Amalfi Coast

26 August - 1 September 2017

Once the girls were safely on their way back to New Zealand the rest of us flew to Naples where we had a day to explore before joining our next hiking tour, which was hiking in the Amalfi Coast.

We joined a free walking tour around Naples, although Mark and Mary spent a considerable period of time trying to decide whether the various pedestrian areas were likely or unlikely to be potential targets of terrorism. We ducked away from the walking tour to join an underground (as in under-the-ground not the other type of underground) tour. We were shown around the remnants of the Roman city below Naples. Unfortunately the guide was fairly incomprehensible. The pizza we had for lunch was pretty awesome though.    

Apparently this wouldn't have been a good target - Also one of my favourite photos from this part of the trip.

From Naples we joined up with the rest of our group for the Amalfi Coast hiking trip and were taken to the small village of Bomerano which was our base for the next week. We stayed at the "Hotel Due Torri" for the next six nights and each day we walked or were transported from the hotel to another snippet of Amalfi to do a hike. It was a real highlights of the Amalfi Coast type trip. 

Prior to our arrival there had been a number of large forest fires and there were still quite a few burning in the week we stayed there. Our guide spent a reasonable portion of the week watching the wind and occasional smoke and trying to decide if they needed to change the hiking program so we could avoid any fires. He was also a volunteer fireman and we had our first introduction into how Southern Italy operates when he explained the three possibilities for who was lighting the fires - crazy people, the helicopter pilots who were well paid to fly the monsoon buckets over the fires to extinguish them, or the fire fighters trying to prove that the recent cutbacks in fire fighting staff were unwise. 

After the first hour or so of hiking on the first day we had quickly surmised that the Gilmour (and Iggulden) pace was much faster than the rest of the group. So after signing a release form we broke away from the group to power our way up the hill above the small town we had been staying in. After lunch Mark, Ian and Leeyan decided that they would break away from the break away group and continue higher up the hill. They were able to climb high enough up the hill that they got a great view of smoke and then fire... Apparently they were close enough to hear the crackling noise that an enormous forest fire makes.

We had a rest here and dropped the sensible member of the party while Ian and I judged that the wind probably wasn't going to change and suffocate us and carried on up. -M

It sounded kind of like a fire place except enormous and far away, which I guess makes sense. We also saw the water bombing plane make a few runs just below us from this vantage point. -M

On day two disaster (for me anyway) struck as I very gracefully rolled my ankle and ended up in a crumpled heap on the ground. After soldiering on for a while I eventually decided to catch the bus back to the hotel to lie by the pool feeling sorry for myself.  Mark and everyone else carried on down to Amalfi itself where there was a lovely beach and then experienced the very windy road back up to our hotel.

Scenery

I was pretty glad I wasn't driving around here.

After the most long winded birthday celebrations known to man today was Scott's real birthday. He celebrated by wandering around the buried village of Pompeii and then climbing Mount Vesuvius where the rest of the group gave him a rousing version of "Happy Birthday" while clambering around steam vents next to the summit.

The happy family, less cripple.

The hiking company we were using runs these trips all year around and the same hotel is used week after week, so they were pretty well set up for keeping their guests happy. On the first night there was complimentary fizzy wine and we got a lesson in the kitchen, being shown how to make proper fresh pasta and a delicious shellfish sauce that we then ate for dinner. Another night we had a pizza making demonstration and I was taught how to make pizza, with a proper wood fire oven. I even got a certificate confirming my advanced pizza making knowledge!

The master at work.

The trip included a scheduled day off which we used to travel to Capri. Ian, Leeyan, Mark and I decided that we would head to Mount Salero as we had heard the views were pretty impressive. We ended up having a bit of a rushed trip -  we caught the overcrowded bus to Anacapri at the top of the road, then a small chairlift to the top of Mount Salero for a quick wander around the top before doing it all in reverse to get back down to Capri waterfront itself. Despite the rush the views from the top were beautiful.

 

Unfortunately the cloud came in before we got this photo!

Scott and Mary went with the more leisurely option of casually wandering into a Michelin starred restaurant for lunch. This lead to our debate of should you use trip adviser or your instincts to find the best places to eat continuing. The lunch went down as a win in the use your instincts column!

The rush to get back down to the Capri waterfront was because we were going on a boat trip to the Blue Grotto - a sea cave, a short boat ride from Capri itself. The sunlight goes through the big underwater part of the cave enterance and when it shines through the sea water it lights up the cave with beautiful blue coloured lighting. Mary was really looking forward to going to the blue grotto having heard about it in advance of the trip and confirmed with the tour company that we would be able to visit it on our free day.

It is a bit of a mission / costly exercise to get to the cave. First you pay for a boat with about 25 other people to take you to any area outside the cave. Then you wait around outside the cave with about 5 - 10 other boats of similar size who all jostle for position. Your boat gets to the front of the queue and you are offloaded in groups of four onto smaller dinghies. Before entering the cave your boatman takes you past another counter to pay the "boatman fee" to a couple of guys sitting at a floating desk.

Your boatman rows you over to the cave and lines it all up to go firing through the entrance. There are chains across the top of the entrance to the cave which the boatmen use to pull the boat through the entrance, launching you through and into the beautiful expanse of cave. After a few circuits of the cave, with some serenading in Italian you are then taken back out to your big boat.

    

In fairness, it is a pretty magic spot.

Or that's what is supposed to happen. 

Unfortunately, on the way into the cave the message to duck our heads didn't get to us all. The boat man pulled on the chain to get us into the cave and then the chain went flying into Mary, giving her a bit of a knock on the head and a hell of a fright. Mary spent most of the boat ride around the inside of the cave sobbing. Although there were lots of signs saying you weren't to swim in the cave, we saw plenty of other people coming out wet so Mark managed to fall overboard.

Hilltop view