14 July – We spent a hot morning giving “Lefty” a good clean – well needed. After lunch we caught the bus and metro back into the centre of Athens and explored the Temple of Zeus. This was a huge structure. The size can be judged by the enormous pillars that remain. Next we found the Panathenaic Stadium. This ancient stadium was restored in 1896 for the first Modern Olympic Games. It is the typical Greek shape - narrow and open at one end. We walked thru the gardens and passed the parliament buildings with the guards in their costumes including slippers with huge pompoms. We crossed Syntagma Square, full of protesters & banners opposing the cuts in government spending (retirement age raised from 50 to 65!!) so that the EU will lend them money so the country will not go broke.(Greek politics 101) We wandered thru the centre of Athens. To our surprise this is a beautiful clean city with many parks and pedestrian only areas full of restaurants and bars. At 4:00pm we meet Colin and Pam Laker (work mates from Auckland) who have been in the Greek Islands for the last 2 months. We all caught the metro and bus back to our camp for a drink and a catch up before going back into town for a nice meal at one of the many outdoor restaurants. It was a very pleasant evening and we managed to catch the last bus home at 11:00pm.

15 July – We left Athens and headed NW thru dry farming country and eventually climbed into the hills. A very pleasant drive. We stopped at one of the mountain villages which is now a ski resort before continuing on to Delphi. This is 600m above the Corinth Gulf and a little cooler (33 degrees). After a swim in the camp pool we biked to the ancient site of the Temple of Apollo. All set on the side of the mountain with a theatre and a stadium. This area was established around the 14th century BC. Our camp site overlooks the mountains and the Corinth Gulf. Very spectacular!! At a lot of the camps recently we have had parties of older school children (15 – 18) staying. At this camp there are three groups, all from France, and sleeping under the stars. It seems to be an educational trip but they still seem to have fun. A bit noisy around the pool though.

16 July – When we got back to the camp yesterday we realised we had missed the most spectacular ruin which was further along the road and fortunately free, so we left the camp and drove to the Sanctuary of Athena. We headed back into the mountains again and followed a good road north and east eventually joining a motorway and then onto the Pelion Peninsular. We are camped on a great beach at the village of Kato Gatzea. It is hot again and we enjoyed several swims on the little beach. The water is unbelievably warm and crystal clear. This is now the start of the Greek holidays and the camp is nearly full but we found a great site 1 row back from the beach. We had our final swim after sunset just to cool down.

17 July – We spent most of the day on the beach with a break around lunch time when it is just too hot to be out of the shade. After sunset we walked around to the town and the harbour and had a Greek dessert at one of the many outdoor restaurants along the water front. This is a beautiful area frequented by mainly Greek families on their summer holidays.

18 July – A repeat of yesterday. Sun (mostly in the shade), the beach and swimming.

19 July – We drove west and north slowly rising into the hills until we saw the promontories of Meteroa. In this area there are weird geological formations of huge rock pillars rising 100s of meters above the surrounding valley. The most interesting thing is that there are 6 Monasteries perched on the most impossible sites at the top of these pillars. They date back to the 14 century AD and when the monks were being persecuted. They built these monasteries, which could only be accessed by ropes, to protect themselves. After a swim in the camp pool we cycled up to Kastraki, a small town under the pillars. We decided that the best way to visit the Monasteries tomorrow will be to drive “Lefty” up the road.

20 July – The lady at the camp told us it would get to 41 degrees today so we decided to explore the Monasteries early. We were on the road by 8:30 to drive the 10kms around the sites. We visited 2 of the Monasteries. I had to put long pants on and Val had to wrap a sarong over her shorts. Most of the Monasteries are accessed by either steep steps/track or across a bridge. All the freight etc is still winched up to the sites. There still are religious sects living there and the tiny Greek Orthodox churches are beautiful. We returned via the modern town of Kalambaka where we shopped. The afternoon was spent around the pool. The lady was wrong and it only got to 40 degrees!

