Saturday 30th June update

Saturday 30^th June.

Yet again the same cycle ride. This campsite is popular with a small group of people who come here year after year. A Scottish guy has been coming here every year for 12 years and our single dutch cyclist friend next door has been coming for 28 years. It is a fine site and I can see why its popular with this group.

Tomorrow we are expecting a downpour for most of the day and the ACSI rate is discontinued so we plan on heading to the medieval town of Cluny. We’ve been there before, the site has a good pool and is on the Col Verte cycle route that runs some distance. It will be my 60^th Birthday and Barbara has promised take me for a nice meal in Cluny where we’ll have a good piece of meat washed down by something white and bubbly. Apparently it’ll be a hamburger and a milk shake! Not sure when we can get back on line so might go missing for a few days.

Friday 29^th June.

Cycled all around the lake again but in the opposite direction.  A really enjoyable ride with great views. The Sardinian weather seems to have followed us as it hit about 33c. So we just relaxed in the shade and had the occasional swim.

Top pic. Adults waiting to use the ships pool

Next. Attractive young lady with ridiculously shaved dog....both out of mine and Pickles' league!

Bottom one. Pickles with new shipmate. This pup was 8 weeks old and was abandoned in a Sardinian field. It woke a dutch couple up one Sunday morning, they opened the door of their holiday apartment at 6am and it was sat there. They gave it some milk and went back to bed. At 10 am it was still there so they fed it kept it for a few days, then took it to a vet. It was covered in fleas. They were now taking it home with them a nice story.

I hope people realise that these pics expand if you click on them. The true beauty of this lake can't be captured with one photo. The actual water is a lot greener than these pics show. On the lower photo our van is on the right ...we have an excellent view of the lake.

Thursday 28th Update

Thursday 28^th June.

Settled in to this site now. Went on a leisurely 12 mile bike ride along the lake then went out in the canoe for an hour. Its still quite warm so lake swimming is needed every hour or so to keep cool. Will try to put a photo on of the lake. Later in the evening we rode about 3 miles to the next campsite. We wanted to watch the Germany v Italy game but none of the village bars were open. We’d spotted a bar on this next campsite so I went into the deserted bar and first of all asked the manager could we look at the camping area? Yes she replied. Could we then have a drink. Yes she replied. Could you put the telly on for the football. Yes again she replied, so apart from one other young lad we sat and watched the whole match and then later rode back to our campsite with the moon as backup for our cycle lamps.

Wednesday 27^th June.

We woke to a beautiful morning in the alps, at 8:30am Barbara spotted a hot air balloon passing us overhead. There was one other motorhome using the Aire, an elderly French couple. The guy spoke good English and we compared notes on all the French towns we’d visited. He was a veteran in using the Aires and gave me lots of advice. We later drove to the lovely nearby town of Cluses and filled up with fuel. We then drove about 79 miles to Chambray, stocked up at Lidl and then did the final 8 miles to campsite Le Curtelet on the edge of Lake d’Aiguebelette, apparently the warmest lake in France. A great location and a good value campsite at 12 euros a night. One or two English here. The lake is beautiful and good to swim in.

Tuesday 26^th June.

We left the site at 6:30. The boat left half an hour late at 9:30. We headed up to the top deck where we found lots of free deck chairs. We were armed with books, magazines and mp3 players but never used these as we spent the entire 7 hours on the boat watching the Italians do what they do best….show off.  First off was a man of about 50 who to be honest had a reasonably good physique but he wanted everyone to see it, so he pitched himself on an elevated platform where everyone could see him gyrate and prance about with his phone. He reminded me of the young body builder in ‘It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world’ who receives a phone call from his ‘mama’ who is after Spencer Tracey’s money. Crying down the phone…”I is a comin mama, I is a comin”.  Next up were a number of beautiful young things in the skimpiest bikinis, they somehow set up a ‘catwalk’ from the main sundeck to the toilets which they seemed to visit ever 15 minutes. Some wore high heels and one had the latest fashion accessory …a dog in a basket with the most ridiculous hair cut. Unfortunately amongst these scantily clad  ladies was a young lady with a severely disproportionate set of hips that were about 4 feet wide. The briefs of her bikini semed to span her backside as tightly as the Humber bridge spans the Humber estuary.

