Day 14 is upon us and the end of this incredible journey is looming large on the horizon.

Today we are visiting the Maddelena Islands at the very north of the island, it is something we have been looking forward to since booking the holiday.

Having seen stunning pictures of glistening blue sea, secluded bays and golden sands on the internet the MI were high up on our list of must sees.

There are various companies selling all day trips that traverse the collection of Islands leaving at around 9am and returning back to port at around 5pm
and which throw in lunch. Prices appear to start from around 35€ per person, great if you're only paying for your self or perhaps a couple but with kids in tow one of these all day trips were far from affordable especially now we are nearing the end of our trip and our spending money too.

We also had concerns that such a long day may be a bridge too far anyway for the kids given the high temperatures which have sometimes caused things ahem ...to get a bit heated between us.

Alex our 19 year old did not want to come with us today as she seemed on a bit of a downer although exactly why remains a mystery, as is often the case with teenagers.

Rather than go for the all day boat trip option we decided instead go for the for the cheaper option which was to get on the car ferry which left from the resort of Palau (around a 40 minute drive from our accommodation). We did not take the car on the ferry but were foot passengers - the total cost for the four of us (return) was 43€ (£30) and the trip each way was just over 15 minutes.

The trip across from Palau to the port on the largest of the Islands was very pleasant and there were some beautiful views across to the islands, with their secluded beaches and plenty of yachts and other pleasure craft to be seen too.

The car ferry was practically full on the outward journey which for such a small island was quite surprising and especially as the frequency of ferries was around every 30 minutes. Prior to boarding the ferry we came across one of the very few English people we had encountered on our journey, a lady from London who was selling one of the afore-mentioned all day boat trips around the island and whom proved very useful in pointing us in the right direction for purchasing ferry tickets .

As the ferry got nearer to the port on the island it soon became obvious that we would not be seeing any of the secluded coves and beaches we had seen on the internet. The port was not huge but it is possible to see the entire stretch of coastline on which the port stands and there was no sign of a beach anywhere - neither were any boat trips around the islands, the only ' trip' was a Dotto train and we thought better of that.

Our trip to the islands was relatively short lived and we simply had a look around some of the quaint pedestrianised lanes full of gift shops, cafés and restaurants, eat our home made lunch and retuned to the ferry port ready for the return journey back to Palau.

It was disappointing that we were not able to explore the Maddalena Islands but it has given us a good excuse to come back and see some more another time and hopefully jump on one of the full day excursions around the islands (which takes me back to my single days and a few holidays in Greece).

In fact it was whilst waiting for a coach to take us on the first leg of a sailing circumnavigation trip around the island of Zante back in 1997 when ' news broke ' of the death of Lady Di - some chap on a motorbike asked us if we were British and explained on his broken English what had happened.

We assumed at the time that he was some kind of nutter and gave it no further thought (none of us had a mobile phone in those days). It wasn't until we got back to dry land later that afternoon we became aware of the enormity of what had happened on that fateful night in Paris.

Anyway back to this trip and after disembarking the ferry we jumped back in our hire car and made the short journey back to our accommodation.

By now it was mid afternoon so we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon lazing by the swimming pool which today was quite busy. There was also a pleasant breeze blowing although the temperature had again hit the thirties. It had been raining today back at home by all accounts .

Back on the subject of the missing suitcase it is still missing in action , not delivered today as promised as the courier who in my humble opinion is both lazy and and incompetent was we were told, unable to locate our accommodation which is not a valid excuse considering we who are english arrived in the dead of night and whom had never visited the island before were able to find without too much trouble.

After yet more conversations with the airport we are told now it will be with us tomorrow. It is now so late in the day that whether it arrives tomorrow or not is somewhat irrelevant - it is only the fact that we need to take it with us on Wednesday to the airport that matters now.

After our time spent at the pool, we made dinner (pasta) and Josie, Madalyn and I got changed in anticipation of watching some live entertainment by the pool. Alas despite the earlier assurance of Frederico yet again there was a no show. It seems perhaps that something has been lost in translation or maybe it's just that it's hard to believe a word a Sardinian says after our experience with the suitcase at least.

I must say though that in their defence the locals are quite helpful and friendly at times, a notable example today whereby a chap helped us out with getting out of a tight parking space although we were half expecting a fee request after the event.

Not much to report this evening, which was primarily spent on the balcony of our apartment reading and drinking (real rock n roll eh), although we were joined this evening by not one, not two but three local lizards on the wall.

Just as a footnote Madalyn our 10
Year old did us a great favour this evening by noticing that one of our car lights was still on, had that not been spotted we would have almost certainly found ourselves with a big problem on
our hands trying to sort out a flat battery the following day.

So not much remains of our trip now, the curtain will soon becoming down but we have much to reflect upon and many great memories to take with us..the only question remains is whether the suitcase will arrive with us tomorrow, only time will tell.