It’s all change, and we suddenly have to head for Greece for an appointment with a very important dog and three superior cats. No worries, we think, we’ll head down the Dalmatian Coast to Dubrovnik, then drive on down. And it’s so beautiful… There are lakes…

…and mountains reminiscent of Corsica…

 …and we think we have all the time in the world…Only, we discover that finding a route to Greece is not as easy as it sounds. When we arrive in Dubrovnik, not only does the whole place seem shut up, the advertised  twice-weekly winter ferry service to Bari “is feenish”, according to the girls in the ferry office. What’s more, there aren’t any ferries to anywhere from Dubrovnik.  No campsites open for sleeping either…

So it’s back up the Dalmatian Coast on to the motorway, near Ploce…

…only, the motorway lasts but a short distance, before the route takes us up a mountain road… After what seems an eternity of beautiful rural Croatia we join up with the next piece of motorway…  They’re still building it, you see, but no one seems to warn you of that…

 Deadline’s getting close, and we have no internet to tell us where we might be able to catch a ferry, so we hammer back up through Slovenia and round to our lovely Fusina campsite just outside Venice. Phew! Then next day, hurtle on to Ancona. Can we catch a ferry to Patras, we ask, at four-thirty in the afternoon. Good ol’ Minoan Ferries – “Certainly, Madame, there is one at five-thirty.” So, it’s a rapid embarkation, pack an overnight bag for the cabin and Bob’s your uncle, we’re sailing for Patras, with a free dinner thrown in!

 

It’s getting dark by the time we arrive off the ferry the next day, and no camp sites open, but we find a generous-hearted hotel owner who allows us to sleep in his car park. No strings attached, but all the same we book breakfast with him. And what a superb breakfast it is, overlooking the sea…

Then it’s a night in Petalidi – fab little town and harbour – before heading up to the Peloponnesian hills to meet Roger, the dog. A cheerful little chappie, who though sad to see his owners depart for their holiday, is more than happy to show us the local olive groves and historical monuments…

 Time to hole up for a while…