Monday 19th October

Being opposite the loo and shower block has its advantages (apart from the obvious one of not having to dash very far in the morning,) as Helena got chatting to us this morning on her way to the shower. Helena and her husband Derek originally hailed from Lancashire but have lived in Queensland for years, and are currently touring Europe in a camper van. They let us in on the secret sites that camper vans can use cheaply/for free at the sides of roads (not really secret, we just didn’t know what the signs meant!), so we’re going to give this a go as campsites are expensive and who needs a shower every day anyway (the sites are essentially just parking areas). It was lovely to talk to Helena and Derek, and we’re going to catch up with them in Queensland.

We drove through Nice (can’t really remember much about it to be honest)

and got to Monaco, where Mike got very excited and took the Land Rover round as many parts of the grand prix circuit we could recognise. We did the tight hairpin bend, zoomed by the harbour/swimming pool and managed a massive 35 mph in the tunnel before a cyclist slowed us down to 15 mph. We also drove right in front of the casino and, frankly, added a touch of class to the place. All the Ferraris, Bentleys, Mercedes SLRs and Porsches parked there just looked tacky.

We carried on following the coast and eventually made it to Italy, although the weather was, shockingly, no longer sunny and it was almost cold at times. We nearly came home in disgust, but have decided to soldier on. I’m not one to stereotype, but Italy is full of Fiats, both old and new, although there are also more Land Rovers about too. We’re getting far more interest in the vehicle in Italy than we did in France, so, as the passenger at the time, Mike was doing a lot of waving in response to all the thumbs up and flashes we got, whilst I tried not to mow down any teeny, tiny Fiats.

We managed to not get very far again today (might have to take the less scenic, but vastly quicker toll roads tomorrow so it feels like we’re getting somewhere), and eventually found a campsite outside Imperia which was open but slightly rubbish, and we have to pay extra for hot water. We wouldn’t mind so much if it was cheap to stay here, but it’s the same price as all the big French campsites that give you hot water for free. Although they do have a lot of amusing signs around the site, my personal favourites being “Hot shovers” and “Civilised people leave sinks clean”. Yeah, civilised people like free hot shovers/showers too. SPOT

We mooched round Imperia for a bit in the evening (um, it has nice views), before heading back to the campsite which has a slight “Deliverance” feel to it, where it was very cold sitting outside. We’ve got to head south soon.

Posted by Anne.