21 July – A bit of a strange day! We decided to drive north to Kastoria, a town on a lake close to the Greek/Macedonia border. Unfortunately the camp at Kastoria, which we had intended to stay at, did not exist. We decided to drive to Ioannina (pronounced Yanina) on a scenic road thru the mountains. 20kms down the road we passed a small sign that said the road to Ioannina was closed. We hooked a U turn and followed the motorway to Ioannina. This was a stunning piece of construction with many tunnels and viaducts. We are camped close to the town on the edge of a very pretty lake which unfortunately is very polluted. This does not stop the locals enjoying all sorts of boating sports including sailing, water skiing, rowing and kayaking. To cap off a frustrating day we discovered that my bike had a flat tyre.

22 July – It is much cooler here. 18 degrees when we woke and a max of 30 degrees. We went for a bike ride along the water front and into town which included getting the tyre fixed by a little old man. After lunch we biked to the next village to visit a limestone cave complex. We joined an hour long tour thru the best caves we have ever seen. The limestone formations were spectacular! This is our last day in Greece so we will go to a taverna for dinner. Tomorrow we cross into ALBANIA!! (the bad lands)

23 July – A ¾ hour drive brought us to the Albanian/Greek border. We had a about a 45 minute delay in a queue waiting to be processed. As our vehicle insurance did not cover us for Albania we paid 35 euro for a certificate which in theory covered us. What for, we never did find out!! The first 20 kms was on good roads with very careful drivers. There were many police stopping cars for unknown reasons. After a major town the road deteriorated and became very rough and bumpy with huge pot holes. The best technique was to follow a truck as they knew when to avoid the worst holes by veering all over the road. The rough asphalt turned into road works which was very rough gravel and sand. This all lasted for about 100kms!! Eventually we joined a better road and even the highway which was smooth but for some reason the bridges were either a foot higher or lower than the road. Watching the traffic in front gave you a clue when to slow from 90 kph to almost stopped to minimize these huge bumps. The country was very barren and ugly. At one stage we drove passed old oil wells with a lake of stagnant water with oil on the surface. The smell was like the gas works!! About 70% of the cars are Mercedes of all ages but surprisingly quite a few new ones. There were also horses, donkeys and many motor scooters. As we neared Durres the country and the roads improved and we found our camp easily. It was located at a beach and we had a beautiful sunset over the Adriatic sea. We met several other couples from various countries and swapped Albanian stories and road tips. Although the roads are exactly as we expected, the people seem very friendly and the children all wave. Campers are a bit rare in this part of the world.

24 July – We continued north on good roads and pleasant country up to the border into Montenegro. Sunday must be wedding day in Albania. We must have passed 20 wedding processions. The first warning is the wedding videographer leaning way out of a car followed by the bride and groom in an ornately decorated car and the guests following also leaning out of there decorated cars waving ribbons etc all travelling at 90kph. A shorter delay than the other border but we got no stamps in our passports to say that we have left Albania and are now in Montenegro and there was no possibility to buy insurance. We are not sure if we are covered so it’s a bit of a worry! The queue waiting on the other side of the border was huge. We estimated about 4 kms long. We are now at a nice holiday resort with the very authentic name of Rocky Beach. The camp is full and the beach was packed but we enjoyed the large surf. This is like a typical NZ camp in the holidays with families set up for 2 weeks with everything including the kitchen sink. There seem to be a lot of Serbian families as Serbia is shares a border with Montenegro. The guy next door is plying us with his dad’s home made brandy. He was Costa Zoo’s coach (the Russian boxer who defected after the Sydney Olympics) so he speaks good English.

25 July – Another brandy from our Serbian friend. He swears it is good for you first thing in the morning!! We drove north up the dramatic Montenegro coastline. Mountains on our right and cliffs and beaches to our left. There are not many camps in Montenegro so we stopped at one that looked promising. It is very quiet and a bit like a DOC camp with limited facilities all set in olive trees and bush. Quite a contrast from last night. It has rain off and on all day and there is not a great beach here, so we settled for a long walk between the showers. When we returned the skies opened and we had a deluge which caused a small river to run thru our site. Thank god we are not in a tent!!

