Sardinia - 'O sole mio

O Sole mio

Che bella cosa na jurnata ’e sole,

n’aria serena doppo na tempesta!

Pe’ ll’aria fresca pare già na festa...

Che bella cosa na jurnata ’e sole.

English words to this famous Italian song:

What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!

The air is serene after a storm,

The air is so fresh that it already feels like a celebration.

What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!

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We travelled from Corsica to Sardinia where we passed a small boat without a skipper or crew on it which was a bit strange. However, it did have a remote controlled Camera monitoring the boats coming past! Good idea really, this way they can stay in a warm place monitoring from afar.

Our first Sardinian anchorage was in Palau (North of Sardinia). This was the first time that we run out of large stock of chocolates (OMG). After a priority “chocolate shop stop” we crossed to Maddalena Island with the dinghy to explore the village. We headed into the hills for a hike. We did not see any signs or gates but somehow ended up on a private property. It was an impressive big old mansion with sea views. You could see that it was neglected and abandoned. We continued a big long driveway which led to a huge old iron gate with high walls on both sides. Unfortunately, the iron gate was chain locked with no way to get out. We had 3 options – to go all the way back up the hill, walk through a squatter home built where the wall had slightly collapsed or try to climb up the walls and jump down the high wall. We did the last and felt really guilty doing so.

Our next anchorage was in the the Golfo to Aranci where we decided to take the dinghy onshore. The pontoons to leave dinghy for a few hours were near empty (low season) and we went to dinner. There were no signs that stated that we were not allowed to leave our dinghy or that it was private. After dinner we walked back but the little bridge leading to our dinghy was lifted up. So we did what we had to do and made it somehow across. Oh boy, did we get told off in Italian. The man looking after the pontoon abused us and even after apologising and telling him that there were no signs, the verbal abuse continued. Sven took out the iphone and started to film the performance from our dinghy. You could see the immediate change in the man turning from a dragon to something a little more civilised. We must add here, that this was the first time that this has happened. To date all the Sardinian people we have met were incredibly charming and helpful.

The next day we had our mind set, to climb up a mountain we noticed from our boat. The first part of the way seemed well marked, but that was about it. Sven suggested a shortcut. I should have known better as this has meant pain/bleeding legs/arms on previous occasions… and following ways which only wild animals have taken before😊. It was the same this time. You never know what a new day brings but in the end it always seems rewarding and part of a new adventure.

In Olbia we found a spot on a free harbour docking wall where we got greeted by local people fishing in the morning.

The boat docking wall was directly in front of a Ferris Wheel (Riesenrad) and Merry go round. Sven enjoyed his ride on the ostrich.

We enjoyed Olbia as we could walk from the boat into this lovely town. The park next to the dock was maintained by busy robot lawnmower bugs. They went back into their little houses after a busy work day.

We passed some colourful boats before docking in Olbia.

We also hired a car– this time a little Fiat Panda! We even got stuck between sheep on our road trip.

Looking at the changing colours we are very aware that winter is around the corner.

We visited a few places in the North, North East and North West of Sardinia and have picked our favourites here:

Castelardo

Castelsardo is a town and commune in Sardinia, located in the northwest of the island.

Bosa

Bosa is a beautiful villages on the west coast, counting no more than 8500 inhabitants. It is known for its colourful buildings, small alleys, a hilltop castle and a river flowing right through the village. It is definitely worth a visit.

We enjoy the little family run shops everywhere.

Orgosolo

Orgosolo is a commune located in the Province of Nuoro and is famous for its murals (house wall paintings).

The murals emerged in the late 60s. It was during that time that Italy's economic miracle collapsed by massive strikes and social unrest. The murals became a major expression of the social discontent. The first mural painting was carried out in 1969 by Dionisio, an anarchist theatrical troupe from Milan. After the idea of mural spread in the small village, a local teacher, Francesco Del Casino, played an important role, as the early works were carried out by his students. Later on, more experienced workers took the job, making the murals more elaborate both in the style and in the content. Del Casino would be the instigator of most paintings of the village of Orgosolo. One of his major motivations was to get students involved in politics. We were told that this teacher still leaves in Orgosolo.

There were so many great murals!

We also went to a lovely restaurant. The menu was also translated in English which is not always the case. There were 2 items which triggered some discussions between us, brains with vegetables and horse meat. We both had not eaten the brain with vegetables but horse meat / sausages are common in some European and other countries. But in the end Caroline ordered vegetarian and Sven pasta with wild boar meat. Not sure how many of you have tried horse meat ?

Capo Camina - Flamingos and Kiwis

Here we saw our first flamingos with hopefully many more to come. We also discovered a beach full of Kiwis (😊😊)! You can see our boat in the back.

After collecting a few so called Kiwis at the beach we cut them on the boat. As you can see they were anything but Kiwis 😊.

Golfo di Orosei

We anchored for 2 days in a crescent-shaped bay called Cala di Luna (East of Sardinia). The caves, cliffs and turquoise waters were stunning and can be accessed by foot or boat only. We had this incredible place again to ourselves. This was one of our favourite spots to date.

We did some cave exploring this time by foot hiking along the beach.

When we walked back to our boat we got a shock and our hearts were pounding when we saw our boat on a sand dune!

Lucky for us it only locked like it was stuck on sand. It was still safely floating in the bay.

We were treated with the most amazing red sunrise in Cala di Luna (Golfo die Orosei) the next morning.

Please click on video below to see the 360 degree view we had and the colours of this sunrise.

The evening was not as peaceful... The wind picked up as forecasted but our anchor decided not to hold and we watched the following 3 hours our boat being dragged further out. This photo was taken at 11 pm at night and at that stage we moved 43 metres!

We decided not to pull the anchor up whilst there was still some hold and the wind still blowing very strong. We ended up moving anchor spot at 1 am in the morning. At that time the anchor moved 50 metres out into the sea.

Other amazing bays in the Golfo di Orosei and further south along the East coasts were: Cala Sisine, Cala Biriola, Cala Mariolu and Cala Goloritze (picture below). Look at the colour of the water, the white beach and the contrast of the rock.

some pictures taken along the coast.

Now on some other topics.

Can you believe it. We have only just started our around the world adventure and Sven is already thinking of what we do next!!! I mean it is one thing to ask me during dinner what’s for dinner the next day, what we do in a month, or 1 year. But so much ahead - You got to love his enthusiasm for life 😊. So I will share with you what the plan is in years to come...

And another topic – we were asked by TMG (our Lagoon agent) to comment on our travels so far. See following link (or copy and past the link):

https://themultihullgroup.com/sailing-the-mediterranean-lagoon-catamaran-review/

below is the same as on above link (except first photo as the link was also sent to TMG customers).

❤️ Sending our love to you our families and friends ❤️

❤️ Thanks for being part of our adventure ❤️

Next stop: heading further South towards our Winter destination in Sardina.