Luckily in lots of cases there is a fire engine, or helicopter or similar on hand to douse the flames before too much damage is done.

Today we were driving along a main road on the island when a car coming towards us started to wave at us.  It wasn't anyone we knew and he was flashing his lights as well.  We decided there must be some hazard on the road ahead and so we slowed down considerably.

As we continued quite a way on without any hazard materialising we wondered if we had read his actions properly.  But we still kept slower than usual and we were alert and looking out for anything out of the ordinary.

Because of this we spotted the fire ahead, with the tail of traffic and people trying to fight the main fire at the beginning of the traffic in good time to stop the car.  Just ahead of us was a secondary blaze that had broken out and there were cars actually waiting in the queue of traffic alongside the fire!!!

Although it was a bit dangerous to turn at that spot we decided it was less dangerous than staying parked next to a spreading fire with a risk of being trapped there.

We turned and on our way back home we tried to warn other cars coming towards us of the danger.

But most people appeared to ignore our warnings, and that was if they were even able to notice our flashing lights and waving arms as many were speeding along and ignoring not only us but everything around them.

We managed to stop a lorry and let him know of the danger, but a tourist car approaching just sped up and overtook the lorry while we were trying to wave and warn them too.  They stared pointedly ahead in that way that people do when you know they have seen you but they are deliberately avoiding eye contact.

It was so frustrating desperately trying to help, but being ignored.  I just hope they are all safe.  I keep remembering the descriptions of people being caught in fires on the mainland last year.  Now I understand how people could drive into danger.

I expect it will be OK - but it is a scary thing to witness first hand.

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Here's my solar cooked moussaka with feta cheese topping.

I left it in the solar cooker for about three hours and placed teflon non stick pan liner on top to try and increase the heat absorption properties as well as protect the food from the sun bleaching effect I got with my stuffed vegetables yesterday.

It worked and an added bonus was that the cheese topping actually browned and crisped!!!

I'm going to try and cook some chicken legs tomorrow.

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Spending time swimming, snorkelling, and just doing day to day stuff slowly so as not to get overheated.

It was around 40 yesterday!!!

I have set up our solar powered oven on the top balcony and we have bought a small oven/rotisserie/hob to use on the bottom balcony so we don't have to cook indoors.

My first attempt at cooking in a solar cooker - Yemista me Ryzi (except I didn't have room in the pot for tomatoes as well so I just chopped one up into the cooking liquid).  So this is green capsicum peppers, baby round marrows and aubergine, stuffed with rice and herbs and other things.

Judging by all the steam and the thermometer which is still rising in temp - I am onto a winner here

The good thing is we were a bit worried about how we would cope with the heat of a Greek Summer - but it looks like we will be fine - touch wood.

Monday is supposed to be THE DAY for a predicted serious earthquake (tommorrow) so trying not to be too anxious about that.

Will take some nice Summery pictures to add to the blog soon.

We are getting a visit from someone next week (or are supposed to be) who is travelling on a seaplane!! I was hoping to get some interesting action photos of it landing on the water. But it will be landing at the airport instead .

I suppose it's more sensible, but a lot less interesting.

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With my trusty vivitar camera I donned a snorkel and ventured under the water to catch some video action of the fish at Antisamos.

But my snorkelling wasn't too successful.

Hubby kindly donated his bread from the swordfish lunch he had eaten at the Antisamos beach taverna and with young son in tow I went back into the water with the camera and without the snorkel.

This is the result achieved by standing in the water with the camera beneath the surface and while young son holds bread to attract the fish.

It is amazing how many varieties and how many fish wanted that little piece of bread.

There was a real feeding frenzy going on.

I found that Mark Twain (the nome de plume of Samuel Langhorne Clemens) has some very interesting quotes which tie in wonderfully with my personal ethics and here I share them with my readers.

Always tell the truth; then you don't have to remember anything. 

Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction after all, has to make sense.

and a quote which just reminds me of one or two people I have met over the years...

The glory which is built upon a lie soon becomes a most unpleasant incumbrance. How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!
- Mark Twain in Eruption

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So I'm starting with happy pictures taken by our friend Justin who was out here last week.  Turtles are not generally easily spotted by tourists, but we were super lucky to see some at very close quarters last week and Justin and his girlfriend Sue took some great photos of the experience.