26 July – We continued thru some great towns and resorts to the Montenegro/Croatia border. At one stage we used a ferry to cross Europe’s biggest fiord. Leaving Montenegro the customs guy wanted to know why we had no Environmental Tax certificate. We explained, as best we could, that there was no one at the entry border to sell us the tax. After a quick look in the camper he shrugged and said “goodbye”. At the Croatian side the camper in front of us was being completely searched. Luckily, after checking our passports we were waved thru. We followed the coast past some great beaches and are now in a tiny camp at Srebrena about 6kms from Dubrovnik. We walked down to the local beach and shops and changed some euros into kuna (local currency). When the rain cleared again we went to the beach for a swim. This place has a very nice feel to it despite there being a hotel next door that was shelled during the 1991-1995 war. We checked out the ferry to Dubrovnik which we will use tomorrow. This camp has great internet so we will post this blog and skype the kids.

6 July – We were up early and off to the ferry terminal in Corfu. We were loaded at 8:30 am and sailed on time at 9:00am for the 1 ¾ hour crossing to Igoumenista on mainland Greece. The trip was basically on inland waters with many small islands. We drove 50 kms to the beach resort of Parga and found a camp close to the town and beaches. This is a popular resort with several beaches and coves a little like Paleokastritsa on Corfu. We explored the town, (very cute) which is located along the water front and harbour, on our bikes. Two great beaches with more beautiful clear water and even a few fish to be seen. On our way back from the beach we shopped at a small supermarket. In the afternoon we went to the closest beach for a couple of hours. The beaches are packed and you end up much closer to people than we would be comfortable with in NZ. In the cool of the evening we walked back to the town and explored the many tourist shops and even did some shopping. The town was packed with everyone doing the same as us.

7 July – Back to the beach for 1½ hours before driving to our next camp on the island of Lefkada. The island is accessed by a causeway and swivel bridge. Very quiet after Parga. We had a cool off in the camp swimming pool before a nice bike ride along the waterfront. We stopped at a nice little taverna for a beer and a chat with a girl who spoke great English.

8 July – After a shop we left the island and continued south along the coast to Patra where we crossed a huge modern suspension bridge (13 euro toll) into the province Peloponnisos in the south of Greece This bridge spans the mouth of a inland sea which goes east as far as Corinth (150kms). We are camped at Kato Alissos where we had a swim on a very nice quiet beach. Quite a contrast from the last few days. We will stay here tomorrow as we are now close to Olympia. It is now getting quite hot! 33 degrees all day and 25 degrees at night.

9 July – A quite morning and we listened to Crusaders being beaten in the S15 final on the computer. We have discovered (belatedly) that we can listen to ZB on line. Back to the beach for a couple of swims in very choppy water.

10 July – We drove down the coast and inland to Olympia. As we arrived at only 11:00 am we off loaded the bikes to explore the town and find out about the tickets etc to the archaeological site. Our plan was to relax in the pool until the late afternoon and then see the ancient Olympic site in the cool. We discovered that, although all the signs said that the site was open to 8:00 pm, for some reason (not obvious) today it would close at 3:00 pm. We biked back to the camp for money and better hats, water etc and returned to buy our tickets and see the sites. The Olympic site is set in a lush valley. It was very hot (midday) but the walk around was great with good signs (in English) explaining the various buildings. Gymnasiums, dressing rooms, baths, temples and accommodation for the athletes and officials. The highlights were the main temple dedicated to Zeus and the main Stadium which held 45,000 seated on grass embankments. The ancient Olympics started in 337 BC ran until to 832 AD (1169 years). They were held every 4 years without a break in this period. All male competitors (naked) with a lot of the modern disciplines. The main Stadium was a long thin shape. Running races were either one length of the stadium (197m) or two lengths run between a lines of stones at each end. We also went to the Archaeological Museum and the Athletic Museum. Both fascinating and a bit cooler. We had an ice-cream on our way back to camp and jumped into the pool to cool off. This is the hottest day so far (as we are inland) 38 degrees.