 As these ferries are converted cruise ships, halfway into the journey they filled the swimming pool and in the true traditions of maritime law it was children first to use the pool, then the ladies and eventually the beer bellied men. The time soon passed and eventually we docked just before 5pm. We hit the motorway and drove the 320 miles to the Aire in the alps that we used at the start of the holiday. The drive was ok and we missed most of the tea time traffic it was a hot drive with temperatures still quite high. As we drove into the Mont Blanc tunnel at around 10pm it was about 25c when we came out the other side it was 16c with light drizzle. We reached the Aire at around 11pm. We were hungry and remembered the two tins of ‘meat and beans’ that we had bought in LD when we opened them up and started to eat this we realised it was tripe in a sauce! However being true northerners we ate it all up and found it quite tasty. We should have paid attention to the name on the can…TRIPPO.

Monday 25th June

Monday 25^th June

A poor performance from an England team managed by a guy who’s been sacked more times than Frank Spencer, an ex Liverpool manager who at one point had 4 players on the pitch from what is arguably the worst Liverpool side for 20 years. Henderson looked like someone wandering in a field looking for lost car keys. However it was nice to see so many happy Italians, most of whom had booked tables in the bar. However the two English walked straight in front of them right under the telly and plonked down on two chairs. Nobody noticed them not cheering at the end in the area mainly reserved for the elderly and infirm.  Barman gloated a little but I informed him we were still the number one Test Cricket nation in the world and even though Italians are noted for their diving it’ll be our boys who pick up gold this summer for diving events.

Last day in Sardinia, I will really miss the beauty of this island but quite frankly its getting too hot now ….temperature was initially 27c at noon but now at 3pm has gone up to 39c. I put my Reg Varney hat on and moved the bus to a position where I can easily drive out early tomorrow without disturbing too many people. Next blog will hopefully be written in the cooler Lake Annecy region.

Sunday 24th June

Sunday 24^th June.

The temperature yesterday was 37c. The best place is the beach when its this hot but between 12 and 4pm even the beach is too hot. We have a well shaded large plot but it looks from the camp drive that our van is tightly parked and it was nice to receive a compliment from an Italian who thought I must be a bus driver to be able to park it so tight. Our bus driver continues to entertain all on board. Last night he stalled the van 3 times on a slight incline and we all had to perform his “Uno, duo, tres **** “ chant to get the bus up the hill. Its 2pm now and although it was 35c at 11am the temperature has dropped dramatically to 27c. Looking forward to England match tonight, not sure if it will be another packamac over heads, side entrance exit, or something special from Gerard as its likely to be his last England game if they loose. 

These pics show the beach at Camping Tavolara just south of Olbia, the rock in the background is the island of Tavolara, that is best viewed as the sun is going down and looks very much like Gibraltar.

Wednesday 20th - Saturday 23rd June update.

Saturday 23^rd June

Scorching again, I think we are starting to look forward to getting into France for the cooler weather. Got the mini bus to the beach with Pickles, the beach was quite busy even at 9am. As Barbara said it might be better getting down here for 8 o clock to get some cooler weather. Returned to site at 12 noon to avoid the real heat.  Got an internet card for 3 days unlimited so we can listen to the BBC radio 4 progs almost permanently. Sorry to hear about the floods in Lancs.

Friday 22^nd June.

Another hot one in the mid 30’s. We headed off to the beach at 9am with Pickles in his pram and enjoyed a good 3 hours there. On the way back the shuttle bus driver pulled over to tell us we can take Pickles in the van, we declined his offer on this occasion but told him he’d try it tomorrow.

Later we went to the bar to watch the Germany game, unfortunately we couldn’t get a table as each one was covered with a towel. We got two chairs and put them right in front of the telly.

