Sea Kayaking in Sardinia – Travelling
As you may have read in a recent blog post, Anna and I were off to Sardinia to do some sea-kayaking. After a couple of years of holiday cancellations due to Covid restrictions and a heart attack, it was to be a much needed break and an opportunity for me to get back on the water.
Anna had picked what looked like a fairly chilled package from Much Better Adventures. I’d been on MBA trips before, both to Mount Toubkal and Kilimanjaro. The sea kayaking in Sardinia looked a little more sedate. Not only was the kayaking itself fairly low-key and easy but the accommodation was in a proper bed with proper food – there was no slumming it in tents or mountain refuges here! Perfect for Anna and more of a relaxing holiday than many of MBA’s other offerings.
We’re not really into lying by the pool so the fact that there were sea-kayaking activities organised meant that it was a perfectly tailored break for us.
Travel Changes
It doesn’t matter how ‘perfectly tailored’ your holiday is, you are still going to have to get there. Travelling is part of the fun of it and flights, trains, buses and long drives are all part of that. We do our best to enjoy it but it isn’t without it’s stress and challenges.
Our challenges started a few days before the trip when our flights were cancelled! EasyJet never did tell us about these cancellations but luckily we were on top of things so managed to make alternative arrangements. Flights from Bristol were booked and we organised a night at my parents house before the flight. Helen saved our bacon too by not only allowing us to park on her driveway but by giving us a lift to and from the airport. It’s good to have friends like that!
So, after briefing Morgan on how to look after the house, to eat some fresh produce, to water the plants, feed the cat and the ginger beer and to check on the robots we were off. It was holiday time at last!!
Sardinia Bound
We had a pleasant drive to Bristol, stopped for 20 minutes to top up the car a little and then headed to my parents house for dinner and a catch up. We then left after a quick breakfast in the morning for the short drive to Helen’s house. Helen was ready to go when we arrived so we said a very quick hello, swapped cars and were chauffeur driven to the airport whilst catching up having not seen her for years.
The time in the car with Helen was far too short, but we had a plane to catch and Helen had a family to manage for the day and work to do. Hopefully we’d have time for a bit more of a chat on the way home. We jumped on a shuttle bus and went to the airport.
Things were straight forward in Bristol Airport. We were very early as Helen had to be at work for 9am so we just chilled and people watched in between passport checks, security, coffees, croissants and some browsing of the shops.
Covid Regulations
We both had to be fully vaccinated and were carrying our Covid-passes to prove it. We had filled in Location Information forms for the Italian track and trace authorities and we had a supply of FFP2 (or better) face masks as these were mandatory in Italy. Reassuringly they were being quite tough on these points as we boarded the plane. I saw some people being turned away and told to go and get FFP2 masks rather than disposable ones before they could board.
It’s not very nice wearing a mask for the entire flight but it’s not that much of a hardship and it does feel better when squashed into such a small confined area with hoards of strangers too – of course, there will always be one of two people who are too stupid to realise that the rules apply to them as well!
Olbia Airport
The flight was without event. We couldn’t see much thanks to thick clouds all the way but we were able to see some inviting looking mountain paths as we descended below the clouds into Olbia Airport.
We had fun at passport control. I think someone was messing with us. As we were being herded into one of the little mazes formed by elasticated barriers that airports seem to enjoy so much an official decided to lengthen the queuing system a little. Just as we got to it he sent of off back and forth around a whole new area of the ‘maze’. Just as we were getting to the end of this part they then did it again. In fact they did it several times and every time they did we seemed to end up at the back of the queue. So, despite being in the first half of people off the plane we managed to walk around every single bit of the arrivals hall and by the time we finally managed to complete the maze and make it to passport control there was only about 4 people behind us!!
Outside the airport we quickly found the bus stops, did our best to work out the Italian signs and with a little help from Google Maps were soon on the short bus trip into Central Olbia. Here we had a short walk up just a single street to find our room for the night. I don’t think we even used any Google knowledge for this, other than the fact that we had both scoped it out independently on Street View before arriving!
Let the Games begin
Upon arrival, all there was was a locked door and a keypad. This was beginning to turn into something from the Crystal Maze. We didn’t know the code to open the door – did we miss an important piece of the puzzle whilst in the passport control maze?! In the end we had to contact the people we’d booked the room with, initiate a WhatsApp channel of communication with them and then use translation apps on our phone to communicate our dilemma with them. After a while we were given the access code and could enter the building.
Inside we found a key and a box – honestly. Maybe this really was some sort of escape room games show!! We managed to open the box and found a wi-fi password. We also found a door into which the key fitted. You’ve guessed it, it was room 101!!
We entered and found a comfortable enough room with a double bed and some nice lime green decor. What there wasn’t was any electricity. We tried all sort with the magic card and the slot but couldn’t get it to work. We failed this part of the challenge and had to rely once again on WhatsApp to call for help. 10 minutes later a guy (who we think was called Julian) came to give us a clue. He opened a secret flap in the wall, and untripped the fuses. We had completed the level and were good to go.
