Cala Minnola

So far we have spent 5nights just cruising around and anchoring it was been so relaxing I am almost beginning to enjoy ‘sailing’ again. Well actually on one day we stayed on board as it was windy but only a little choppy, but from a more exposed direction and that might have been bad but I dozed and also went for a swim which was lovely. We have also been for a bit of an extreme cycle, it started well on tarmac then became gravel and then bedrock before we arrived somewhere a bit like Perelle shingle bank where we walked, then great gravel then tarmac to the lighthouse. But we were currently on the west side of the island and wanted to go to the east side, to town for food before completing the circuit. Now I admit we could have gone the easy route on the main road and past the boat but hey this is us so we decided we would go up and over, there was a track marked on the map so should be OK well No. The first section would have been OK if we had mountain bikes it wasn’t very steep but it was very loose and our road tyres could get no traction, then after a strategic zigzag the gradient increased to about 40-45degrees and was still loose underfoot, would have been fairly horrible without the bikes but with them and the beautiful blazing sun it was not fun. I would have thrown my rattle if I had had one. But the views were good. Sadly we couldn’t ride down the other side initially but had to continue to walk though it was a lot easier down than up and path was wider and more stable. Once we reached the first house we could ride again and headed to town for food and more importantly a drink, we had expected to find cafes or kiosks during the morning but we only saw one that was open and that was only just after starting. After lunch we headed off around the other half of the island and loads of quarry pits both on land and on the coast and on the beach the rock is very soft and it looked like people had bought a plot of land and then quarried there own stones to build the houses, so most gardens had pits in them. There was also a couple of commercial sites and historic sites on the coast and the beaches. This half of ride was mostly on grit paths so was fine. We stopped for an orange juice at a mobile lemon. They used to have one at Beaulieu car museum. A globe on wheels those top half flipped open, ours was a lemon but there was an orange as well and they both served orange juice or lemon granita. The remaining part of the ride was easy enough but we had been out in the sun for while by now. Today we cruised to Levanzo island and had a look around only one small town a couple of isolated houses and not much else as the island has very little flat land, it’s Saturday today and there are quite @ few other boats in the anchorage but we are only Brits.Read more