Peelies travels

Tues - Wed 26th-27th Sept We actually went back to Camping Kranea at Himare, where Dennis and wife are still running their 20-odd pitch site behind the beach road. It is compact to say the least but the beach access is superb and the water was warm. The only complaint was that everyone else is from Germany or German speaking. It is getting very boring. Dennis was pleased to see us after eight years, even asking after our children who he seemed to be able to remember. Rather disappointingly, we couldn’t order fish for dinner as he had none left by 7pm and so it was seafood pasta and a large pork steak with Albanian Red. Then a pleasant sleep in the very compact pitch (have I mentioned that already?) before the alarm went at 06:30. Unfortunately it was next door’s alert and they must have had an appointment somewhere, although frustratingly, they left at the same time as we did. The route south from there is spectacular, as the mountains tumble straight down to the sea. We remembered see...

  Monday - Tuesday 25th - 26th Sept Slowly we made headway through rain and traffic, towards a beach site that has good reviews and is conveniently on the way. The offline OsmAnd maps that we are using on the iPhone, are proving to work well but we are still learning the complexity. There’s loads going on inside the app and when we were directed off the main road, towards the blue part of the map, it looked OK but a few doubts crept in as we covered the 15km or so, as instructed. We went through a strange settlement and were clearly reaching the end of the road, when the road ended but not at the blue of the sea. After turning around off  a hardcore surface because it just stopped, we believed the map and drove onto a slightly sandy surface for the last km and into some pine covered dunes. Then there was the campground with a few others who were there before us. It is really a beach shack that has camping and what turned out to be a good cook. As with everyone in Albania, when...

Sunday-Monday 24th - 25th Sept. Theth will become a victim of its improved accessibility because the Albanian way doesn’t appear to appreciate ‘nature’ and all that can go wrong with it when people gather.  At the moment it is a beautiful place, sitting in this almost inaccessible valley, cut off completely during the winter. I think things could go downhill. For example, generally in the country, rubbish bins are not controlled. This isn’t a matter of what day the binmen come, although I’m sure that regularity is essential there. The minimum standard of rubbish control could be achieved by closing the lids on the big wheeled containers. These are the ones where the lid curves over and is pulled from open to closed from the back to the front. The others have big flip lids that presumably blow off. If these lids were fitted, maintained and used properly, then the wild dogs wouldn’t be able to get in them and empty everything onto the ground. These photos were taken in a village duri...

  Sat-Sun 23rd -24th Sept I knew I had cursed the weather by fixing a fly-screen to one of windows. It was sooo hot, around 30 max but still in the mid 20s at bedtime. First of all a few knowledgeable people started to tie-down their motorhome awnings and then the wind picked up. We just packed away, knowing that it was likely to get wet. The wind started to really blow but the warmth continued. As we went to bed the rain started but the radar didn’t show much, just a storm out to sea that was moving east of north.  So we went to bed in the heat. Later the wind blew something off or over on a big Sprinter 4x4 next to us and we woke and started to fret! It was decided that the porch overhang should be dropped and then secured with a guy to stop it flapping.  It was also decided many trips ago that I would always do this. So I did. I got wet. Apparently I wasn’t very wet. Then we settled down again but I kept seeing flashes so I made the mistake of looking at the amazing li...