Thursday 21^st June

When we woke up we could tell it was going to be  another hot day. We liked the site but noticed that they were quite strict about dogs on the beach. Dogs aren’t allowed on any Sardinian beaches but nobody had bothered us before and we had spotted other dogs on most of the beaches we’d visited. There was no chance for Pickles to cool down and we were disappointed that even though we’d been given 10% discount with our ACSI card we were being charged 24 euros a night with only 3 amps of electric. It was time for a quick move. At 9:30am we drove along the coast, loads of lovely coves and rocky headlands, the beaches were already filling up. I had read about the nearby Costa Smeralda that was known to be the playground of the rich. Apparently the Aga Khan had invested billions of pounds into developing the area in the late 60’s so we headed there (with no intention of staying ).  This sure is a delightful area but did not accommodate people of our financial status. They may have well have had signs up saying “Only the rich can stay here”. I suppose when the Romanian Campsite manager imposes his revolutionary ideals upon all of Sardinia then maybe we can take back the Costa Smeralda from the Agha Khan. In the meantime all we could do was shout out across to the expensive boats “we know where Shergar is”.

We then drove the short distance to Olbia where we disembarked from the ferry on May 12^th. We had therefore completed our circuit of the island. We found an ACSI site with ACSI rates (16 euros a night) just south of Olbia. This turned out to be a cracker of a site. High trees, artificial shade, high hedges for privacy. Although it was 1000 metres from the beach a 9 seater transit shuttles you back and forth to an amazingly beautiful beach.

We tried the bus ride late in the afternoon. It is driven by a young bloke who is good fun, again we couldn’t understand him but everyone was laughing and singing on both legs of the journey.

Wednesday 20^th June update.

Last night I had tried to lift the despondency that prevailed within the bar area of the campsite, this had nothing to do with the football results but more to do with Lidl burning down. It was now time for some positive thinking so I laid the seeds of this by suggesting to one or two people that Lidl’s should now be a place for cheaper ‘smoke damaged’ goods. This generated quite a bit of interest and a few people asked for examples but I could only offer them the prospect of loads of smoked ham. I think there may be a few visitors to Lidl.  We left the site and headed for the north east coast. We took Barbara’s advice and found an LD supermarket in Arzachena, a worthy substitute for Lidl. Stocked up we then went to a campsite just north of Cannigione called Camping Capo d’orso. A decent enough site in a small bay. 

Wednesday 2oth June

Wednesday 20^th June

Yesterday we had a final book swap with Barbara and Norman and said goodbye. Barbara just happened to mention that when they were out they drove into a nearby town and saw loads of fire engines. Apparently the local Lidl had burned down.

We went to the bar to watch the match and I just happened to mention to the Geordie couple about the Lidl fire. They almost were absolutely devastated by the news and passed the message on to people nearby, excuse the pun but it went around the campsite like the proverbial ‘wild fire’. I wouldn’t have got a greater reaction if the pope had died.

Surprisingly there was quite a turn out for the England game but apart from the Geordie couple we were the only English. We took some stick from the 40 or so ‘neutrals’when the Ukraine goal was disallowed , the Geordie bloke being the only person in the bar who believed  that the ball had not crossed the line and when a big argument broke out he offered every neutral the chance to wear his glasses when reviewing the replay.

No one accepted his offer they were all presumably still in a state of shock over the Lidl incident. We expect a mass exodus from the campsite as ACSI prices have finished and where else can people shop. I may miss a few days ‘blogging’ if we don’t get the internet on the next site.  

Tuesday 19th June

Tuesday 19^th June

The ‘sameness’ prevails! The same turquoise blue crystal clear warm water. The same hot sun. The same ice cold beer. But tonight is our last night on this site. We will probably go even nearer to the port and try some other sites for the remaining 6 nights on the island. The Geordie guy who runs the Canvas set up has invited us to their mobile home to watch the match if it isn’t on the tv in the bar. He has the full sky package on the internet.  We desperately need to go to the supermarket. The temperature has gone up the last few days and we are somewhere around the 36c mark. Not sure where we’ll head to when we leave the island but probably by the time we leave we might be glad of somewhere a bit cooler.

Monday 18th June

Monday 18^th June

Went for a good walk along the coast last night before the match. We found a little cove miles from nowhere where there was a tiny church the size of a front lounge. Next to that was a van selling beer. About 20 blokes were stood next to the van drinking. Alongside that was a large shaded area for people having picnics. On returning to the site the Dutch were all waiting in front of the tv for the Holland v Portugal game. To their surprise the Germany v Denmark came on with German commentary. The additional big screen outside had the same on. Obviously they’d picked up a German satellite. Don’t know where the Dutch went to but it looks ominous for the next England match. This morning got up early did the gym and the swim. We continue to enjoy this site.

