Parked at the beach, and Max's AdBlue

It kind of felt like we wasted the day at the laundromat! But, we still managed to put on a few miles and get out of the very busy area around the city of Patras. Patras is the third largest city in Greece with a population now around 200,000 but I thought it felt much bigger than that.

The laundromat was located on a pretty busy street and we got lucky that Max was able to fit into one of the four parking spots right at the laundromat itself. One of the benefits of having a short motorhome!

This is one of the chain of EasyWash laundromats they have here in Greece. We had quite a lot to do including bedding and it all cost €5 to wash and €6 to dry. So €11 ($16 CAD, $12.50 USD) in total.

Then we stopped at a Lidl to pick up a few more groceries.

It was almost 2:00pm before we finally got out of the city.

Heading out of the city of Patras.

Scenery along the way.

From what I read, the section of coastline west of Patras isn't that nice. A lot of camper reviews complained of trashy beaches and potentially unsafe situations including several muggings and robberies. None of that sounded appealing to us, so I wanted to get further away from the city into a more rural location.

They drive just like in Mexico.

The two lane highway south was quite busy. There is a wide paved shoulder though, so slower moving vehicles drive on the shoulder, while faster vehicles pass in both directions. We are kind of used to it because they often drive the same way in Mexico, but if you are new to this type of driving it can be a little nerve wracking the first time.

Not a very scenic area.

A little muddy.

We finally got to our turnoff, and it was paved for a while but then it got a little muddy. One section was kind of iffy and I got out to check and see how solid it was. I figured Max would make it through, so we went for it. Ruth took a video for you...

No problem!

Max, parked up at GPS 37.79729, 21.2565

Nice enough spot. Good for a night, and not too far off the main road.

Deserted beach in both directions.

When we arrived, there were a couple of older men there. They didn't speak any English, but I mimed like we wanted to sleep for the night, and I think he was saying that we can park anywhere. So we did, and it turned out to be a totally peaceful night.

It was colder than forecast though. In fact when we got up this morning we decided to drive right away to warm things up rather than putting the furnace on.

Doing the short drive to Katakolo this morning, Max's low AdBlue warning light finally came on for the first time.

AdBlue is the European brand of Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) that has to be refilled on a regular basis. It's part of the emission system. With Max's Citroen chassis, the AdBlue holding tank is quite large at 17 liters so it took until 5,100 kms before the warning light came on. And even when the warning light comes on, you can still drive about another 2,000 kms before it will cause a problem.

They sell AdBlue in large containers at most gas stations here, and some gas stations even have AdBlue available the same way you buy diesel or gasoline... at a pump.

So I'll have to fill that up at some point soon.

Today, we will do some hiking around Katakolo and then tomorrow to the archeological site of Olympia.

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