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Well this was a fab day.

The La Maddalena Archipelago is a group of islands in the strait of Bonifacio between Corsica (France) and Sardinia (Italy). Created in 1994, the first in Sardinia, this national park covers more than 20,000 hectares of sea and land. It embraces 180 kilometres of coast and includes more than 60 islands big and small, of granite and schist, sculpted by wind and currents. 

We arrived with plenty of time as I was anxious not to be late. And no one was there. Eeeekk!! Well, even the Staff Coordinator was late. Definitely in Italian time. Despite this, the boat with our maximum 12 people left early. An eight member extended Polish family, two Italians and us kiwis. Our captain Marco and ‘mate’ Flávio took wonderful care of us. Lovely Mediterranean food and of course Prosecco!

We island hopped and stopped for hour long periods whilst we were fed and watered. Very well I might add. It was amazing to dive off the boat and literally float on the water, being so salty. Very easy to swim to shore, some sandy, some a little grainy. The colour of the water was a lovely reminder of the Maldives. Where it is azure blue, there is sand and dark is sea weed types. Beautifully warm, but still refreshing water.

All in all, another special day. A bit pinker than planned. An early night after a long day in the sun.

Of heat. Even the staff say it’s hot. Each day begins hot and gets hotter. At times the car said 39 and 40 degrees but my watch sat on mid 30’s. The air is thick. But we are so lucky to know that each day will be a goodie.

We took a test drive to our location tomorrow of Palau, for our catamaran trip around the archipelago of Maddenla Island. It was good to see the coastline and area without the anxiety of needing to be there on time – 8am. Sounds easy except for the traffic and 30 and 50 km speed limits to travel only 13 kms but GPS allows 25 minutes and that’s how long it took!! Then to find a park. Nothing is free, and there are many narrow and one way roads that weren’t made for cars. So we kind of have an idea now.

But the bonus was a little beach where a car was parking on the roadside. We followed them down a steep rocky track to a sweet little beach. Maximum number was 10 whilst we were there. Lovely and refreshing.

Further along was a larger beach with large boats and a camping ground in the distance. Camping would be challenging.

The landscape is hilly, rocky and mountainous, reminding us of Malta and Spain. Quite barren and burnt off in places but still green with olives, native bush and floral plants.

Picnic lunch on our balcony before another swim and lounge beside the pool waiting for the day to cool off for 5 o’clocks in town at 7! Still busy with people queuing at restaurants at 10pm.

This little town was once a quiet 19th-century fishing settlement, and is now a bustling tourism hub renowned for its marina, crystal-clear beaches, and boat excursions to the La Maddalena Archipelago.  Only a half hour drive from Olbia we came along some fairly narrow and ordinary roads. The speed limit varied between 30 and 50 kph. Not Ferrari speed, but we did see two.

Our little adults only hotel has 27 rooms. We are not the eldest but there’s a lot of young 30 somethings enjoying the peace. About a km from town but a nice view of the sea. Out of the shade was very hot. Three dips in the pool since we arrived this afternoon. We ate a takeaway salad in the park beside the beach as we were a tad early.

We struggled to find somewhere for dinner as there is such a fish culture in this town – didn’t cross my mind. Always pizza available of course. As the night went on the people appeared from everywhere including children sleeping in pushchairs. It was certainly cooler by 10pm – about 30 degrees lol.

A craft style market popped up at 9pm and became busy quickly. Such a different way of life. Families out and about until late.

A nice easy day.

Good morning from Sardinia.

We landed after a bumpy approach and a few gasps as we lost altitude and then rose, due to the hot air – even a sideways fall. Yikes! – to 37 degrees.

Olbia old town is a lively area and as the night approached became more busy. So warm. Of course we couldn’t come to Italy without partaking in the obligatory Campari Spritz which came with the complimentary food. Almost enough for dinner.

Lots of piazzas and little streets lined with tables. Only one night here as we head further north about 30 minutes away to the beaches.

