An Unsubmerged Village and a Monumental Plane Tree

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Clunegapyears

Aposelemis Reservoir

3rd March 2025

We left our gorge overnight location and walked the 1km to the village – through and headed for the barragem. About 3km on the road – we heard a sheep’s cry ! A newly born lamb appeared with its umbilical cord. It stuck to us and was obviously hungry – would not take water. We decided to take it back to the village and look for someone to help. A shepherd we spoke to said he might know the lambs flock and took it from us. With a “efharisto,” we turned back on the road to the reservoir and deserted village… The reservoir was almost empty, and the village was high and dry. We took a shorter road back to the village. It was “clean Monday” – the precursor to Lent in Greece – the taverna beckoned – wine appeared as if by magic! We managed to consume a half kilo with crisps… a further vino jug was brought with lunch – the road back to the van took no time.

*Nearly new member to our family … NOT!*

Krasi and Gouves

4th March

After a restful night we headed in Jez to Kera a town with a famous tree! Parking at a basketball pitch – up in the plateia – the oldest plane tree in the world (?) – 2,400 years old! It suffered storm damage recently, as the photos show.

*The mineral rich springs serve the Krasi and local agriculture. Better than* the *expensive reservoir!* *Ironically Krasi is Greek* *for wine,* *but the village is known* *for its water.*

*Apparently the trunk needs 12 men linking hands to encompass it.* *The* *top was* *decapitated* *by a lightening strike,* *then* *recently a* *large* *bra*nch *fell.* *So sad that aft*er 2,400 years, the recent years have not been good.

*Pretty village, with many tavernas for the summer tourists. Worth a revisit* as *good* *hiking* *trails.*

We directed our van to Gouves on the seafront via some sharp twists and turns – to a beach wild camping place – it’s lovely to camp and hear the waves. Eggy lunch – I napped and K walked C. Then we sought a cafe for coffee and biscuits – not vino! Back via the beach to chill for the evening….

*Gouves parking. Our first ever stay on Crete was at Creta Camping. Clouds ominous, but no rain*.

Meeting Zorba the Greek

5th March

Meeting Zorba the Greek, well his author. Well, to be really truthful, not the author himself as he’s long since deceased. The museum is dedicated to him. Nikos Kazantzakis was recommended to us after James recently gave a talk on James Joyce. Both reacted to the restrictions and controls dictated by the Church, lived for years with their lovers before marrying and travelled. But actually, I thought Kazantzakis is Joyce on steroids. He travelled and lived in many countries worldwide, studied religions, held government offices, had books placed on the Vatican banned list … and had 2 long term lovers whom he finally married (not concurrently!). I’ve just started Zorba the Greek audio book. Stunning descriptions and use of language.

A steady drive home to collect the car and give Jez a quick clean, parked up by the beach.
Also collected some parcels from Hassan’s bar … the local police are on a money making exercise … massive fines for any one without an in-date fire extinguisher, enough hi vis for all passengers, triangle and first aid kit. All local shops out of stock, hence the delivery.
Jez back in his secure parking, until 18th March when Jez will get new break pads and disks.

Road Trip to Crete

Posted on January 22, 2025 by Clunegapyears

17-22.01.25

As we had delayed our departure for James’ blood test and a vaccination and a second trip to the Devon house, we decided to travel fast back. We flew from Crete on 15th August. Over 5 months is TOO long.

Day 1. This time when we set off, I didn’t chair dance to Abba, so refrained from driving off the road and breaking Jez! We drove to Le Shuttle via Fanham to drop our aging Merc. Maddy and Jordan have one car and having a second vehicle will save Maddy having to get up early to run Jordan to the station when she is on maternity leave and when the baby arrives.

I was nearly run over by a horn tooting maniac. I had just come out of the Pet Check In at Folkestone and was walking back to James and Jez. It was Tim behind the wheel. We’d had a great boozy night with him and Meg in Kelso summer ’23. Blame the alcohol, but I called him a rude word. The cause was justified, but not my rudeness! He forgave me enough, to very kindly offer us a roof when I broke Jez. He was headed to Spain and Portugal, loosely I the company of some other motorhomers that we know.

We kept off payage, driving past Mons, Namur, Arlon and Luxembourg. Motorway diesel €1.55. Our first night was super quiet near a cemetary just north of Metz.

