Into Europe

Friday 21st September

Last night was chaotic – still Africa at its best! Our ferry to Palermo was due to leave at 9pm and the one to Rome at midnight. We arrived at 5pm and joined the queue of vehicles in the orderly system of parking rows in place at the port. Well, 3 hours later we were all still waiting, but there was now a jumbled mass of cars crammed into every little space and corner – a tight knot of vehicles! We were then told to leave our cars and to go to the terminal to get boarding passes. The terminal was a seething mass of people, especially around the office, which did not open until 9.30pm! We think Ramadan had something to do with this, but could not be sure. By 11pm we had our boarding passes and were back in Garfield. Part of the chaos was that there were now 2 loads of vehicles and people trying to get through simultaneously – they separated Rome and Palermo into different lanes but 500m down the tarmac these joined again! Finally, by after midnight, Garfield was parked on deck and we were settled in a corner on the floor with our mattresses and crocheted blankets! We had not booked a cabin as it would have been another $100, so we joined the 100’s of other people on deck. We fell asleep around 1am but apparently the ferry only got going at 2am!
In the morning we were amused to see all the innovative ‘sleeping nooks’ – on window ledges, under tables in the restaurant – just huddles of bodies everywhere. We reached Palermo at about 11am (instead of 8am) and just sat and read our books until the crowds had cleared, then we disembarked. Our passports had to be stamped, but there was absolutely no paperwork for Garfield – we simply drove him off the ferry and into Sicily! What a pleasure.
We drove around the tip of Sicily to Isole d.Femnine to a campsite. After setting up we strolled into the little seaside resort to buy some sangria and beers. There was a local wedding in progress with all the guests very formal in black and white (I thought they looked like the Mafia) and on the sidewalks, tables of elderly men playing cards with plump ladies chatting in corners. We went to a little deli and made our purchases – everything is organized, labeled with the price and clean. Dave is delighted as he can’t stand the bargaining and haggling with prices – the best was in Tunis; we bought him a pair of sandals for 30 Dinars but the starting price had been 120 Dinars!
Even I felt a kind of ‘home coming’ feel when we heard the church bells tolling! After months of being in Islamic countries, it felt good to be back on Christian grounds. We bought a cone with delicious Italian ice-cream and wandered back to Garfield. Over a dinner of pasta we shared a bottle of sangria and became mellow and mushy!
N 38 11.790 E 13 14.705

Our costs in Tunisia were
Visas R 118
Accommodation R 644
Petrol R1 943 R6.79/l
Toll & parking R 35
Vehicle repairs R 92
Internet R 46
Food R 503
Purchases R 934
Tips R 38


Saturday 22nd September

After a leisurely start we drove back into Palermo where we went up a spiral staircase to a view point over the city and it gave us a good impression of the streets and buildings. Then we set off and got entangled in narrow little alleyways between tall buildings! Luckily, Garfield just fitted and eventually we were out in the open roads into the interior of Sicily.
We headed for Mussumeli – a quaint town with narrow paved streets and ancient churches dating from 1400. Just 2kms outside the town, perched on an imposing rock in absolute loneliness, is the Castle of Mussumeli, built in the 1400’s. In ancient times executions were carried out on a precipice just below the castle, and the castle has been the scene of many tragic events – legends of women buried alive and a daughter strangled by her father etc abound. Unfortunately, we could not enter the castle as it is under renovation, but it was still interesting to see it from the outside.
We then drove around in what appeared to be square circles to get out of the hilly interior and back onto the autostrade to the east coast of Sicily – actually we were a bit lost but it was very scenic all the same! We drove up the coast to a campsite at Acireale, perched on a granite cliff edge with a lift going down through the sheer rock to the seaside about 42 metres below us(according to Dave’s GPS). We befriended a German couple, Karl Wilke and his wife, and spent a very pleasant evening with them, drinking red wine and getting tips on our route through Europe. By the time we went to bed we needed to take a bottle of water with us(for the nadors) and I have to share with you, that even Dave has invested in a ‘bottle potty’ now – it is so much easier in the roof top tent!
N 37 37.209 E 15 10.456


Sunday 23rd September

Happy Birthday to our ‘Big Boy’ Donovan! We hope Rayanne spoilt you rotten and that you had a lovely day. Our thoughts were with you all day long.
We had a leisurely Sunday morning start and only left the camp at 10am. We set off to explore Mount Etna, which is the largest volcano in Europe and considered to be the most active volcano in the world. At its peak it is about 3 350m and unfortunately it was shrouded in cloud today, so although we drove around at about 1 800m and saw various stages of old lava flow, we did not spend the money to go up the cable car to a higher level as the visibility was too bad.
We then went back down onto the autostrada and drove up the coast and around the tip of Sicily to Milazzo Port. The scenery is spectacular and the Italians are great road engineers building quite some tunnels and bridges – we have taken some amazing photographs of their ‘autostrada’. The longest tunnel we went through was 1 624m and the longest bridge 2 250m.
We are now camped on the tip of a finger of land called Capo Milazzo in the Tyrrhenian Sea, in an avenue of olive trees with knarled and twisted trunks. Once again, we are at a height above the sea and you go down a whole lot of steps strewn with olives to reach the beach.
N 38 15.776 E 15 14.567


