Sestri LevanteTuesday 30th June 2009
Parked in a Campground after winding our way up a hill, to find it was perched on the side of the hill and all terraced. Not too bad in itself, but our site was right next to the entrance and overlooked the pool.Not that bad I suppose, but the pool was full of young kids skylarking around so we decided to wait until it was quieter. When we did finally go down we found out that it closed at 7.00 and we had only 10mins to enjoy. The other strange thing we found is that it was the rules to wear a bathing cap, (hygiene reasons) and so we found this a bit of a bother so it was a quick dip for us.We also found that the campground didn’t get quiet till after midnight, seems that the kids and parents are quite happy to stay up late with no toning down of their volume. Enough said. (had to have a grizzle) Otherwise everyone would think it’s all nice as pie!
Wednesday 31st
We decided to leave that campsite as soon as we could get going, forgoing breakfast until we could find a place to park the camper for the day while we visited our next must see site.The Cinque Terre we have been told so much about and had to see. We found a spot where we could park and after breakfast we locked up and walked to the train station. Unfortunately we had to wait for nearly an hour for the right train, so all we could do is sit and wait.After a while the train arrived and about that time we met a young Aussie couple from Melbourne who were on their honeymoon trip. We spent the short train ride having a bit of a chat and swapping travel stories and information. The Cinque Terre is an area that encompasses 5 small villages, linked by paths, ferries and the train. It is a National Park and has spectacular scenery and quaint villages, surrounded by terraced hills and natural vegetation.We decided to start with Riomaggiore, and walk the first three paths and then take the ferry to the last one to take advantage of the sea view. The first path was great, well paved and an easy walk, so that was fine but then each path got worse, the next was a bit rough, sometimes a bit steep, but the last one was sometimes a bit of a goat track up and down hill, through bushland and along narrow ledges on the hill. Still we had a great time and we estimated that we would have walked 7kms along some great scenic paths. Then we took the ferry to Monterossa al Mare which was only a 5 min boat ride but save our now weary legs. Then back on the train to our home on wheels.We then found another car park back off the road a bit and decided to stay the night there as it was getting late and we had enough for today.
Thursday 1st July
Left early again and hit the road along the Motorway through tunnel after tunnel past Genoa and down the other side of thebay to the Riviera di Ponente where we stopped in a camper place at a seaside holiday place called Diano Marina.This is really camper central, the site hold 700 campers/motor homes, at the moment there are 300 and it is just a place to park. We are even parked under a gum tree, so have picked a small bunch of leaves to remind me of home. We are lucky enough though to have free wifi and have made the most of it to update blogs and contact family and friends. The beach is a little way away so we ride our bikes and then they are very busy. We are finding there is not a lot of free beach areas, here you have to pay to enjoy the beach and pay for a lounge and umbrella. We found it hard to even find a place to put our towels and stuff but we enjoyed having a bit of swim to cool off and it makes us appreciate how special South Australia/ Australia is will the fantastic beaches we have..You can not even walk or jog on the beaches here as they are all partitioned off. Yaay! for Brighton and Glenelg.
Friday 2nd July
A day of internet, swimming and relaxing!
Off again early tomorrow, they are expecting a huge swell of holiday makers for the weekend and we would like to get out before it gets really busy with the small roads in the town. So it’s on to France tomorrow to see how we can catch the tour de France. Stay tuned for the Koala!!! He is due to make an appearance.
