Day 118: Monday 14 July – Kastraki to Kala Nera, by Ken

I went to settle up at the camping ground’s reception and was given a goody bag containing posters, postcards and a small icon. A generous gesture from one of the cheaper camping grounds we have stayed at €16 a night,

Jane did her first de-cheese and the lion’s share of the 150km drive drive from Kastraki to Kala Nera on the west coast of the Pelion peninsula south of Volos.

Ayiou Nikolaou Monastery Seen From The Town Of Kalambaka

Do You Have To Stop When The Light's Are Green?

Our satnav was unaware of a new length of road between Trikale and Larissa. It showed us as diving across open country and kept directing turns to try and get us on roads it did know about. There was a serious fire burning on the grass verge at one point with no sign of any firefighters. We passed fields of black ash where farmers had burnt off stubble  and In the distance we could see fields where burning was in progress.

Stubble Burning

The road was pretty good until we reached Larissa where the ride was akin to being on a Cook Strait ferry in a blustery southerly. Fortunately we were following a truck that gave advance warning we were about to pitch down into a trough or breast the peak of a wave in the road. This continued for more than 5km and it was difficult to see what had gone wrong. Possibly it was poor compaction of fill or the use of unsuitable material in embankments. Whatever it was the road was in need of some serious maintenance.

We continued south west on a motorway to the town of Volos where the road finished just short of some new tunnels and we were suddenly on the narrow streets of the town. From there we took a two lane road that hugged the coast passing through a number of small towns and villages. We passed a number of busy beaches and a large cement works where no-one was making use of the sea over the road.

Beach South of Volos

Coast South of Volos

We reached Camping Sikia just before the settlement of Kala Nera. No sooner thad we pulled up on the steep slope into the camping ground than a woman dashed out of reception to greet us. She was closely followed by a colleague who put a chock under one of Mabel’s rear wheels. All very efficient.

The first woman took us on a conducted tour of the camping ground pointing out vacant pitches and facilities as well as detailing the opening hours of the taverna and shop. We had no hesitation in selecting a pitch in the shade of olive trees just one row back from the beach and next to the taverna and shop. We had an Austrian registered caravan on one side and just the camp’s spine road on the other. The remainder of the area was occupied by Austrian and Netherlands registered caravans and cars with tents. And there was a large Italian registered motorhome opposite us.

There were no facilities for dumping grey waste and filling with fresh water at Kastraki. We rectified this on  the way down to our pitch.

After setting up Mabel we ate lunch of bread, cheese and salami before I spent the afternoon working on the blog and Jane read and swam in the sea.

That evening we ate in the camping ground’s taverna. It was a great location at the back of the narrow beach. From our table we had a good view of the many people still enjoying the water as the sun began to go down. Two boys were having tremendous fun falling out of and climbing back into a small inflatable boat time and time again. It was obviously a game of their invention that required them to shriek with laughter. For starters I had dolmades, Jane opted for a feta salad which turned out to be mashed cheese with herbs. Mains were calamari for Jane and spaghetti carbonara for me. The food was excellent. Long after we finished eating there were still people on the beach and in the sea. As we ate a couple came into the taverna with three pugs wearing harnesses. I managed to get a scratchy photo of two of the dogs and emailed it to Ella. Pugs are her favourite dogs, We’ve no idea why!

Jane was enjoying watching the goings on so much we just had to order another half litre of wine and linger a bit longer. When it came time to leave the bill came with a complimentary glass of ouzo each. We felt we would enjoy our stay at Camping Sikia. 

Pugs

Today's Trip (164km)