There were massive thunderstorms during the night, especially one massive thunder clap that must have been directly overhead. It must have been loud as it woke me up, as I notoriously sleep through thunder storms. It wasn’t raining when we woke up, but breakfast was served in our room as it clearly wasn’t good enough for their usual alfresco breakfast. That said it was a pretty spectacular breakfast, with lots of local produce including Old Perithia jam, home made granola, honey from the hives up the hill… and more!

We started walking by about 8:30. The tourist car park was completely empty, so I expect the village had returned to its normal population overnight of three people and three dogs, if the history book in our room was still current. Today would be (nearly) all downhill, and the threat of rain seemed to have diminished significantly. An initally wide track soon became a tiny path zig-zagging down the mountain, following ancient walls along long abandoned forests.

I don’t know what the road up to Old Perithia looks like, or when it was built, but the thought of walking up and down these paths in “olden times” may have been one of the reasons the village was abandoned.

The narrow mountain/forest path eventually reached the culivated olive groves and the walking became easier. From this point it was a straight run down to the coast, although we did have to cross a busy road which was a bit if a shock after many days rural walking. We reached Corfu’s north coast, it was pretty breezy and overcast, so didn’t look too appealing to jump in. There were people swimming, so I’m sure it would have been fine.

We weren’t yet finished, as the Corfu Trail extended east along the beach and through a small forest towards Agios Spiridon. The puddles on the sandy path showed how much rain had fallen last night, and we could happily splash past them in our boots, but the trainer clad tourists coming the other way had to pick a careful route.

We reached a post, which may indicate the end of the route by about 11:30, but we pushed on to a bar to celebrate finishing properly, with two Fanta lemons and a Mythos beer (and three bacon rolls) – the beer seemed appropriate!

Our bus left from Agiou Ilia Junction, which was about a 30 minute walk inland, but not until 2:05. I wasn’t keen to rush off, as it wasn’t clear what was near the bus stop, but leaving early proved to be a wise decision. Firstly because there was a nice coffee shop and supermarket opposite the bus stop, and secondly because at about 1 pm the heavens absolutely opened and didn’t stop for a good hour. It was nice to watch out the window, but would have been dreadful to be caught in it.

It was a busy A12 bus to Corfu Old Town, but a 1.5 hour bus journey for under €5 is a bargain. I won’t dwell too much on Corfu town, other than to say it is very busy and it was good to know all the rural places we visited are within 2 hours of this modern type of “civilisation”. It rained the whole time I was there, Mick and Paul had booked an apartment for the night (I was flying later in the evening), and we managed to get to a bar for food and a final beer. I resisted visiting Mark’s & Spencers, and that might tell you all you need to know about Corfu Town.

The “facts and figures” from the B1 bus stop in Kavos to the A12 stop near Agious Spiridon: 10 days walking 176.5 km, 5,668 metres of ascent. The longest day was over six hours walking (25 km), and today (the last day) shortest at 3 hours 15 mins (13 km). While four of the days were under 4 hours, they were the first three, which acted as a good introduction and the day after the longest walk, which felt like a needed rest day. Overall the stages were well balanced, you could have walked further, but I don’t know what the accomodation would be like. As mentioned on day 1, the GPX file I downloaded (from somewhere – for free, so I fully to blame) was very wrong in places. It missed out some important bits, like the climb up to the “golf ball” on Day 5. We were very dependent on a turn by turn guide, which Paul had from relatives who had recently done a supported walk by Anna Apherghi.

The walk covered so many different types of landscape it is hard to pick a favourite, but based on my blog (which is why I write it “live”) I particularly enjoyed crossing the island from Paramonas to Benitses, with ascending the hills on both sides of the island, with the lush valley in between. There was also “interesting” cafes, and the last custard slice – aahh memories. I have added the points to my “interactive map” and will add the route when I can download my files, but in the interim here is a highly accurate rendition of our route. It shows how you can fit a 180 kilometre walk onto a 60 km long island!

I thought the blog would end here, but thanks to Easyjet cancelling my 11pm flight at midnight! It did allow an early morning walk around Corfu old town early in the morning, the best time to walk around a town and to join Mick and Paul on their Luton flight. Fingers Crossed!

For completeness the last day map…