When we took the dogs out for a late afternoon walk yesterday we discovered Melek was limping heavily on his left paw. When I made fun of him in yesterday’s blog for refusing to move on our morning walk perhaps I was being unfair, or maybe he’s putting it on to shame me.

After careful examination from our on board vet Sarah, it was determined that he probably had a splinter in his paw and we would see how it went for the next few days before consulting a real vet. Anyway it meant there was no way he was going to be able to walk to the taverna that night, so there was only one answer – I would have to carry him.

We enjoyed a really good meal, consisting of warming dishes in the deteriorating weather – butter beans in tomato sauce, stuffed vegetables for Sarah and meatballs for me. It was too cold for salads. The taverna had a large number of resident swallows in the eves and one pair nesting inside, so we were entertained by the indoor pair deftly flying thought a small crack in the wall to bring insects to their young.

We had already had plenty of house white wine when our host appeared with two enormous complimentary glasses of the famous Greek Ouzo. Suffice it to say that the Ouzo coupled with the fact that we had forgotten our torches meant that our stagger back along the unlit beach, with no assisting moon, was “interesting”.

Today was almost a complete washout. It was cold and drizzly all day which mostly kept us in Basil. We had a long chat with an English couple who arrived yesterday. They have been coming to the Peloponnese for 20 years, but this was their first time in a motorhome. We swapped stories of tight squeezes in villages and vertiginous mountain roads.

I managed to persuade a reluctant Sarah to watch Zorba the Greek and after about an hour Sarah lost interest followed shortly afterwards by me. It was the music I remembered. The film, on the other hand, has not aged well. I think I will finish it off in the next few days, but parts of the first half are downright perplexing and Anthony Quinn was as hammy as I remembered him, but he got a few laughs out of me.

I don’t think I have mentioned that Camping Meltemi is essentially a huge olive grove with spaces between the trees for tents and a few larger gaps for caravans and motorhomes. The owner has labled various rows of trees with the name of the species of olive tree and whether it is used for eating or oil. I went over to reception to order some bread and found that they sell both oil and olives produced on the farm. The owner has given me a sample of oil to try, so if it is good we may stock up for the next few months.

By 5pm the skies finally cleared and we were able to get out for a walk on the beach. We were mildly excited to see a rainbow as the rain cleared and our first cruise ship, which must have visited the nearby Gythion. I suppose Gythion would be the nearest harbour for Mystras and Sparta, which is where we are heading next. I tried to take Melek back to Basil after a short walk because he was still limping but he was having none of it. So we let him off his lead and he gamely followed us on a longer walk. I think his limp is already improving, but we will see tomorrow.

Rainbow after the storm

Liner in the distance

Because of today’s weather we are going to stay on site another day to get our laundry done. The rest of the week promises to be sunny and the weather is going to get warmer, into the mid twenties on some days.

(I apologise for the quality of today’s photos. I only had my iPhone with me)