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Ding Ding, Ding Ding - it is 2.45 in the morning. Ding Ding - the alarm wakes us in readiness for what will be a long long day. Kalimeera folks for the last time . We freshen up as best we can. We have a drink to wake us up and we try to get Suzy ready for the trip to the docks as quietly as we can. There has been no sound all night. The campsite has been one of the quietest yet which is quite a feat as most of our campsites have been deadly quiet. We creep out trying not to slam doors. We unhook Suzy and take a long last look in the darkness at our Georgie neighbour. He will be staying awhile longer. His vehicle is too big to park anywhere and he has had his sat nag stolen and is waiting for a new one to be delivered from the UK. .
We check the gate . It is closed to but not locked. The outer gate is open too so we quietly drive out onto the very empty and dark main road to Igoumenitsa. It feels a bizarre journey. We should still be
in bed and not travelling until midnight tonight. We are still worrying that when we try to exchange the tickets they will refuse us and we will be left hanging about for another day. It is with trepidation we park up and set off for the booking hall. Yet again the port is quiet . Where are all the people stuck in Greece? It is as if some alien has descended upon the port and transported anyone living to somewhere else. It is as dead as a doornail. The booking hall is the same. A few folks serving in the cafe, the staff in the ships offices talking amongst themselves but it is strangely quiet and leaves an uneasy feeling on you. We eventually get served. No smile but then this is Minoan staff and it is early in the morning. We explain, they put the details in the computer and the printer spews out tickets for Glenn and I , tickets for Suzy and a card saying we are Ancona bound. Without a smile they are issued to us . Mr Jones you go with the van, your passport and your ticket outside and through the gates to the
port . After security you drive to Quay 12. Luckily we had come out this way and had also spent three days in and out of the port so knew exactly where Glenn would have to go. You Mrs Jones go through the booking hall to the airport style security . You can meet Mr Jones the other side. If I were a worrier this would have put the fear of God into me, on my own , in an empty and deserted Greek port at 3.30 in the morning. It was an odd experience. We had been together 24/7 for the last month and now Glenn was going one way and I was travelling another way. I found the passenger control easily and noticed the guy on it looked bored and disintrested . He was surrounded by men. Not a woman in sight. He took my passport, he checked it whilst I walked through the X Ray equipment . No pings luckily. I was through. My bag travelled through without a problem and I was free to try to find Glenn. Easier said than done. I re-entered the port the other side. In darkness I looked for him. Not
a sign. Should I try to find Quay 12? He might have got through quicker than I and was already parked up. I walked a little way and then turned round. Surely it would take him longer to get through clearance than I did. I walked towards the port entrance. Still no sign and then a pair of lights appeared in the gloom. I didnt need to see the van. I knew instinctively it was Suzy with her one light shining brighter than the other. I almost felt it was Glenn and Sion coming to rescue me. With a sense of relief we were all back together again and set off for Quay 12 to wait for the boat. A really nice helpful Minoan official drove alongside us and showed us where we could park . It is 4 am and time for a cup of tea.
Half an hour passes. There are about 30 lorries already parked up waiting for our boat. We boil the kettle - it is coffee time. By 5 we are joined by a few vans and assorted cars and motorhomes. A boat comes in . It unloads very efficiently and quickly and loads
up at the same breakneck speed. We are awaken by the constant referees whistles that the crew members use to grab your attention before telling you what to do next . Arm gestures follow - you need a degree to work out what they are trying to say. By 5.30 the boat sails. Ours is due in but there is no sign of it . At 6 , the time it should sail out of Igoumenitsa we see its lights on the horizon. As it gets closer the lights become brighter, we see the crew on deck making ready for loading us up. The captain turns his ship on a sixpence. One minute he is facing the port , the next he has turned and is reversing in. The whistles start, the lorries make their move. Much arm waving and shouting ensues. It looks like pandemonium but I guess it is normal for the lorry drivers and the ships crew. We are waved forward. It is stop and go as we weave between big articulated lorries. Eventually we find ourselves on the deck waiting to go up the ramp to the car deck. We are stuck - a motorhomer has
been told to go into the corner like a naughty boy and he cannot drive into the space. He tries three times. He is holding the boat up. The crew grab the door handle , open it , unceremoniously throw the driver out and park it themselves. We are up the ramp, The arms suggest we need to turn round to face the way we came on. Glenn does it the English way turning to the left , the shouts begin and the arms wave again. We must turn to the right - the Greek way. He wants us to reverse. In the dark without any cameras it is hard to work out where to go. I am in the back window shouting to Glenn to guide him in. Left to me we would be allright. left to the Greek crew well the less said the better. We are parked , Suzy will remain locked up for the next 17 hours . The next time we see her we will be in Italy. We head for our cabin. A long day ahead is something we are not looking forward to.
