With The World At My Feet: ISOLA DI BUDELLI/CAPO D'ORSO

Cruising along!

One piece of advice for anyone visiting Palau is to hire yourself a boat (unless you're a lucky bugger and own one of course!) as without one you really can't do the coastline any justice. After lunch on Sunday we all were invited out on Silvia and Francesco's friend's boat for the afternoon, and I can honestly say that seeing the coastline from the water was incredible! We flew across the water to 'La Isola Budelli' in the Tirreno sea which forms part of the National Park archipelago of La Maddalena. It is uninhabited like Caprera, Spargi and Razzoli, and is apparently one of the most beautiful islands in the Mediterranean. It is known for its 'Spiaggia Rosa' (Pink Beach) in the south-eastern part of the island which gets its colour from corals. Apparently in the last few years it was overrun with people stealing the coral, so it is now officially protected and boats can't get close to the beach. We then anchored up close to the coastline in one of the most beautiful locations I've ever seen in my life.

Map of the archipelago!

The colour of the water was just unbelievable - it was so blue and clear it could have been a swimming pool not the sea! Cami couldn't wait to get in (nor could I, to be honest!) and we then spent many hours jumping off the boat, diving in the crystal clear water and playing with her inflatable boat. The inflatable boat has a plastic 'window part' on the bottom so you can be face down and see underwater, and whilst Cami was looking at the fish, I put on the snorkelling mask and dived under and then swam up under the boat to her face. She was so surprised and scared that she screamed and jumped back and fell out Haha! It was hilarious, and I couldn't stop laughing! Luckily Cami saw the funny side too, and kept asking me to do it again! It wasn't quite the same as seeing her face the first time I did it though! For lunch we had a panino and a can of beer whilst sunbathing..... Could I really have had a better day? I was exhausted when we got back from all of the swimming and playing in the water, but it was really worth it!

Crystal blue waters

The Spiaggia Rosa

Cami and Silvia swimming!

Camilla with her mask on!

Cami and Francesco jumping!

Me!

Us getting ready to dive in!

Jump!!

Me being a starfish!

Cami and me in the water!

Cami in her little inflatable boat

Me chilling out!

Camilla and Silvia!

Francesco and Silvia

Palau from the water

Me on the back of the boat

After Sunday's boat trip, I wasn't expecting much adventure for a while, however those who know me, know that I crave adventure! It's not my fault that opportunities for exploration just seem to find me! I actually think that after yesterday I can officially call myself an intrepid explorer (well maybe not quite as the road from Palau to Capo D'Orso is hardly the Amazon rainforest or Mt.Everest, yet to me, it was an adventure). After lunch I set off in the direction of 'Capo D'Orso' (Cape Bear) which owes its name to the huge bear-shaped rock which overlooks the surrounding landscape and keeps guard over the strait between the coast of Palau and the island of La Maddalena. It is about 2.7miles eastwards from the center of Palau and took me around an hour to get there walking along the scenic road high up above the city. Silvia offered to drive me, but I wanted to be able to say that I walked there and back, plus I think that just stopping in the car to take a photo is not the same as being surrounded by the panorama as you walk and there isn't quite the sense of achievement. If you are in Palau this is a must-do as the views are truly breathtaking, and you can see right over to La Maddalena and the other islands in the archipelago!

View over Palau

Me stopping for a photo!

The bear can be found at the top of a 1200m high granite mountain, and according to a sign I was reading before making the climb, it has been modelled over thousands of years by the erosive action of the wind and other corrosive elements. It was quite a steep climb, but I finally made it and was able to enjoy the view and thankfully the breeze at the top under the bear's belly! I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't get a photo of the bear from a different direction where you could really see its formation, but the guide said that they don't allow tourists to take the same snap. Here is the photo courtesy of google images so you get the idea of why it is called Cape Bear as from my photos it's impossible to see that it is a bear!

Photo of the bear rock from google images

View from under the bear's belly

Me admiring the views from the top

The steep climb up!

Northern Sardinian coastline

Me chilling at the top by the bear

After the climb I was so hot and sweaty that I decided to relax at the nearest beach before walking back to Palau and found myself wandering down towards the coastline and arriving at the cute little town of Porto Mannu which had an adorable beach with clear water and lovely views. After a while sunbathing I fancied an ice cream so wandered up to the hotel on the hillside where I pretended to be a posh hotel guest after seeing their amazing pool overlooking the bay! It was quite busy so no one even noticed :) oh I really am too sneaky sometimes! In the evening Silvia drove us all for a classic Italian aperitivo at a beach location called 'Isola dei Gabbiani' which was so beautiful. It is not actually an island as it is connected to the coastline, yet only by a thin stretch of land which has a road along it, and gorgeous beaches either side. Camilla went for a swim and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a crab on a rock! - this then turned into an hour of crab impressions and a crabby dance.... I don't know about you, but I think she makes a cute crab!

The beach at Porto Mannu

Me on the beach

The exclusive hotel pool!

Cami the mermaid!

A crab impression?

Today has also been a fun day hanging out with Camilla! We decided to go on a nature walk in the pine forest above the local beach and pretend to be explorers. Cami started collecting pine cones and what started off as one or two eventually turned into a huge collection of over 50! - I dread to think what any passers-by must have thought! Cami organised all of the pine cones in a circle and kept wanting to add to the collection. She was however a tad disappointed when I refused to put them all in my beach bag to take home! We then spent the rest of the day on a beach called 'Porto Faro' (Port Light-house) in a pretty little bay where we swam for hours on end before heading home to watch Harry Potter e la pietra filosofale (Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone). As we were watching it, I just thought what a great job film translation would be- what do you think?