Day 2 was partly off free motorway, past Nancy and Colmar. Some lovely scenery of snow on the road margins and vast vineyards. At Basle, we used a QR code to pay £23 for the over 3.5 ton Swiss vehicle pass for 7 days, even though we we through Switzerland in hours. I’ve driven Switzerland a number of times in recent years in the middle of the night and said to J that I was looking forward to seeing the scenery. Not to be, a light grey mist blanket. The Gotthard Tunnel on Saturday was free flowing. And traffic was light all the way down.

Night 2 was a rendezvous just S of Como. Sue and Mick and Josie 🐕 had been not far away and had suggested a meet up. Very kindly, they had recce’d parkings and Sue cooked. There may have been a few 🍷 and lots of 🧀 too!

*I found a fit trail, but too cold* is *my excuse!*

On day 3, we actually had a relative lie in. Didn’t leave until 9.30. Only 5.5 hrs driving time. A pit stop at an Ancona hypermarket: Marsala, parmesan and food for the ferry. Ferry departed only 30 mins late. Trip time to Igouminitsa is 22+ hours, so we pay for a pet friendly cabin. Picnic super in our cabin and bed. Single trip €680.

Day 4. Ferry was fine. If long. 23hrs. And yes, Corrie refused to even pee! No poop on the poopdeck. We passed the time with a hair dye, eyebrow dye, pedicure, manicure and beard trimming (J obviously!).
Driving today was a mere 5 mins to a patch of ground only 5 mins from the port. Priority one was to allow Corrie to relieve herself. She delivered!

*Brow dye on … they don’t stay like this*!

Day 5 started a lot later than planned. I’d slept badly and switched off the alarm only to go into a deep sleep. No breakfast and late departure after 10.30 meant that we did not have time for the much looked forward to Greek meal in Corinth.

We need to remember that Anek’s Kissamos ferry is one of the best we’ve sailed on. Big comfy and clean cabin.
We forced down a glass of 🍷 before braving the ferry restaurant. Box wine decanted into a flask 😆

The posh restaurant was actually very good. A decent bottle of Cretan red and excellent service.
Ferry left soon after 9.00 p.m. Arrives Heraklion 6.00 a.m. €721 return. Although Chania closer to home, it would have been €799. Tolls €74.

Day 6 started with Japanese torture. Alarm for 5.00 for disembarkation at 6.00. They evict you from cabins before arrival. So the torture was standing before being allowed onto the car decks. All I could think about was coffee.

First stop to walk Corrie. She was very obliging. She’d only had to cross her legs and tail for 10 hours this time.
Second stop for coffee! The alarm had woken us at 0500!
I dropped J at the end of our road to fetch the car. Very lovely friends had taken the battery back up to theirs to fully charge it … despite the trickle solar charger, which is obviously useless.

J met me at Almyrida beach. We spent all day ferrying all the stuff up to our house. Nikki and Rob assisted with their big car. We met them later for supper at our fave taverna.

June and Karl popped by for coffee.
Jez was cleaned and deposited at the secure airport parking.

So check out what we brought back. We left by air with 2 suitcases! And guess what we will be doing for the next few days … trying to find places to put it all!

2011-2027: Zorba Repatriation And Unexpected Events

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Clunegapyears

2011-12-: Preparation and Planning

Thursday 2nd & Friday 3rd September 2021

Another early start to drop Jez back into Abacus for more work to be done … we coffee’d and walked locally into an Andover Park as we didn’t have the car. Late afternoon arrival back at our usual 5 pitch C&CC site, Woodlands Farm.

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Replacement rear view and reversing camera … the last one had fogged over. Driving a nearly 5 ton vehicle with no rear view is not ideal!

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Lots of resident deer at the farm … mostly Roe and a few Fallow.

The background to this trip is that cars can only remain in the UK for 6 months or they have to be imported. 6 months would be up at the end of October and we also had a load of belongings to take across to the house in Crete. J’s consultant had not argued about us going to Ireland for J’s daughter’s wedding, but had said no to him travelling to Greece. So he was going to stay home (in Jez) with CO2, whilst I took Zorba and stuff to Crete.

Zorba the Greek car was collected from the Aged P’s. Well, eventually. He didn’t want to start. A new battery in May, so not that. Jump started off the Merc. No power steering. Googled and apparently it is usual for electronics to go haywire on jump starting. Switched off and jump started again … power steering worked this time. Back at the Farm, he was then emptied and all the boxes re-sorted to reflect the fact that James’ heart surgery would mean us staying in the UK IN WINTER. Then reloaded. All the PLF and transit rules done and understood. Route plotted.

