We have spent the last few days clearing our stuff out of our boat, Nimrod, into Dora. We have disposed of three full bin bags of clothes that were not fit for anything as well as food that had dubious things growing in them! The other criteria was what could we physically fit into the van which as it happened was more than you’d think!

We spent each day at the boatyard but returned every night to our lovely spot at Pounda Zeza. One evening the occupants of the motorhome parked near us came across enquiring how we knew of this place as they’d been coming there for 20 years and wanted it kept a secret as the locals call the police if more than 3 vans are there. We pointed out that we’d known of the place for years as well so not much of a secret!

By lunchtime on Monday, we were all done and sadly said farewell to our beloved boat. We then made our way north towards Mount Olympus in northern Greece. It was a gloriously sunny day and the snow capped peaks of Olympus looked wonderful as we headed towards them. Our park up for the night was the old monastery of Saint Dionysios (P4N#105922). We noticed the temperature cooling as we headed north and as we climbed up the mountain the temperature started to drop even more. By the time we parked up it was only 6°C and not even dark so we were slightly worried the temperature would drop even further overnight. We popped the heating on low just in case as we didn’t want the frost valve to open and dump all our water!

The old monastery is slowly being restored after being bombed by the Nazis in WWII as it was a refuge for resistance fighters. It was built by a hermit in 1542 who lived in a nearby cave whilst he had completed his task. We walked to the cave and also to the nearby waterfalls. The climb to the summit of Mount Olympus can take two to three days and given that it was still snow covered, we decided not to attempt it!

We were then going to visit Dion, where the ancient gods were worshipped, and Vergina where the royal tombs of the ancient Macedonians are, including Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. However, the guide books didn’t tell us that all of these sites are closed on a Tuesday! Ah well, we made our way instead towards Pozar Thermal Baths. On the way we stopped at Edessa, which is perched up on an escarpment with supposedly amazing views and waterfalls through the town. Apparently, the Edessa region is responsible for one per cent of the world’s cherry production. To be fair, there were a lot of cherry orchards with lovely blossom on the trees. The place itself was fairly drab but the waterfalls were impressive so worth the detour.

We arrived at the thermal baths at Pozar around 17.30 and scouted out the best place to park overnight. We found a campervan park on site (P4N#59530) that is free at the moment as there are no facilities. Fine by us as it meant we could walk to the baths from the van. The pools themselves were amazing and only cost €3 per person for the natural pool that was a lovely 37°C. However, even that felt a little cool when the evening temperature dropped below 10°. It was incredibly relaxing. So much so that Liz was asleep before 22.00!

Miles driven since last post: 421

Total miles driven this trip: 2,227

Tolls: €68