friends in strange places

Woz spotted these crates on our drive back towards the airport in a small village called Padrid. They led him to the workshop where the repairer was mending crates and also making wine. He was such a lovely and friendly man and he invited us in to see his workshop where he gave us a tour and explained the process to us - all in Italian which of course limited our understanding! He welcomed us like long lost friends, sharing a drink with us and offering us some of his grapes to take home. He was taken with Nate, exclaiming "Bambino!" and chattering away in Italian baby talk which Nate loved as you can see by his expression!

mountain views

Our afternoon was spent driving through the mountains, following the coast. At one point we were driving along and heard bells chiming. We turned to see a flock of sheep clambering up the rocky hills each with a bell around its neck. The sound was beautiful and echoed through the hills like windchimes. Unfortunately we were too taken with the sound and sight to think to capture it with a photo.

something's fishy ...

No marketplace goes unnoticed by Woz's photographic eye.

bosa

After following the coast for some time we arrived in Bosa where we had lunch. Another beautiful little village, on the sea but with a river running through it also.

merrily we drive along

Our second day was overcast so we decided to explore the coast by car and see what we found.

breakfast fit for a king

After a jam packed day Woz found us a B & B to stay in. We were the only guests so we had the two bedroom, two bathroom apartment to ourselves. The lovely couple who owned it lived across the hall in another apartment and put on an incredible spread for us the following morning.

another first for nate

Ooohhh sand!

fun in the sun

a perfect day at the beach

Crystal clear water, mountain views, an ancient watchtower and a beautifully sunny day made for an incredible afternoon at the beach. The water was lovely once you were in but it took some getting used to so we decided it was a little too cold for Nate.

la pellosa

By late afternoon we reached La Pellosa beach which was an absolute paradise and provided a very welcome swim.

ghost town

What an eerie town. Argentiro was a small coastal town which was made up of old dilapidated buildings and new (built in the last ten to twenty years?) beachfront apartments which had never been properly fitted out. At some point this town had been abandoned and allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Having "googled" it, I have since learnt that from ancient times to around 1960 the southwest coast of Sardinia was used for mining. It is now called "the silent coast," and this town is one of the many deserted villages marking a bygone era. Devoid of life and complete with swirling dust clouds and the hoot of an owl it was very spooky. The moment we stepped out of the car Nate started to cry and wouldn't be consoled as quickly as he might normally be. Claire reminded me that "they say babies can sense evil" and I was immediately petrified!

parkes & monroe

on the road in sardinia

After exploring the town of Alghero we drove along the coast and through the mountains. Lots of photo stops along the way of course.

good things come in small packages

Woz seems to have a love of small spaces - studio apartments, narrowboats and the Fiat 500. Well actually it seems to be a love of small things in general. Perhaps that's why he likes me so much?!

not happy!

Nate's first glimpse of the ocean was from a stone wall which lined the coast around the town. Not sure he was in the mood for it though!

The doors to a beautiful church in the town.

surprise!

Woz and I surprised Claire with a two day midweek getaway to Sardinia. We kept her completely in the dark and only told her where we were going when we had to line up to check in. Claire and I had travelled to Italy together last year but this destination was a first for all of us. So beautiful too! This is Alghero, the town we flew into.

claire and nate share some vegemite toast

loungin' around

After a busy morning we all decided to lounge around for the afternoon in St. James Park, just outside Buckingham Palace.

pakenhamites unite!

Claire's arrival on Sunday brought a record number of friends either living in Pakenham or connected in some way in the past!

grandma for a day

Poor Daile must have been mentally exhausted after her day out with us. I spent most of the time drilling her with questions about how to look after Nate!

exploring regents canal

On Saturday, Don and Daile who are visiting for a week, Andrew and Vicki, Matt and Woz, Nate and I took the boat out. It was so great to all be in London at the same time.

the centre of the universe!

A gloriously sunny day seemed like a good excuse to take a ferry trip down the Thames to Greenwich. There we visited the Prime Meridian line - the centre of time and space, and Matt and Nate discussed their plans to take over the world!

nate and uncle matty

Today we had lunch at Covent Garden. Matt checked out all the outdoor camping stores in the area and I discovered the Australia shop which is a shop stocking all of the food we're not able to buy here like saladas, sai biscuits, savoys, BBQ and pizza shapes, lifesavers, allens lollies, licorice allsorts, arnotts chocolate biscuits, white knights, redskins and toffee apple lollies, jupiter caramel bars, vegemite, milo ... the list goes on. I wanted to buy everything but with some items tagged at around four times the price I had to be content with merely drooling at the prospect of such delights!