Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre click here for more fotos

Well, the day we originally scheduled to walk Cinque Terre looked to be pretty bad – thunder storms and heavy rain the night before and then wet and windy at daybreak
– so, we spent the morning in Rach and Felix's van playing cards then ventured out to check out where to go etc – drove round to the start of the walking track on a very windy road only to be told it was closed because of the weather, but we could ride the train to each of the 5 villages – we got another story 30 minutes later saying only one part of the track was closed, so we decided to come back the next day, and spent the rest of the day finding out information – luckily we did that cos we found that we could park the van and bike free at La Spezia (where the campground was) and catch the train to the start of the walk – the next day was beautiful, and so we caught the train to the end of the track – our cunning plan to beat all the day trippers, and walk against the traffic....we met a couple of girls from Te Awamutu, well, didn't actually meet them , more like heard them talking to some Yanks about where the next stop was, and realising that they had gone 3 villages too far and the only way back was the hike...with their suitcases!!! Oh well, good exercise for them...We disembarked at Monterossso and set off on the first 2 hour hike – Lonely Planet said it was “mildly challenging”, (more like 5x up Mt Kaukau) and there were mainly English speakers – Aussie, Yanks and Kiwis—no Europeans as I think their holidays are over..even a group of 15 or so teenage girls from USA with their brand new white shoes and Italian handbags and cellphones. The walk was good- steep with quite large uneven rocky steps and no safety rails, but lovely views all the way – the Cinque Terre means 5 villages that are joined by a walking track in between which the farmers have created vineyards on the sides of the cliffs over the centuries – and they are still farmed that way today. We walked the first 2 tracks ( to Vernazza and then Corniglia), stopping to admire the views in the villages and on the track – it was quite crowded but it must be madness in high summer, as the track is very narrow and high up. The third stage to Manarola was closed from the threat of avalanches, so we trained that bit, then walked to Rio Maggiore. Also found a lovely swimming spot where Felix, Rach and I jumped off rocks into the warm water – Carolyn lazed about in the sun..of course. All in all, molto bene.

We finished the walk and caught the train back to La Spezia where we decided to press onto a campsite in Deiva Marina ( about 5cms on the map) but about 2 hours of windy road up and down valleys...man, were we glad to get there. These places must be pumping in Summer but are deserted now that its autumn, and we're finding a lot of campgrounds are closed. I took a walk the next morning into the town, had a cappucino and croissant with the locals then took some back for the sleepyheads..