the plot continues ...

So we have this patch of land - about an acre (4,000 sq m) with limited access. This had kept the price down. However, there's a wonderful bit of planning law in Greece which says that an area of land has access if a donkey with a load of sticks up to 1.8 metres wide could get to it prior to 1923. We have a piece of paper from the town hall which confirms this.

Right now, tho', there's only a dirt track from the village above, and due to some dodgy villa building up there the track has a sharp right angle bend with a nasty drop to one side - Dave can get the van round, but long wheel-base delivery trucks can't get past. There's a court case going on to put a proper road thru' which could of course take years. But for now it keeps us focused on using materials that we can manage ourselves, which is a good discipline.

Our first action was to buy a camper van - actually a converted Mercedes truck - that someone we met in the boatyard over winter was selling. The engine is knackered and the inside needs stripping and rebuilding, but it only cost 750 euros. Keith (the previous owner) drove it cross-country thru' the olive groves to get it on our land, where it will stay for the foreseeable future.

Pic: Dave wondering just what he's let himself in for.


We splashed out on a generator, which has instructions in Japanese and Greek only, and arranged for water to be put on the land. The plan now is to build decking around the truck; construct a 'shower block' (shed with shower, washing machine and compost loo); put solar panels on the shed roof linked to the truck batteries; strip and refit the camper's interior - then move in.

Dave building a box for the generator - showing mountain views to the West.

If all goes according to plan, this will be the dead of winter - so we may not have the stomach for it - but the sooner we can stop paying rent the sooner there will be money to put aside for the main building project.