15 September 2025 (sunny and hot 31C) 0km

I was awake for the most part from 4am this morning, although the latter part through until just after 6am, I did doze. 

After both waking properly, we walked down to the public beach we found yesterday. Not a soul there and it looked beautiful.

Began with a workout and while we were doing a bit of yoga and strength work, two female Instagrammers appeared.

They were two good looking girls and boy, did they have the moves.

Move here...shuffle there...head back...hold those grapes over those pouted lips. Show off that booty...push those boobs forward...hand on hip.

It was very interesting seeing just how serious they were, but like Julia said to me, "that hour's work has probably paid for their holiday here." 

So...that's it guys...prepare for "Sensual Daddy" the latest craze on the blog...coming soon....!! 

Workout done and into the water for a swim. Still no one else in the water.

The instagrammers had gone, despite the fact they were wearing bikinis, they never got them wet. They certainly did not want to get those long manes wet, or have that full face of make up running into the water. 

As we came out a Swedish guy (originally from Kosovo) approached us.

Spoke no English at all, but we somehow found out that his name was Veli, he had three sons and a daughter, the oldest being 43 years old.

He fought in the war (Balkan) and he was 68 years old. His wife was coming to meet him and they were driving to Kosovo.

Had a lovely time drawing numbers in the sand or counting on fingers. It doesn't matter whether you speak the same language, you can still form a bond.

Back into the water, by now there were a couple more instagrammers and the odd person coming onto the beach.

Veli was chatting when we came out, so we left him to it and walked back to the apartment.

We can't believe the amount of bars/restaurants/clubs here and wonder if there is any foreign money invested as some of these places are very plush.

Passed a bakery on the way and went to buy two cheese and spinach triangles, (for me), but had forgotten to bring any money.  Apologised to the girl and she told me it was ok, take the goods and just bring it down later.

Very matter of fact attitude and so I got one to go with breakfast and one for lunch. Very trusting of her. 

When we got back to the apartment, we quickly packed up all our gear and hightailed it out of town. 

Now who thought I'd do that....?

Thank you very much for your faith in me... You should know I'd only do that for a full English breakfast....🤣🤣 

Spoke to Dad over breakfast and gave each other the latest news. He's doing well, which is a weight off our minds and still keeping his fitness work up. 

Not too much later it was back down the beach before it became too hot.

Even on the way down you could feel the intensity in the heat.

Passed the bakery and paid for my cheese and spinach triangles.

Arrived at the beach to find a different scenario this time. Couldn't find space to lay out a towel.

Veli was still there on his airbed which he'd pumped up whilst we were there earlier.

Masses of people, lots in the water, you could literally feel the heat coming off the bodies.

Found half a metre and dumped the gear before immersing ourselves in the water, which wasn't too bad.

With no room to lay out, we sat on the three metre wall overlooking the beach and bay, watching people jostling for space as we dried off in the sun. 

It was a hot walk back, picking up some fruit on the way.

Both cold showered before a nice omelette for lunch.

Shortly after finishing as we were sitting round the verandah table, the people in one of the other apartments came across for a chat.

Zoitsa and Alberto were Albanian but spoke excellent English and gave us a couple of tips about places to visit.

That sounded too tiring in this heat so we crashed on the bed for an afternoon kip instead.

I totally understand why some of these countries start early, kip in the middle of the day and then go back to work later. This kind of weather is so draining.

The way we are headed with climate change, it'll only be a matter of time before New Zealand’s temperatures are up there. Feel sorry for those working outside in it, especially manual labour. 

Pottering around cleaning my bike whilst Julia worked on the blog and did some washing.

Only tomorrow left here now.

Funnily enough our connection with the people we've met here and the conversation we had today, plus the places we've found to swim and workout, have endeared this place to us.

Zoitsa and Alberto shed some light on Albania with us today.

Apparently nobody used to live in Ksamil and the government in the 1960’s wanted to get oranges and olives growing here. So they built five five-storey apartment blocks, a medical centre and a movie house and told the people of Albania that if anybody wanted to move there, they would get given an apartment.

And so Ksamil started with a population of 2000. Now there are about 10,000 full-time residents.

Another interesting piece of knowledge was that pensioners only get between Euro 80 - 150 per month, (so between $160 and 300NZ).

Rural pensioners are at the lower end of the scale and struggle to survive.

Interesting to note that there are pensioners here in Ksamil sitting on the street advertising rooms to rent.

Hardly surprising. 

Because cash payments are everywhere in Albania, keeping a handle on tax payments would be nigh on impossible, yet the amount of people who drive really nice, late model cars, especially Mercedes, Audis and Volkswagens is ridiculous.

Not bad in a country where an awful lot of men, spend an awful lot of time sitting in cafe/bars drinking a lot of the day away. 

At 6.45pm we took our usual walk into town to eat.

The guys who work at Fourth Island, the restaurant, have been really nice and we enjoyed chatting to all of them at different times tonight.

We can see the difference in numbers, even from the first night we came here and tonight there was only us and one other couple.

The waiters were saying that come October, all the bars, clubs, restaurants etc will be closed until April and most of the staff will go back home, a large percentage to Tirana.

These three guys were university students and after finding out what they were studying, it was interesting to hear their views on the country and where it's come from (communist era).

They talked about the levels of corruption and how that needs to be addressed going forward.

The meal was enjoyable, as always and the walk back home nice and peaceful.

At 9pm we rang Toffa and enjoyed a great chat with him.

That's one of the aspects of the trip that's been good for us, the ability to stay in visual and written contact the whole way through.

There are days when just knowing you will be talking to someone you care about, gives you that boost you need to get the job done. 

By the time we ended Toffa's call, it was time to hit the sack.