Day 13 … and back again.

As we descend the hill we crisscross the road time and again, ensuring that motorists have fighting chance of avoiding us as they hurtle down the winding road.

There is no way I can persuade Nicholas off the beach road in search of a 3rd century Roman Villa. I have no idea how far away it is and with the bilingual information in Greek and Italian I comfort myself by snapping a pic and promising myself a little time in Google to find it.

Skala is much bigger than Katelios. It has a town centre set back from the beach, the beach is far too long for weary walkers, 4km. It seems we have arrived at the ‘wrong end’ and at some point we are going to have to trek down in search of the ‘bus-boat’. For now we take shade beneath the canopy of the “Mios traverna”. We decide that these are the two most well deserved ice-creams of the holidays.

Clare has been working the sunbed screen for nearly three years now. She moved from Birmingham in search of some fun and a relaxed lifestyle. After hopscotching around the Med she has settled in Skala.

Sun bedding is a cash business. She makes the rounds every 20 minutes or so. Her most recent skip along the scolding sands coincides nicely with our exhausted collapse onto two of her sunbeds beside the Bus-boat landing area.

I count two rows of 20 sunbeds. She charges 6 euros for the loan. Each one is full. That’s 120 euros right there. If each is only hired out just once each day that’s $180NZ right there. But people are coming and going quite regularly. Not a bad little earner, if you can get it.

Angelo is the happiest Greek we’ve come across so far and to be honest they are not known to be a particularly sullen nation. He wears a bright yellow bandana that matches his “bus-boat”. With a broad grin and a sharp salute to Nicholas he hails, “Welcome aboard, Captain.”

He is completely taken by Nicholas in his captain’s hat and refuses to take no for a answer when offering Nicholas the opportunity to ‘drive’.

Angelo has converted his paragliding speedboat into a ‘bus-boat’ – at 22mph it’s a quick ride.

I am kind of wishing we could have booked the bus-boat for tomorrow’s commute to the airport. It’ll definitely be more entertaining than the 45-minute bus ride, inarguably quicker if not cheaper than the 100 euros we’ll spend on the bus.