Maddy, my daughter co-driver was put on the insurance. Plan well and truly sorted …. Maddy and I would catch the late afternoon overnight ferry on 6th Sept from Ancona to Patras. 4 hours to do a 2 hour drive to catch the next overnight ferry to Crete, arriving early on 8th. Maddy’s boyfriend, Jordan, flying in on 10th. All to fly back on 17th. Friends rate my planning. They’ve not met my mother or sister, who are scary when it comes to planning, but what could possibly go wrong?!

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Fully laden … no room for you Oscar!

2013: Refusual at the First Hurdle

Saturday 4th September 2021

Final check of all paperwork and in the afternoon I set off to collect Maddy from Farnborough. Zorba wouldn’t start again, so another jump start and I took the jump leads with me! I got quite adept at accosting men in car parks to allow me to jump start from their cars! … Tesco as I collected a prescription for J and then Halfords to buy a lithium jump starter pack. This will be fine, really, honestly, I told myself. We can just jump start our way across Europe! Then once there, I’ll take Zorba into the garage to have starter motor and alternator checked.

Maddy drove back down to Chichester to get used to a left hand drive manual car on the wrong side of the road and parked nose out so we could jump start it again! We had supper at the Aged P’s as our Tunnel crossing not until 0230. We thought they’d probably put us on the next available train if we arrived early, so we got in the car to set off …. awful grinding and whining noise. Then deathly silence. A similar noise to the last time Zorba had to be low loadered to the garage for new injectors. Zorba really wasn’t going anywhere. The whole point of the trip was get Zorba back to Greece and was refusing! I was on the verge of aborting, until I looked at Maddy’s face … she and Jordan were really looking forward to a holiday. Decision … a fast decision. I’d take the Merc. At least our stuff would get over to Greece and I could bring back some winter clothes, not that we have many!

If you’ve never tried emptying a roof box, removing it … fixing it to another car and reloading it in PITCH DARK …. don’t! It really isn’t the easiest thing to do. But we managed it and it did stay on! The Merc’s seats down, the inside was filled to the gunwales. Interestingly it is less capacious that the Skoda Roomster – aptly named. Excess boxes and bags were relocated to the Aged P’s garage … despite their downsizing house move and being told they didnt have room to store our stuff! Ooops!

Slightly frazzled we made it to the Tunnel in plenty of time and did catch and earlier train at 12.45 p.m.

2014: Tyre Pressure but not Tired

Sunday 5th September 2021

One of the benefits of travelling across the EU on Sunday is that most countries ban trucks unless they are refrigerated goods, so the roads are relatively empty. Our route was toll free through Belgium and Luxemberg, re fill with cheap diesel, and then toll free through France to Basel. Bought a vignette for Switzerland and used the free Gotthard tunnel during Sunday night. As Maddy had not been put on the insurance for the Merc, I was driving overnight. Once offices opened, we tried to get her on my insurance … no, my ex pat insurance will not cover anyone under 25. No go with her insurance either as they won’t cover 3rd party on other vehicles if under 25. We ended up paying for expensive day insurance that ran for 24 hours so she did a couple of good stints behind the wheel.

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It got warmer as we moved south … layers were peeled off….

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… and hair tied back … the air con doesn’t work, so windows had to be opened. I found another use for a mask to keep my hair from blowing in my face.

A few weeks ago we’d had a tyre warning light come on … nail … tyre repaired. However, having inflated the tyres for a heavy load, the warning light came on again. Every time we stopped, I was having to check and re-inflate. Could anything else go wrong?

Having made good time with only a few nanny naps, we stopped in Como and had a proper restaurant supper. Well deserved. We had made such good time we had some big nanny nap stops that later that night.

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Maddy had pizza, but my swordfish with caponata was lovely.

2015-2116: Killing Time and Missing the Next Ferry

Monday 6th & Tuesday 7th September 2021

We had made such good time, having allowed for holdups …. but we even managed to get past Milan before the rush hour and so arrived in Ancona at 9.00 a.m. We parked up at a Motorhome stop that J and I have used a number of times … formerly Auchan, but a few other shops and cafes. Breakfast and lunch … Maddy clothes shopped, of course!

We drove down to the port mid afternoon. Paid for our tickets … only to be told the online office had incorrectly used previously bought tickets, but it did mean we paid less than we thought.