 Camping Baia Blu near Aglientu, the mountain we cycled up is in the background

The beach at Baia Blu

16th and 17th June update

Sunday 17 June.

 Yesterday we went to the gym for an hour and made a ‘commitment’to going everyday. However we gave that one up this morning when we saw that the sea was like a lake and just so inviting, so we chose to go swimming early.  Supplies are a bit low and the campsite supermarket, which is so expensive, is the only one about. Norman and Barbara, the English couple with the caravan, recommended the nearby town of Santa Teresa for shopping and sightseeing. However we’re too settled in now, and will just use up the last of the beans etc and then head for that town when we leave to stock up. Will try and add photies of beach and site.

Saturday 16^th June.

Returning to the subject of washing lines…we were entertained the other day watching the Canvas Holidays woman trying to put a washing line up. It ended up with a big u shaped dip in the middle and she tried to rectify this by fastening it to the tree even higher than the 6ft she could reach. The washing was nearly touching the floor. I raised this matter with her in the bar. She’s a nice friendly woman in her early 60’s and she admitted to me that she’s never ever put a washing line up in her life. Her and her husband have it made they are the sole reps for Canvas on the site and look after 16 units.  She asked would I be interested in working for Canvas who are looking for staff! I think I’d be a tremendous asset to Canvas as I can not only put up washing lines but tents as well!!

The good weather continues, England are doing well will there be a storm coming soon?

Friday 15th June

Friday 15^th June

Pickles won the ‘stare out’ with the German couple opposite. They did erect a washing line across our line of sight but he merely moved a few steps closer. They packed up early and left. We bumped into the English couple in a Caravan that we had previously met at the site near Alghero. We swapped a few books and they told us about there trip that started in Portugal and Spain in January.

There was a nice refreshing breeze today so we just lounged about reading our books and went to watch the England v Sweden game in the evening. Bumped into a Geordie couple who work for Canvas Holidays. Discussed the game with them.

Thursday 14th June

Thursday 14^th June

We really enjoyed the chops from the 90 yr old butcher. So much so that Barbara declared this morning that it was the best meal we’ve had on the island. I did suggest that she went back up the hill to get some more. Although she gestured to confirm that it was only 2 we wanted she made no effort to go.

We really like this site, it would be a nightmare in the high season probably full of kids and bikes etc but there is something to be said about these big commercial sites out of season. Everything is there if you want it …gym, aerobics classes, big screen tv etc. It has over 500 pitches and at present  must have only about 60 vans on pitches. Despite that a German van almost identical to ours has pitched opposite and they placed there chairs directly facing us. Consequently our eyes are fixed on each other.  But we have our ultimate weapon…Pickles, who just sits and stares anyone out. On the beach there are loads of African lads trying to sell the usual Tat. It probably is a terrible thing to say but our dog is more racist than any National Front Party member. As soon as he sees someone with black skin he kicks off big style. As a result we don’t get harassed as much as others.

When you are on these lengthy journeys you often experience a period of ‘sameness’. Where you wake up each morning and the weather is the same, sunny and warm, you take lunch and evening meals at the same time and go swimming around the same time. Its not like the ‘sameness’ of home where the news comes on the tv at the same time and you get up at the same time…this ‘sameness’ is almost effortless and relaxing. Probably the reason why you travel all of these miles in a motorhome.

wedneday 13th june

Wednesday 13^th June

“Look Phil its only 6 miles to Agliento”. I’d heard similar statements before, but as we stood outside the campsite gates with our bikes loaded with two big bags for our shopping, I was hopeful that Agliento would offer us much in the line of cheap shopping. Up we went …and up…and up a steep inline all the way to Agliento. A journey that took 1 hour 20 minutes. But what great views across to Corsica and the entire northern section of Sardinia. The air was so thin that Ethiopian marathon runners were training here! When we reached Agliento it was like landing in Royston Vassey, little shops for only local people. A throwback to a previous era when every town had a separate grocers, butchers, chemist, post office etc. We went to a butchers where a 90 year old woman sold Barbara two pork chops after trying to give her a completely chopped up pig.  A quick drink and down the hill we went returning to the campsite in just over 10 minutes. As a measure of how steep it was I never had to pedal…just coast all the way down.

