Tharros, Porto Mandriola, S’Archittu, Abbasanta, then back via Cuglieri

31 March, 2015

The sun is shining, the wind has dropped to a breeze and the temperature is a balmy 19 deg C. We decided to head back down the coast where we found some interesting places on our way to Bosa yesterday. San Giovanni di Sinis is just out of Oristano. It is a long peninsula and is the location of an archeological site of an ancient Phoenician port. The beautiful weather is perfect for a long walk down the promontory (we had no choice as cars are not permitted).

The beach looked just like any beach in northern NSW.

Nice day for a walk at last. Beautiful beach at San Giovanni di Sinis.

The Torre at Tharros.

Looking back from the promontory of San Giovanni di Sinis to the Torre.

The waves are still high from a week of strong winds.

At Tharros is the ruins of an ancient Phoenician settlement.

After Tharros we drive north again and drop in at a number of beach villages. Most are just starting to awaken for the summer and the start of the tourist season. At Porto Mandriola the village still seems deserted but a few surfers had parked their motor homes and were taking advantage of the sheltered bay but with a big swell that had a perfect right to left break.

A modern surfer encampment at Porto Mandriola. The guys were long boarding on perfect waves.

We can’t understand why this place seems deserted. It seems idyllic to us.

We had stopped in the town of S’Archittu on our way to Bosa yesterday and walked along the Esplanade. The town is known for a natural arch but we couldn’t find it during our quick stop. Today we walked a little further past the town and saw the arch in brilliant sunshine. Quite spectacular.

The arch at S’Archittu.

The big waves make this place fascinating.

This place would be great for a swim when it gets warmer.

Don’t jump (with me hat)!

On to Bosa for our second week in Sardinia

30 March, 2015

It was strange to be leaving Carmen and our little B&B at Portoscuso but we were booked in at Bosa which is about two thirds the way up the Sardinian west coast. Carmen sent us on our way with some big hugs and a jar of her home made jam.

We took our time driving up as it was only 190 km so we drove the slower coast roads to take in the scenery. Sardinia is very green at the moment and just beautiful. All we need now is some sunny days where the wind drops below 30 knots.

The view from our B&B window at Bosa.

The B&B is very modern and seems more like a small boutique hotel. It is set high on the hills just south of Bosa and has a commanding view of the sea. It is only about 2 km to the small seaside town of Bosa and we can see Bosa Marina from our window. After check in we head to Bosa to check out restaurants and the old town.

The coloured buildings in the old town of Bosa with the Castello on the hill.

Drive to Grotta San Giovanni – the drive to find the missing SS89 and cascatta

29 March, 2015

A fine and warm day at last so we headed North West past Iglesias. (no relation to that singer of the 1980s). We were in search of the waterfall know as Cascata Rio Murru Mannu (it sounded Aboriginal) and the Grotta S. Giovanni. Our map showed that the falls were on the SS89 so we set the GPS to S. Benedetto which was accessed by the SS89. The SS89 was a wide, major road but by the time we reached S. Benedetto it had reduced to a very potholed track which stopped at the gate of a farmhouse. Very strange. We didn’t give up so we headed back down the ruts to Iglesias then to Domusnovas to find the other end of the illusive SS89. We managed to find the Grotta S. Giovanni on the SS89 but the road that ran through the Grotta (SS89) was permanently closed at the Grotta. Pedestrian traffic only from here. It was fantastic to walk through the limestone tunnel which was once a road. We even ran into a group of cavers that had been down a very narrow but long limestone natural cave.

Limestone flows in the tunnel.

All though the road tunnel cave were limestone flow stones, stalagmites and stalactites. A very fast flowing stream ran alongside the road. Although it was quite poorly lit the road was an easy walk for about 1 km through the mountain.

The southern entrance.

The northern entrance.

By the time we reached the other end we found some great walks through the forest and some very lovely creeks. The other end of the cave was also blocked to traffic but we were astonished to find cars parked at the other end of the SS89. How did they get here when we knew that the SS89 no longer existed on this side of the Grotta?

We were determined to find out how what happens to this side of the SS89. We walked back down through the cave and gave the task to the Garmin. There were certainly no roads on our paper map. The Garmin succeeded and we managed to drive through a number of villages until we found ourselves on the other side of the Grotta. I was now convinced that we had made a wrong turn at S. Benedetto so we headed down the SS89 from the Northern end of the Grotta towards S. Benedetto. The SS89 was wide, smooth and very well maintained but about 3 km from the Grotta it simply stopped! The mystery of the SS89 was solved but the mystery of why, lives on!

