18 September 2025 (sunny and hot 30C) 60km

Not the best night's sleep.

I'm using Julia's mat, which you can practically feel going down as you lay on it. Can't believe she was using this for so long.

This site had nicely positioned pitches, but all night the main road traffic was noisy. 

Didn't help that I lay awake keeping an eye on the timeline for the Liverpool v Athletico Madrid game.

Just as well we sneaked a winner at the end, to make it worth my while. 

So.. second day on Corfu.

Interesting to note that we have changed time zones. Wasn't light this morning until 7.30am and was dark by 7.45pm last night.

The days are definitely closing in and riding time will be shorter, so we need to make the most of our available light. 

Took off on the main road, which was busy. At least some things don't change, the Greek drivers are exactly as they were forty years ago....they have no idea. ! 

Came to a lovely beach and rode along the cycle track to the far end. Too early for a swim as we hadn't done any mileage, but we did want to eat our breakfast.

Scoured the village for a shady place to sit and finally had to settle for the front of an empty building, strewn with rubbish as usual. We sat on the steps eating our breakfast as a steady stream of tourists (mainly English) made their way down to the beach.

Then came the start of what would be continuous climbing for the rest of a long day and would be 60kms of riding.

The first climb certainly woke us up and it was whilst taking some photos half way up, that a Czech guy with a small backpack and some other gear, stopped and asked us about our trip.

Then he told us that he was walking around the island and he'd lost fifty kilos in the last year. What a great effort. 

Carried on with the whole up and down. To be honest, we were coping very well with the hills, but it was hot work and we were looking forward to a swim.

You can see a fire engine on a lower switchback and a white bus on nearer the top. Of course this was our road. There's not a lot of choice. 

But all these gorgeous bays had one big problem. We had to descend at least a couple of kms to get to them and then climb right back up after the swim. 

From up high, we'd been watching the millionaires super yachts moored in the turquoise clear water.

I can't even imagine what they would cost. 

When we reached the resort of Kalani, we decided to make the long descent to the beach, as it didn't look that far.

Of course it was further than it looked and with every metre we descended, we groaned inwardly at the thought of having to plod back up.

We finally reached the beach and went to park the bikes against a fence next to a paid parking lot. We asked the two smug prats who were keeping an eye on the lot of it would be ok to leave them there while we had a swim. They told us it would be Euro 3.

What, for two bikes??.

No...two bikes is Euro 6.

Piss off you Greek Twat, what a joke.

Cycled down the other end of the beach and found a section with a few cars but no one collecting money.

In for a 10 minute dip, then it was back up the hill, to pick up, where we left off. We decided it really hadn't been worth the effort at all. The beach hadn't even been that nice and it really makes you appreciate all we have in NZ. Just the fact that you can park for free, get changed for free, get showered for free and actually see the sand because it's not covered in loungers and sun umbrellas.

About 2pm we came across a rest area with a cover and a great view. The view was looking back at Albania and the city of Sarande. Had a quick snack there before pushing on. 

Once again during the afternoon we descended, this time to Kassiopi, which Brody and Aimee had told us was worth a look. And it was.

This is a beautiful little harbour village, but it was packed (with mainly English tourists again). Some lovely boats here.

We found a spot on the seaward side of the harbour wall and went in for another swim before riding around a promontory. This area had some lovely little coves….well they would have been lovely if they hadn't been covered in loungers and umbrellas. At least the water looked nice. Then it was back onto the main road, a lot of which was still uphill. 

How to ruin a gorgeous beach.

Julia hadn't been feeling good all day today, we think because she may have inadvertently eaten gluten yesterday, but we're struggling to think where. Maybe on some peanuts.

The heat, the hills and an ever increasing mileage were beginning to take it's toll.

We were getting close to our campsite, except no sign.

This is not an uncommon theme in Europe, but it is a very frustrating one.

Passed through the town of Roda, with a closed camp, but not to worry, the next one was just 2.3km away, but up a large hill (as most campgrounds seem to be!).

Got to the place it should have been..nothing. Ju checked the map and says it looks like we've passed it. Back down the hill to see if we've missed anything…. nothing.

So back up the hill when we were already exhausted, especially Ju as she'd been barely able to eat anything all day.

By now it was getting late and we were running out of time and with that, light. 

We had one more option, The Blue Dolphin Campground, not too far away.

Down a rutted road (of sorts) then head toward the beach.

Bingo......

Pulled into the gate and an older man came to the door.

Thank goodness we thought.

But no.... 

The guy tells us that after forty five years, he has decided to retire.

Although very tired and in need of a shower, we both wished him a happy retirement, (he was 78 so we figure he'd earned it!), as we pedalled toward the seaside town of Sidari, looking now for a room, as no camps for another 20kms. 

Decided to check out a hotel.

Cycled in and knew straight away, this would cost.

As it was the guy said they had no rooms left only a entire apartment.They recommended a family hotel just around the corner, but with the same result.

The time was pushing on now so we tried another suggested place.

Met a nice German lady and her daughter, who helped us find the owner, but same situation. 

Pete pushing his bike over the sand because the road ran out.

He told us of two places down on the beachfront at Sidari.

Cycled down and the first one had the same result.

They suggested the next one along..........where we secured a room for Euro 65.

Very bad lighting, couldn't open the door to the garden verandah, toilet made a right racket when flushing and the shower was rubbish.

But the worst of all was the air conditioning went off at about 8pm and never came back on. Couldn't find a remote for it.

The only saving grace to the whole debacle, was that Julia got to sleep in a bed.

Her tummy came right later on, but how she cycled that terrain feeling the way she did, was amazing, as it was just climb after climb.

Ju here, yep that was probably the worst day I've had on the whole trip, I was just exhausted. The 'end of trip little doddle round Corfu from one lovely beach to the next', was nothing like I imagined and I felt thoroughly dispririted with the whole island. Every beach is crammed with tourists, loungers, umbrellas, bars, restaurants and parking attendants. Everybody wants your Euro and I feel like there's no beauty left here because of it. Every piece of shade has been claimed by somebody and they're charging you for it in one way or another, so just trying to get a break out of the sun and off the bike is difficult. 

You're probably thinking “why not just take a break in one of the cafes?” But when you can't eat most of the stuff they're selling and you get charged over the odds for a coffee or coke, you just think actually, No! You can sod off. You can rip everyone else off but I'd rather cycle 60kms than play your little game.  (But it's probably that same stubborn streak that gets me over the hills!). I felt extra down because of the stomach pains and not enough fuel in the tank. But I was very glad for this day to be over.