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

x

Italy - East Coast to West Coast

Yep it’s that time again but we know you haven’t had enough of us yet as the blog views are still climbing and we have now had well over 9,200 hits which for us is fantastic.

Our first stop back on mainland Italy was at Lago Trasimeno which is sort of in the middle and is the 4th largest Italian lake which covers 128 square kilometres.  We only really picked this spot as it was a handy mid-way stop between East and West on our route to Livorno to catch the ferry across to Sardinia but we were really pleased with this lovely little site called Camping La Spiaggia situated right on the lakes edge and within walking distance to the village of Passignano with it's castle ruins up above.   We got a great spot right at the edge of the lake too.

There are 3 islands on the lake, Polvese, Minore and Maggiore, Maggiore is the only one that is inhabited with roughly 30 people and also the one that we decided to catch a short boat trip to while we were there. We had a good walk around the island which didn’t take that long as its only very small and while waiting for the ferry back we found a nice spot to have a beer in the sun and to support the local residents (well that’s our excuse anyway).  

After 2 nights here we then hit the road again to a little site as close as we could find to the ferry port at Livorno which also happened to be a stones throw from Pisa and it’s famous leaning tower.  The campsite was well off the beaten track and tarmac roads come to mention it with just gravel/dust tracks for the last mile to the reception and this site was an agri-tourism site which basically is a farm or house with the facilities to camp and usually family owned.  We were made very welcome by the lady and told we could go anywhere we wanted so after a quick walk round we picked a pitch overlooking a lovely fishing lake owned by the farm (as you should know by now we are always by water of some description).  Once the van was all set up Julie piped up with “I wish I had a fishing rod” which she had mentioned a few times while in Croatia but it was one of those things when packing the van up back in January that I think we didn’t need.  So after a quick search for the nearest Decathlon on the sat-nav it was on the XT and off to buy fishing gear for Julie.  We opted for a simple whip style of set-up as it’s quick and easy and packs down small so with whip, hooks, floats, disgorger, lead weights, line and a few different baits it was back to camp and to catch us some fish!!!!! One thing I must add is although Julie does fish she doesn’t touch the fish nor the hooks or the bait so really she loves casting and catching and leaves the rest to me!!  After trying various different baits (sweetcorn, bread, cat food & some soft lake pellets) it didn’t take long before we started to hook into some small bream (we think that’s what they were anyway), but they all seemed to be about the same size and we never did catch the elusive big one….

The next day we said that we would shoot into Pisa and have a look round so back on the XT and a nice ride through the countryside until we got into the centre of Pisa.  One thing that we love about having the XT is that you can park basically anywhere and also if you spot something that catches your eye you can just pullover and stop and grab a photo etc etc.  We parked the bike right at the entrance locked the helmets up and strolled in through the City walls and were amazed at the three beautiful buildings before us in this lawned area, and you just can’t miss the huge Bell Tower leaning 14ft one way that it shouldn’t.  It’s quite strange coming from my background (Construction/Demolition) and looking at this thing thinking OMG how has it not fallen over or crumbled to a heap of stone so after all the photo taking we went and found out some interesting facts.  Back in 1991 it was at a point so close to collapse that something had to be done so a team of specialists came up with an idea to build a concrete collar around the base but with no concrete actually coming into contact with the stone work and then putting 60, 10 tonne lead weights on the collar on one side to try and sink the high side a little to straighten it up a bit but that wasn’t enough so they added another 27 weights making a total of 870 tonnes of lead, they then dug underneath and buried the same lead weights which did actually work and brought the tower back into a safe position, once this was completed they then did some remedial work on the foundations with huge ground anchors and drilled 47m down into the ground to almost peg it down, they then removed the collar and lead weights completely and so far so good it’s still leaning but it’s safe.  Like any project it wasn’t without it’s problems though as at one point when carrying out the works it’s tilt actually accelerated to a point where all work was suspended until they came up with the final method.