Rest of the afternoon…slept well.

Tuesday 12th June

Tuesday 12^th June.

Yesterday we drove up to Stinto in the far north west of the island. It was a really beautiful area but didn’t have any campsites or stopping places so we headed west and found a site just outside Castelsardo called International Camping Valledoria. A good well shaded site right next to a quiet beach. At 21 euros it was 6 euros more than the ACSI prices that we’ve paid so far. The rain didn’t materialise and we had another lovely day. We managed a few hours on the beach and had a few swims then went to watch the England v France game. Barbara then pointed out the false economies of the last ACSI site where they charged 5 euros for a 66cl beer. At this site the same beer cost 2.5 euros thus making up the campsite prices on the first round! It seemed strange to be able to get a good pint of beer for 2 quid in Italy!

As much as we liked Camping Valledoria we decided to move to Camping Village Baia Blu near Aglientu. This is a large commercial site with excellent facilities. Again the ACSI rate of 16 euros applies until the 19^th. There are loads of staff on duty but again its quite empty. The coastline up here in the north is beautiful and different from the rest of the island. The sandstone rock and cliffs illuminate almost golden brown as the sun hits them; and the sea with its various colours of blue and turquoise shades add to the effect. When we arrived here at 1pm we decided to set up camp in preparation for an 8 day stay. We even put up our new windbreak around the van to hide the mess of our “Gypsy encampment”.

Monday 11th June

Monday 11^th June

We are about to move on again, bit undecided. We’d like to visit the Caves of Neptune about 8 miles away and go to a tiny peninsula on the north west coast but it looks like rain today. If it does rain it’s the first we’ve seen in Sardinia. We will need a decent campsite or bar to watch the England match tonight.

As planned we had a good meal in Alghero last night and went in on the bus. The bus was about 30 mins late coming back due to a religious procession but I was entertained watching about 4 single old ladies get annoyed waiting. They became more vociferous as they waited and eventually formed a ‘committee’. When the bus did turn up messrs. Boothroyd, Braddock, Currie and Thatcher insisted on sitting as close to the driver as possible and really laid into him. I couldn’t understand a word but knew what they were saying …something along the lines of “your late cos you were watching the Italy match, and why cant we have a bus company like dem der scousers have”.

"Lucky English Dog".

Sunday 10th June

Sunday 10^th June

As planned we cycled in to Alghero, it was a welcome change to the quiet seaside resorts that we’ve mainly visited. Loads of eating places, an old fortified part with tiny cobbled streets and old buildings. A busy marina part and plenty of up market shops. As it was Saturday it got quite busy. We had a meal watched a bit of footy in a bar and then cycled back. We really liked it and plan to go on the bus tonight and eat at a restaurant right in the old town. On returning to the site we watched the second half of the German game. Three irish guys we’re behind us and we chatted a little about footy and Dublin. Walked Pickles in his buggy around Fertilia, as per usual he got loads of attention and laughs.

9th June update

Saturday 9^th June.

It’s a bit cooler this morning and the mossys don’t seem to be as big a problem. We are planning to move this morning and head north. We’ve got about 17 days left on the island so we will gradually  move along the coast from the west to the north east where the port is. We are aware that we haven’t done any tours of towns but to be honest we haven’t passed any of those beautiful medieval attractive villages that you get in France or Spain. I believe that might be because it wasn’t a very well populated island but the faschist government of the thirties tried to develop it. Consequently a lot of the towns have a relatively modern feel about them. We plan to head to Bosa today and see what that’s like but also take in Alghero, a town that was in Spanish hands and is very much Catalan influenced with road signs in Italian and Catalan.

We stopped at Bosa, a nice tourist resort, for an hour and walked around, Drove down the coast and stopped on some cliff tops for our lunch. Arrived at Alghero about 2pm, looks like a nice town, will probably cycle in later and have our evening meal there. Good site with excellent facilities (Camping Calik Blu) for once we have a decent electrical supply 16 amps. Yet another Dutch Rally on site, also our first fellow English couple in a caravan, we had a good chat for about an hour.