Monday 24th September

We woke up at 4.30am to go into town to catch the hydrofoil to Stromboli Island, some 65kms N of Sicily. Jeff, our overlander friend, had suggested that we go there to see an active volcano. The hydrofoil was fast(65kms/hour by our GPS) and within one hour we were at Stromboli. We booked to go on an official hike up to the top of the volcano in the evening and then found a room to stay in and just relaxed and enjoyed the day on Stromboli, having a delicious pizza for lunch.
At 4.30pm we started our hike. There were about 5 groups of 20 people separated by language, so we were the ‘yellow helmets’ that is English speaking! Stromboli is 2 400 metres in height but most of it is below sea level and the cone that protrudes is 946m high – this was what we had to climb! It took us 3 hours to do and the going was steep and rocky, but the views were magnificent. We had been instructed to take spare T-shirts and by the time we reached the summit we were soaking wet with perspiration so we changed and put on wind breakers as it was very fresh up there. The sun was just setting and we were completely awed to be up at a vantage point looking down 200m to the crater floor below us – this vast black heaving hole! There were 4 main points of activity – the first was like a huge black chimney and it kept puffing out high clouds of dust and gas, the smell of sulphur was very strong. The second was a small but potent blow hole that only shot up a jet stream of red flames twice during the 45 minutes we spent there. Between these two there was a bigger hole that every few minutes sent up a cascade of red hot stones into the air – much like a Roman candle fire cracker – and then there was a even bigger hole that seemed to be spewing out red molten lava like a bubbling pot of hot toffee – this only happened about 2 or 3 times. All this activity was accompanied by huffing, puffing and gurgling sounds at times interspersed with powerful explosive sounds! It was quite ominous but one of the most exciting nature shows that we have ever seen. Apparently a volcano is considered to be relatively safe when it is gurgling and erupting like this. It is when it goes quieter and lava begins to really flow out that the magna can get ‘blocked’ and then the volcano is considered dangerous. This happened to Stromboli in March this year and sure enough, a few days later she blew her top! We saw massive stones that had been thrown out during March, on our hike to the top. In fact she has only been open to tourists for the last 6 weeks again as she has now settled down again to her normal gurgling, puffing and blowing!
There was a storm brewing so we had to make a hasty descent – luckily it was not the rocky path but rather like walking down a massive black sand dune. It was pitch dark and we all had head lamps and helmets on as it is on this back slope that there is a danger of flying stones! We made it safely down although our legs were cramping and we just collapsed on our beds in exhaustion! Our lack of exercise over the past 6 months certainly shows at times like this.

Stromboli N 38 48.037 E 15 13.922


Tuesday 25th September

We went down to the port at 9am to catch the hydrofoil back to Sicily but the weather had turned foul and the sea was too rough – no hydrofoils today! Perhaps a ferry at 12.30pm? So we waited – books come in handy at times like this. The ferry arrived and managed to dock but only for a few minutes – it was quite chaotic as they were all stressed and shouting in Italian but we got the message that we had to run on board! Now it was a heaving sea we had to contend with and soon Dave and I were both ‘man down’ on the floor trying to fight off sea sickness. I am glad to say we succeeded and after a couple of hours the sea settled and we were able to enjoy the scenic route, as this ferry took 8 hours to get back to Milazzo, only doing 17kms/hour and stopping at 3 of the other Aeolian Isles.
We arrived back in Milazzo at 8pm, exhausted but elated with ourselves on our accomplishment of seeing an active volcano.



Wednesday 26th September

We made an early start and went to Messina to catch the ferry across to Italy mainland. It was a day of traveling (500kms) but all on amazing highways, once again one tunnel after the other interspersed with bridges and suspended roads around cliff faces. The roads themselves are entertainment for us. We passed fields of olive trees and fruit orchards before moving into more mountainous areas covered with pine plantations. We arrived at Pompei at about 3.30pm and tackled our mountain load of laundry!
Pompei N 40 44.789 E 14 29.057



Thursday 27th September

We spent the morning chatting to other campers and waiting for our laundry to dry. Then we visited the ancient city of Pompeii which was buried under 6 to 7 metres of ash and rock on the 24th August 79AD when the volcano Vesuvius suddenly erupted. Since 1748 excavations have been in progress and are still ongoing with only about ¾‘s of the city having been unearthed so far. Walking through Pompeii was like a journey into the past and you really capture the feeling of life in ancient times. The luxurious homes and the opulent way of life of the ancient people is quite amazing to see and imagine!
We spent a pleasant cocktail hour or two with some fellow American campers in a big campervan, chatting about their and our countries and then we hit the sack.



Friday 28th September

We caught a train to Sorrento, walked to the middle square of Sorrento and then down 130 steps (Dave counted!) to the harbour where we got a jet boat out to the Isle of Capri, one of the most famous islands on earth. Capri has enchanted writers, poets, musicians and painters over the centuries and it is not hard to see why. We caught a bus up the winding narrow road to the town of Capri which is centred around the Piazzetta or town square. No vehicles are allowed in Capri town itself – in fact they wouldn’t fit! The town is really quaint and so beautiful with all the flowering plants and cobbled alleys. We walked to the gardens of Augustus from where we had breathtaking views back down to the sea and the Faraglioni – three famous rock-cliffs protruding from the sea. Unfortunately the Blue Grotto was closed so we were unable to visit it.
By the time we had retraced our steps including the 130 steps up in Sorrento and got back to the campsite it was 4.30pm so it was a full day of activity. We paid another visit to the supermarket as we are leaving Pompeii tomorrow.