Onwards

Well we moved on again today - to unknown territory in the main but we have come across a real find!

After leaving our campsite and daring to ascend the road out of the bay with our hearts in our mouths, we succeeded in accessing the autoroute towards the south east coast. We chanced on this campsite by exploring the internet and realised that it has 22miles of golden sandy beach along a lido with lots of campsites - a bit like Lido de Jesolo we thought.

The drive was easy as soon as we had escaped the absolutely crazy traffic of Naples and Sorrento. At 9.15am they were bumper to bumper trying to access the beaches for the day - and they didn't care how they got there - overtaking where there wasn't space, cutting other people up and the rest. It was with joy and sheer relief that we left it all behind.

As soon as Sorrento and Amalfi were behind us the traffic disappeared and the beautiful mountainous countryside began. The books didn't prepare us for the wonderful sights and totally uncommercialised landscapes. It was an easy drive to the Ionian coast where we easily found our campsite on the edge of the golden sands and set within pine forests to provide lots of shade.

We had a bit of difficulty setting up camp as the guy tried his hardest to make us use a piece of land that is unsuitable for caravans - then his colleague came along and drove some sense into his head. It was 35c by now and we finally got ourselves sorted out thankfully. We were a bit apprehensive to say the least as we were accompanied by thousands of cicadas literally thundering their noise throughout the camp. We couldn't hear ourselves speak! It was good to have something to eat and drink, then have a shower and relax.

There are lots of things to do on this camp - all sorts of sport, the beach is 500 mtres away, the Greek ruins are nearby to explore and there is a full entertainment programme. This evening we decided to make use of their restaurant, strolled up there and ordered a pizza and salad and listened to a wonderful jazz trio playing nearby. The pizza was the best I have ever had, the local wine was great and the evening wonderfully relaxing - a good start. There is also free wifi here at the camp so we are sitting out in the evening warmth writing this blog - and the cicadas have shut up for the night! - bliss.