Camping night

Beach dinner

Beach dinner

We went camping!

Fiona had a day off, so we packed our camping stuff and as she came back from work we drove South.

After careful studying of the wind, we decided to go to Elafonisi.

Sunset in Elafonisi

Sunset in Elafonisi lagoon

We got there at dusk. We sat on the rocks by some natural pools and enjoyed the beautiful sunset as we were eating our yummy bean salad. On the opposite side of the sky, the full moon was rising. Giugiu and Sofia were very excited and performed some full moondance.

We put up our tent just behind the beach, not far from a bunch of other campers, some with campervans, some with kids, some with bicycles.

Moondance

Moondance

Before bedtime, we looked at the nightsky all together, identified some constellations, a planet, some planes. There was a cool breeze, Fiona and I lied on the mat under the sky for a while before retiring to the not-really warmth of the tent.

The morning came fast, sunrays hitting our thin walls that had become still overnight.

Breakfast table

Breakfast table

We set the natural table and had a beach breakfast.

After packing, we walked to the little island. We were among the first people to get to the small coves looking East along Elafonisi. No wind, hot sun, incredibly clear water. We sat by a big rocky mushroom that would provide good shade later. And we all ran in for a beautiful morning swim. Giugiu practised her recently learned front crawl technique, and demonstrated how she’s now comfortable with her face in the water. She was looking for little fish, together with Sofia who was scouting with her head well above the surface! We also played with the ball a bit.

In the morning

In the morning

Fiona had a little swim. I tried the big wetsuit jacket from Bruno on, swam with my crutch up my throat for a while, and decided never again. I was warm but really uncomfortable and very short of breath. I had a second swim just with goggles which I enjoyed a lot more. Fiona was recognized and emphatically greeted as the famous receptionist by some hotel guests. More and more people started trickling in, lots of Italians. It must have been noon when we left, still exhilarated. We stopped at a restaurant near the monastery on the way back, where we had some good small fried fish, parrot and other. Then we slowly made our way back in the car, taking the coastal road from Stomio through Livadia up to Kampos, fantasizing about spending the whole summer living the simple life in this remote and beautiful part of the island.

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