Friday 8^th June

Camping Is Arrutas is a good site but like the last one its plagued by the mosquito’s. I think it’s a regional thing as there are loads of big lagoons in the area and the weather has gone a lot hotter.  The best place was the beach and we spent several hours sat there reading. It really is a nice beach. It would seem that the site is being disinfected tomorrow morning at 5am.

Thursday 7^th

After two nights here we thought we’d move to another campsite. They treated the campsite again at 6am and when Barbara went to pay she was told that they are treating the entire area tonight and all of the lagoons so people have to keep their belongings inside their vans and keep all windows shut. This sounds like an aeroplane job so good thing we are leaving. It turns out that Pickles mate was abandoned by people on the campsite. The manager told her people are always leaving dogs at the site gates but they always find homes for them. This one is really lucky he runs around the site with the staff with another ex abandoned dog that looks a bit like a Springer. A great life.

We arrived at Camping Is Arrutas about 12 noon. It was only about 20 miles and is west of Oristano. Again it’s a good site 800 metres from a Caribbean like beach. Loads of motorhomes parked next to the beach probably ‘wild camping’ for free. I don’t know how they stay there all day with no shade….temperature over 35 degrees today but nice and cool on the beach with the breeze.

We loaded up the buggy/pram with all the beach gear and went off to the beach in the late afternoon. Barbara was a bit too enthusiastic with the pram pushing and Pickles fell out on his head twice. I now know why Tim and Sophie never got the First Class Honours degrees they should have got!

Wednesday 6^th June.

Beach at I Arruttas

6am a man in a tractor pulling a trailer with something resembling one of those machines that shoots tennis balls out drove around the site. The disinfectant shot out about 10 feet. No change in the number of mossys. Still a good site with excellent facilities. Sat around the pool in the late afternoon sun. Pickles has a new friend, a little dog off the campsite. 

Tuesday 5th June entry

Tuesday 5^th June

 Pickles on his birthday.

Don't even ask....maybe they thought it was the Cowes Reggatta!!!

Left Sant’Antioca site and filled up with provisions at Lidl. Drove along the west coast via the scenic route. Some breathtaking cliff top views. We stopped outside Buggero after seeing a motorhome sosta right on the cliff tops overlooking a gorgeous beach. As we weren’t sure they had electric hook up and since we had a fridge full of meat, milk and veg, we decided to push on to the ACSI site at Arborea. Lovely site in woods, large heated swimming pool and loads of cycle paths throughout the woodlands. Unfortunately quite a few hungry mosquito’s and a far from perfect beach. Apparently they are spraying the site to get rid of the mosquito’s tomorrow at 6am.However will probably stay a few days before heading further north. Forecast is for extreme heat in few days time.

Tuesday 5th June update

Monday 4^th June

Today is Pickles 14^th Birthday. So we’ll look for a nice peace of meat for his dinner.

At 14 we can’t be sure if he’ll carry on coming on these holidays with us since both Tim and Sophie stopped coming when they were 14. Well if he does decide not to come again he’ll get the same treatment as the other two…a freezer full of pizza’s, 10 quid a week and a demand to cut the grass every week.

It’s a little dull today. I think we’ll head to the little island of Sant ‘ Antioca on the south west tip of Sardinia.

Drove along the gorgeous Costa del Sud where we found a strange scene on one of the beaches (pics to follow). Town of Sant’ Antioca looked promising and had a Lidl so the Lidl search continues tomorrow. We arrived at a decent campsite in the north of the island run by a large Romanian man who spoke about 12 languages. He was sympathetic to the old Communist ways and values but still insisted that we pay 34 euros for a nights stay. After a few groans from us he demonstrated a more sympathetic Marxist attitude and offered us 2 free shower tokens in with the price. Since he’d drove us all around the site in a golf buggy, cracked a few jokes and told us a lot about himself (he claimed to be  an aircraft engineer but he couldn’t tell us how many amps the electric pitches provided) we felt inclined to accept his offer. But one final effort to get the price down…he told us that he loses 4 stone when he works here for the season…”Well if I stayed here for a week at those prices I’d probably have to starve to death” I told him.  No response apart from a return to the Stalinist perspective “But sir I only work here I don’t make the rules”.