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The ship was late in … they didnt send the the text offering me alternative dates until after we had sailed!

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All these trucks did eventually make it on board….

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… meanwhile, I consumed a few of these. It was Cretan wine, after all.

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We treated ourselves to serviced dining … if you can call it that! Linen table napery, but rubbish food and service and very expensive. J and I have never eaten on board before as we’ve the dogs, but never again. And the cabin stank of ammonia … obviously the toilet tanks needed cleaning out! The food was almost enough to make you gag, but the cabin stink certainly was!

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Fortunately we’d brough our own brunch.

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With time to kill on the 22 hour crossing, we dyed our eyebrows!

The ship was 4 hours late into Patras so no hope of catching the next overnight ferry. Oops … my carefully laid plan! Before we docked, Maddy was onto a booking site and found us a beach hotel for about £50. We had a lovely supper at a neighbouring restaurant. A fraction of the price compared to onboard too. Before we left the port, we found the Minoan office and rebooked our Pireas – Chania ferry for the following evening.

2017: Tourist Day

Wednesday 8th September 2021

The ferry from Pireas was less than 2 hours away and didn’t depart until evening, so we had all day to kill. We thought about sunbathing …. but it was grey with showers. Tourists, it was to be. We drove up the mountains to Kalavryta to a holocaust museum. I’d been before with J and the Aged P’s but had found it very moving.

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Video recordings of some of the now grown up survivors and girls told of their first hand experiences, making it very real. Descriptions of how the women and children tried to identify their family and then dig graves with bare hands in the frozen soil, as all the tools had been destroyed when the Germans burnt the all the houses. Just as moving as the first visit.

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View from the hill were the men and boys were mown down and now where many still lay.

Maddy is rather fond of Corrie (Oscar too sometimes!) and wanted to see where we had found her. I think she rather hoped we would see a close relative of Corrie that she could adopt … don’t know who she thought would look after it with her about to go off to Kings to do her Masters! Fortunately, this time, Accorinth was bare of strays.

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James and I have stayed here twice later in the year so never seen it so dry. It was about to close, so we only had a quick wander.

This ferry left on time AND the cabin did not stink. And we’d taken our own picnic, so altogether a better and shorter crossing.

2018: Cleaning Day

Thursday 9th September 2021

We were up in plenty of time to have a coffee on deck and watch the approach into Chania port. And with no more set backs, we were straight off and within 20 minutes we parked by our house. Before we unpacked the car, we had to clean. It had been empty since end April, but unwelcome residents had moved in! Yep, stink worms and cockroaches again, especially in the basement where Maddy was to sleep. So debugging and bleaching started at 0630! Once Maddy’s bed was made, she climbed into it and I continued the clean moving up the house … she gave me a hand for the last bit and then we unloaded the car and roof box.

With the house pretty much in order, we had supper Almyrida with Gillian … lovely to try a restaurant that has been shut whilst we have been in residence during the winter.

2019-2024: A Holiday

Thursday 9th – Thursday16th September 2021

Jordan arrived the next day, so he and Maddy spent a few days sunbathing. He is very fair (strawberry blond!) and used more than a tube of factor 50. We went into Chania, I collected a ring a jeweller friend of a friend had replaced the stone. I hired a car for Maddy for 2 days and they had an overnight in Rethmyno and visited Knossos Palace. We ate out a lot … with friends, including a Sunday tea party in aid of animal charities: we ate our body weight in cake! I also spent some time visiting car dealerships … after a summer forking our thousands on cars, we had decided we really do need a reliable car. It needs to be Greek as we will be in Greece for more than 6 months each year and big enough to transport us and CO2 to and fro to the UK. Short list of a Hyundai Kona and Suzuki Vitara … need to test drive and J to look at them in the UK.

On his own in the UK, J dog walked and waded through a pile of admin and jobs. He had use of my sister’s car for a week and ate in a few pubs and at my parents … just as well as he’s a can’t cook won’t cook man. I’d left him a few frozen soups and casseroles …. honest!

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Almyrida with all the sun umbrellas out.

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I got to walk and run one of our favourite local walks … Plaka head.

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On the way to one of my favourite restaurants, we stopped for a sundowner overlooking Almyrida.

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Chania.

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One of our meals in Eleanora’s.

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Maddy and Jordan flew out lunchtime on Thursday. Think they had a good time, as they spent most of the previous day trying to work out how they could stay! Having cleaned their room, I dined back up the hill with friends …. it really was fabulous to see friends after 5 months.

