Buongiorno for the last time on this trip,
At midnight on Sunday the Toscana our ferry for the 10hr trip to Sardina cast off, she is a huge open decked container type ferry, with an 8 storey accommadation block at the stern, Everyone was alotted a cabin or a seat, we at the lower budget end chose a 2nd class seat, a bit like an aeroplanes, But we got to the bar area on the early and jumped a large semi circular sofa seat and didn't move, the pair of us layed out and got 7hrs solid sleep (Oonagh says "its the best ferry ride she's been on"), We arrived an hour late At 1100hrs on Monday 06/07/09 as the tug boats pushing and pulling us in seemed to take forever to get us docked.
We set off to the east coast of Sardina, immediately you can tell the difference from Sicily as its much cleaner, the landscape is dramatic ,driving through steep mountain passes, with dried up riverbeds at the bottom, its looks a bit like the wild west. We camped by a long beach at Bari Sardo half way up the eastside of the island, its very rural, with goats being driven by old ladys and dogs down the roads for milking, people sell their home grown produce at the side of the road, and there even a scruffy unshaven policeman in a ill fitting uniform directing traffic (tractors). The locals are very friendly, but english isn't spoken here, but with nearly a monthO weO are Getting byO with the lingO, our SignO is now fluent si O grazie.

Thursday
as we packed to travel to the north west, a Swiss lad came and told us "Italy was in the throws of a national 2day fuel strike and no garages would be open", we had come across pickets on the motorway in Sicily last week, (so now we know what that was about). So we changed are plans and headed for Santa lucia 70 miles up the east side only to find 20 minutes later a strike braking scab garage, (the only one we saw all day) So we filled up (no conscience) and set off for northwest again over the mountains and more steep hairpins and scenary to match the Alps, we had been seeing signs for wild boar in italy but hadn't seen any untill today (he didn't seem that angry). followed by hill fires with water being dropped by plane and helicopter, Oonagh did try to get pictures, (It made me think about my past life, not missing it at all now). Our campsite at Aglientu is 5star much higher than the normal sites we stay at, its a bit of a wind surfing mecca in the straights between Sardina and Corsica, with all nationallities camped it has a more commercial feel than we've been use to, still no english people but the locals speak a littleO now
Saturday
our 50th day away from good old blighty, 3,108 miles, loving our nomadic lifestyle
Sardegna, as the local say, is a lovely island, some great beaches, rural towns and villages, the roads arn't that wide especially in the mountains,and its a little bit more expensive than the rest of italy, but we loved it and would return. You do need wheels as the beaches are set away from the main roads.
Scrabble score 24-15 to Oonagh
Arrivederci the Chaffers