. So we paid the money and went and pitched. Decent site 50 metres from a decent beach. Quiet. Could be an excellent site if the capitalists got hold of it!

Sunday 3^rd June

Although there are quite a few Italian weekenders and German families on the site its really quiet. The kids have a little play until about 10 then they all go to bed. We’ve noticed today that a lot of the German families are packing up. We cant work out why their kids aren’t in school. Maybe it’s a long Whit holiday or maybe an extended celebration for the Queens Jubilee (Didn’t she come from German stock?). Once they start heading off and the weekenders go back tonight the sights likely to be deserted. We also had a good chat to the man next to us in an Italian van. He comes form Montana USA but has lived in the Venice area of Italy for many years. Got some good tips off him in relation to our next stopping point. He also left at 7am this morning.

Today was really hot, sunny and windy so we took Pickles for a walk in his buggy. We went around the back of Chia beach and over the headland. Loads of Italians were heading for the beach. We found a lovely cove but this seemed very popular so we kept walking up a large hill and reached a lighthouse that also doubled up as an exclusive sort of hotel. Here the track ended and we could see the entire coast for miles. It was stunning as the entire area was covered with shrubs of different shades of green, gold and red. Typical autumnal colours in June with an embroidery of different coloured wild flowers. This looked ideal mountain biking terrain but it now looks like we’ll move on tomorrow as there is still lots of the island to see.

9pm most of the weekenders have now gone and the site is less than a quarter full.

Saturday 2^nd June

Woke up at around 6am. Apparently Frank Gallagher had turned up on the sosta last night with all of his family and a German Shepherd that had been left outside and was now barking for its Breakfast. One or two shouts from nearby vans.

8:15 am Frank and the family are now shown the way to the main road. Head down with shame he despatches his evenings waste into the drainage point, kicks the dog into the van and departs with his family from the site. Paradise and peace is restored.

Friday 1^st June.

Woke up and felt we shouldn’t really go without seeing Pula and Nora. Nora apparently is a partially submerged Phoenician city with a stunning position at the end of a promontory. There are also Roman remains such as baths, mosaics and ampitheatres. We had a quick nose at these through the fence and then had a swim on the lovely nearby beach. Pula also looked quite a nice well cared for town with well trimmed flowering shrubs along much of the main roads, plenty of upmarket bars and cafes.

We now had to decide where to head for and I decided to head for Chia beach. This from my research had been voted amongst the top 10 most beautiful beaches in Europe and when we arrived there we could see why. Soft sand, turquoise blue sea and a lagoon alongside it where the customary Flamingos, although these seem a bit self conscious as they seem to have their heads permanently in the water with their bums stuck in the air.. These Flamingo’s get everywhere even in the city of Cagliari you would find them in any tideless waters. Rumour has it they fly in from Africa and claim jobseekers allowance for being the main tourist attraction for the island! We were also lucky at Chia to find a fantastic Sosta (the Italian equivalent to the French Aires or parking areas for motorhomes) This was about 200 metres from the sea, it provided electricity, showers and a Glastonbury style toilet. The 15 euros it charged was worth it for the location. The great weather continues.

Thursday 31^st May pm.

After leaving the site we drove into Cagliari, the capital city of Sardinia. Similar to other large cities, busy traffic, lots of car horns beeping for no apparent reason. Found a Leclerc so stocked up with provisions couldn’t find the Lidl so we went to a Carrefour and got lots of beer and wines. Filled up with fuel and got out of the city ASAP. Drove about 24 miles to a campsite called Flumendosa. This had received loads of positive reviews but seemed to be run by a lovely elderly couple. Unfortunately it needed someone more energetic to keep it up to date. There were loads of old permanent caravans and dishevelled boats lying around in parts. The showers ran off tokens….god I detest that concept. Its not the paying for the showers it’s the fiddling about with coins or tokens and trying to find the right way to put them in, then dropping them down the drain and so on. Anyway my hatred for them was reinforced when I put the token in turned the shower on lathered up, put shaving foam on and then after 30 seconds it went off.  Not even the option of cold water. Wrap a towel around straight to the laundry area and rinse off. Decision final we are not staying here more than one night.