for the next 17 hours before we arrive in Ancona.

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