Day 3 - Almost out of the woods!

We had agreed another early start, and after packing up our kit there was still time for a quick coffee and cake at the taverna. It was a cold morning, with quite a wind blowing from the east. We set off at a fair pace - so fast that we forgot to pay for our breakfast. Thankfully they didn't come racing afterwards, and we sent our Greek friend back to pay our debts!

The view back towards the village was interesting - Peristera sits between two folds in the hillside. It took us nearly an hour and a half to climb the sinuous path to the mountain pass to the village of Livadi, where we stopped for coffee. Livadi has a very alpine appearance - rough stone houses with roofs jutting out over long balconies. All was quiet as we wound down into the village, the sounds of our boots setting off dogs all down the hill.We strode into the coffee shop to universal quizzical looks - who were these madmen coming out of the mist? After a strong coffee, we approached the locals with our letter of introduction - the cafe was soon all chatter, people crowding around to look at the book, the photographs and the letter.

After a few friendly pats on the back, we were directed down the hill to the right path. We had begun our descent, and soon we had the most incredible views down the valley - a patchwork of fields and spinneys. Tyson remarked that it looked rather like New Zealand!

It brought us good luck, as the sun began breaking through the grey cloud. Down the valley the light caught the orange-brown of the freshly tilled fields, making a great contrast with the green woodland.We stopped for lunch at a village called Petrokerasa - a delightful place with a number of shops around the main square.

We had lunch beneath the shade of the tall trees, and called base camp in Australia to report on progress. After a slap-up meal we headed on down the mountainside towards our final stop - Kalamoto. The descent went on and on, through stunted ilex bushes and down into taller holm oak and acacia forests. We were making good time, when our track suddenly stopped at a field. Problem.

We could see a track far across the valley. We couldn't face climbing back up the slopes, so we made the joint decision to drop down into the ravine and climb up the other side. It was messy - descending through dense scrub and avoiding the sheer drops. We walked along the steam bed in the bottom of the ravine, and thankfully found a suitable escape route back to higher ground and rejoining our track.

Once out of the trees, we zig-zagged through the fields along narrow tracks, all the time looking for the lights of Kalamoto somewhere below us. I have to say that I was getting a little concerned - by rights we should have been on top of the village, but ahead all was dark. We splashed through a stream and climbed a final ridge thankfully the village was hidden in a fold.

We had arrived in Kalamoto, and were greeted warmy by the village president. We had a cracking meal, and the locals tried to convince Tyson to turn out as goalie for the village football team!

Tomorrow morning we try and find the hut outside Kalamoto, and then to the Miller's house!