Saturday 11 June: Gytheo to Elafonisos

 The caged bird next door starts to sing at dawn. How cruel to keep it confined like that!  We are up early for a 8am start. Banana and cup of tea on the balcony. It’s incredibly clear and we can see right across the bay. Even though it’s a bit cloudy it’s still 23 degC at 8 am!

We cycle through orange groves which line the flat road that leads to Skala. This town is definitely not on the tourist trail! We buy sweet pastries  from a bakery and then eat them sitting outside a café a few yards on.

We make good progress through the flat orange groves and then the sandstone landscape beyond a bit like the Flinders range. After a while the road gets hillier and as we stop at a road junction a van stops right in front of us blocking our path. A lady gets out and puts handfuls of cherries from the back into a bag and hands them to us. She waves and they drive off. How lovely of them!

We find an actual picnic spot for lunch overlooking Archangelos and with fabulous views of the bay of Laconia. 

After 35 miles the route gets more challenging as the weather gets  hotter. 

Eventually we see the sign for the Elafonisos ferry and it’s a long swoop down. We cycle past the queue of traffic and are the last ones in the 2:30 boat. 20 minutes later we are on the beautiful island and 53 weary miles later check into hotel Berdoussis and have an Alpha beer on the beach. 

We’re very tired but manage a Greek supper overlooking the harbour. It is very busy as the Greeks celebrate Pentecost with a holiday.