After a very wet night at Camping Limnopoula we readied ourselves and Basil for yet another visit the motorhome doctor. Being a bit of a glass half empty sort of person I had already been researching pet friendly hotels in Ioannina, of which there were many.

Our target after breakfast was Kinisi SA, a Fiat Professional Workshop about 7 miles out of Ioannina. Fiat Professional Workshops are the Fiat franchises which are supposed to be capable of working on the Fiat commercial vehicle range.

Initially we programmed into SatNav the place where Google maps indicated Kinisi were located, but there was no sign of a Fiat dealer. Plenty of car dealers of just about every brand, but no Fiat. We pulled into a Citroen dealer and I went in expecting to have to use Google Translate, but the salesman who greeted me spoke perfect English. He explained Kinisi SA was, in fact, another one to two kilometres further along the road.

We quickly found the Fiat dealer and I walked up to what looked like the service counter with the long explanation of what was wrong with Basil written on my iPhone in cod Greek, only to be again to be welcomed in good English. Even the workshop managr spoke excellent English. All my preparations had been wasted, but I was glad of it.

I was asked to wait a few minutes and then the workshop manager and an elderly mechanic (who didn’t speak English) came out to Basil and poked and prodded. First of all they found a simple water leak where three water pipes were joined together. Secondly they said they didn’t think it was the cylinder head gasket. They thought it most likely the minuscule layer of oil (as they put it) most probably was transferring to the coolant in the oil cooler.

The recommendation was that the oil cooler be replaced, since it couldn’t be tested, which was a much smaller job than the head gasket. They could undertake the repair but after checking on their computers they said it could take up to 10 days to get the parts from Athens. Apparently the Greeks think of Ioannina as a remote mountainous “village” and so they are not well connected with the bigger cities.

Kinisi fitted new clips on the leaking joint and suggested that if we didn’t want to spend 10 days near Ioannina we should carry on with our journey and then visit at Fiat Professional garage in one of the bigger cities to see if the oil cooler could be replaced in a shorter time frame. In the meantime Basil was fine to drive but we should keep an eye on the water level. For the diagnosis and fitting new clamps the total price was €2. Yes you read it right €2. They were really lovely people.

With the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders and with Basil almost fighting fit, we set off for the coast. The weather is still a bit “iffy”. Sunshine and showers would be how the BBC would describe it and the temperature is hovering around 15ºC.

After exiting the mountains we started following the Adriatic coast southwards towards Patras. It was lovely to see the ocean again, but due to the weather it was not looking its normal turquoise perfection. We initially tried stopping in what my database said was a lovely secluded sandy beach, but as we headed down a rough track it quickly became obvious that Basil would not get down due to his height. I reversed back up to the top of the track and we took a breather for lunch.

We then drove another ten miles south to a place recommended to me where overnight camping was permitted providing you ate at the adjacent restaurant. Basil pulled in to find that the restaurant and everything else looked closed for the season, but it looked a perfect spot overlooking a long sandy beach. We have since been joined by a Dutch van.

I have read on one of my databases that someone was turned off this spot by the police in July last year but hopefully out of season we will be fine.

The dogs have had endless gallops on the beach, in between showers and all is right with the world – for now at least !!