I needn’t of worried about the easy day yesterday as today was full on and one of the best walks I’ve done – well, definitely in the top 10. It was so varied, starting at the east coast, climbing high into the hills, dropping down into the central heath lands, before climbing again to a magnificent view of the west coast and Albania.

We started earlier than ever, and were straight into a hard climb through olive groves, rising 350 metres in something like three kilometres. It was hard going, but the cool of the morning, the views and the complexity of the narrow path helped take your mind off it.

Another feature of this route was fairly frequent options to stop for coffee. Our first stop was Ano Pavliana (or Anna Pavlova, as us uncouth Brits call it, failing to grasp any Greek language – I will try harder, and have learnt to say thank you). We stopped at a tiny shop/cafe, where we had double expressos (americanos were not on the menu), and a couple of mass produced individually wrapped long life croissants for breakfast. Not “haute cuisine”, but perfect for three hungry walkers at 9 am.

We headed down hill, which personally I find harder than up hill, through lots of different scenery, steep stoney paths, onto olive groves and heath land. All the time the forested hills were around us. A quick stop in Stroggili for another coffee, and the last slice of an excellent custard slice – sorry guys you need to be quicker! ;)

This led to the second climb of the day, which was more gentle in terms of gradient, but longer in distance up to another 350+ metre high point. We passed about four churches on the track, which made me wonder if it was some form of pilgrim route. The views over the valley, and the route we had taken down from the villages on the other side were excellent.

From Dafnata, I had a route straight down to Benitses where we were staying. However, the official Corfu Trail had other ideas and we traversed above the town on roads, before plunging down difficult paths into the town. For the final bit, it seems we were following an old aqueduct which took water into the town. We passed a water treatment works, so maybe it still does. The most disappointing bit is that we need to retrace our steps up this path, to about 180 metres above sea level, first thing tomorrow. I don’t mind hills, but I’d rather not know how hard they are!

Benitses is the most touristy place we have visited so far, with the benefits of good (open) supermarkets, cash machines and a huge choice of food. On the subject of food, we acted on one of my friend Gelly’s recommendations, for both a resturant and greek dishes. I had Bianco, with sea bream (unfortunately the trawler men are on strike and there was no scorpion fish, but at €95 per kilo perhaps it was a lucky escape) which was excellent, while Paul had Bourdeto, with dog fish which may have been a bit too spicy for him. Strangely, the waitress (and owners daughter) was originally from Carshalton, Stanley Park Road, and less than a mile from where I was brought up. She recognised our “Sauf London” accents, and I’m sure felt back at home! These were excellent recommendations Gelly, thanks.

I have to stop writing now, as I am desperate to catch up on Celebrity Traitors (only so I can look at my phone without seeing a spoiler!).