Back on the mainland at Oriestano we made use of the service area before crossing a curious region of flat reclaimed land mostly used for agriculture, stopping briefly at a small shop for supplies before crossing an inlet to reach the coast running south from Capo di Frasca which has a NATO base on the northern tip.
In Arbus town we found the small knife museum where Paolo Pusceddu the owner showed us his collection of knives from over the years and then left us watching a fascinating video of how he produced a folding hunting knife whose handle was fashioned from a ram's horn that required much shaping, heating and bashing before the finished product was given a blade and polished up. He is still crafting beautiful examples of knives for a host of uses using traditional tools and techniques.
At Marina di Arbus we took a walk through the village and down to the harbour where a number of large yachts were undergoing maintenance on their hulls and a smart cafe run by a friendly young owner provided mid morning refreshments. A small convoy of classic Fiat 500s pulled in as we departed and further down the Costa Verde we found a large parking area above a huge curve of a beach so spent the afternoon walking to each end and had a quiet night with just three other vans dotted about. A Dutch couple in one were keen paragliders so took advantage of the cliff and onshore wind to enjoy the conditions the following morning.
Remarkably having being built in Edinburgh in 1983 she spent twenty years linking Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight being at the time the largest ro ro car ferry on that route. In 2002 she was sold to the Italian company that now runs this service and was sailed here with a crew of just 11 which must have been an adventure. Running 7 days a week around the clock we decided to take a trip over with the bikes the following day so checked out the fares and timetable before tucking away in the small harbour cafe.
The vessel docking and departing at times through the night was reassuring background noise and we caught the 10.20 with just a handful of foot passengers and two cars. Some of the original IOW signage was still in place and we enjoyed the top sun deck for the forty minute journey.
Cycling away from Carloforte we passed old salt pans teeming with flamingoes and reached La Calletta with its numerous shuttered holiday homes and a large unfinished and abandoned hotel. A return to Carloforte via an inland road gave us the opportunity for lunch on the seafront whilst watching the various ferries that link across directly to the mainland. An error in translation saw me tackling a huge plate of meats, cheeses and seafood that was probably aimed at a family group but I rose to the task before we set off climbing steeply at first towards the north west of the island. Far reaching views, blue skies and empty tracks made for a great day as we dropped down to the tuna processing unit at Tonnare and then returned to Carloforte for the return at sunset to Calasetta. We found a small restaurant in town and ate well with simple local food and drinks, the bill was on the high side but the place had great character although sadly we were the only customers.
A tour of Santa Antioco took us on more deserted roads, past beautiful beaches and down to Capo Sperone before a run up the east coast looking across the Golfo di Palmas returned us to the main town for coffee in a smart cafe that also sold some deli foods. We were taken by the sand timer for judging tea brewing and the sugary donuts that fuelled us for the final few miles back to Calasetta following the old railway that is now a cycle path.
With rain in the forecast for 48 hours we crossed back to Sardi itself and took a twisting road through the mountains to Teulada passing through a very loud and dramatic hailstorm that put two inches of white marbles on the road just as we passed the highest pass with the tightest corners. A solitary bike track was visible and soon enough we passed a guy heading to lower levels at speed. Park4Night indicated that a campsite provided services part way along the linear village of Chia but when we got there the barrier was down but not locked so we passed through and gave the owner a call. He only spoke Italian but turned up after ten minutes to switch on the power and water which was hugely appreciated. So for €20 we were pitched up alongside a salt water lagoon and five minutes walk from a spectacular beach. We had done our laundry in Calasetta that morning so soon had a line rigged up and I gave the bathroom a good clean as we had access to plenty of water before we walked out to the sea. The night was quite wet so we were glad to be in a warm and comfy vehicle with some catch up TV watched as we both have O2's 25 GB roaming limit. I am very pleased with my decision to switch providers as Three had a lower limit and a £2/day access fee : another Brexit bonus...
From Chia we moved swiftly on to the island's capital Cagliari, reached by passing industry on the west side and then circumventing the commercial port south of the airport. In the centre of town the MSC Lirica, a large cruise ship was moored up alongside the ferry to Civitavecchia near Rome and we were soon pulling in at the secure aire just to the east of the centre. Two African lads were manning the barrier and were very friendly, particularly once they realised I could speak French, originating from Guinea Bissau we wondered about their back stories as we were directed to a parking spot. Quite a few vans were in storage and once the owner had returned I booked us in, and paid the 20 euros and took on board his advice for how best to explore the relatively compact centre.
Thus we walked down to the sea front and along towards the cruise ship before a drink in a cafe where an intriguing character stopped to sell us some trinkets. He was a tall and very engaging African gentleman with a humorous approach to his trade so we very much enjoyed the encounter and bought just a few things. The old fortified centre was reached by numerous stairs and back alleys with excellent views in all directions and very few tourists even though the Lirica could have disgorged up to 1500 people.
In fact we met an Irish couple from the boat who said it was leaving at 16.30 having arrived from Civitavecchia over night. Their cruise was a 10 day tour of the Med but I noticed that at the end of the year the ship would offer a cruise over to Brazil and then spend the winter in warmer waters.
The city walls were impressive with the main gate the Bastione di Sant Remi being particularly imposing, an adjacent cafe revived us with good coffee and even better ice-cream before we moved on heading back through the old centre to view the remarkable Roman amphitheatre carved directly in to a limestone gorge. As work was apparently (if invisibly) underway to refurbish the access paths the site was closed but the ticket office open where the lady said you could pay to enter and walk a short way down the boardwalk for a less impressive view than could be obtained from outside on the street...
