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Greetings from Finikounda on the south coast of the Peloponnese in Greece. We travelled overland from the UK through France and Italy and then from Ancona to Patras via ferry. We were due to “Camp on Board” but due to rough weather were given a free and very comfortable outside cabin for the 21 hour crossing. We spent a couple of weeks at Ionion beach camping in Glifa and then came south via Olympia (visiting the ancient and very interesting site) and free camping at Katakolo harbour and at Kakovatos.
The weather has been a kind of English Summer, a week or so of hot weather followed by a day of thunderstorms repeated several times. The temperature is around the mid twenties during the day and mid teens at night, very comfortable and no need to use the van heating.
The campsites are very quiet and laid back; we are finding them to be generally cheaper than Spanish sites in winter. Here at camping Thines (ΘINEΣ in Greek) we have been quoted 14€ a night including 6A electricity, hot showers, free washing machine and (good) Wi-Fi. The eventual cost may well be less, depending on how long we stay. It’s not really too easy to pin down a price and we have really stopped trying!
Shopping is generally good with local shops and LIDL and Carrefour in major towns. Wine is very cheap, very pleasant Greek Rose, Red or White for €1.50 for I.5 litres in LIDL. They do a very tasty range of frozen Tyro pitas (Cheese Pies) too.
Driving in Greece has been an interesting experience. We used to think that Portugal was bad but here double yellow lines are for parking on, double white lines are for overtaking on and the hard shoulder is for driving on (well, people have to overtake, don’t they?!) but once you get used to it is rather fun – though we could have done without the pick-up parked across a tight junction that resulted in a scratch down half the length of the skirt on the van. I don’t think the owner of the pick-up will even notice.
The intention now, after a week or so, is to go to Kalamata (famous for its olives) for a night or two on the way to Tripoli, where MagBaz travels think there is an LPG supplier. I hope so, as otherwise we will have to brave the roads of Athens to replenish the Gaslow cylinders. Not something we want to undertake lightly!
The intention now, after a week or so, is to go to Kalamata (famous for its olives) for a night or two on the way to Tripoli, where MagBaz travels think there is an LPG supplier. I hope so, as otherwise we will have to brave the roads of Athens to replenish the Gaslow cylinders. Not something we want to undertake lightly!
If LPG is available in the area the local taxis usually run on it so chat to the taxi drivers. We have used the system a couple of times it works well.
If the weather get too bad head for Crete it is a wonderful place to spend a winter especially on the southern coast.
We are told that the Tripoli outlet is still in operation, but we are also told (by a permanent resident) that we can get LPG in Kalamata - or two Km west of the town on the coast by a small fishing harbour. Google maps satellite view shows lots of white tanks (always a good sign) at that location.
If it works we will post again with GPS co-ordinates.
We are told that the Tripoli outlet is still in operation, but we are also told (by a permanent resident) that we can get LPG in Kalamata - or two Km west of the town on the coast by a small fishing harbour. Google maps satellite view shows lots of white tanks (always a good sign) at that location.
If it works we will post again with GPS co-ordinates.
P&L
Hi P & L,
I think you are talking about the gas plant at Kalamata where they refill gas bottles.
Before the days of the refillables we filled our Calor bottles there.
Be very careful if you take any photo's in the area there's a military airfield close by where a few years ago became quite famous with the UK plane spotters who were arrested and jailed.
We both remember that unfortunate incident. We won't take any pictures, though the airfield is now Kalamata International Airport and has lots of UK charter flights.
We can hear the trainees stunting around in prop craft here in Finikounda - from the same place presumably.
We are now overnighting on the promenade north of Githio (N36⁰46.3’ E22⁰33.8’) on the eastern side of the Mani peninsula. It is still warm 20⁰ but windy and showery today.
A couple of days ago we drove around the Likodhimo Mountains from Finikounda, via Koroni to Kalamata. We had been told that on the waterfront, a couple of Km west of the harbour, we could get LPG but it was not to be. We drove up the dirt track up the side of the depot and enquired, but were told that they could only refill bottles, not Gaslow cylinders. We didn’t push the point but suppose if we’d shown them the yellow cylinders they may have had a suitable adaptor – in any case we weren’t too impressed by the two operatives having a break, fags on the go, in the middle of a propane tank farm!
We did some grocery shopping at LIDL and Carrefour in Kalamata and then headed to the beach south of Analapsi (N37.00556⁰ E21.97250⁰) for the night. This was very quiet, a car park shared by one German van.
