Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Greece Thursday 8th March
That morning another Scops Owl woke us by tooting in the early hours; this did help us set about planning our trip. We had a quick investigation of ferry times and had another look at available campsites in the area of the ferry terminal, the latter was not looking hopeful. At the last minute we decided to try and catch the 11.30 sailing. With a quick scramble to get ready and a 2 hours drive we arrived at the ticket desk. With tickets in hand we were told not to waste time getting to the port as the ferry was nearly ready to leave, we arrived at the terminal where we had to get our tickets stamped and again told to hurry to the dockside whereupon we waited for ½ an hour as the lorries were all loaded on!
Once safely in the boat we were barely out the car before the ferry set sail. We spent the next 7 hours aboard a boat with many truckers and a small play area to entertain the boys. Once the mad rush was over we started to worry about the lack of known Greek, the lateness of the hour, the lack of tea possibilities and the big problem of open campsites. We stopped and asked directions in the port of Igoumenitsa a couple of times and after driving back and forth a few times through the town that seems to share the Italians love of double parking in narrow roads, we finally found the campsite, closed. By this time it was 10pm and we had had enough. Luckily the campsite was at the end of a narrow peninsula and had a little secluded wooded area where we could pull in and experience our first night of “wild camping”. We all had a scraped together snacky supper, Jon rigged up a security device on the door using bungee cords, there really is no end to his talent, and we all fell into our beds exhausted.