It was now getting late in the afternoon and the Vidlers call for Aperitivo rang in my ears. We started haeding back home but decided to go the long way back via Siliqua. We turned down the SS293 and noticed a rather large Castello perched high on a mountain top that was surrounded by extensive plains. We were not in the mood for a long, steep climb to see yet another castle ruins but they did have a bar at the base of the mountain. Perfect… Aperitivo with a view. Nice….

The Castello di Acquafredda.

Carbonia to visit underground coal mine then to Necropoli Montessu

28 March, 2015

Today is the start of daylight savings in Italy. It seems far to cold to be thinking that summer is here but it will be nice to have dinners in daylight.

Only about 5 km from where we were staying at Portoscuso is a town called Carbonia. In the 1930s this was a small village that had a small coal mine which had a mostly untapped large coal deposit. Mussolini visited the town and decided that the Fascist government of the time would develop the mine and rebuild the town. He renamed the village Carbonia. Due to poor safety measures (resulting in many deaths) the workers went on strike towards the end of WW2 and the mine was flooded to stop the allies accessing the coal. They tried to revitalise the mine in the ’60s but by 1972 it was closed permanently.

Lynn had no interest in looking at old mining equipment but I jumped at the chance to go underground for a tour. The mine extends over an area of 40 kms and goes down as deep as 2km but only about 1 km of tunnels are open to the public. The original mining methods seen were pick and shovel methods with small ore cars on rails. The equipment left in the mine goes through all the technology changes of mining right up to high speed and efficient hydraulic cutters of the 1970s.

Deep underground coal mine in Carbonia.

Needed to be short to work in here.

The winches that lifted coal and lowered miners 2 km underground.

The steam loco that transported the coal to Portoscuso.

Can I have a drive? All we need is a fire stoker.

Aah! The fire stoker…

After Carbonia we headed in to the hills and stopped for a visit to Necropoli Montessu. This is a great place for some hiking in the hills and some amazing hand cut caves. Apparently these are supposed to be Tombs built to house the dead but to me they seemed to be very suitable cave dwellings. Some quite large and could house a family while others had very small access doors.

My best side.

I think that the view is behind you.

Spiral carvings on this tomb’s walls.

Fred Flinstone’s house?

The hill is honeycombed with small caves/tombs.

Buggerru via Carla Domestica, Capo Pecora, Tempio de Antas and Nuraghe

26 March, 2015

When will this winter weather end? We decided to do a coast drive from Portoscuso (from our B&B) up the coast as far as Capo Pecora. It is only about 80km but along winding roads with lots of things to see on the way.

Sunny but windy & cold day (so far).

The ruins of the major mineral processing plant with sea view rooms.

The remains of big boy toys.

This region of Sardinia was a major mining area and has been supplying the Greek, Romans, Hitler and the current Italians with coal, zinc, lead, silver and tin. Many of the mines are now abandoned as they were mostly underground that cannot compete with larger open cut mines around the world. Most towns have massive piles of overburden, rusting equipment and abandoned mining company buildings.

No eco concerns when this plant was operational.

We drove along a rather well maintained road that ended at a little cove with a nice beach at Cala Domestica. This was where a railway line ended that used to carry coal which was loaded on to small sailing boats that transported the coal to Buggerru which was then reloaded on to large steam ships bound for ports all around Europe. This was in the late 19th century. The rail has since been torn up but the bridges, loading docks, equipment and buildings lay in ruins across the county.

A tunnel between beaches at Cala Domestica.

The remains of an Ingersoll-Rand compressor.

If we had to walk down and up the road to Buggerru it would have Buggered Us!

When the port of Buggerru was fully operational I can imagine that this was a regular response to any concept of environmental care concerns.

An Ancient Greek / Roman temple (Tempio di Antas) hidden in the hills behind Buggerru.

We came across the Temio di Antas which was built near a stone age village which then became a Greek and Roman village. The Temple was built around 100 BC then rebuilt a couple of times in the first and second centuries AD. This area is high in the rugged hills behind Buggerru and doesn’t seem to be built in any strategic location. Just in the bush.

By this time it is raining heavily and getting colder. Time to head back and find a warm pub!

Visiting a stone age village in the wind and rain.

A Nuraghe (rock pile house) in Seruci.

Italian sheep, just like Italian drivers…. all over the road.