Our time on mainland Italy was now coming to an end with another ferry trip imminent and as the last one was a bit sketchy getting the van on and off we were a bit worried what this one was going to be like.  We left our lovely little campsite and found our way to Livorno port and waited for our ship to come in, well when it docked right next to where we were queued up it was huge and with the name of The Mega Express you could see why!!! Julie had booked our crossing prior via the good old internet and was pleasantly surprised by the efficiency of this Ferry Company (Corsica & Sardinia Ferries) replying straight away via email with our tickets etc etc, a vast improvement on the last lot (Blue Line Ferries). This time we knew what had to be done to get the van on safely but much to our liking this company took great care getting the vehicles on.   Julie went walk about while I waited in the van and found a little Italian chap who was in charge of the loading/unloading of the vehicles and explained to him that our van was pretty low on the back end to which he replied, “don’t worry” well our turn came to load and with that he waved us forward and guided us on the ramp but this time they took you on at 45 degrees to the ramp not straight up plus Julie was also out watching at the back and the big difference was that they put us on the bottom car deck so the ramp was only shallow thank god - it’s funny that the small things can make such a difference and the other good thing with the Mega Express is that you drive right round to the far end of the boat so you are then pointing in the right direction ready to unload the other end so no 10 point turns needed!!

Once onboard we went for a walkabout around the ship, again we were like two excited kids on an adventure, but I guess that’s what we are I suppose.  The ship was just amazing and so much better than the Blue Line one, we couldn’t believe it, it was like a mini cruise ship and really quite posh.  It had a couple of different restaurants, the usual self-service type and then another one, a proper sit down jobbie with all the bells and whistle, best crystal glasses and fine bone China and there was even a dance floor too.

You then went up an elaborate spiral staircase to the upper deck with an open-air beach bar area with a small swimming pool and cocktail bar, it had everything from funky music, disco lights and a bamboo & grass roof, the only thing missing was the sandy beach but we knew that was to come!!! 

We then went down a couple of decks and found a nice piano bar with a young Italian lady playing some chilled out tunes so we found ourselves a comfy corner and relaxed with a drink which was delivered to us by a waiter along with some complementary snacks, it was like a cruise I guess, but for us for one night only.

This time Julie and I had decided to treat ourselves to a cabin rather than try and get a good nights sleep in a so called “comfort reclining seat” so we retired to our cabin for a glass of wine and then settled into our comfy beds for the night, it was well worth the extra £55. It was amazing and really spacious too, we thought so anyway after living in the motorhome for over 9 months now, and as we were on the upper deck it even had a huge rectangular window and not a tiny porthole.  The whole cabin was immaculate and the bathroom even had a full size shower, to be honest it was better than some of the campsite toilets/showers we have experienced and we have done a few now!!

We arrived at Golfo Aranchi in Sardinia to a beautiful morning feeling quite refreshed after a good night’s sleep and made our way to the van ready to unload.  Our little Italian chap was again brilliant and waved us forward, again telling us to cross the ramp at a 45 degree angle with him watching carefully along with Julie at the back, they even had rope mats that they threw under the rear wheels just to give you that vital bit of clearance, not just for us but for other motorhomes/caravans/artic lorries etc.  So once we were back on terra ferma Julie shook him by the hand and thanked him for being so helpful and then jumped back in the van ready for our 40 mile trip to our first stop on the Island of Sardinia.

It’s funny how you get a feel of places and straight away we knew Sardinia was going to be right up our street.

Arrivederci for now.

J&J
x

Farewell Beautiful Croatia

Hello once again,

We spent a couple of nights on a huge campsite called Zaton Holiday Resort just outside Nin, thankfully it’s now low season again as the site was just absolutely massive.  The lady at reception told us that they have approx 1,500 touring pitches with a capacity of 6,000 people plus another 3,000 people in separate apartments but as it was closing for the season at the end of September it was nearly empty.  It was just a stones throw from Nin itself which is the oldest Croatian royal town and is located in a shallow lagoon 14km away from Zadar, it is only 500m wide and can be accessed by one of two old bridges, the one in the picture below is the lower city bridge with a bronze statue of Duke Branimir to the right before you walk over it.   It’s full of history which we won’t bore you with but for such a small place it has much to see, so we had a walk around and just took some more photos.  

