Day 2 - paestum to palinuro

Today was a classic case of biting off more than we could chew. After
an early start we headed south on what I thought might be mildly
adventurous B roads only to find the many of them had been washed
away. Numerous dead ends saw us back tracking constantly which added
substantially to the day. To say my navigation was scrappy would be an
understatement. I did a shit job. Just as well the countryside was so
spectacular. So were some of the climbs, with multiple typical coastal
climbs over rocky headlands. Some over 350m in elevation gain before
losing the lot 5 minutes later. The roads are outrageously bad, with
bad surfaces, ridiculously narrow and many washaways. One road late in
the day featured a repaired section with a warning sign saying the
climb was 12% grade. I think it was worse. In fact I have never ridden
anything as steep on a touring bike. Lisa had to bail out because she
has no weight on the front of her bike and she was sure she would flip
if she kept going. The day finally ended 11 hours after it started at
a small campground above the coast. We did 90kms but it seemed a lot
more. Lisa is riding like a true champ. As Bruce would say, " she
definately isn't stuffing around". She is strong and capable. You
would think she had been touring for years.
As we get further south we can't find anyone who has any English, so
communication is a challenge. However once you make the effort people
do their best to help you.
We can't beleive how dodgy and run down everything is. It's almost 3rd
world. However the scenery more than makes up for it. I don't think I
will get any video done tonight as I can't stay awake. I will catch up
tomorrow.
Ciao

Day 1 Highlight Photos

Nervous start

Hey ash 5kg Nutella

Sunset over water is always good

The fishing boat I am towing behind my bike just in case

Amalfi to Paestum - the first day on the road ride report

Well we headed out a little after 7.30 thismorning for our forst day of hard riding. The were butterflies all round but for no reason. The road to Salerno was one of the best I have ever ridden. What a treat for Lisa to have that memory as her first day of touring. The navigation was a little tricky at times but we took our time and mudddled through. The afternoon was hot and flat and shitty. We were glad to make it to the campground in a little over 4 hours ride time for the 65 kms. We spent the afternoon wandering around the little tourist village tha is just getting ready to open for the season. We managed to find some nice local produce and cooked a great dinner before climbing into bed at around 7.30. tomorrow is going to be harder and difficult to navigate.
Lisa's riding today was excellent. at times I struggled to stay with her as she charged up the hills. she is handling to bike and traffic like she has been doing it forever. I was very proud of her.

We met some lovely locals today and as usual the come and ask where you are going. Most of them have no Englsh so its challenge to communicate. Its a lot of fun though. I had one guy come up to me in salerno and start chatting away. When I told him I was sono Australiano hey started jumping up and down doing Kungaroo Kungaroo!. He was a total crack up. We managed to talk for a while using a combination of words and actions. He was the toilet cleaner in the public toilets at the beach and he took great pride in how clean they were. It was a great exchange.

We are off to sleep now. More tomorrow

ciao

Amalfi to Sicily - Day 1 videos

The full days highlights will appear on SBS tomorrrow night

Michael in Salerno just enjoying the day

Our last day at amalfi

Yesterday we spent the day walking. Leslie and quentin had told us
about a beautiful village above the coast called ravello. Many
tourists visit the village by bus from Amalfi. We decided to try and
walk. When we were walking home from minori we noticed a small sign on
a set if stairs pointing to Ravello. When we got home we used google
map and asked it to set a walking course for us. It showed that it was
possible from Minori although it didn't route us up the way we had
seen. We decided to give it a crack and we left early at 7.30. Walking
up through countless sets of stairs we discovered small churches,
family homes and farm plots, even a beautiful cemetary. All clinging
to the side of an impossably steep hillside. It was very special as
you could really feel how old the area is. After a couple of ours we
found our way to Ravello just in time to sit in the piazza and listen
to the church service. Of course cafe(esspresso) and cake were
involved. L & Q told us that they had walked down to Atrani where they
stayed, so we gave it a go. We google maped and it told us which
direction to head and off we went. The paths actually have street
names even though they are just narrow sets of stairs through the
family plots. Some plots are well kept and actively farmed while
others are in disrepair. Most are surrounded by a stone wall with a
wooden door. Some have modest homes and are generally in good repair.
The only way to the homes is on foot. No wonder the people are so fit
and healthy. Even the oldies walk everywhere.
Eventually we followed our nose to Atrani without once walking on a
vehicle street. We found the villa that L & Q stayed at and their
favourite restaurante. We then walked to Amalfi which is the big
tourist village. It was good to visit but far to busy for us. We are
so lucky that Lisa found the villa near Minori. It feels like there
are very few tourists. We like that in case you didntvalready know ( I
think I am allergic to people). Anyway we decided to catch the bus
home as it started raining ( and we were stuffed). We spent the
afternoon sorting our gear for the start of our riding adventure. Lisa
washed our dirty clothes and dried them with a hair dryer she
borrowed. We will leave very early to miss the tourist traffic which
seems to start around 10am.
It is now 4am and I am so excited about starting the ride that I can't
sleep. More later Ciao

