Monday 15th April

The coach left at just after 7 & we drove out to Bizerte, a former French naval base with a picturesque fishing harbour & old 'medina' which turned out to be the old walled town. The streets are all narrow alleys as in Mykonos with many deserted houses but one which was being renovated was for sale & we had an inspection. Luckily we didn't like it even at about $250K so it is still going begging. We then wandered into the fish market & saw some most unusual fish for sale, including some very narrow bodied 1m long somewhat eel like creatures without any scales. Outside in the vegie market the produce all looked very fresh.

Moving on north west we traveled through a flat area of fertile farmed country with olive groves, grain, beans & with scattered flocks of sheep & a few cows. Then the country became rolling hills with groves of eucalyptus & oranges amongst the grain crops. The houses are spread apart in various stages of disrepair or construction & the 'villages’ would be seen as towns in WA with small shops & market stalls along the roadside. It all looks very handsome apart from the garbage which is everywhere but particularly in the creeks & along the roads, thus spoiling the rural idyll.

After about 3 hours we arrived at Tabarka another fishing port which is dominated by Genoan built castle on a headland protecting the harbour entrance. Here we had an excellent lunch of fish soup followed by individual whole Dorado’s served with salad & chips & then chopped strawberries & oranges.
After lunch we had 90minutes to explore so we set off to get to the castle & the effort was rewarded as it looks out over the sea & also over the port itself. Unfortunately the gate was locked but the views made up for that. Returning we walked along the shore to admire some strange rock formations where the cliffs ran into the sea.

The coach then took us to our hotel at Hammam Bourguiba for a well earned rest, it is approx 4 kms from the Algerian border.