11 July – We continued inland on a windy road into the central mountains in this area. The scenery was beautiful with great mountain villages and cute Greek Orthodox churches. There were little old ladies in heavy skirts and head scarves, old men sitting around, and priests with long black robes, long white beards and pill box type hats. The real Greece! We climbed up thru a pass at 1300m. There are ski resorts here. We never realised you could ski in Greece. On the other side the road widened and we eventually joined the motorway to Corinth. We are camped 4 kms from Corinth at a nice beach where we spent most of the afternoon.

12 July – Back to this lovely beach for a couple of hours before leaving and following the motorway to Athens. Around Corinth we crossed the canal which links the inland sea extending from Patra to Corinth, to the sea around Athens allowing ships to sail west from Athens without going around the bottom of Greece. The canal, which is 6 kms long 23m wide and 90m below the ground level, was started by the Romans (Nero) but abandoned and not completed until the 19th century. We are camped 7 kms from Athens on a very noisy road. Not much here but a good base for exploring Athens.

13 July – We set off into the city using a local bus and the metro. All very easy and only taking ½ hour. The metro station was at one of the entrances to the Acropolis. The ancient ruins are all set on a hill in the centre of Athens. After paying our entrance fee (12 euro) we climbed past the Theatre of Dionysos to the Parthenon and Erechtheion on the top of the hill. Some parts of the ruins were quite crowded and being restored but it did not detract from the spectacular buildings and views of modern Athens. We walked back down the hill thru the ruins of the Agora, the political, social, and business part of the ancient town. At the exit at the other side of the Acropolis is the flea market and many restaurants. We had a beer and a great souvlaki for lunch before wandering thru the shops and back around the Acropolis to our metro station and back to the camp. It has been another hot day so we cooled off in the shade and drank lots of water. Unfortunately there is no pool at this camp. Should be for the price!! We met another NZ couple who had just come thru Albania with no problems. In the cool of the evening (30 degrees!) we walked to a local supermarket.

26 June – An easy drive to the ferry at Messina as it is Sunday. We missed the turn and ended up at the wrong ferry wharf. A kind local with a motor scooter escorted us to the correct terminal where we lined up. It is a strange system, where they load as many cars etc as they can until the sailing time comes, stop the line, and then the ferry just leaves. We missed being loaded but were front of the queue for the next ferry 40 minutes later. If you can imagine this part of Italy as a “boot”, the ferry lands on the toe and we followed the motorway along the coast and then turned inland to our next camp basically on the instep of the boot. It was a huge camp set in nice shading pine trees right on the beach. Unfortunately there was a strong on shore breeze making the beach unpleasant.

27 June – A lazy day with washing, camper checks and haircuts. This camp had LPG so we were able to swap our near empty Italian gas bottle. The wind is still blowing so after a siesta we cycled to the two villages in this area.. We had asked at reception for directions and we must have got it wrong as we cycled 5 kms to a village with virtually nothing there. We turned around and biked 6 kms back to the other village which had a money machine and a hardware shop, where after some interesting miming, we bought some heatproof spray paint to paint the range splash back. When we got back to “Lefty” I discovered I was missing my clip on sun glasses. Another 2 km ride back to the hardware shop solved the problem. It had been a while since we had done any real exercise so the biking in 30 degrees made up for that.

28 June – Back to the “boot” geography – We drove on a good road around the instep and across to the heel where we are at a camp 20 kms from Brindisi, where our ferry to Corfu (Greece) departs from on the 30th. This is mostly dry farming country but at one stage we drove around a huge oil refinery. We had a swim at a small beach with cloudy water. I think we have been spoiled by the clear water in Sicily, then back to the camp huge swimming pool. We have decided to leave here around lunch time tomorrow and stay in Brindisi at an “Aires”

29 June – As this camp had a free carwash area we gave “Lefty” a well deserved half trip wash then cooled off in the pool before lunch and a drive into Brindisi. We were desperate for a shop and found a good supermarket where we stocked up. We drove into the town to the overnight parking indicated in our Italian book, but with no success. It has to be said that this book has been a bit of a failure! We continued on to the port where we picked up our tickets. There were many trucks and another campervan parked in a huge car park at the terminal so we decided to join them for the night as our check in time is 9:30 tomorrow. As it turned out it was not a bad place to stay.

