ONWARD TO BRINDISI AND GREECE

On the road again we crossed over the mountains to the East side of Calabria and stopped for a coffee at the welcoming Porto (yacht marina) of Rocella Jonica where we had rested last June on our sailing trip to Greece.

The next campsite was Lungomare at Cropani Marina again close to the beach like the others. 

These sites are almost empty at this time of year and indeed many have not opened yet for the season. In the motor home we often wild camp / park in nature but with the tent on this route we really don’t know where to stop. It is probably illegal in Italy with a tent except on private land  and on the site we have showers, security for the full car and electricity to power our small fridge, computer, phones and kettle.

These roads are not busy at this time of year but pass through towns and villages and have speed limits and electronic speed control so average driving speed is not high until we reach dual carriageway sections but the reward is we see in close up the area.

We tried to connect with couch surfing hosts to integrate more with the culture but it did not work out.

We came to Crotone to pick up some cat food and cushions for fellow boat owners who had departed before the delivery arrived. We enjoyed a coffee in a lovely location over the water.

We came to a large “forest by the beach” campsite Camping Village Pineta di Sibari. 

For the first time we could not borrow a suitable adaptor for electricity so placed our fridge in the laundry room. Guided by the German camp site owner I went to the village the following morning to buy 20m of cable and end fittings and adapters including European to Italian. In the motor home we have all of these things but for this trip we were not at the start fully equipped. I also found the small one use camping gas bottle so we can now heat food or make coffee.

We had one tent neighbour with bicycle and spoke with him. Renaud is from Brest in Brittany, France. He has cycled from there to Spain and down through Italy without specific time scale or destination. “Perhaps Albania next” he said and “winter in Morocco?.”

His Breton flag on the bike was rolled up as he was fed up with Juventus football supporters blowing their horns at him in Italy.

Having the luxury of an electric travel kettle I was able to offer him hot water for his small Thermos flask. We passed him on the narrow road a few kilometres further on.

We had amazing views across the bay as we continued in the direction of Taranto but we started to lose sight of the mountains in this low lying area. Taranto provided an opportunity to buy some supplies and Anita found a pair of shorts there.

Our plan was to spend the last two nights in Italy at one campsite to take a rest. With sunset only 90 minutes away we changed our plan to save 50 km of driving and 40 km of time and headed for a campsite to the north west of Brindisi. We found that it had not opened for the season yet, nor two others nearby so we considered camping on the beach but decided against it. In darkness we tried to find a place to stay and ended up in a small hotel paying more than we wanted to (60 euros) for bed and breakfast. 

The breakfast was just individually wrapped long life cakes with jam and the worst coffee we have experienced in Italy.

With a forecast of rain we did not want to take down the tent in rain and mud on the last day so found a comfortable self-contained accommodation Villa Assuntina off the beaten track which was recently modernised. 

It will look good in the summer weather with the swimming pool open.

The owner spoke no English but we communicated though her speaking translator app.

We wanted to buy a stand up paddle board for the summer (SUP) so headed for the Decathlon store in Brindisi. 

The rain started and eventually it was time to go to the ferry terminal. I can say it was probably the worst I have experienced and completely chaotic. We were shouted at by one worker as we tried to drive to the waiting lanes before they were open not know the system.

Without any apparent signal the trucks and few cars suddenly moved towards the lanes so we followed. We boarded the ferry in the last group as were leaving at the first stop, Igoumenitsa, Greece. We had to drive up two ramps. The second was just one car width wide, steep and wet. The tyres struggled to grip as they fought to move forward over the raised wet steel ridges of the steep ramp and everything was shaking. I could smell rubber by the time we reached the top deck.

Not the comforts of Deck 4 for Campers for us !!

Once on board we found no free seats in the seating area, so sat where we could in the restaurant area. After the dinner was cleared away we found somewhere to lie down. 

Rain continued through the night but it was dry at least when we disembarked at first light onto empty Sunday morning roads in Greece.