Hello Campers!

There's no accounting for taste! Bob ensures we are solvent. And this is Splodge (our name for him, and still being used after our departure, thanks to Lotta aged 4!)
The site has a several families of cats and this kitten visited each breakfast time for milk and yoghurt pots.

Well maybe!

"I have nothing, I want for nothing, I am free!" - this translation of a famous Cretan quotation is on the back of an Austrian motorhome camped next to us! The owner's definition of "nothing" covered a huge motor cycle on the rack, three awnings and the kitchen sink!
Nice people, though - and helpful when our UK-purchased mobile power supply failed on the first use!
When they moved on they were replaced for two nights by a convoy of three German vans who arranged themselves as a ring of fire!
We were -we think- the only British campers - but there was an organised party of Yoga & meditation enthusiasts staying in local rooms and practising at the taverna. The vast majority of punters were single older women - reminding us of the weirder side of Paleo life. (See someone's comments on
http://paleochora-woowoo.blogspot.com/

Things are different Up North

.. a host of white sea daffodils!
In Paleo in the few daffs on the beach were destroyed by thugs. Up in Minithma - 5 km East of Kisamos - and just outside the campsite they grow profusely. We stayed here for ten days between apartments. Bob has used this site over the last ten years or so when cycling from the airport to Paleo. The beach is quiet with shallow sandy entry into the sea and (effectively!) free sunbeds. The taverna is excellent and the staff friendly.
www.campingmithimna.com

Inclement weather & consequences

On Thursday at 6am it rained. This was our 50th day in Crete so quite a shock! Hardly Tewkesbury or Oxford - there was a small puddle on the table at breakfast - but enough to throw routines and it has been unbeachable for two days now - leading to desperate measures such as sitting in beach bars and being given a tour of Avid's monster music collection on the laptop. (Seen here with Jo and two of several Amstel bottles!)
We are off to Kastelli-Kissamos tomorrow - supposedly camping but Meteo Greece is not too sure if we will have to pass through a thunderstorm. More later!

Of all the bars in all the towns...

There we were recovering from the Anidri drive when up walked Christine (Bob's cousin's son's ex-girlfriend) and new bloke Richard! Her son was here last year and had given a very imprecise description of where we might be found! It shouldn't have worked! They are staying on the North coast and had driven the notoriously impossible track from Elafonissi. They needed a few drinks! We helped and they stayed the night after dinner at the Crocodile. Here they are with Bob after breakfast overlooking the bay at the Almyrida.

Spot the Croc!

.. so we didn't walk the gorge! We drove down the mountain and along the dirt track to its mouth at Anidri beach. A new second cantina has opened this year carefully landscaped into the third bay and the tamarisks. The headland you see here is closer than in Paleo and it's obvious why its crocodile shape has become emblematic.

The beach is shingle - but easy to walk on - and the sea is perfect!

Shame about the route here! We promised Yvette she wouldn't have to go again this year. Bob can cycle!

Anidri - Upwards & Onwards

On Tues - faced with continuing wind &sand-blasting we drove up to our nearest mountain village - Anidri - a popular as a home for wealthy Germans & Brits. The kafenion there is in the old schoolhouse and beautifully decorated. There is a gorge to walk down - no plaque there but this where Ruth first wrecked her knee in 2002!