2025: The Return Journey Commences

Friday 17th September 2021

With the ‘children gone I completed the cleaning and got all my paperwork in order. Rather hoping for an incident free trip as I was doing the return leg solo.

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I treated myself to a good late lunch in Chania at Salis restaurant which has been recommended by Ann … wonderful fish followed by two flavours of ice cream Didn’t realise each was an entire pudding … I was offered two spoons lol! Dill ice cream with strawberry jam and watermelon with pickled rind … both delicious.

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To save a little money, I’d booked an airplane reclining chair instead of a cabin … only an overnight crossing … medicine to help me sleep!

2026: Patras Tourism

Saturday 18th September 2021

Arrival in Pireas early morning and I drove to Corinth … I’d booked an antigen test there at 10.00. I had a walk and beachside coffee beforehand. Test was only EUR10, so a bargain compared the Kalives ones that Maddy and Jordan had had at EUR25 each.

Still with lots of time to kill, I drove to Patras. Despite sailing in and out, we’ve never actually gone into the town centre. I walked up a massive flight of steps to Patras castle … arriving as a sweaty puddle. The first thing I did once on board was shower! Fortunately I’d a cabin for this 22 hour crossing to Ancona. Very few tourists, no British again and mostly truck drivers. At Pireas the lorry loads were being clambered all over by a private security firm looking for immigrants. I’d had to open the rear doors and boot.

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Patras Castle steps were right at the end of this boulevard.

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View from Patras Castle.

2027: Mostly Bored On-Board

Sunday 19th September 2021

Straight off the boat in Ancona and I’d not had to show my double tax cert or even my passport. More docs had to be presented from Crete to the mainland. Being Sunday afternoon, I knew to expect traffic heading up to Milan and Como, but there were quite a few road works too. I got my head down for a bit and then it was plain sailing back through the Gotthard Tunnel at just after midnight and Switzerland.

2028: A Good Run and a 3rd Ferry

Monday 20th September 2021

A pretty straight run up to Calais, with another cheap fuel stop in Luxemberg. On one morning stop, I booked my day 2 Covid test, did the Gov PLF and booked the ferry. Not used a Channel ferry in years as a) I remember lots of times where I felt sea sick (funnily enough don’t on the Greek ferries), and b) you have to leave the dogs in the car. This time, I booked DFDS as it was a lot cheaper than the Tunnel at short notice and with a Flexi ticket I could turn up 72 hours either side of my booked crossing and be put on the next available ferry.

I arrived a day earlier than I’d booked and caught the 5.30 ferry. Again largely empty other than trucks. The hour and a half passed really quickly as part of the Flexi ticket bonus is that I had a meal voucher.

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DFDS chicken curry free … as part of my ticket. OK it was too … better than Minoan / Grimaldi!

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A meal with a view.

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Before I knew it, Dover in sight.

I got hauled over in Dover … why and where had I been. Was this my car? etc. I handed over V5, passport, Greek residency, Greek Tax number, Greek rental agreement and explained why and where I’d been. He conferred with colleagues and checked my boot and I was allowed to leave.

Back home to James and CO2 by 9.00 UK time.

So this return drive was just over 3 days door to door, with 3 ferries, 2 of which were overnight. 1125 miles door to door. 963 miles in 24 hours including nanny naps from Ancona to Calais.

Was it hard? No, not really. Audio books kill the journey. More fun coming out with Maddy.

Would I do it again? Yes, if need be.

Maddy and Jordan got a holiday.

We got most of our ‘stuff’ from the Aged P’s old house to Crete.

I saw some friends.

Failed on getting Zorba out of the UK … Since our return the garage has established that the diesel pump must be disintegrating to cause the new injectors to fail and the battery was also not being charged …. so he is definitely for the scrap heap. Not one of our better buys.

1733-1877: Resident in Greece

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Clunegapyears

3rd December 2020 – 26th April 2021

OK, so I’m playing Blog Catch Up, in a big way!

A Tale of Two Houses

The Drapanos house was a Winter let and we wanted a permanent tenancy contract for when we came to convert the beige floppy bit of card (Photo attached with a single staple) to the credit card style biometric residency card. So after the Christmas and New Year festivities we started house hunting. It was all a bit gloomy to start as so many places would allow not dogs. And if they did, they had to be housed outside. The Greeks don’t have the concept of ‘pet’ like us. Can you imagine our pampered pooches being tethered day and night outside? Not happening. Having put a post on FaceBook a UK based lady made contact and suggested we look at her house in Almyrida. We shot over there as we were just about to sign on the dotted line for another house. It was filthy but I could see through the dirt. James took my word for it. This house was cheaper and bigger … and didn’t have a pool as we didn’t want the expense of the maintenance. So we went for it.

