We packed up our little apartment and said goodbye to our medieval town of Campagna.

 

Although our time here was in some ways stressful, it has provided us with memories for life, none less than the 3 wheeled truck, which was in great abundance.

 

We drove most of Saturday to our new home of La Spezia on the Ligurian coast in Northern Italy. Being the team player that I am, I did some of the driving (freeway only) to allow Rod to have a bit of a break. Happy enough with the 130km speed limit, I spent most of my driving shift constantly moving between the 3 lanes. Passing on the left took some getting used to, but it was the fiercely moving vehicles which appeared out of nowhere that I struggled with. To put this into context, imagine you are driving on an Australian freeway – anywhere really, doesn’t matter. You safely pass a slower moving vehicle; suddenly you are being tailgated by another vehicle in somewhat of an emergency. To show you what sort of a hurry they are in, they flash their lights and speed up just a little bit more so you move over; these vehicles must be doing at least 150km.

We stop for lunch and fuel. AutoGrill was packed with hungry travellers. Placing an order in this mayhem was very difficult for Rod, but somehow he manages to get the message across; take away consists of ham and cheese foccacia and tomato and buffalo mozzarella baguette – not a fried dim sim in sight.

After being on the freeway all day and listening to Hamish’s off key monotone rendition of the Gorillaz, we finally exit the freeway and line up for the toll payment. Rod gets a few coins out ready, however, I suspect he has underestimated the cost of using the Italian tollway. He seems shocked when the price is shown as 49 euro; he still has the coins in his hand when I give him a 50 euro note.

We place all faith in the SatNav again and are not let down. There are lots of narrow lanes and laneways and one slender tunnel, but after Campagna, this is a walk in the park. Mirrors do not need to be retracted.

Mdm Bernice shows us into our beautiful apartment. She takes one look at our busy Hamish and reminds us we have not paid a security deposit and all damages must be paid for. The owner of the apartment (not Mdm B.) has left him a present for his birthday. Before Mdm B. has shut the door, we are all logged onto the wifi. Heaven.