Sunday 6th April 2008

For the fifth day we had thunder and lightening. It started at about 06:00 but the climax was at about 09:30 when the rain came down like a waterfall. This then changed to hail with lumps of ice half a centimetre in diameter. The noise on the roof was horrendous, conversation was impossible and I was really concerned that the hail would damage the plastic windows in the roof. The hail went on for a few minutes before it turned back to rain. Once the rain stopped, we prepared to leave but a German couple who were walking back to their motorhome told us that the road outside the campsite was flooded and it was impassable. We went to take a look. Just above the campsite there are some steps that lead up to the town perched on the rock but we had already been told that these had been washed away together with part of the cliff in the Winter rains. They had started replacing the steps but they had left a large drainage pipe open at the top of the cliff. This was now disgorging a huge volume of water down the cliff on to the road below and all of this water was then running down the side road and past the campsite entrance. After half an hour the flow of water had subsided and we were able to leave, carefully negotiating a small hole in the road that had been widened and deepened by the flood water. Fortunately , that was the last of the rain that we had that day.
We had a choice of two routes that would take us across the top of the toes of the boot of Italy. The first and closest was the more major road and would have been the quicker route. The second route went over the mountains and through a pass and was marked in green on the Michelin map – that was the one for us! The first part of the journey was again by the sea but we soon turned inland and started to climb. The views were good but not spectacular and we stopped for lunch near the top of the pass in a small lay-by. As I had predicted, less than half a mile further on, there was a purpose-built covered picnic area with a large car park – this is always the way when you have been looking for somewhere to stop and finally compromised on somewhere that is not ideal. Once we started to descend, the views just got better and better. The mountains fell away steeply on both sides to lower hills along the coast. Even though it was a little misty at this point, the views were lovely but, as is often the case with Italian mountain roads, there was nowhere to stop to admire the view so I had to content myself with glimpses between the hairpin bends. I was only able to take one photograph and that was in one of the mistier sections, so you will have to use your imagination for the views.
Once down at the coast, we headed for a archaeological site near Locri. This was another huge Greek / Roman site of which only a small part had been excavated and even less was on display to the public. We had to content ourselves with some wall, a gate, the remains of two temples and an intriguing sacred area, all of which had excellent information boards in English. The museum was also very interesting although it lacked English explanations. On then to our campsite just a few miles up the road at Marina di Caulonia. We chose a spot well away from the coastal railway (again) and right next to the sea.
Photos: The hail lying on the campsite whilst, out of view, a torrent runs past the entrance; A rather hazy view from the S111 on the descent to Locri whilst crossing the top of the toes of the boot of Italy.