Sunny Sardinia

Hello again,

We decided to head down the East Coast of Sardinia and our first stop was only about a 40 mile drive from the port at Golfo Aranci at a little place called Santa Lucia.  We arrived quite early as our ferry had docked at 7am so we were keen to get set up and have a nice cup of tea, although saying that our supply of beloved Yorkshire tea bags ran out a couple of weeks ago so we were now having to sample an Italian replacement that were awful, but we did have an "emergency supply" up our sleeve that you will read about later in this post .  The site was in a pine forest and didn’t have any marked out pitches, you just had to take pot luck very, very carefully between the pine trees so needed eyes in the back of your head but with Julie looking outside the van we managed to manoeuvre ourself into position and get set up.  So after a “refreshing” cup of tea not, we headed down to the beach which was accessed directly from the campsite and it was just beautiful with fine white sand, something we hadn’t seen for a while as in Croatia there is very little sand to speak of.  The other weird thing was seeing the horizon in front of you again and when you looked left and right just beach, such a contrast to Croatia.   

It was great to have sand between our toes again so we decided to play silly buggers and try and get a photo of us jumping in the air, funny the things you do when you have time on your hands!!  Luckily the beach was practically deserted as if anyone was watching us they would have thought that we had lost the plot as it took a while to get the final picture as we had the camera on a timer and we were laughing so much.  Finally we got the picture we wanted so here it is along with a few of the out takes too!!

Out take 1:  Julie catching flies....

Out take 2:  "Ole".....

Out take 3:  Me completely missing and Julie star jumping.....

Finally we got the shot we wanted!!

We only stayed at Santa Lucia for one night and then headed to another site further down the East Coast just outside Tortoli.  We followed the SS125 one of the very few main roads on the island, we could have gone down the dual carriage/motorway to our next stop but that’s just too easy and to be honest there aren’t many and we wanted to see the real Sardinia and this road certainly did that.  It slowly climbed up and up bend after bend through some breathtaking mountains which we both didn’t realise that Sardinia had then we saw a sign for a panoramic view point so we parked up grabbed the camera and walked the few metres up to the view point which was simply stunning looking down on all the valleys and villages below.  

Once done we then carried on through the Genna Silana at an altitude of 1017m before starting our decent down towards the coast but first we came across a small village which this fantastic road runs through called Baunei.  We came across a few cars parked to one side and a tractor and trailer loaded with manure also stopped and thought they had just stopped outside the village coffee shop but as I passed them this small Sardinian cap wearing pensioner leapt out and began waving me to back up but I had the trailer on.  Not to blow my own trumpet but when it comes to reversing trailers I know my stuff through working on farms and agri-contracting many years ago but the simple fact is the bike trailer is so small and narrow that you just can’t see the bloody thing until it is jack knifed and at such an angle that it’s beyond all recovery so we find the best way in these situations is to simply un-hitch it while Julie drives/reverses the van and I manoeuvre the trailer to a suitable spot.  Anyhow the reason this cap wearing pensioner waved us back was that this village only had a single narrow road through the middle and to add to the equation the locals all park their cars down one side so making it even tighter and the big problem is you can’t see any oncoming traffic ahead so North traffic (including a lot of motorhomes as it’s a popular route due to the scenery) meets South traffic smack bang in the middle with nowhere to go “Oh what fun” but the pensioner has the time of his life directing all the cars, tractors & motorhomes so we did get through in the end by following the manure man in his tractor!!!!

We arrived at our site just outside Tortoli, only a small site but with great facilities and although it had trees it was nothing like the previous pine forest and felt much more open and was really quiet with only a handful of vans.  We bagged a pitch right on the beach front with nobody blocking our views of the beach for once and quickly got the van set up and had some lunch.

We then went down the beach and noticed the trees beginning to sway and I said to Julie as always "I reckon you would go on the 12m kite" so back to the van, all of 50 metres away, and started to get ready when I noticed a certain blonde haired young lady wearing a Kent Kite Surfing School hoodie looking around so a quick shout of “hello” and sure enough it was Sarah and her husband Steve, oh and not forgetting Samson their 11 year old chocolate labrador, bless him.  Sarah and Steve are regular visitors to Sardinia but usually around April after their ski season in La Clusaz in the French alps.  We were meant to meet up while we were in Meribel back at the beginning of our travels but for one reason and another it never happened.  We knew that they were planning another visit to Sardinia later in the year so once we had decided we were going to venture across we got in touch and it turned out that they were planning to be here in October too so over the last couple of weeks we have been in contact and arranged to meet up once we had arrived.  They too were travelling down the East Coast before heading further South and then back to the North where they have rented a house so it was perfect as this time we were in the right place at the right time so we arranged to meet up at the campsite.  It was so good to see them both and catch up and we all managed to get out on the water for a quick kite session in the sun before having dinner in the campsite restaurant. 

They also brought us our “emergency supply” of Yorkshire tea bags, funny how simple things can mean so much sometimes so we were very grateful.  They headed off the next day but we will be meeting up with them again when we head back up to the North.

After 3 nights we have moved further South down the East Coast and are now at a site at Costa Rei and the van is parked practically on the golden sandy beach and we can hear the constant sound of the waves which I find quite relaxing to fall asleep to, although Julie doesn't as much as she is a much lighter sleeper!

We can't believe how hot it is for mid-October, it's like mid-summer again with daytime temperatures of 25+ and in the evening it's 20+ so warm enough to sit outside with just a t-shirt.   Saying that we haven't been this far South since we left Southern Spain back in June.  The water temperature is really warm too, probably the warmest we have had, it's rare for me to be messing about in the water for long in just a pair of board shorts unless it's scorchio but I have been in and out of the water all day everyday.  The water is so clear and it's new territory for us too as it's the Tyrrhenian Sea here which lies between the East coast of Sardinia and the West coast of mainland Italy.

I even went for a surf in just board shorts and a rash vest as the waves here are always teasing me.

As usual we have been out exploring the area on the XT, there are so many beaches tucked away down little dirt tracks so we are glad we have the XT as many are inaccessible by car and definitely not motorhome friendly.

One of the main roads we followed was lovely tarmac but then it just turned into a dirt track for about 2 miles before becoming tarmac again.  The campsite we are at is called Capo Ferrato but the directions on our Camping Cheque app said  don't follow the signs to Capo Ferrato (the area) but head to Costa Rei and we know why now, but I wonder how many fellow motorhomers have made that mistake, luckily not us for a change as although our sat nav does like to send us cross-county sometimes this time she behaved herself and sent us directly to Costa Rei.

Where's the tarmac gone??

Until next week....

J&J

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