A Room for the Night
To be fair to them, the room was exactly what we needed. It was clean, comfortable and perfectly located. It really couldn’t have been better and wasn’t expensive either. It was a 5 minute walk from the bus stop, a 1 minute walk to the train station that we would need in the morning and surrounded by pizzeria’s, restaurants and bars. There were sockets for charging our devices and a toilet and shower. The owners were more than helpful too. Apparently the person who should have been there to meet us had an emergency so wasn’t there, but someone else had been on call and responded as soon as we got hold of them. They even sent help in the form of Julian. As far as a room for the night was concerned it was perfect.
It wasn’t without its quirks though. There were views onto the streets below, a little Juliet Balcony and the shower had a massive, full length window between it and the room itself. There was no curtain over this window so anyone in the room had a full length view of the person in the shower. I’d be lying if Anna and I didn’t find this slightly amusing!
Olbia
After a shower we had a stroll to the harbour past lots of shops and restaurants. I quite enjoyed all of the olive trees that looked like giant Bonsai trees too.
At the harbour there was a big wheel and a nice lawn that was serviced by robot lawn-mowers. Readers of this blog will know that we quite like our robot mowers! If you look at the photo below you can just make it out hiding away in it’s little green charging castle for the night! I think I might have to upgrade our mowers houses into castles!
We walked back up the road we had come down and stopped for a pizza in a nice looking restaurant. We then had gelatos on the way back to the room and chilled for the rest of the evening.
The following morning we breakfasted in a coffee bar and then headed to the train station. We had tickets to the city of Sassari and were soon aboard the correct train with our FFP2 masks on.
To Sassari and Beyond
The train was quite busy at times but it was nice just sitting back and watching the countryside roll by. Sardinia is quite large really and we got to see plenty of it’s countryside on our train journey. It was a nice sunny day too.
After a couple of hours on the train it pulled into Sassari and we got off. We then had a short walk to the bus station. We stopped on the way to buy some refreshments and sat eating them in a little park area. We then continued to the bus station where we bought the necessary tickets and spent most of the afternoon sat in the sunshine people watching. We would have liked to have wandered around Sassari a little more but we had all of our luggage with us so doing so wasn’t easy – especially seeing as I had injured my back a couple of days before leaving. I didn’t want to make it any worse with a few days of sea-kayaking on the cards.
As well as people watching we watched a few little green lizards scurrying around as the buses came and went. Eventually, right on time our bus arrived and we were soon on our way to the ‘Aeroporto Millitaire’ stop near Alghero.
The bus ride was very comfortable indeed. Our stop was easy to find and from there it was litertally just a two minute walk to the Agriturismo that we were staying at.
Algave Agriturismo
We arrived and were shown our room by the friendly staff / owners. Agriturismo are essentially small family run farms with some rooms for tourists. They generally provide home-cooked meals from their own produce. Ours looked lovely.
Our room was large, clean and comfortable with a nice shower room and toilet. There was a large veranda with plenty of cooling shade and everything we needed, including Wi-Fi.
After unpacking we had a little stroll around the farm. There were gorgeously scented orange trees in full blossom with honey bees pollinating the flowers. There were fields of lemon trees with huge lemons on them, fields of vines and olive groves. Myrtle trees, fig trees and avocado trees were seen too. There were even some banana trees with green banana hands on them along with lots of unidentified produce growing here and there. The were chickens too, and I think other animals elsewhere. We saw some nuc boxes full of honey bees and of course exotic looking cacti, palms trees and succulents everywhere. We were already looking forward to dinner with so much fresh produce available.
Dinner and Friends
We didn’t have to wait long and weren’t disappointed. Dinner most evenings followed a similar pattern. After some bread there was always a pasta or rice dish. They were all delicious. There would then be a meat dish with some salad or vegetables and after that a small dessert of sweet biscuits or something like ricotta with honey. It was all delicious and there was plenty of it.
On this first evening we also got to meet our fellow travellers. The group consisted of Anna and I as the only couple. There were then 5 other girls. Another Anna and Jacqui who were friends from The Yorkshire Dales. They were into running and cycling and were a similar age to Anna and I. To add the the confusion of two Anna’s there was also Hannah, a vet who was younger than us. There was also Vicki who had been on quite a few MBA trips in the past and was on this as means of preparation for a kayaking trip to Greenland. Finally there was Claire, a rower and cyclist from Peterborough. All were nice and we got on well.
After dinner we got to sample the local Mirto. Mirto is a classic Sardinian Digestivo, it’s a bittersweet liquer made from Myrtle. I don’t think the others were too keen, but Anna and I liked it enough to buy some to bring home with us at the end of the trip.
We also finally got to met Clark who would be our kayak guide for the following few days. He turned up after dinner to say hello and let us know what would be happening tomorrow. He seemed like a nice guy and was fairly laid back about things. He also seemed more excited about the prospect of stopping off at bars and sampling Sardinian wines than he did about the kayaking! The weather looked good for the next few days and we were all set.
After a day of travelling, a tasty meal and meeting new friends it was time for bed ready for a day of sea kayaking tomorrow.
