It
was a very hot night - the outside temperature when we went to bed
was 31 C and at 7.30 the next morning it was 38 C. Fortunately, we
had bought a fan on a previous trip to an unseasonably hot Greece and
with that blowing on us all night, it was just about bearable.
We
had planned a quiet day today catching up with chores. The first
indication that something was awry was that the water in the sink was
very slow to drain. This is an indication that the van is not level
but it seemed worse than the night before. When Jane went out of the
van a little later, she discovered the problem - a very flat front
tyre. We have breakdown cover, so we registered the problem and were
told to expect assistance within 90 minutes. And we did - a very
Greek response.
A
father and son arrived at our pitch without a vehicle, a jack or any
tools at all. The father was the supervisor and the son did all of
the work. They used the (very inadequate) Transit jack and tools and
the son crawled under the van to recover the spare tyre. He had no
overalls, it was very hot and it is very difficult to remove the
spare. Despite the use of various mats from the motorhome, he was
soon covered in dirt, pouring with sweat and quietly cursing.
Eventually he got the spare out and had soon replaced the wheel. The
cause of the problem was very obvious – a screw head was visible in
the tread (for Les' benefit and those of a technical nature, it was I
believe a no. 8 cross-headed wood screw). They spoke no English but I
managed to establish that the tyre could be repaired and to explain
that I needed to know where I could get it done. With a map of Volos
(thank you Volos tourist information office) they wrote the name and
marked the street of the tyre repair shop.
The
rest of the day was, thankfully, uneventful. We barbecued on the
evening, starting with fresh corn on the cob, a real treat at this
time of the year in Greece.
Photos: Jane relaxes in the shade and the wounded
tyre relaxes against the olive tree on our pitch at Sykia Camping.
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