15 May 2011 In the morning we visited Nora, a Phoenician, Carthagian and Roman settlement sited on a peninsular in the south west of the island which flourished for over 1,000 years. Part of the town has submerged due to the incursion of the sea. It wasn’t particularly impressive, particularly as some refurbishment works were going on, but there were some nice mosaics. We stayed at a coastal camp site just south of Nora. ... read more

13 May 2011 We progressed gently southward today to Sardinia’s capital, Cagliari, calling in at a few interesting places on route. From our overnight car park stop we could see a perfect conical hill with a ruined castle on top of it. This turned out to be the twelfth century Castello di Marmilla (La Marmilla is the area we were in) close to the village of Las Plassas and we were able to walk up to the castle along a paved path overgrown with a myriad of wild flowers. From there we went to the highest point in La Marmilla to see another extensive Nuraghic site, Genna Maria. This turned out not to be too interesting but the views over the surrounding country were terrific. Over lunchtime we walked around San Sperate. This village was the ... read more

11 May 2011 We had a non travelling day enjoying the sea view from our parking spot, blogging, van cleaning and walking around Santa Maria Navarrese. In the morning Ted, an American, who with his wife Joyce and dog Coffee are on an extended trip to the island in their campervan, wandered to have a chat. Later we invited them to join us for supper which led to a very enjoyable evening.... read more

09 May 2011 A day of some frustration which ended on a high note. For the second time the northerly wind defeated us and there were no boats running from Cala Gonone, so we had to make do with a walk along the beach and views of the wild coast we had hoped to see from close quarters. The guide book described a country hotel just inland with good food so we drove back up the hairpinned road and after navigating a narrow and steep lane, found it, but it was closed. However another establishment, the Refugio Gorroppu was signposted close by and the owners said we could park the van there for the night and they would feed us. One of the main things I wanted to do on this trip was to visit the ... read more

07 May 2011 In the morning we cycled into Porto San Paolo intending to take a boat trip to Tavolora Island but unfortunately conditions were too windy for the excursion to run. Consequently we explored the food shops and using Wendy’s pigeon Italian managed to buy local meat and fish to keep us going for the next couple of days. Then the rest of the day was spent pottering about the camp site, doing chores and taking a swim in the cold Med at the local beach. ... read more