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Leftheris Villa: Our winter home.

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Not a bad place to do Pilates.

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It’s a dog’s life!

The new tenancy contract ran from the start of February, so we had two months of double rent. Expensive, but it allowed us to stay over in our mountain retreat the we were meeting up with Drapanos friends. We had access to the new house for a week before we moved in … just as well as we had to move cockroaches and other bugs out! The house had not really been lived in for some years and the basement flat was particularly bad. Even when we left to come back to the UK, we were still sweeping up stinky worms daily despite spraying to terminate them … twice. Our two set of Drapanos friends are kindly checking on the house fortnightly and Julia sends me pix of the worms they are still sweeping up! They don’t actually do any harm, but climb walls and stink if squished.

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Just YUK!

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The Almyrida house (our half is this side) … no name or even a street name. Tried to send a letter to myself … we think Hassan’s Cafe now takes in post. The garden is dog proof … Oscar would have been out if he could have found a way.

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We had to buy a few items of furniture … this one is a chest of drawers … I won’t reveal how long it took to assemble! Or that the missing part was found tacked under J’s shoe!!

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CO2 have their end of the sofa …

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They’re very comfortable there.

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We made good use of this!

We really love the house, not just because it is relatively inexpensive but it has a warm vibe, views of the sea and the White Mountains, which have snow until June. The basement is virtually a self contained flat for guests. We’ve put a desk in there so I also use it as the study. We live mostly on the ground floor: lounge / kitchen with double doors through to a covered terrace. Our bedroom upstairs has an en suite and a large balcony with even better views. There is a difficult neighbour …. shame!

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Our first aperitif on the upstairs balcony.

As part of the rent, we do some maintenance. So this year, we’ve cleared both levels of the garden and planted herbs. Well, Spiros did all the hard work. He also supplied us with a generous ton of logs for next winter. We have a trade … cakes from me and oranges, raki (sure is strong) and wine. He also supplies really high quality olive oil. Apparently the average Greek family will consume about 80 litres p.a. Stupidly, I did not bring enough when we return to the UK and I’ve had to buy expensive supermarket oil … really nothing like as good. Oh, and we’ve also had all the wooden shutters, doors and windows re-varnished … in some cases they had to be glued back together first as they really were in a poor state of repair. Looking good now …

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Spiros handiwork … you couldn’t walk between the over growth. Discovered 3 lemon trees and a small orange tree.

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Basement garden.

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That’s a lot of G&Ts!

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New stones coming for the garden … amazed the truck didn’t roll down the steep hill.

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Herbs … had to do a fair bit of weeding before the new stones were laid.

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The first orange blossom in our garden.

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Shutters, doors and windows being repaired and painted.

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Looking good.

Walking

With such amazing and varied scenery we continued to do some new and revisit other walks. With lockdown there were usually restrictions about not walking with others. At one point we couldn’t even drive elsewhere for exercise. We had planned to do odd trips over the island, but Covid …

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Finally some Autumn leaves.

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View from one of our regular walks.

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Another monumental olive tree …

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… Oscar inside it!

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Socialising

With lockdown, events / fund raisers etc have all been cancelled, so we have only been socialising with a few people where we could. We were allowed to meet up for Christmas and New Year … spent both with Drapanos friends. Karl and Julia are amazing cooks so the food ain’t too shoddy! Restaurants and cafes closed, but most were open for take aways. Our favourite restaurant in Drapanos, Eleanora’s, supplied us pretty much weekly. But we also liked a chicken dinner from the souvlakerie or grill in Kalives. Restrictions lifted just as we left to return to the UK!!!

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Michelle kindly loaned us a Christmas tree. Other decorations had come with us in our motorhome Christmas shoe box.

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Favorite takeaway: Grilled fish from Eleanora’s …. and it’s all MINE, MINE! J likes the battered fish.

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Visiting the wine cave for the Christmas purchases was an experience … lots of tastings and spent far too much money!

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Christmas Day.

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And I opened my stocking from the Aged P’s. They buy items for Clare and my stockings on their annual travels. This year not many countries … South Africa, Switzerland, France and of course UK.

