Day 30 - Arbatax Boat Cruise

Today is all about the sea. It’s actually the Tyrrhenian Sea on the east coast of Sardinia. 9 hours out on a boat heading north from Arbatax Harbour to a number of swim and beach stops that are only accessible by boat. It’s a rugged coastline featuring massive limestone cliff faces. Along the way there are absolutely stunning natural beaches. We also did a limestone grotto tour. Massive open cavities set in the mountains - stalactites and stalagmites and all sorts of incredible lime formations. The grottoes were huge inside.
On my return from the cruise I had decided it was time to head west across to the other side of Sardinia. Unfortunately the Octavia decided to protest and started indicating a fault with the oil. Being highly skilled in these matters I immediately stopped and checked the oil. All good. Water - all good. But still an alert icon indicating on the dashboard. So my next responsible response was to check the manual. Off course it’s in Italian. So next I chased down a garage - got the attendant to take a look - he came to the conclusion - the indicator could mean low oil pressure. This is highly unlikely on a car that had only travelled 112000km. The engine was running fine, no noises, vibrations - all normal. By this time it’s after 7. I’m so hangry I could eat horse - in the end after trying to get a mechanic out - I was able to finally speak to someone who could speak English from the rental company. We talked through the issue and I convinced him it was more likely an indicator or sensor problem - not a mechanical issue. I took photos of everything and sent them to him. In the end after him trying to get me to drive the car to their nearest office to have it replaced. We agreed I could keep driving. Thank ..ck!
And drive I did - heading for Oristante. And do know - the warning light went off!! Bloody hell - two hours lost.
So now I’m back on track. Spent my first night in the car - I was pretty tired - so got a good few hours sleep.
Another eventful day on my Odyssey!!Read more