Kicking around Kefalonia Monday 9th October

We are staying at Katelios which a small village on the most southern tip of the island. Hereabouts there is a small, but well stocked, "open all hours " shop, a bakery, a taverna/restaurant and several holiday accommodation buildings. Walk about 800 yards down the road and you arrive at the seashore. The village itself stretches for about 150 metres along a road/promenade. On the right are tavernas with holiday apartments above and to the left wooden gazebos where the customers are served next to the beach.

 The main attraction in our accommodation is undoubtedly the swimming pool and surroundings. The pool is 25ms oblong with a hexagonal extension on the deep end giving plentiful space for everyone. Not that there are many people here. The social area,  called the bar is pretty popular as well. 

What can we say? Quiet, verdant, atmospheric, with some spectacular Carboniferous limestone crags in the background. This is typical of the topography of this rugged and arid island. 

I must confess that our accommodation is a little more Spartan than we were expecting. But what better country to be Spartan in? The bed was flat, the fridge cold and the toilet worked so what more could we want?

We were located in one of four apartments round the back but whose balconies faced full sun nearly all day.  The next door to us was unoccupied most of the time. Next to that was Mary, from Carradale, a solo holidaymaker. On the end was the redoubtable George, also on his own and hailing from Frinton on Sea. As it transpired our fates were to coalesce as we moulded into the "Dungeon Gang".

The Dungeon Gang minus Nigel on the harbour front at Agostoli about to embark on a loggerhead turtle hunt. You can find out if they managed to locate any of these endangered animals by reading the next blog.

This is a view looking back at Katelios from the hills to the east when driving over to Skala, the next resort along the coast. You can see the breakwater and little fishing  harbour but the village itself is not visible in this light. The landmass visible in the background of this picture is the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese peninsula. 

Finally looking east on the same journey towards Skala you can get a good idea of the typical country. A sparse population living in an area not yet exploited by tourism. Look at those lovely long sandy beaches, without a soul on them. There is plenty to go round.