As dawn broke we could see
out into the harbour at Porto Vecchio and its empty expanse of water – no
ferry, no shipping-line staff or port employees – nothing! Ever more concerned
that we’d got something wrong in the all-Italian purchase of our ferry ticket,
we were partially reassured when a few other vehicles turned up, with their
occupants equally bemused. After talking to a couple of young French travellers
who looked more relaxed than the rest of us, we were informed that the ferry
was on time, would be docking at six and leaving at 0630 as advertised.
Reassured, but a little
bemused that there were only ten vehicles waiting for the boat, sure enough,
the Mega Express 2 hove into view and was docked by 0600. We then witnessed one
of the most unusual disembarkations we’d ever seen, with small batches of cars,
campers and trucks making their way off the boat, separated by odd periods of
inactivity…
It was only when we drove on
and saw that the boat was still almost fully laden, that we realised that it
had clearly stopped off at Porto Vecchio en route from somewhere else – and
that we weren’t going to be sharing the Mega 2 beast with just a handful of people!
The episodic disembarkation was clearly caused by the different types of
vehicle being unloaded from different part of the boat – quite a logistical
feat! Maybe this was part of the reason this two and a half hour crossing was
cheaper than its 50 minute counterpart, which leaves from Bonifacio and docks
at Santa Teresa Gallura?
Either way, this crossing
was a real treat, with none of the strong winds we’d read were common on the
shorter hop, and as the sun rose higher in the sky we bade farewell to a couple
of fabulous weeks in Corsica – and the ferry’s pilot, with one island fading
into the distance as the next one came into focus on the horizon.
As we pulled into Porto
Aranci (on the north east coast) we checked our Sardinia map and agreed we’d
have a go at an anti-clockwise trip around the coast, as the driving, whilst
Italian, was rumoured to be less challenging than on Corsica. This way, we’d be
able to make use of any roadside pull-ins for a rest, or to admire the view,
without having to cross oncoming traffic as we had on Corsica!
This also meant we’d be
visiting the most upmarket bit of Sardinia first, where some of the ACSI campsites
only offer a discount until mid June, no doubt due to the high demand for a
taste of life on the Costa Smeralda (a favourite of Silvio Berlusconi and
Madonna, amongst others apparently!)
And so it was with some
trepidation that we pulled into the very swish parking area of the Centro Vacanze
Isuledda, near Cannigione in the Golfo di Arzachena and opposite the Maddalena
islands, favoured by the yachting fraternity and the resting place of the
‘hero’ of the creation of the Italian state, Giuseppe Garibaldi.
Centro Vacanze Isuledda gave
us a taste of the Italian ‘camping village’ that we’d last enjoyed in 2015 and
before long we had handed over all our important documents for ‘processing’
(it’s still a legal requirement that campsites send photocopies of documents
from foreigners, even EU ones, to the local police!) and been tagged with the
obligatory non-removable plastic bracelet! And, as is the case with the these more
up-market sites, being second-class ACSI campers, we were only allowed onto
pitches that weren’t on the front line, overlooking the beautiful sea, sand and
rocky coves.
We’re not that fussed, as
you can still access all that loveliness from a 2nd class pitch of
course, and before long, we were parked up amongst, Swiss, German, Spanish, Dutch,
French, Italian and a couple of other Brit campers, and ready for some beach
time! We even had a view of some interesting ‘Trulli’ style lodges – at least
we assumed that’s where the inspiration for these circular huts came from…
Having stopped at a big
Conad supermarket en route, we knew we’d be able to laze about for a few days
if the weather came good – and sure enough it did, and we did, as we made full
use of each of the three beaches available to the happy campers. It was only
after we’d been woken at midnight on the Saturday by a firework display,
followed by four hours of Euro-pop from a disco across the bay, that we
realised that we’d better get a wiggle on if we were to make our plan of the
whole Sardinian coast a reality!
And so, with a quick wave to
Garibaldi’s house across the bay (we’d planned a boat trip but
indolence/swimming/reading got the better of us!) we set off for our next
destination via the picturesque coast road: Castelsardo and its fortified
citadel.
S&J
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