The ship’s crew did their best to make up for their company’s mistake and were very nice to us. After being a passenger on a cargo ship it felt strange to be on a ferry. The ferry was 25,000 tons compared with 38,000 tons but also we realised how much normal passengers are kept away from the working ship. The ferry also went faster and we think had stabilisers.

After being in the flat lands of Italy, waking to the backdrop of the Peloponnese mountains was exciting. It was also a little scary. Could we cope with mountains, especially these big ones with plenty of snow on the top?

As it turned out we did not have to worry, not yet anyway. The route today was on the coastal strip which is fairly undulating. The mountain foothills do not reach the sea here.

The management made the best of the second to last remaining bit of reliable map to get out of Patra. Garmin is aware of Patra and even knows its way around Athens but anywhere further east is beyond the Americans. Mind you, the locals are not a lot better, treating maps as random places to draw red and yellow lines. Most unBritish.

Cycling out of the docks we went past several breakfast cafés. When we started passing groups of Albanians collecting wood for bonfires to keep warm we realised this may have been a mistake.

It was not until we reached the outskirts of Rio nearly an hour later that we came across a café for breakfast. Almost unbelievably after the cold cafés in Italy this one was warm. Furthermore it had proper sized cups of hot filter coffee, none of which was froth or chocolate. Civilisation had arrived.

Soon after breakfast we passed under the beginning of the impressive new suspension bridge across the mouth of the Corinthian Gulf. We were now committed to the southern side of the Gulf. The route we were cycling was a bit busy for us but a good introduction to a new country. It shares a transport corridor with the railway and the toll road, winding through a number of villages and the large town of Egion, each with lots of local life and colour. We even got a toot when we waved at a train approaching us on the adjacent railway line.

The scenery along the way is lovely. There were snow covered mountains to our right. To our left across the Gulf the mountains in northern Greece appeared to plunge into the sea. We were a bit unlucky with visibility, on a nice day it must be spectacular. Today it was fairly good.

Our dodgy 250,000 map indicated a nice way into Diakopto where we were staying for new year. After wandering through some hamlets and along a deserted beach the road deteriorated into track and then path. It finally stopped at the Patra to Athens railway line.

Railway lines here are not fenced. As in many situations outside the UK, where health and safety dominates, common sense is more important than silly rules. And we learned common sense as we grew up, unlike today’s kids.

Hearing no trains the stoker went to investigate. By walking along the line about 50 metres she came across a river bridge. After this there was a narrow path down to a road. The management crossed the line as quickly as he could with the laden tandem, squeezed it across the narrow linesman’s bridge over the river and descended to the road.

From here it was only about 1km to our hotel, although it was via the local rubbish tip. We can safely say that this is our last adventure in 2007. We discovered later that there is a train about every half hour, but then they are pretty noisy.

Days 34 and 35 Tuesday and Wednesday 1st and 2nd January 2008 at Diakopto

Being very tired from the ferry crossing from Italy and a day’s cycling we did not see in the new year. We were however awakened by a cacophony of huge firework bangs at midnight.

We took new year’s day very easily and after a late breakfast walked around the village and down to the sea. It was very quiet and everyone we saw looked rather hung over.

In the evening we went to the only open restaurant in town. We were shown into the kitchen to choose our meal from the dishes on the stove. This is by far the best way for people with our peculiar eating habits. We returned to the hotel and were disturbed by the locals who, having recovered from last night, were now celebrating again.

On Wednesday it was sunny and we decided to explore the funicular railway which runs from here 22km into the mountains. It is currently out of action. The Greek state railway bought the wrong rolling stock for the rack and pinion system. They hope to fix one or the other and say it will be running in April. They don’t however seem to realise that if they were to use the steam locos rusting away in the sidings they would have a world class visitor attraction. They seem to have similar foresight as the burghers of Weymouth and our railway to the quay.

We cycled up beside the line some of the way. It was soon too bumpy and we locked the tandem to a post before walking up the line. The stoker’s paces were perfect for walking on the sleepers. The short assed management preferred to walk beside the track where this was possible.

The railway follows what appears to be an impossible route through a deep gorge, perched on one side of a fast flowing river. It continues via cuttings, embankments and short tunnels, gaining about 200 metres in height in 5km. The sides of the gorge and the mountains tower above. They look as if they are made from sandstone with sculptured towers and caves caused by the swirl of prehistoric torrents. The management reckons it looks a bit like the scenery in a good quality western.

Just after 5km the track changes and in the centre is the rack with which the train engages to haul it up the next 17km and help it down on the way back. We walked on another km or so and as well as becoming steeper the tunnels and overhangs became more spectacular. We also walked past signs saying no trespassing.

For those interested in railways the track is narrow gauge, about 2 feet. It is in very good condition with standard rails on wooden sleepers. There are no proper chairs although a few of the sleepers have a recess for steel plates under the rails. The rails are held down by screw pins about six inches long driven into the sleepers. The track with the rack seems to be factory built. It has folded steel sleepers with rails and track attached laid as units. It was embedded in the track bed with no obvious ballast.

Having had a brief picnic, not very warm even in the sunshine, we returned to the tandem. We had walked just under 12km and the West Dorset Footsloggers should be impressed. After all one of us claims not to be a walker at all and the other has a dubious walking leg.

We returned to the comfort of the very pleasant ChrisPaul Hotel before returning to last night’s eatery for another nice meal.

Day 36 Thursday 3rd January Diakopto to Arhea Korinthos