Dinner was an authentic Margherita pizza and a carafe of wine as is the common way. We enjoyed lots of people watching and soaking up the atmosphere. A great first night.

Our entry to Bristol was over this magnificent suspension bridge. Completed in 1864 traffic access is controlled via a gate system to preserve it, so a £1 toll is applied.

Pedestrians and cyclists are free

We’ve had a lovely time with Alison and David – they have been great hosts and walking tour guides. We were also lucky or perhaps unlucky to watch the football with them. Sadly it didn’t go England’s way. Naturally, the locals were gutted. 2-1 to Argentina.

Bristol sits on the River Avon after it has meandered past Bath and out to the River Severn and the Bristol Channel. It is very tidal but has a gate structure to keep the harbour boats afloat. With a rich history of maritime and engineering Bristol has a population of around 500,000.

The Houses’ live in the lovely village suburb of Clifton and our hotel was just around the corner. We had an easy walk into the city and past some magnificent Georgian and Victorian buildings before heading back to Clifton and enjoyed lunch at The Ivy, a brasserie restaurant in a former bank. Stunning. Even the toilets were pretty.

It’s so lovely with the harbour right in the city centre.

Today marks the end of our English stint. We are staying at Gatwick and have only 100 metres walk to the baggage drop area without stepping outside. No stress necessary.

We walked some of the Coastal Path again this morning. The hills are good for our waistlines. Well that’s what I’m hoping! After the sea being a bit choppy yesterday the surfers were back out. The waves drag up the red sand from underneath and stain the water.

Our travels took us further up the Jurassic Coast, firstly to a beautiful village with such pretty houses named Otterton Mill where the working mill still practices the tradition of flour milling, bread making and cafe/gift shop etc.

Only 20 odd minutes along was Budleigh Salterton with its 2 mile stony beach. Many shops were charity – ie Hospice, and a few little boutiques. This is where we enjoyed our Devonshire cream tea in Devon. The cream was a little different but all in all, a scone is a scone.

Next town Sidmouth was charming and bustling. By this time it was 30 degrees and the challenge was on to find a shady spot to have lunch. This area also has a long stony beach churning up ‘red’ water. Doesn’t seem to bother the swimmers.

Lastly we had a quick look around Topsham, again sweet narrow streets and very close to Exmouth, against the Exe River on the opposite side. A ferry shuttles people across when the tide suits.

This marks our last day in England’s South. It’s been amazing and the weather better than we could have hoped for. Last year the summer was cold for us despite being in August. This year I brought some warm clothes with me and they are a pain in my suitcase. One can never plan for all outcomes.

Tomorrow we head to Bristol for a night to see David and Alison who we’ve kept in touch with since our French cruise last year They visited us in Oxford after our Cotswolds cycle so it will be good to see them again. There is also an English Football semifinal game vs Argentina to enjoy or endure! Let’s hope it goes England’s way ahah.

Exeter is another ancient city on the River Exe (same as Exmouth) Dating back to the Roman era, the Exeter City Walls surround its centre and Gothic Exeter Cathedral. Population approximately 138,000.

Exeter Castle, a Norman landmark, overlooks Northernhay and Rougemont Gardens which are 414 years old!

It has some vaulted, medieval Underground Passages snaking beneath the city which sadly are only open Thursday to Sunday. Damn!

The Cathedral is renowned for the longest uninterrupted medieval stone vaulted ceiling in the world and its gothic architecture and history of over 1000 years.

The city walls span nearly 2000 years of history with about 70% of the original Roman and medieval circuit still visible albeit with some repairs.

The quay area has had a makeover. Many residential conversions and restaurants.

A very nice city. It was amazing to leave the house for numerous consecutive days without a jersey. Especially given we are in England!

Dinner tonight courtesy of Tescos!

