Travels with Spaniels: Christmas Eve in a Greek campsite

There's been a definite change of pace in Florence this week. As Christmas approached we concentrated on our preparations, and making our way slowly to the campsite where we plan to spend at least the next week. It's been a time for cleaning up, stocking the fridge and giving the spaniels chance to run free. It's also been rather wet down here in Southern Greece, so there have been a few days of staying in and putting our feet up.

Black honey, fabulous with Greek yoghurt

After making our way down through the mountains from Olympia, we had fetched up alongside a beach near Kalamata with a few other vans. We decided it was too good a spot to forsake for the centre of Kalamata, so we stayed a second night, doing our normal weekly shop in the local Lidl. No sooner had we returned than we were visited by a friendly couple in a pick-up selling local produce. We explained that we had just done our shopping, but were happy to look at their stock, and were delighted to part company with €13 for a large bottle of local wine, a huge jar of black honey, and a bag of proper Greek tomatoes - ones with an actual tomato taste. It's good to feel you are making a contribution to the local economy, and the honey in particular is fabulous.

There is always a queue at the post office

The next day we drove into Kalamata, followed by Gill and Barry, the British couple from Bulgaria, who were keen to find the car park we had searched out on Park4Night. We joined the queue at the post office, which stretched out across the pavement, only to discover that our hoped for parcels were yet to arrive. Fortunately there were three Christmas cards to cheer us up. Next it was off to Sklabenitis, the Greek equivalent of Waitrose, where we were planning to shop for our Christmas food and drink. Their range was a little wider than Lidl, and we were able to find some of the more unusual ingredients needed for our planned meals, as well as some nice Greek wine.

It was already mid-afternoon, but we wanted to make some progress towards Finikounta, where we are spending Christmas, so we drove across the peninsula to Pylos, a busy harbour town with ample motorhome parking in its sprawling boatyard. Three huge Dutch motorhomes were there before us, all over 8m long, but we tucked up alongside them, feeling like a size four trainer in a drag queen's shoe closet.

Boats in all stages of decay

The next morning we took a stroll around the town, walking along the harbour, around the huge castle walls, through the buzzing town square and back through the boat yard, where among the rotting carcasses were some sprightly veterans and seasoned travellers, one from Cowes, another from London. We stopped to watch a crane carefully lowering a smart yacht with a newly scraped and painted bottom back into the water.

We were both keen to get to our Christmas stopover, and nervous that it would be a disappointment, but there was only one way to find out. We set off on the half hour journey to Camping Finikes, half expecting to find it deserted, and to have to find our own way in. But as soon as we pulled up we were greeted by a friendly couple, who directed us to choose a pitch, and then find Rod, a British man who would show us around. We parked up on the front row, looking straight across shallow dunes to the sea, and then made the acquaintance of Rod, one of the long-term residents who also serves as the agent for the owners over the winter.

The spaniels are happy

We felt immediately at home. We had a great pitch, with a good view, water, electricity and shelter. The site was occupied, but with only four other vans we were hardly crowded. And best of all, a gate just in front of us leads straight out onto the beach, where the spaniels can run free and there is hardly anyone else around. We have spent a couple of days cleaning, putting up our handful of Christmas decorations, and doing some general maintenance. We've chatted to the neighbours, a German couple in a huge truck in which they have travelled from Patagonia to Alaska, and had Rod in for tea and a Greek mince pie. There is an excellent small supermarket ten minutes walk away, and a pretty village a little further which we have yet to fully explore. It's a good place to spend Christmas, and we are looking forward to some time standing still after five months on the move.