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Not a work of art, though it was. Karl is an amazing cook … passionate about it. His Christmas dinner was something special.

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I tried to compete with New Year’s Eve canapés. We had to celebrate NY early due to 9.00 p.m. curfew … But it was midnight in Pakistan!

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Julia patronises a particularly good patisserie … this is the traditional New Year cake … one lucky person finds a coin, if they don’t crack a tooth on it. James was that lucky person and he still has the coin.

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Cake lady with Valentine cakes!

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Julia and Ant loaned us a proper monopoly board … shouldn’t have challenged them to a game … she has a killer instinct!

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We started to feel a bit low and slow with persistent lockdown. So we had a few Planning Picnics in a lovely bay. Working on the principle that if you have a diary full, even with chores, the time passes more positively.

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I think the incredible water colour where we had the Planning Meetings helped lift our mood too.

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Gillian and I spotted the “How much is that doggy in the window?”

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Painting project: Gillian wanted to reduce some of the wood effects in her house … so we attacked them with chalk paint and effects. She was a quick learner and was soon going solo.

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With so much live stock CO2 have had to show restraint!

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We had a few appointments in Chania and walked back along the Venetian Harbour just before Christmas.

Residency

Having got our beige residency permits in November, I had to change mine to a biometric come the new year. James, Ireland being in the EU, keeps his floppy beige card for 5 years. It will be rather dog eared by then. To get my credit card sized card, I had three trips to the main Police Station in Chania … submit the forms, documents and evidence of payment, come back for digital finger printing (not sure why this couldn’t be done at the same time) and then to collect the card. Lots of horror stories of folk having the wrong documents and leaving it post 31.12.20 to apply. And different Police Stations wanting different documents. So it was a jubilant moment when I collected mine.

Both J and I have 5 year residency permits. During this time we have to spend a minimum of 6 months p.a. in Greece. No hardship! After 5 years, we can apply for 10 year and have more freedom to be away from Greece.

An important benefit of an EU residency for us, is that we have the right to transit through EU countries between Greece and the UK.

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Car Repatriation And Introducing Zorba

We drove to Greece in October 2020 in the old Merc estate. This normally lives on the Aged P’s driveway so we have a car when in the UK. Dad’s function (not his sole function, you understand!) is to drive it regularly, MOT, pump air into tyres etc. Mum’s task is all the admin! Post Brexit, UK registered vehicles can only be in the EU for a total of 6 months. Pre-Brexit it was 6 months before country before you were supposed to import it. As we’d arrived in Greece before Brexit, the old rules applied … in other words we had to get it out of Greece before mid April. We had planned to drive it back ourselves and return in the motorhome, but were nervous due to Covid. In hindsight, we need not have been … I subsequently found a FB group called Roadtrip to UK from Greece and Back … folk detailing their own trips. And there were quite a number making the trip. I’d put a FB post out there asking if anyone wanted to drive it back to the UK and we would pay costs. Julia suggested asking the animal charities. There are SO MANY abandoned dogs and puppies here and a number of charities work tirelessly to re-home them. Greeks don’t pay to neuter dogs or cats, and the pups are often found in bags in skips or boxes underneath. Often lobbed out into car parks. So if anyone is interested in a new pet, PLEASE DON’T PAY £1000’S FOR ONE THAT PROBABLY CAME FROM A PUPPY FARM … LET ME KNOW!

Cretan Animal Protection operate out of the UK. Carl left his van on the Aged P’s driveway. After a delay as he’d tried to catch his flight to Crete with and NHS covid test (duh!), he stayed the night with us. Next day took his PCR test locally, 4 dogs delivered and caught the 5.00 ferry to the mainland. After a second over night crossing, he arrived in Ancona, Italy giving himself 26 hours to make it to Calais for his tunnel reservation. He dropped one dog in Belgium on the way … left the car on the Aged P’s driveway in the middle of the night and then delivered the other 3 pups. He caught a few hours sleep here and there en route and survived on Monster energy drinks!

Expensive at £1200, but it would have cost us £1500 to use a freight company. It got the car back to the care of father and gave us peace of mind.

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Two of the pups being re-homed.

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If she can go on the sofa, so can I! But that’s not the dog section!!!

