Nafplio and bye bikes

Our last wild camp in Greece {and for the trip!} was in an overgrown apple orchard still up high in the mountains. We thought it was ok to pick a few apples for our breakfast porridge because many were rotting on the ground and then we enjoyed a  view of the mist clearing in the valley as we ate.  After climbing steadily for the previous few days we had earned the coast downhill  to the Aegean Sea. The Pelopenese mountains was a great ride to finish up on.  We were initialy a bit climb shy when we started out the trip but we came to realised it dosn't take long to work up the fitness that stops climbs being a slog. The stimulating landscape really makes the climbs worth while and you are usually rewarded with a downhill coast at the end.

 Wild eucalypts in Greece gave us a sniff of home.

crab crossing road near Olympia (do Greece have mountain crabs!?)

flying fox for the monks lunch?

 We stopped in Nafplio for a few days to make the switch from self-sufficient cyclists to hostel-staying backpackers.  Its a really beautiful small city. Set on a bay and having a preserved old town below a looming castle it's also  a popular tourist spot. Unlike other old Mediterranian coastal towns however it didnt feel like the locals were ropped off from the pristine tourist part. The lovely old town felt lived in and not overly fussy with lots of restaraunts and cafes more on the homely than the ritzy side of things. A really good place to relax.
We left our bikes to George, an old Greek man who ran an economy hotel called "Hotel Economou". It turns out that Economou is his last name but we never figured out if he used it for its insinuation of budget. He had been running a hostel across the street for thirty years prior and now runs the current cheap but very comfortable hotel/hostel.  Hoping he could pass on the steads to some local or thrifty traveller we jumped on a bus for Athens.