30 June – Went to the check in to discover that our ferry was now not loading until 2:00 pm. We found a nice shady tree to sit under and pass the time. At 12:30 a ferry came in and everyone started to make their way down the loading lanes so we joined them. The loading was a shambles. Typically Italian, with much lane swapping and pushing and horn blowing. Eventually we were on board. We have “on board camping” which means we can stay in our camper, plug into the mains, have a view of the sea, and cook. The ferry eventually departed at 3:00pm (3 hours late). It is a bit of an old scruffy rust bucket but the crossing was smooth. I even cooked dinner. When we eventually arrived at 11:45pm (it seemed they were in no hurry to make up the lost time) it was too late to find a camp so we spied a camper parked on the wharf and joined it for the night.

1 July – Not a bad night with not too much noise considering the ferries coming and going. We discovered that we could pay 2 euro and stay 24 hours so we stayed where we were and walked into the old town of Corfu. It was very pretty but obviously there were many British tourists here. There was even a Marks and Spencers. We went back to the wharf and checked out the ferry to the mainland which we will take in 4 or 5 days. We drove along the coastal road north to our next camp at Sidara on the north west tip. A good windy road with many lovely views of secluded bays. It reminded us very much of driving around the Marlborough Sounds. The camp turned out to be hidden away in a 1000 year old olive grove with an eccentric owner who spoke good English. We cycled to the local beach (not great) and had a swim in clear water. When it was cooler we cycled into the town. It obviously caters for British tourists with most signs in English and the usual British food (steak and chips etc) advertised everywhere.

2 July – A short drive thru the interior of Corfu brought us to Paleokastritsa on the west coast. The country was beautiful with olive groves and tall cypress trees poking through and cute villages. On the ferry we saw heaps of restored sports cars (British and European) They were on a two day rally of Corfu. We encountered them again on a windy road where there was a special stage. They waved us thru so we were in the middle of it all! The camp is once again in an olive grove on a series of terraces. There are a number of lovely beaches and coves with steep paths down to them. We cycled to the main beach and had a couple of great swims and then back to the closest beach to the camp for the same. We will probably stay 3 nights here.

3 July - We have not mentioned the weather lately because it is the same every day. Sunny and hot (32 degrees) and warm at night. After a wash we cycled down into the town and Val looked at the stalls for crocs and a blouse but with no luck. We swam and sunbathed on our closest beach. All the beaches would be a hot longish walk, so the bikes are very handy. After lunch and a siesta we cycled to the start of a steep track which leads to an unusual village called Lakones, perched on the edge of a cliff on a small plateau. The climb was challenging but the views from the village were well worth the effort. After a soft drink at a restaurant (no ice creams available) we boulder hopped back to Paleokastritsa. In the evening we walked to a taverna for an ouzo.

4 July – We met a British couple with a 4 month old baby camped opposite us who are doing a trip like us but in reverse. (not the gear!) They had come thru Montenegro and Albania (our boggy countries) and were able tell us that they had had no trouble and gave us information on the border crossings, local taxes and insurance. Great to here all this first hand, as up until now we had only read about it on the net. We cycled down to the far end of the town and walked up to a little monastery on a head land. Very picturesque and some great views of the area. After some time on the main beach we went to down a steep path to a grotto where we could dive into the clear water. In the afternoon we returned to our local beach for our last swims in this area. We went to a local restaurant for dinner. We had Kleflidka which were beautiful lamb shanks (Greek style) and Bakalava dripping in honey for dessert.

5 July – This camp is run by a couple of lovely jovial rotund sisters who are always smiling. We left this morning and drove thru to Corfu town to buy our ferry tickets to the mainland. Quite a saving if you buy the day before. We drove along the south coast and stopped at a beach for a swim with lots of noisy locals. Hard to say if the Greeks are more noisy than Italians! Boy do they get excited though. We are now in a camp 10kms from the ferry which sails at 9:00am tomorrow.