Friday 12th May

Having spent two nights off grid and it’s been a week or more since we’ve seen a washing machine, Team Basil decided it time for a couple of days on a campsite.

There was a highly recommended one only 5 miles away and I managed the journey without colliding with anything!

Camping Village la Pineta (€21 ACSI 38.1727, 12.7477) is a good site, with a restaurant, great swimming pool and roomy pitches. Sarah was quick to make use of the washing machine.

The area is well known for rock climbing and just behind our campsite is an impressive shear cliff face which rises vertically for nearly 500 metres (1,600 feet). We’ve seen a few fit looking youngsters with ropes coiled around their torsos but have not seen anyone on the face.

San Vito Lo Capo is only half a mile away and we took a walk to check it out. It is a very smart, upmarket tourist resort with a very long, sandy, public beach.

In the centre of the town is a Fortress Sanctuary. It was originally a very early Christian Sanctuary dating to the 4th or 5th century AD. In the early 17th century is was expanded in a way that from the outside it looks more like a fortress than a church. The date of construction is roughly the same of the several defensive towers built around the adjacent coast and it was probably to protect the population from North African slave traders.

Skye had a short gallop on the beach before we headed home.

In the evening we sampled the campsite restaurant, which was excellent. It was full of locals which is always a good sign.

Saturday 13th May

Today has a been a day of administration, planning and more washing. Skye went for a play on the beach first thing in the morning before anyone else was out and about.

I’ve written to the German dealer where we originally purchased Basil to see whether he can get the plastic parts I have damaged within the next five weeks and then we can pick them up on the way back. Hymer parts are considerably cheaper in Germany than the UK, so I hope he can.

It’s the hottest day of our trip today with the temperature reaching 25º C in the shade. The campsite is covered in pine trees so there is plenty of shade.

My planning is now, to a certain extent, revolves around a famous flower festival which takes place in Noto next weekend. I think we will visit a couple of UNESCO Greek sites and then spend some more time at a campsite on the south coast before trying to grab a space on a car park in Noto, for the festival.