view of the hotel from the hill

The tower

September 30th Villasimius        Today started cloudy and after a good night's sleep and a good breakfast we decided to spend most of the day visiting the local area.  We could see an old tower from the hotel grounds and thought we would start there.  We drove in the car to the end of the metalled road and went first to the end of the peninsular before we climbed again and arrived at the 16th Century tower built as a lookout by the Spanish when they owned these parts.  On the way up we had a good view of the lagoon and the hotel.  We came back to the car by a different route, climbing down to a beach and seeing a now defunct granite quarry.

We had a quick snack and then drove to a beach further north, Punta Molentis, which was quite pretty and had some fishing boats and a little cafe run by a generator and sold ice creams.  This fortified us for the journey home and we arrived just in time before the start of a long-lasting, impressive thunderstorm.

Punta Molentis

September 29th Villasimius.      Sorry no blog yesterday but there were mitigating circumstances.  We had a lovely seafood orientated meal on Monday evening, but unfortunately something did not like me very much.  Was it the king prawns, the swordfish steak, the mussels, cuttlefish or something else?  Anyhow by the time I went to bed I was not feeling 100% and after sleeping for a couple of hours most of it reappeared!  Neither of us got much sleep that night and so the next morning we were in recovery mode.  We did manage to lie by the pool in the sun for a couple of hours in the afternoon and we were OK to have a light meal yesterday evening and so hopefully that episode is behind us.  Unfortunately no pictures taken during the day - hopefully the next post will make up for it. 

Villasimius September 28th

Part of Arbatax harbour

Having had a recovery day yesterday we decided today we could be a bit more adventurous and take a car journey.  We looked on the map and plumped for Arbatax - a small harbour town about 50 miles up the coast.  The car travel went largely trouble free - there seems to be very little traffic at this time of the year.  We stopped at Tortoli as we approached our destination and had a look round a typical Sardinian town.  We bought some provisions (gin and tonic), had a bathroom break and then proceeded to where we were aiming for.  It seems quite a nice little port town and we are glad we paid a visit.  After taking some photos and having another natural break we decided to make our way back where we belong.



our dining scenario

It took nearly 2 hours each way (some of the roads are not great and their speed limits are all over the place).  We arrived at the hotel and set up to partake of some of the recently purchased provisions as we sat on our patio.  We noticed there were some parrots roosting in the date palms outside our room

parrots in the date palms

The light was now fading and so we went to the restaurant for a very atmospheric meal al fresco style.  We shall see what the weather brings tomorrow and make a decision on the activities.

Our hotel from the path to the beach

 

September 27th Villasimius.  Today was destined to be a quieter, settling in day.  On reflection, the trouble we experienced in making it here has made our journeys to and from Scilly seem quite straightforward.  Anyhow we made it and have had a good day so far.  After breakfast we thought that a visit to the beach was the right course of action and so we walked the five minute path and then enjoyed some time relaxing on loungers.  Our first impressions of the hotel and its environment are favourable and the weather has certainly been better today.  After a time we decided to go for a swim as other people were and we thought it should be quite warm.  It certainly was a lot warmer than at St. Martin's and we stayed in for quite some time.

We had a snack lunch and went for a walk around the large lagoon which is between the hotel and the beach.  The lagoon is home to pink flamingos and some parrots live in the bushes/trees around the edges.  We did some further relaxing/reading and have now had a lovely dinner.  A good evening has followed a dry and largely sunny, warm day - a big improvement on yesterday!



September 25th & 26th - two travelling days

We left Penzance on the train at 1000 on the 25th and spent almost the whole day travelling.  We had bought some refreshment and reading material to take with us and so the day was not wasted.  The train eventually arrived at Reading about 15 minutes late and we transferred to the bus which goes to Heathrow.  We had travelled by car, tripper boat, Scillonian, taxi, train and bus to get to Heathrow in about 27 hours.  We stayed at the Premier Inn (very comfortable!) and had a good view of planes taking off.

By now I expect you may be wondering (or probably not) where on earth we are going.  Anyhow we had to be up very early the next morning to check in for a flight to Sardinia.  It was different seeing the sunrise over large aircraft.

We have never been to Sardinia but had heard good reports and so we have come seeking the sun and warmth.  The flight was good but the BA food was awful - when will the flight meals improve?  We landed and safely negotiated customs etc.  We had arranged to hire a car and then went to pick it up at the airport.  Sorting the car out took a very long time, there was along queue and they did not seem very active behind the desk.  In the meantime Christine realised she had left her reading glasses on the plane and spent some of the time I was waiting in retrieving her specs.  We eventually got going but the car being right hand drive added complications to a low mileage driver!  Christine had thought hiring a car in the circumstances was not a good idea and I soon came to agree with her.  As we went on the 90 minute drive to the hotel it started to rain and for time it was like a monsoon and as we got further away from Cagliari the road became very bendy and hilly.  The rain did abate and by the time we arrived (thank goodness for satnav) it had almost stopped.  One good thing is that the hotel and our room seem OK although as we walked round everywhere was damp.  The weather looks better in Scilly and so we shall have to see how we get on.

 

The Daymark from the Scillonian

September 24th We left St. Martin's on the Thursday 2:30 tripper boat - the Seaking driven by Fraser Hicks - and the trip to St. Mary's was not without interest.  He stopped us off at Guthers Island to look at the seabirds on the rocks, there were shags and cormorants with the seagulls, plus four herons perched on their own rocks with a peregrin falcon.  A first for us to see all that on Guthers.




A good view of the Wolf Rock


 



Fraser on the Seaking




We left on the Scillonian, having a good view of St. Martin's as we passed the Eastern Islands.  We carried on a good voyage, passing the Wolf Rock and arrived in Penzance on time.  We cheated and had a taxi to Heather & Alan's flat before having a quick pub meal.  Where are we off to next? You will have to read tomorrow's blog for more clues!