When the North wind does blow…

Monday 19th December 

It’s been a different day for me, except it’s a bit like Ground Hog day, in that I went back to where I visited with my friend yesterday. I first drove to Livadi, having decided it was so windy doing a litter pick on the road would be a bit tough, and also it doesn’t seem to need it every week to be honest. I only spotted a couple of bits of litter,  as I went down. The wind will whip up a few bits of polystyrene and pvc about,  but it won’t be too bad. One thing I noticed in the port the other day, was a sort of caterpillar machine with a scraper in its midriff. Looking at the Livadi road, you can see where the scraper has been used to push back the soil and vegetation from the road edge. The plants being what they are here,  are trying to grow into the road, some are actually growing in the tarmac. So this machine must have come over and trundled its way over all the roads, there are not many kilometres of them, doing its thing.

Photo interlude - The David Bowie cat snuggled up to another cat in the long grass. 

As Grans is closed, I had to use another bakers, they had my favourite pie, and I had it with a coffee on one of the benches. Yesterday we could not have taken the rubbish with us, from the beaches, as we had no bags, but I wish I had moved those aerosol cans into a small ruined building nearby, to stop them being washed back into the sea. I hoped they would still be there…. Where I got my pie, they had sparrows in eating the crumbs.

As I drove along the coast road to the two beaches, I could see the sea being whipped up into spray which was like little mini cyclones.

I parked the car and walked down. It’s a zig zag path and you were either walking into the wind or having it push you along. It’s was ok with nothing in my hands, but I knew it would be tough on the way back. When I got to the first beach, I had a rest, it was quite calm there and did a chapter of Greek.  After this I resumed on my trek and went to the second beach. Here it was a little windier and alas, those cans had been washed away. I gathered all the rubbish into the little ruined outhouse, it would be easier to pack the bag with the rubbish in the shelter of it. By the time I had finished the bag was full and quite heavy. I carried it Seven Dwarfs style on my back, resisting the temptation of singing “Hi ho..”. As I expected carrying the bag in the wind was quite hard, it was important to hang onto it. The last thing I wanted was it to blow out of my hands and the rubbish be strewn over everywhere. 

I got back to the first beach and I put the bag away safely with a heavy stone on top. The first beach had lots of the polystyrene which is a different problem, it’s doesn’t crunch down , but big bits fill the bag quickly. I crammed everything in and when I got to the first bag, I did a bit of weight distribution. From the first beach you can see the ladies monastery, on the top of the mountain, on a track leading to Cyclope’s Throne. The greenery is those bulbs, that I think will flower next year.

 There was no chance of throwing both bags on my back now, I had to lift each by hand and try not to drag them in the ground, else I would end up with a hole in them, and have a different problem. I saw a lovely bit of thyme flowering, I thought this was a bit early, I remember seeing it flower,  when I was here the first time, which seems ages ago now.

I made my way up the last two zig zags, I did end up with a hole, but only with thing fell out as it was a plastic bottle. I got back to the car and chucked the rubbish in, I was quite hot. I drove back to Livadi, and put the rubbish in a dumpster with a working lid. At Livadi, I went to the Captains Bar, ordered a coffee and a Caramel muffin, I felt like I deserved that. 

Photo Interlude - spray being whipped up on Vagia Beach.

At home I had a call with one of my new friends, now in Athens, catching up on their news. I have also heard from the cat sitter today, who is now working in Singapore. I just checked the forecast, the wind is getting stronger, its going to peak about midnight tonight, but still be strong tomorrow, slowly easing…

Tomorrow I have a first meeting with a friend of a friend in Livadi which I am looking forward to.