JANUARY
2007
GREECE-Gythio
GREECE-Gythio
Monday 1st we made an early start, and forgot the step for the caravan, we drove across the peninsular to Aeropolis and then south to see the Caves Of Diros, we were guided round in a small punt, the guide using the stalactites for propulsion. As our boat was overloaded and grounding, Howard changed boats in mid stream. The Caves were well worth seeing but too dark for photos. Then we travelled north along the coast to Kalamatia, west to Messini and south to Koroni to camp at Foinkountas, on the sea front, 20km west of Koroni. Tuesday started cloudy as we left for Pilos, we stopped to visit the Fortress at Mitzani on route. The Fortress is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has a small Castle, at it’s seaward end, on an island,
connected by a causeway to the main
building. We spent
the night on the beach
at Navarino Bay, where a sea battle was fought for Greek freedom.
Wednesday we travelled
north on the coast road, in heavy showers, to Krestena, where we turned
inland to Olympia,. We spent most of Thursday at the site of
Ancient Olympia, the information boards dotted around the site were
very useful. In the Museum, the reconstructed Model, together
with the statues, were very impressive. Fortunately last night’s
thunderstorm gave us a fine sunny day. Friday we travelled north
along the coast to Patra arriving in time for lunch. Our camp was
in sight of the bridge, from the Peloponnis to mainland Greece, and a
walk across the road took us onto the beach. We had another fine
sunny day but no paddling in the sea.Saturday 6th turned out to be yet another fine sunny day. We crossed the bridge, £11.50, to leave the Peloponnis, and continued north towards Igoumenitsa, we planned to stop at Preveza. The camp, the only one open in the book, was closed, we made a few unhelpful phone calls and we tried each site we saw. At Riza, closed, said the Greek lady who had answered the phone, she had no English, but she showed us where to camp, 10 yards from the beach. We made a late start, 1300 on Sunday to go to Igoumenitsa, driving only 52 miles, arriving at 1500. The ferry to Brindisi (Italy), was due to depart at 0030 but it didn’t arrive till 0030 and took 90min to load. The cabin was Spartan but we slept, and survived. Hot showers in the morning were wonderful. Monday continued traumatically. The “open” camp was closed, and so was every other camp until 1400, when as we passed a camp entrance, with closed gates, a car was just leaving, it took the driver just 5min to show us to our site. Tuesday was spent shopping and in the camp at Monopoli. Wednesday Mervyn drove Howard to Bari at 0800 to to fly to Austria to go skiing, for ten days. While Howard was skiing, Mervyn visited San Giovanni Rotondo, Alberello and Lecce, before returning to Monopoli to collect Howard on the Saturday after his skiing, at 1700.
Sunday 21st was spent at the camp near Bari in glorious sunshine. Monday we continued our travels, visiting Alberello on our way to Lido Di Metaponto. The camp was closed but he let us stay for one night. Tuesday after much searching we looked at the Archaeological Park. Viewed from the caravan it didn’t look worth getting out. On to Amantina to camp, it was closed. On through steep hills, slashed by gullies, another 100km to Parmi, also closed but we could stay one night. Wednesday we started along the coast “road”, after two dead ends and lots of twists and turns, we took the Autostrada to Villa San Giovanni, to cross to Sicily. The crossing was smooth and uneventful. We motored along the north coast, through terrain identical to yesterday afternoon, where we left one tunnel to go onto a bridge and immediately into another tunnel, we arrived at Finale to camp just west of the village. The camp was very good, almost as good as in England, except that the showers were only warm. Thursday and Friday were days for relaxation and chores. Thursday was a reasonable drying day but Friday was rainy.
Saturday 27th began dry but soon turned to rain, as we left the camp the rain stopped and the sun soon emerged. We didn’t have far to go, but trying to find the camp for our return, at 2100, took some time, we gave up and toured Palermo to eventually find the docks, on the waterfront. There was a 5hr wait before we sailed. A further complication arose as we were boarding, the police had not given us clearance. No one told us we needed police clearance, it was all very haphazard. The overnight crossing to Tunis was uneventful and we disembarked, Sunday at 0800 to find further chaos at the immigration and customs. Finally we cleared the port and drove southeast to Hammam Lif to check our final night’s camp in Tunisia. After we had found the camp, a local shopkeeper translated Howard’s French to a camp employee. The employee phoned his boss and we were assured that the camp would be open at the end of February. On to Nabuel to camp, no problems. Monday was an easy sunny day. In the morning we went into town shopping and relaxed in the afternoon. Tuesday dawned overcast and rainy, not a day for sightseeing, so we spent it in the caravan. Wednesday we travelled north to Kerkouane to visit an ancient Punic City the walls of which were mostly under two feet high, some of the mosaic floors were still visible.
TUNISIA-Kerkouane