Mikecoatesy from iPhone

Great view from the can

It doesn't get much better, watching the comings and goings on the
Amalfi coast while hanging out in one of my favourite places

Images from Amalfi

What about these old guys just hanging out in the Piazza in Atrani

Lisa Hanging out in Atrani

A church in Ravello with the typical vaulted ceilings of the area

Bad dog and man with gun

You can see our house down below

An Italian Cemetary

Moto Cicletta

Atrani & Amalfi

A walk to Ravello

I am not sure I will get Lisa to come home

Our street

The mana

Which way to Sicilia?

Putting the bikes back together

Mikey the mechanico, having a typical Italian tantrum. Who tooka my
tools!

Lisa's bike fared the worst with some missing paint and a bent disc rotor. Isa fixed with a sticker and a shifter. Preggo

Day 3 -Minori

This photo of Lisa standing over minori was taken on our way home from town after an after dinner walk ( to get gelato ). The road to town is even more dangerous at night.

We had a great day of riding and walking about. We are starting to communicate a little more confidently. We can now order coffee and cake with ease. Tomorrow we are going to hike to ravello which is supposed to have the best views on the coast. Italians are so nice, if not a little excitable

ciao

Getting to amalfi

The Taxi, the ferry, taxi

Videos from naples

This is a short composit from around naples

Old Man Rowing

We spotted this old guy rowing in the harbour at naples

Our view from the garden

This is the view from our little garden. We sat and had our lunch in
the beautiful spring sunshine. We spent the morning in minori shopping
for food. Yes it took us all morning, but it was great fun. The
produce is beautiful, and all seasonal and local. There doesn't appear
to be supermarkets. All the shops here are small specialty. A pasta
maker, a butcher, a fish munger, fruit and veg and of course the
grocer. The shops are so small that sometimes you have to wait in the
street for your turn. The people are wonderful.
Caio

Amalfi lemons

The amalfi region is famous for it's lemons. They are juicy and sweat
(by lemon standards). The biggest ones we have seen are around 200mm
in diameter

Day 2 - Jourmey to Amalfi

Well we made it to Amalfi Today. It was a long and tiring Journey on the back of 30 Hours of travel yesterday. The ferry riday was fabulous followed by a Taxi Ride from Amalfi to our apartment at Minori where our driver crashed us into a wall on the way. He swore in Italian for about 5 minutes. It sounded pretty colourful. Anyway he finally got us to the apartment where we met Pepe and Franko, who showed us our temporary home. Then we walked to Minori for dinner in the Piazza. I will publish some more photos and video of our journey tomorrow morning. Buononotte

My first espresso in the Piazza

Seafood market Naples style

Riding in Naples

It is essential to look menacing when riding your scooter in Naples

Porto di Napoli

Lisa patiently waiting for the ferry for amalfi. After a thrilling
taxi ride. The taxi tried to rip us off but lisa has quickly
remembered her heritage and was equal to the task, not letting him get
away with it. Molto buena

Shopping in naples

Narrow cobblestone streets full of people and bikes. Unbelievably old
and ornate. Great shopping, although we are struggling with the
language.

Arrivati in napole

Ciao, we we very lucky to have a fast run through customs and an even
faster taxi driver who transferee us to gattwick airport to make our
connecting flight to Naples. We found a back staff member who took
pity on us and checked our baggage with 2 minutes to spare.
The flight to Naples was beautiful, flying over the alps and lake
como. On arrive in Naples we were picked up by a driver from our hotel
who gave us a thrilling drive through Naples in heavy traffic. It was
one of the most crazy driving experiences I have ever had. Our hotel
is fantastic. It is in a very old building and the picture is a view
from our balcony. We walked in town for a couple of hours and had a
calzone pizza for dinner (when in Rome ). We got tired early and went
off to bed. I had the bright idea of a bath before going to sleep. I
instantly fell asleep and lisa woke up later that night to find me
asleep in a cold bath. I guess it's been a long day.