The Launder's big adventure

Mount Olympus Wednesday 14th march

We packed up and headed out for Mount Olympus, the home of the gods of ancient Greece. We arrived much sooner than expected, the roads being more major than previously experienced. However, we had the same problem with locating an open campsite, we followed many signs for camping only to be disappointed to find they were closed. We happened upon one with its gates open and Jon jumped out, they were in fact closed but the owner kindly said we could stay as long as we understood the lack of facilities available. After biting his arm off we manoeuvred into the site and enjoyed the luxury of well and truly having the campsite to ourselves and as an added bonus there was even a play park for the boys!

We took a trip to Mount Olympus. We drove 15km up windy mountain roads, parked up and then proceeded to drag, quite literally, the kids up the mountain footpath. This footpath is hard going with many steep steps and rocky paths; we also had to traverse a few snow-covered paths they were slippery and great fun. Sometimes when you are embarking on an arduous journey with the children you forget to stop looking down and miss the world around you, the whole reason for causing your children so much misery in the first place. When we did remember to pause and look around we were rewarded with deep tree covered gorges below and, despite walking upwards for nigh on 2 ½ hours, ragged towering cliff tops above with the higher peaks covered in snow. The skies were blue, the air was fresh and for the whole 4 ½ hours we spent on the mountain we did not meet another living soul. It was great and the kids only really remembered to moan occasionally!