Yesterday we set off for Tripoli in search of Autogas, taking the route due North towards the new motorway extension west from Tripoli. Our map suggested that we would pick the motorway up at Loutro, north of Meropi but it is nowhere near finished. We stayed on the old N road over the mountains until, just North of Paradhisia we did join the motorway which is now open all the way to Tripoli and cost €4.50. We left the motorway at the Teghea/Sparta junction and followed the instructions given by Andy Newton (see MagBaz travels) which were spot on. The GPS co-ordinates are N37.496108⁰ E22.38783⁰ but our TomTom tried to take us via dirt track, so be careful. The LPG station is actually on a dirt track beside the motorway. We needed our (French) dish adaptor and they were happy to fill loose bottles as well as cars and our Gaslow installation. Autogas was €0. 78c a litre.
From Tripoli we drove to Sparta, covering 165 km for the day and it was an interesting drive. We stayed at Camping Mistras Paleologica between Sparta and Mistras. We were not impressed with the campsite and it was expensive, however as it was raining and we only planned to stay for one night we couldn’t summon the enthusiasm to haggle over the price.
We intend to try a campsite here in Githio for the next couple of nights before driving South into the Mani for a few more nights wild camping.
While you are in the area, just a few kms north from where you are on the Githio to Skala road is the village of Aghios Konstantinos, there is a viewing area at the side of the main road where you can see the Dimitrios shipwreck, well worth a look. It is also possible to stay the night down the sliproad opposite the taverna next to the beach near the shipwreck..
In the end we didn’t find a campsite, though we did look at the two that were open. They were both similar, with small pitches which really were not designed to cope with a 3 metre high motor home, they appeared to be unkempt, weed filled and with dubious electrics. Yes, they would be shady in the summer but at the end of November were just cramped and dismal.
Instead we drove down the East side of the Mani, and an interesting drive it was. The main bit of the road was fine, if a little twisty and winding but when you come to a village, the road goes back to the width and surfacing of the Century before last, there is room for one vehicle between the buildings, and that vehicle is a donkey cart. This part of the Mani is like Scotland, North West of Ullapool and parts of Harris and Lewis although there are no barriers or marked passing places on the mainly single track roads here unlike in Scotland. The other difference is that it is warm and sunny.
The Diesel prices have gone up from around €1.28, at best, to about €1.50 in the small outlets down this road.
We made it to our destination despite some drawing in of breath from the co-pilots seat on the last bit of the journey to Marmari. Marmari is the most Southerly ‘resort’ in mainland Greece; though there are reportedly Tavernas nearer to Cape Tenaro probably only open in the summer (co- pilot refused to travel down this road in the van so cannot verify this!).
At Marmari there are 2 beaches (both looked quite good for swimming but were covered in flotsam), a 24 room hotel and some (very nicely) renovated holiday rooms which may well be part of the hotel complex. There are still a couple of the original residents here, we met them buying bread from the Bakers van (11.30 each weekday) which stops at the bus turning point just above the hotel. The sign-posted stopping place for motor homes is on a right hand bend before you reach the hotel, a loosely surfaced space which looks as though it has been a quarry. It also serves as the turning point for the dustbin truck and parking area for those dropping off rubbish in the village’s bins, enclosed in a rather elegant stone enclosure. (N36⁰25.6’ E22⁰28.8’) The sun set fairly early over the village, but earlier in the year it would set, spectacularly, over the gulf of Mesiniakos.
The hotel (Marmari Paradise) was open, just about, and we managed to buy a couple of beers but we were the only customers and it was Saturday lunchtime, so we wouldn’t want to guarantee service. It was 23⁰ during the day with squally winds dropping to a minimum of 19⁰ overnight.
Today we travelled the grand distance of 14 km to Gherolimenas, passing the very picturesque village of Vathia, a kind of ancient Manhattan with seemingly every building a tower, some of which are restored but many are still ruins. The place has a gruesome past though, and the towers were defensive.
Restoration of ancient buildings is clearly the thing hereabouts and though the purists complain about towers being converted into desirable holiday homes, complete with carefully mortared ‘ruined’ castellations, the local planning laws insist on all buildings being finished in the local limestone and the law is seemingly being enforced. The newly restored buildings certainly look a lot better than the concrete ones of the 1970s.
In Gherolimenas we parked next to the beach by the Hotel Akroyiali (N36⁰28.95’ E22⁰24.0’). It was Sunday and all of the seven bar/restaurants were open for lunch, we did have coffee in one and drinks in two and none was busy. There are also three hotels here including the very posh Kyrimai, but that too seemed to be empty. There is a small supermarket and it was open but we didn’t venture inside.
Surprisingly, the village gained its fortune by exporting Quails to France in the 19th Century not from fishing, but the restaurants had neither fresh fish nor fresh fowl on offer! We made do with a sandwich in the van a little disappointed as we had been looking forward to lunch out.
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