I started the day by topping up the coolant header tank with my fingers and toes crossed. We quickly got Basil on the road and were soon on the main autostrada south. One thing worth noting about the toll roads in Italy is that they may not be up to French quality but they are cheap. Yesterday was only €8 for over 100 miles and today just over €6 for a similar distance. In France some of the motorways, for a vehicle as big boned as Basil, can cost €0.50 per mile!

We soon said goodbye to the snowcapped mountains. The south east of Italy is relatively flat, but we still had the beautiful Adriatic for company.

SatNav took us off the motorway onto some truly atrocious roads to enable us to do our weekly shop. We are now in the part of Europe where beggars loiter around the exits of supermarkets hoping to make themselves useful by returning trolleys in exchange for the embedded Euro.

Another distressing sight are the prostitutes which sit waiting for clients at intervals on some of the rural roads. They are usually sitting on a plastic stool or even the ground, often in the middle of nowhere, completely alone and vulnerable. I presume this is symptomatic of the refugee crisis in Italy although we have seen similar sites around major cities in southern Italy going back 20 years or more, so maybe its an endemic problem here unrelated to the more recent migration issues.

Our journey ended at Camping Lido Salpi near Manfredonia. It’s a small campsite in a prime position on a lovely sandy Adriatic beach. We stayed here two years ago and things have not changed much except it is now €1 more expensive on ACSI at €14 a night and this time their free wifi actually works at a reasonable speed.

We have been for a walk on the beach with the dogs revelling in the soft sand. Sarah carried on further than me, collecting a bagful of shells. She tells me we could have a fresh seafood pasta dish tonight, such were the number of live clams on the beach, but she was too squeamish and threw all the live ones back into the ocean.

I wish I could say that the coolant issues have completely disappeared. We stopped at a service station after about 60 miles on the motorway and the coolant level appeared to have stabilised but when I looked at the campsite the level had again slipped below the minimum mark. I will keep a careful eye on it, but I would hate to have a breakdown in the more rural parts of Greece, let alone Bulgaria, Romania or even Serbia. If it continues to be a little “dodgy” I might suggest we get the ferry back to Italy after Greece rather than risk those countries with a more limited infrastructure.

Finally my mate Mr. Scops Owl had found me as soon as I entered his territory – southern Europe. Anyone who read the blog in 2017 will recall that this annoyingStrigiforme followed me for weeks keeping me awake with the world’s most monotonous call. Strangely, although I know he’s going to keep me disturb me some nights, I was rather pleased to hear him.