The boat sets off as we shower and freshen
up. We watch the land recede as we pass through the channel dividing mainland Greece and Corfu. Corfu town is just on the headland. We start to see the lights there and the small boats heading for the island. To one side of us Albania. Rugged and bare. The hills drop steeply to the sea. No habitation apart from the smallest of villages with tiny roads winding their way down the hillsides. We head for breakfast not expecting much. Coffee and chocolate croissants - fairly inedible but they pass half an hour away. We sit to one side of the boat and watch the land slip away. We move to the other and it is not long before Albania disappears. We miss announcements telling us where we are and how fast we are travelling. By lunchtime we are out at sea . Look out the port side and what do you see? A grey sea and grey sky. White horses are the only thing we see in the waves. No ships apart from one lonely tanker. No birds , No dolphins just the odd bit of plastic or polystyrene floats by. Look to the starboard side and what do the
see? The same view with an illusion of land. A mirage caused by the sea and the sky merging. We sleep a little . We still have 11 hours to kill. Three o'clock no sign of land - another coffee and a walk round the duty free shops. A trip to the top deck to see the swimming pool covered over. We find it hard to find our cabin. Typical of many ships all the corridors are narrow and look exactly the same. We feel we need a thread to tie to the door handle and trail it behind us so that we can reel it in and find our way back. Lunch is spent in the self service cafe, overcooked chips and beef for Glenn and a stew for me. It passed an hour away.
By 7 we still have not seen any land and go in search of El Greco the better class of restaurant on the ship. We are the first there and have a very attentative waiter. He brings us chopped tomatoes, olives and a hot Greek cheese spread with bread for starters. We order a vegetable penne for our main course . It is starting to get dark outside . The meal is good . The guy behind sends his back. His arm waves up and down in complaint as he tried to get the attention of the staff . A guy sits opposite him and sends his meal back . What on earth was going on we wondered? I got up to pay. The head waiter shooed me off and told me to sit down . Like a a naughty schoolchild I was sent back to my seat and told to wait . We waited five minutes , ten and then fifteen . We tried to get the attention of someone to pay. I got up again and the head waiter got angry with me and tried to send me back to my seat again . Glenn got rather annoyed and told him to take my money or we were leaving without paying. It was not a happy ending to a meal . The head waiter seriously needed some training in customer service .
Things like that leave a nasty taste don't they! We had to leave our cabin as we due to land on Italian soil at 10.30 . We could see Ancona in the distance but for some reason we seemed to have stopped in the middle of the ocean moving not one inch. So close but so far. We sit on the stairs waiting. We will be docking in ten minutes or fifteen says the receptionist . Ten minutes passes and fifteen. We are still sitting out at sea. We eventually land at 12 midnight. The lorries roll off, We follow them. The reason for the delay become clear as we try to leave Ancona. Police and security everywhere. Something has kicked off and we crawl out of the port . Lorries are being checked . We get the once over and our passports checked .
We follow a British van in front of us. He clearly does the run often and knows his way out of the port as well as he knows the back of his hand. We loved Greece and are sorry to see the end of our holiday. What is the plan next? There is nowhere to stop for the night in Ancona . We have to hit the road out of town and make a decision. It is going to be a long night .
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Jackie Harrison
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It sounded like it was an absolutely wonderful trip! Not sure we could have coped with the intensive travelling back to UK though! This has always put us off going to Greece! Very interesting trip though!