Four slow days

We were scheduled to arrive in Olbia at 6.30pm. However we'd departed late and our progress south  felt distincty unhurried. By our appointed arrival time we were within sight of Olbia but barely moving, making our  wa slowly down the narrow, islet strewn inlet which protected the port for centuries from marauding Barbary pirates, but these days presents multiple hazards for a big ferry packed with marauding motorhomers. 

This mattered, sunset was at 7.10 pm. Arriving at 6.30 pm. would have enabled us to reach the sosta we had booked at Porto San Paolo before nightfall. It was dusk by the time we disembarked and completely dark when we edged slowly along the traffic choked Olbia ring road. Luckily the route to Porto San Paolo was well signposted as was the sosta and the number plate recognition system at its barrier worked perfectly. 

We had one minor glitch. I tend to avoid driving the motorhome at night - particularly on minor roads in Italy. The road from Olbia to Port San Paolo is winding. However, when I switched to full beam weirdly the indicators flashed as well. The lights and indicators are all on the same stick, clearly the switch is malfunctioning. It's only a problem on full beam, but it means we are going to have to avoid driving after dark. Luckily the lights and indicators are working fine on dipped, so its still ok in heavy rain and foggy conditions. Do motorhomes ever work faultlessly? Well ours doesn't!

Last year our trip was to Italy was cut short when torrential rain sent us scurrying off to France and the Costa Brava in search of sunshine. It's three years since we spent a month or more in Italy, and we are noticing one positive change. Increasingly in paid for sostas you are are able to pre-book and pay on-line. This is a game-changer, particularly out of season. On our first autumn trip to Italy and Greece a decade ago finding places to stay was difficult. We were reliant on books like 'All the Aires', or rudimentary, user driven websites like Park for Night. What was asserted on-line rarely corresponded with reality when you arrived. On a number of occasions on our drive south to Brindisi we turned up at sostas which claimed to be open all year to find the gates padlocked and a welcoming committee of deranged alsatians. So online booking is a welcome development.

Next day we drove about 8kms south and booked into Tavolara Camping Village for the next four nights. We both needed to relax and sit still for a few days, which is exactly what we did.

So much so that it's difficult to recall exactly what we did do, apart from three loads of laundry in an elderly washing machine which when it finally creaked into its spin cycle sounded like the TARDIS. Thankfully it didn't de-materialise leaving future archeologists to ponder how Sardinian Nuraghic tribes people were able to acquire Marks and Spencer underwear.

The local beach was about 500m down a minor road. The view towards the spectacular pyramidal peak of Isola Tavolara was absorbing, the way cloud shadows floated across its pale rock face. "Is it limestone?" I asked... Granite apparently. 

I had a short swim each day. It's ages since I have had a deliberate swim. Since I acquired a paddleboard two years ago my dips have tended to be short and unplanned. Stamina proved challenging, I needed to take a breather every 100m or so, but it was great.

I am still suffering from post viral symptoms from the dose of COVID I picked up a couple of months ago. Stress and tiredness triggers them, and the drive south was both stressful and tiring. It's a random thing, sometimes I feel just about ok, sometimes really lousy. It gaslights me, because I never know from one day to the next how I will be. Exercise does help, swimming cleared my symptoms immediately, as if somehow it reset my immune system. Afterwards I almost felt well. It would be great to be able to discuss this with a medical professional, but if you try, you sense you are being humoured, placed into 'the slighty deluded septgenarian box'. What to do? Swim more!

There is a big lagoon behind the beach with herons, egrets and flamingos. Sadly we couldn't raise the energy to circumnavigate it on the boardwalk. Instead we just lay on the beach and watched the world go by. Italians are very watchable. I messed about taking photos of Gill from funny angles.

She  reciprocated by taking distant shots of me bobbing about in the sea, then WhatsApped them to the kids in some kind aquatic 'Where's Wally' competition.

The last four days - basically we've done bugger all - it's been great.