 Bishop Gregory of Nin

Church of the Holy Cross which apparently is the smallest cathedral in the world and dates back to the 9th Century

After leaving Nin we headed South to another National Park, Krka which is located in the Sibenik-Knin County and covers an area of 109 square kilometres.  It was quite funny as we had chosen a campsite from our ACSI book, Julie also has the app on her phone which has been a great tool as it gives the same info as the book but with the added  bonus that you can read reviews from other campers/motorhomers in English and various other languages and after 8 months on the road we have now become quite skilled in the art of reading between the lines and sieving the wheat from the chaff as they say! It said Camping Marina was a family owned & run campsite and it had a couple of reviews,  one of which said “the campsite is a huge disappointment not because of it’s location or facilities but because the staff are blatantly rude and unfriendly……..the owners are your best friends until they have showed you to your spot but after that they do not care about you…….save your money and go to Camping Krka instead which is right next door….”  So as we arrived sure enough there were the two campsites literally side by side both with huge signs saying only €12 a night, it looks like they were originally houses/farms with land at the back which they have now turned into small campsites to make money from the visitors to the Krka National Park.  As we pulled up there was a large bus stop/layby outside and with that the lady from Camping Marina was waving us into her site and then came running out with a clipboard under her arm and said “come in, come in” sure enough she was now our new best friend.  We said we would have a look around so she herded us around like a sheepdog showing us the pitches and the toilets/showers etc and we said thank you and then made a dash for the exit and casually walked into Camping Krka next door.  Again a lady welcomed us but she was far more laid back spoke perfect English and showed us everything we needed but wasn’t at all pushy but did ask about the lady next door so I guess they aren’t the best of friends either! The sites were almost identical under small pine trees but the facilities were far superior at Camping Krka with a brand new toilet/shower block.  I tip toed back to the van, jumped in and drove the few metres into Camping Krka without a backward glance but I am sure our new best friend was now our new worst enemy…….!!

We grabbed a leaflet from reception about the Krka National Park and it seemed very different and more spread out than Plitvice as it has several different areas/gates that could only be accessed by catching a number of different boats, or by coach both at an additional cost, or by yourself using your own transport so we opted to explore using the XT as the area looked lovely with scenic winding mountain roads and lovely views.  The park has 7 waterfalls at various places along the vast Krka river, the main and most famous ones being the SKRADINSKI BUK falls, again they have all been formed over thousands of years by the travertine process just like at Plitvice. So the next day we took the bike down to the little village and marina of Skradin where we bought our ticket which included a free return boat trip up along the river Krka directly to the most famous part of the park the SKRADINSKI BUK falls. 

As we approached the landing pontoon all we could see was the mist rising above the trees and all we could hear was the almost deafening noise of tumbling water so we knew it was going to be a spectacle to see.  

Usually you are allowed to swim in the pools under the the falls, but this year earlier than expected there is so much water now that it’s far too dangerous. You might just be able to make out the swimming area marked by a rope & buoys in this first picture - at the bottom in the centre just above the wooden handrail.

We had a walk around this section which also has old watermills that were built back in the 19th Century and used for milling grain and grading woven woollen items.  Some of the old mill buildings are now coffee/souvenir shops but it’s amazing as the water just tumbles along next to the stone walls, bridges and mills.

We carried on round the paths and boardwalks until we reached the other side and got an impressive view down over the SKRADINSKI BUK falls to the boardwalk we walked across when we arrived.

We got the boat back to Skradin where we had left the XT and then headed off to the ROSKI SLAP part of the park.  Again it was different altogether so we had a walk round and then spotted a wooden staircase.  The sign said there were 517 steps up to a cave so we started to walk up the steps but it was quite hard going but “mad dogs & Englishmen” and all that, we kept going and said these caves better be good.  We got to the caves which to our relief were really quite impressive so it was well worth the effort, hard to believe stone age man had actually lived there, I can just imagine him saying to his wife "right I'm off down the mountain to get some water, I'll be back tomorrow" as obviously there wasn't a convenient staircase there then!!.  From the staircase you also got a great view of the ROSKI SLAP which was more like a huge set of rapids.  We carried on exploring other parts but to be honest some areas were so far apart and you could only view them from the road so we decided to call it a day and head back to camp.  We did enjoy the Krka National Park but for us Plitvice had more of a WOW factor with stunning waterfalls and lakes at every turn although I guess it would be the icing on the cake if we had had the opportunity to swim under the SKRADINSKI BUK falls but there’s always next time!!!!.