Needless to say we took some piccies and then returned to the harbour in time to see the Lirica depart as the sun set. Benches near the gates were hung with sodden blankets and sleeping bags where homeless migrants must have endured an uncomfortable time in the previous day's downpours: compare and contrast with the lives of the departing cruise guests....
Counting as ever our good fortune we moved on to the final 'zone' of Cagliari and chose a small and cosy trattoria for an excellent meal : sea food for me, cheeses and salad for Mandy all washed down with Ichnusa beer and half a carafe of house white.
Back at the aire the security guy gave us a friendly wave and we retired to bed after walking almost 11 miles.
Checkout was at midday giving us time to walk up to the covered market at St Bernardino where the meat counters groaned with choice cuts of pork, beef and even horse, the colourful fruit and veg stalls were a delight to see and on the lower floor the fish market exhibited almost every species of edible marine life known to man. On one a large swordfish head was almost all that remained of a huge specimen and we bought a couple of fresh looking tuna steaks plus some oranges and chocolate bars as a little something for the guys back at the aire. They were obviously hugely touched by our gesture and we felt very humbled as we headed off towards the south east corner of this absorbing island. Another park up at Solanas gave us a couple of hours in the sun on the beach which was less than 20 yards away. A local guy had gone off snorkelling for hours and an Italian guy turned up in a large Fiat based 4x4 camper but otherwise we had the place to ourselves as yet again the majority of the houses were empty holiday homes. A tiny shop/bar had milk and biscuits but little else other than two friendly enough local couples.
A short run along twisting coast roads with superb views brought us to Villasimius where we stopped for lunch above a curved bay overlooked by another tower and with a small marina alongside . Out at Cape Carbonara we walked down to an interesting old granite quarry before moving on to another quiet park up at Sinzias where we had our first east facing beach with a hilly ridge behind meaning we lost the sun a bit earlier so after two hours on there in the mid afternoon sun we walked around the Cape to the next bay passing another Spanish look out tower. I had upgraded my Mapy.cz app to the paid version allowing me to use offline maps and they proved remarkably accurate as we followed the paths and tracks. I have downloaded all the maps for Turkey, Greece and the Caucasus as the latter do not feature on my Satmap and data may be an issue beyond the EU.
After visiting the solitary Nuraghe Asoru a Euro Spin supermarket at Muravera provided a good restocking of fridge and cupboards as we were intent on heading inland to the even more sparsely populated mountainous areas where a more traditional agricultural life predominates. A newer road cuts through the hills and valleys via tunnels and bridges with the old road glimpsed turning and twisting nearby. We picked this up to call at Armungia where the easily accessible village tap quickly filled our tank and then followed more wriggling roads to descend to a point on what would have been the shoreline of Largo Mulargia but low winter rain has put this way lower and whilst we stopped for lunch the setting below a hill meant we would lose the sun early. Thus twenty minutes later we pulled up at a dedicated aire in Escolca just by the sports club with a choice of five pitches, a good view west and a small but attractive village to walk in to. The local bar was friendly enough and yet again I wished for more of this tolerance and encouragement of van dwellers in those less visited parts of the UK and elsewhere. We require few if any facilities, by and large behave respectfully and bring income to local outlets.
A bizarre blue lighting scheme made the spot all the more memorable with a large flock of sheep passing by in the morning as we breakfasted in the sun. Up at Barumini we stopped briefly for cash and bread before reaching the Nuragi Sur Nuraxi where as luck would have it a guided tour in English was about to leave. Carlota gave us and the three Dutch visitors an excellent tour of this hugely impressive bronze age settlement. A huge central tower on 3 levels was surrounded by scores of circular huts which would have had thatched wooden roofs housing several hundred people. Access to the main tower was via steep stone steps and a narrow passage and beyond to the four secondary towers narrow passages within the walls were remarkable to experience as they threaded between the huge boulders used in its construction. From the top of the main tower you got an impressive overview of the site but I include a photo of a postcard giving the best bird's eye view .... They are missing a trick here by not offering a tethered hot air balloon ascent or similar.
As our tickets included a visit to the Zapatta Palace back in Barumini we returned to see the former home of a family from Aragon who had settled in the area. In less informed times they had constructed a magnificent home using the solid walls of a Nuraghe and it's outer towers to support the structure. The last baroness left the property to the community and funded the small elderly people's home in the grounds after which the archeologists moved in to excavate the bronze and iron age ruins. These can now be seen through extensive glass flooring whilst display cases show a number of artefacts recovered from this site, Nuraxi and others in the area. The lady who took us round was again well informed and had excellent English and after a look round the folk museum with its exhibits from more recent local history we dropped in at the small cafe. In the folk museum I was intrigued by the 'shoes' for oxen and an elaborate wooden box with ropes and pulleys used to compress hay in to bales : thirty years ago I had made a similar contraption to do the same thing when I once made hay manually at the farm.
So after a thoroughly absorbing day we have moved on to an aire at Genuri, an even smaller village tucked beneath the limestone plateau of Giara where we plan to cycle tomorrow as today has seen a few showers. The aire has shade provided by solar panels and we have plugged in to the hook up prepaid by debit card. In the tiny bakery two locals were clearly delighted that this new facility was being used and as often happens once I had used my few words of Italian went on a long discourse which I completely failed to understand.
So we have another ten days or so before returning to Italy for a visit to Rome before Mandy returns home at the end of the month and I head for Greece aiming to be in to Turkey by mid March......
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Cracking narrative as usual and clearly not enough hours in the day for you guys to max out on life😊
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