7 April 2024 – Gargano Beach Time

Miles driven today = 42

Total Miles to date = 3,525

Our rooster friend was as good as gold as it turned out.  Not a peep was heard from him.  Unfortunately the same could not be said for the noisy farm machinery which started moving around very close to our Sosta at a little after 7am on what is supposed to be the day of rest.  Who ever said the countryside was quiet and peaceful?

To be honest we were all but up and about by then anyway and on the road a little after 9.  We continued along the SP141, through the low lying coastal wetlands.  Plenty more flamingos were seen.  Some pink, others less so.  I even spotted a stork wading in the shallow waters, which caused great excitement in the drivers seat and chastisement about keeping eyes on the road from the passenger.

All the time the hills of the Gargano Promontory were looming larger in our windscreen.  The Gargano is the spur of land which juts out from Italy’s calf on the Eastern side, opposite to Naples on the West.  It is almost entirely given over to a National Park these days and up until as recently as 50 years ago it was virtually inaccessible by road.

We picked up the SS89 eastward along the foothills and then the SP53 through a succession of lengthy tunnels.  After emerging from the last of these the road narrowed and became very wriggly but the views along the coast were breathtaking.  We have found that in Italy lay-bys and viewpoints are something of a rarity and so we have had very few opportunities to just pull over, admire the view and take a few photos.  Here, for a change we did get a chance to do just that.  This is Mattinatella Beach viewed from the East.

Vieste is the main town on the promontory but we pulled in a few miles south of there at the campsite at Baia di Campi.  And what a campsite it is!  I can’t take credit for this one.  Lisa found it in the ACSI book.  The pine shaded site is huge and I am sure it would be packed in the Summer months but it only reopened for the Season last week and there are currently just 8 other vans beside ourselves here.  It’s just €19 a night including hook up.

Because there are so few vans here we all have sea view pitches with acres of space in between.  We even have our own private clifftop balcony.  Here’s a little video I shot earlier of the view we have from there.

Our main reason for finding a campsite was because the IKEA bags we use as laundry sacks were reaching a point of critical mass and threatening to burst out from under the bed, so we desperately needed to get some washing done.  All the towels and bedding went in one load today and all our dirty clothes will get done tomorrow.  Once that’s all sorted we should only need to handwash a few pairs of pants and socks before we get home.   

The facilities block here is huge.  There are no less than 13 sinks specifically reserved for fish cleaning.  They are right next door to the Woman cleaning area.

We spent a large chunk of this afternoon just sitting on the beach and lapping up the wall to wall sunshine.  I actually got my trunks on.  I sat in the waves but I didn’t get fully in is as the drop off looked quite steep and I wasn’t entirely confident of getting back out again on such a pebbly beach.  Who am I kidding?  It was bloody freezing!

There are two small islands a little way offshore which are teeming with birdlife.  The larger one is Isola di Campi.  The smaller doesn’t seem to have a name but looks a little like a submarine.  

We wondered whether we could see land on the horizon.  If so we are roughly level with Dubrovnic on the other side of the Adriatic.  We're still a long way from home but it would be a crime to leave such a lovely place without staying for another day.

8 April 2024 - Busy Doing Nothing