Day 69. 2.6.23
Ioannina to Igoumenitsa
Though we stopped in a car park by the busy bars and lake last night, it was a very quiet night. The tourist coaches didn’t come into the car park until 9am so it was just us, a couple of other vans and some cars parked.
We had to be out of the car park by 10am so wandered across the road for one last coffee by the lake. It was hot already which didn’t bode well for our drive to Igoumenitsa. As it was only an hour and a bit away we didn’t rush, stopping for a couple of breaks on the way.
Arriving at the ferry (new) port, we collected our tickets and had to pay an extra €11 because Gareth had booked me an ‘elderly’ (60 years old +) ticket like him, but the ticket office checked my passport and said I wasn’t old enough for the discount 
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We left the van by the ticket office and walked down to the old port. We stopped for our last Gyros pitta, I will definitely miss those and then a Radler and coffee at another bar on the waterside, hiding in the shade as it was very hot!
Weirdly there weren’t any touristy shops for us to amble around so we basically bar hopped back to the van. Meg doesn’t like the heat, doesn’t like the flies and doesn’t like the ants! She’s turning into a Prima Donna! 
. We’ve tried our best to keep her cool where we can, next time I think I’ll bring one of those cooling mats for her 
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Our ferry leaves at midnight and the port allows us entry from 6pm. The queue was massive with the holdup being down to security and customs opening up nearly every vehicle to check it.
Once through security, getting to the right spot is as chaotic as we expected it to be. Everyone parked where they think they should, in amongst all the big HGV’s and refrigeration units and just hoped for the best.
Eventually as the sun was going down a chap turned up and put us into an orderly queue.
We are camping onboard this ferry which means we stay in the van for the crossing. Sleeping and eating in our own van is better for us. We didn’t want to leave Meg on her own in the van or put her in a kennel. The last ferry we did with her we booked a pet friendly cabin, thinking it would be better for her, but the vibrations through the floor scared her and she was sick. Hopefully, staying with us in the van overnight will suit her better.
We’ll let you know how it goes. Gareth was imagining reversing the van up the ramp 
, fingers crossed this won’t be the case.
In all, we have spent 7 glorious weeks in Greece, had a bit of rain and wind but mostly sun and will be sad to say goodbye.
There’s something about travelling around it that makes you want to stay a little bit longer. The people are lovely, super friendly and very helpful.
We’ll definitely be back. Tomorrow we dock in Bari, Italy at @ 9.30am. This will be country No.11 for this trip .
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