Drive around Isola di Sant’ Antioco – back to Sa Musciara restaurant for dinner

25 March, 2015

The weather hasn’t improved so on a cool windy day we drove around Isola di Sant’ Antioco island. The island is attached to the mainland of Sardinia (South West corner) by a Roman built causeway.

Sant’Antioco Torre on the Island of Sant’ Antioco.

It is still too early for the tourists so we wandered about the small town of Sant’ Antioco before exploring the rest of the little island.

Sant’Antioco but no tourists around yet.

It only took an hour or so to drive all the way around the island on tiny but mostly well-maintained roads. That was except about a 10-metre section of road that was on the far west where a creek had washed away the road. We had to completely circumnavigate the island to get to the other side of the washout. A very small concrete causeway would have saved the locals a long drive. Looks like the Sardinias have learnt from their Italian cousins.

Two metres deep of dried sea weed on a beach of the island.

The seaweed beds on the beach are very deep and spongy. And we used to complain about a day of weed washed up on the Gold Coast beaches after a storm!

Waiting for the sea weed cliff to collapse.

After a chilly day and a very cold and windy night, we struggled to head out to dinner. Marco (Carmen’s son) recommended we try Sa Musciara. The restaurant specialised in seafood and we were blown away by a local tuna recipe called Tonno di Portoscusese. We met the restaurant owner and chef (Alberto Gai) who was also a champion J24 sailor.

We made sure that we set aside another night to return to this fabulous restaurant.

http://www.ristorantesamusciara.it

Alberto. The chef and owner of our favourite Portoscuso restaurant, Sa Musciara.

Back to a cold, wet day for our first full day in Sardinia

24 March, 2015

Porto Pino is just south of our B&B at Portoscuso. We decide to spend the day traveling back towards Cagliari to check out the south coast of Sardinia since we will be traveling clockwise around the island.

Wind is starting to pick up and clouds building at Porto Pino.

Nice little paved walkway down to the water’s edge.

Blowing a gale by the time we get to Pula. The white sands are covered in deep sea weed.

Even the flamingoes have to lean into the wind.

Our hire car in Sardinia. Only 1024 kms on the clock.

Rain is bucketing down on our way to Porto di Malfatano.

Large waves on a normally calm Med.

Breakers even!

Flight to Sardinia and drive to Portoscuso

23 March, 2015

We are staying on the south western tip of Sardinia for a week. The plan is to go clockwise around Sardinia and stay at 5 small hotels or B&Bs. We will then do daily drives around to see as much of Sardinia as possible. I am secretly hoping to get some warm days so I can have a few days swimming in the clear, aqua blue waters of the Med.

Our host is Carmen and she speaks about as much English as we speak Italian so this week may be very interesting. Carmen is very friendly and we are treated like family. Much of the breakfast is home made and she makes a myrtle liqueur that rivals many limoncellos.

The patio area where I sat to update the blog.

Warm and calm evening for our first night.

Drive to Battipaglia and a visit to the Paestum Greek temple ruins

21 March, 2015

Crossing the mountain range from Lecce to Battipaglia.

Nice beaches but treated as rubbish dumps by the locals.

Need to wear boots on the beach to walk over broken glass and dumped plastic on the sand.

The extensive grounds of the Paestum Temple and ancient town built around 600 BC.

3 Massive Greek temples and extensive villas.

Nice walk around the old town and temples.

In the old Amphitheater.

Nice day for it and the light was just right in the late afternoon.

This was one of the first buildings on the site. Buried for a few hundred years.

These may well be better temples than we find in Greece in a couple of months time.

Bored with temples yet?

Last one until we get to Greece. Maybe…

Dinner at Volo Restaurant with the Leggieris

19 March, 2015

Just one of those catch up days as we prepare to move on to Sardinia. We did all those necessary but boring tasks today. Laundry day, posting excess “stuff” back to Oz and at last we managed to arrange our flights as far as Singapore but still wait-listed to Brisbane from Singapore.

It is starting to warm up during the day and it was very nice walking around doing our tasks on a sunny day. The highlight, however, has to be catching up with the Leggieris for some Prosecco at their hotel then dinner at Volo restaurant in Lecce. This was Jerry’s recommendation and it was an excellent choice. The Leggieris are moving on early tomorrow morning but with any luck we may catch up with  them in Oz, or the USA, some time.

At the Volo restaurant in Lecce with our staff.

Dinner with Becky and Jerry plus the restaurant owner.