From there we headed further South along the stunning coast road to our last stop in Croatia the island of CIOVO near a beautiful place called Trogir that we passed as we crossed the small bridge onto the island.  

The campsite was small and had a really nice beach where we had a chill out and also went paddle boarding to some coves on the opposite site, again in crystal clear flat waters. 

We had a day out exploring on the XT too and found some amazing tracks that gave us breathtaking views over the many islands.

We decided to go into Trogir to have an explore on our last night in Croatia and treat ourselves to a meal. It really was a quaint little place with many small narrow side streets which again reminded us of Barcelona & Venice.

This was the same sailing boat that we had seen in one of the coves when we went out exploring on the XT.

And this was moored up outside the restaurant, it was absolutely huge and called "Forever One", Julie could have stowed away in the stainless steel anchor housing!  We looked it up on Google and it is owned by an Italian charter company is 54 metres long and was only launched back in June this year.   While we were eating it got dark and there were pretty LED lights all over it and along the undersides too which lit up the aqua blue water around it.  It had a huge under deck locker in the bow area and while we were there the crew opened 2 massive electric garage doors that opened just like tower bridge and put all the leather sofas and cushions away.

We scoffed a huge pizza each with a side order of french fries washed down with a very large rose wine, half a litre of beer and some crepes filled with chocolate and vanilla ice cream which came to the grand total of 206 Kuna so about £22 amazing, and the best thing was no cooking or washing up!!!!

As planned we had decided to book our ferry ticket from Split to Ancona for 30th but as usual nothing is ever simple.  When we looked a few weeks ago the tickets were about €250 euros but when we went on-line to book the best price we could find was over €500!  Julie spoke to Blue Line direct on the phone and got it down to €438 but then I remembered seeing a special offer on their website so Julie rang back and got it down to €242, what a result.   Great we thought so we got it all sorted after a few more calls and sending them and email confirming everything and making a payment which again wasn't simple but to cut a very, very long story short we got a sort of confirmation email back and after chasing for a ticket they said don't worry just quote the booking number when you get to the Blue Line office at Split.  So off we went to Split, but as the ideal world we live in doesn't exist when we arrived Julie went in and quoted the booking reference but they couldn't find it.......after 15 minutes or so it turned out they had booked us onto the Ancona-Split boat which left at the same time.....they said it was their mistake so after about an hour it got sorted and Julie re-appeared with a ticket, what a relief.

One thing that was now on my mind was what the loading ramps were like as our 7.5m+ fully loaded motorhome complete with trailer is just a tad low on the rear end so any sharp inclines can cause problems (as they did back in May).  So it was off towards the loading ramps and OMG it was like a ramp to the moon at a 45 degree angle to the top cargo deck where they were pointing for us to go with a step about half way up, it just didn't look camper van friendly at all.  We crept forward and with a few scrapes of the tow bar and a few layers of paint removed from the ships ramps we were on, but it didn't end there as these aren't roll on roll off ships and we were then told to then turn round on a deck space less than the length of the van, so it was off with the trailer and then a 10 point turn ready to dis-embark in 10hrs time,  oh joy!  We found some  so called comfort seats and got our heads down for the night exhausted from van manoeuvring and nerves but as we keep saying it's all part of the adventure.  

We waved goodbye to Split, we were quite sad to leave as we had fallen in love with Croatia but there's always next time

And 10 hours later waved hello to Ancona

The time came to unload but we were just as nervous as we knew what was coming but we decided it would be best if Julie drove and I could keep watch over the van, well we came down from the top cargo deck this time with literally millimetres to spare but while checking the underside of the van as Julie descended I noticed that we had caught one of the small jack legs that support the van which we must have done the night before on the way up but a quick adjustment got it sorted (only 2 more ferries to go) but one thing we learnt was that they can adjust the ramps and help you get some clearance as they did it for a large number of very fancy looking lorries.

So back on Italian soil again, a couple of stops here on the mainland including a visit to Pisa and then it's off to sunny Sardinia, we have an overnight ferry booked for the 6th.

Ciao for now.

J&J