Our day began with a walk along the Coastal Path which took us past the Geoneedle, a stone landmark at Orcombe Point in Exmouth, marking the western gateway to the UNESCO Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Unveiled in 2002, it is built from a variety of stones to represent 185 million years of Earth’s history. The Jurassic Coast is named as during its long life it has been a desert, shallow tropical sea, and marshlands. Its rich red stone and soil contains fossils.

The day began hot and got hotter. The car read 33 degrees at one point!

We took a trip to Darts Farm – an award winning farm shopping experience with a working farm at its heart. As with The Pig where we ate last week, this team handpicked their seasonal food, not only for their 3 different styled restaurants but to sell in their incredible shop. They grow much of their own meat and use traditional techniques to ensure minimal waste. Then they use artisan suppliers – bread, pastries, craft beers etc. Fascinating. Clarkson Farms on steroids and with actual purpose. Plus some external retailers including gift and homewares. This was our lunch stop.

But the main trip today was to the Dartmoor National Park to see the Dartmoor ponies. It covers 368 square miles – roughly 95000 hectares!!! Massive. Famous for rugged granite rocks, deep river valleys, Bronze Age history and ponies, it’s also hugely popular for hiking, cycling and ‘wild’ camping. Interesting concept that last one. The ponies have roamed freely here for at least four thousand years – apparently there are fossilised footprints in bronze aged ditches. How do they know?! Digressing though, it was really hard to find any ponies. Google told me of several spots and it took all of them to find more than one or two. In the 1950’s 30,000 ponies existed here. Now after culling and re homing there are around 1500.

During the circuit of villages we enjoyed the very old Widecombe in the Moor. Great name. A very picturesque village famous for its 14th century St Pancras Church.

Another failed pony spotter hamlet was Postbridge. But what a find. It’s has this amazing 13th ‘Clapper Bridge’ – an ancient granite packhorse crossing over the East Dart River

Finally, we went a bit further to Ashburton, the largest town in the National Park. And also associated historically with administrative duties during the tin industry. Ashburton also has an East Street, plus North and West so there might be a South somewhere.

All in all, a successful and interesting day. And hot!!

The river Tamar forms almost the entire Cornish and Devon border, not that we saw much on our drive with all the large hedge rows. We popped into a few little towns for a ‘look-see’ but mostly came directly here, about two hours from Port Isaac.

Lunch in Exmouth township treated us to a carnival atmosphere with a market day happening.

Exmouth is a port town, and seaside resort located on the east bank at the mouth of the River Exe, 18 km from Exeter, the capital city of Devon. So know we are on the other side of the peninsula – the South West Coast. We are a five minute walk to the beach which was busy for our 30 degrees Saturday.

A nippy paddle to our knees helped cool the body temperature.

There are knitted characters on the letter boxes around town as a fund raiser for cancer. You can vote and donate. Really clever knitters out there.

Dinner will be down at the beach where we saw a bistro.

That’s what Graeme said we’d have. Just a gentle circuit walk of the two harbours. So we headed around to Port Gaverne and found the not very well marked walkway which led through some trees and along a creek.

It came to a point of two choices and we chose the more worn track. Hmmm. When we ran out of track we became ‘those people’ who walk across farmers’ land through the cow paddocks trying to find a road.

9kms later after dodging traffic down the skinny lanes we got back to Port Isaac. It was a very hot 28 degrees with no wind.

Lunch was another hike up the hill to enjoy the views for our last day here.

Cornwall has been great to us, all bar those couple of rainy days but the mind is very clever at forgetting the hard stuff. I think the traffic and narrow roads would drive us nuts if living here, but the little villages are just lovely. You’d just need to plan ahead. And you don’t need roosters or an alarm clock here. We’ve had some very noisy seagulls squawking until late at night and starting very early in the morning. The joys of the seaside. We’re leaving at a good time. Apparently August is crazy here! Cornwall has been on our list for quite some time. We can now give it the big ✅

Dinner at the local, Golden Lion. It had to be done! No sea Shanties tonight sadly.