We took the passenger ferry from Riomaggiore to Portovenere which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The boat trip is along a steep and rocky coast of folded sedimentary rocks from the Appenine Mountains in the background. There are many slips and houses perched on the sides. One wonders how people access the houses – from the road above, or the sea below? Portovenere is a beautiful town of very ancient and modern. It is situated in the Gulf of La Spezia also known as the Gulf of Poets after Byron, Shelley and DH Lawrence who lived in the area. We walked along the modern harbour (away from the tourists) then returned to the main attraction – the old walled town. The ancient walls encompass tall walled fortified houses facing the harbour, running along to the ... read more

We walked the short coastal route to Manarola which is truly lovely. After a short stroll around the town we tried to find the upper route to Corniglia because the lower route is closed due to slips. It is not well marked and after one mistaken path we went up the road further and found the red and white markers to follow. From there it is steeply uphill to Valastra where there is a very old church and sitting area out the front for a rest. From there the path is narrow and rocky through steep gardens, vineyards and scrub. It’s amazing where people have built dry rock walls and put in gardens over many years. We Kiwis would just say “too hard”. But, if needs must, you just do it. After winding around the hill ... read more

The plane trip to Malpensa Airport, Milano, was the usual extremely long and boring trip. However, Emirates treated us well with good food, service and over 500 channels of entertainment. The route was Nelson 2pm Saturday/Auckland/Sydney/Dubai, Malpensa, arriving 12.00 midnight on Sunday, New Zealand time. There was one light relief in that we saw “Renee” of “Allo Allo” at Sydney airport having to strip off some of his clothes because he kept setting off the security buzzer. It was tempting to say “Ooh-Ooh, Renee, vat ees thees we see?” The Shuttle bus from Malpensa costing E7.50 took us into the Central Railway Station. The Stazione Hotel was only a short bag haul from the station. It was a perfectly comfortable 2 star hotel with only 10 rooms. Despite being very tired, we did a walk from ... read more