Today we left Camping Desimi Beach with some regret. We had essentially exhausted our options there, although on her last morning dog walk Sarah managed to find a track that she had not previously explored. It could almost have justified another day, but our minds were already made up.

I managed to tweak my back yesterday while filling up Basil’s water tank manually, a task that it is rarely necessary for me to carry out, because we normally fill up using a hosepipe every time we leave a site, but this time we have been at Desimi Beach too long and so containers and a funnel were required.

Our journey today of 130 miles to the Peloponnese North Coast should have been three and a half hours of straightforward driving, but SatNav had other ideas. Because we have not updated SatNav since we bought him four years ago, he did not appear to know about the new motorway which runs down the west coast of Greece to Patras.

As a result, before we knew it, we were once again winding our way along rural roads and through agricultural villages. At one point Basil got completely jammed in a village when he came face-to-face with a large lorry. The locals all gathered around to watch, but fortunately the expertise of the local HGV driver managed to extricate us both from the situation.

Also during this detour I had to bring Basil to a rapid halt when the road was completely blocked by a large flock of sheep. We anticipated that they were being driven by a shepherd or some dogs, but when the flock had finally passed it was evident that they were just wandering where ever they fancied!

We saw our first tortoise of the trip, manfully struggling to cross a main road. Unfortunately it was too dangerous to stop and try to help it cross, we hope he made it.

Finally we found our way back onto the motorway, more by luck than good judgement, because SatNav still did not seem to be aware of its existence. We belted along this great piece of road with SatNav bleating things like “please do a U Turn where possible”. From then on we made rapid but expensive progress, with tolls, including the cost for the smart and expensive looking bridge over to the Peloponnese, totalling over €40.

We took lunch at a motorway service station and I think I caused some amusement by carrying out my Mark Cockayne patented back exercises©™laid out flat in the heavy goods vehicle rest area.

Finally, just before we reached our destination, we stopped at our favourite supermarket and stocked up for the next week. It is been more than a week since we last did a major shop and the fridge, freezer and cupboards were all looking bare.

Our stop for the night (38.223606, 22.146440) is a type of private aire next to a stony beach and the sea. On the app I use most for selecting overnight stops, which is rather pathetically named Park4Night, this stop is raved about by various reviewers. The owners have been very clever and built a camper stop around their little cafe, which without the campers I suspect would get no business. They then charge €10 a night to stay or €13 with electricity, but if you spend more than €30 at their cafe there is no overnight charge.

The owners were very friendly when we arrived but are not able to accommodate Mabel and Melek in their restaurant, so we have asked if we can eat outside. They seem happy with that, although having been an overcast day we may be shivering a bit over our Greek salad!