In January we bought a Greek car. You can add about 30% to what you would expect to pay in the UK … it hurts. Our choice was limited as we wanted enough boot space for CO2 to lie down. Road tax is around EUR200 for 1.4 litre, but as soon as you go over 2 litre, you’re looking at EUR1000 p.a. So we have Zorba a Skoda Roomster. Dull as ditchwater, but a very functional, if underpowered (1.2 engine), run around, which has to get us to the UK. Prior to setting off for England, we had Zorba checked out by a garage … needed a new timing belt & water pump, brake pads & disks and new tyres and we put new wheels on whilst we were at it. We bought a dog!!! So underpowered and VERY EXPENSIVE!

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Zorba.

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The Merc had a flat … the same chap that sold us new wheels and tyres did rather well out of us … we ended up with 4 new tyres for the Merc too.

CO2 BONUS PIX

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1382-1387: ‘Ela of a Place

Posted on December 21, 2019 by Clunegapyears

1382: A Birthday and Open Mic Night

Monday 16th December

Katherine’s birthday…..

Nice walk with CO2 amongst olive groves and cypress woods. K opened her gifts – from family and moi. Michelle from Icarus restaurant (and Michaelis) brought a surprise gift – a lovely Cretan necklace!

Late afternoon – we moved Jez to Almyrida for the open mic night. Lots of good music – including “Happy Birthday” for K – and a birthday candle from Capt Jacks!

An Ottoman water fountain on our walk.

Dodgy alcofrolic shot and candle from Captain Jacks.

1383: Castration and Dinner Guests

Tuesday 17th December.

Well, Oscar didn’t realise what was happening (just as well) – he sort of lost his ‘thingies’ – had to wear the ‘cone’ lightshade worst! But the vet was great in Kalyves. Later in the afternoon, he was real pain in spite of getting painkillers in the morning. I drove him straight to the vets again – another painkiller – and this settled him – we muzzled him instead of the cone…..

Evening saw us entertaining Julia and Anthony – motor homing friends from Drapanos – lively chats and some vino… for James, K was dry after the excesses of yesterday!

Wrinkly scrotum.

1384: Chores

Wednesday 18th December.

Kalyves again – our most visited spot in Crete – K got the twin tub out – for laudrificationing! I washed the HandyPandyCar and cleaned the inside – oh and morning coffee at Ari’s “Fresh and Cool” cafe – chats with the regulars….. K recce’d our nightly parking for Christmas Day in Drapanos – kindly provided by friends of Julia and Anthony! We will eat in “Eleanoras” restaurant – our favourite in the area…booked by K.

A couple of older ladies stopped to admire the twin tub … nostalgia on their part?

And a conveniently closed cafe as the drying deck.

1385-1386: Elafonisi

Thursday 19th – Friday 20th December

Beautiful scenic drive down through the mountains – to Elafonisi…… Little did we know what awaited us! Normally, we would recce a dodgy road – alas not this time – oh no! The access road was a “Strada Horribilissimo”!!! Craters, fissures – oh and some road surface as well. K bounced down in Jez – I followed in Pandacar and watched as she wobbled and straddled the obstacles – we have never seen such a road in all our travels! We later lay awake dreading the uphill journey – watched the forecast avidly as rain would effectively imprison us there for days… Stunning place though – one of the very best – we’ve said in about most of Crete…

Brian obligingly cooked supper – caulifloweriness and cheesely – noshtimo!

Next morning saw us joining the road gang – repairing the ‘volcanic’ craters – or so they seemed to us – Michael from Germany had started patching already – we rolled boulders – big on top and small to fill in – in 2 different places. Not exactly Dept of Transport Chapter 8 and BD68 (I’m giving away my work background) – but it looked good!

This is a panorama shot zoomed in to where Oscar was moving … could replicate this effect!

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Places have a light dusting of fine pink sand, from coral and shells.

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The Lagoon.

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Soft fine sand … and dunes.

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1387: Getting Out and On to Sfinari

Monday 16th December

K had a rather early morning walk – we needed to get up the hill asap! Brian went first and had one place where he had to roll back and have a second go – K took 3 attempts int he same place … and I andycarred uphill…. K started up – traction control on – and raised rear suspension – raised nerves and adrenaline – and buttclenchingness….. but guided by Brian and moi – it all worked ‘straddlingly’. K: I was shaking by the time I got to the top!

Hugely welcome coffee – and then the most amazing drive to Sfinari – now parked up along stony beach in Cretan sunshine – not a pothole in sight. We never want to see such crazy craters again. Oscar and Corrie were completely unfazed by the whole experience….

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