Here's the turtle as spotted a small distance away from the menfolk as they fished off the shore.

Here the turtle has swum up to the jetty and is heading towards a moored fishing boat in the hope of finding some discarded fish.

Here is the turtle as it swam right under the camera.  I think this one was quite keen on being photographed!!!

These turtles are called Caretta caretta or loggerhead turtles. There is an organisation on Kefalonia  - The Katelios Group which is a small organisation working to protect the natural environment of Kefalonia. They focus on the conservation of the endangered Loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta.

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It is a bit slow to get going, but as the shipwreck emerges out of the gloom it is a very eery moment.

There were two shipwrecks when we visited last week, but unfortunately another boat went down in heavy winds shortly after our visit.

We will be revisiting the site next week and we will get some footage of the new vessel. Don't worry there aren't any bodies or anything  The boat was in poor repair and had been moored in the bay awaiting refurbishment, but alas nature had other ideas

It just goes to show that nothing can be taken for granted as far as the sea is concerned. Anyone who takes to the water must be able to rely on their boat being seaworthy.

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But here are some of the videos from the lovely day out we had on the Aghia Kyriaki - the traditional Greek fishing boat (caique) which is now run by Jamie Stirling as a fantastic holiday experience to learn about the sea life and go snorkelling in the Ionian Sea.

Here's a lovely wiggly octopus brought out of the sea around Kefalonia - don't worry he went back in after we had learned all about him. Look he's so happy he's waving at the camera

Here's footage of Jamie collecting a starfish from the sea bed for us to have a closer look.

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 Here is a picture of our vessel

We chartered this lovely old caique (pronounced Keye ee kee) to pootle around the blue sparkling waters of the Ionian seas around kefalonia for the day.

The wind was gentle and warm, the sea was just cool enough to keep you refreshed without chilling, and it was crystal clear for snorkelling to our hearts content.

Jamie, the Captain is a marine biologist and he helped the littlest pirates go hunting in the ocean deep for the secrets that are there contained.

They found beautiful deep red starfish, a killer starfish, a sea cucumber, some urchins and a lovely cuddly octopus.

After lunch he gave an informative talk on the life and habits of these creatures.  They were placed safely in an onboard aquarium so that the children (and the adults) could get a close look at them.

Then we went snorkelling around some ship wrecks.

The life cycle and the dangers faced by sea cucumbers (which start out with the disadvantage of looking like a lump of poo in the first place) was told in its tragic entirety.  Sensitive souls should skip through this part to the next picture which will be pleasant and calming.

Apparantly sea cucumbers have a deadly enemy - the pearl fish, which uses the sea cucumber like a sleeping bag and enters via the sea cucumbers bottom opening   The pearl fish is not a little creature, but is about 2/3 the size of the cucumber  

Once it has forced its way into the poor cucumber - it stays there as long as it can.  Which means it eats the cucumber's reproductive organs to keep itself fed !!!!  If I understood correctly the fish can then leave the cucumber and the cucumber can regenerate, only for the same thing to happen again, and again.  

So it seems to me that the cruellest curse of the seas - must be to be reincarnated into a sea cucumber.

Here we can see a large red starfish a killer starfish and a large mussel shell.

If you are interested in having this sort of experience yourself you can find out more on Jamie's website at http://www.ioniandiscoveries.com/

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Ionian Discoveries is run by Jamie Stirling and we expect to have another great day out on the water on his traditional Greek Fishing boat which has been kitted out for educational trips.
 

Here's a youtube video of Jamie in action.  There are some great underwater shots here

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Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Under the sea - fish at Antisamos beach.  They obviously got used to cameras during the filming of Captain Corelli.  I have never known any creatures so fond of getting themselves photographed and filmed.  As soon as an underwater camera appears they swarm in like a bunch of Hollywood starlets.

But put a fishing net anywhere near and....

the sea is empty.

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

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Here are some underwater pictures I took yesterday of the fish at Antisamos beach near Sami in Kefalonia.

Beneath the surface are myriad fish.  Teeming to get some of the bread I am holding for them.

Above the surface a few fish can be glimpsed if you have good eyesight, but nothing to suggest the throng beneath.

Life is like this.  Often you have to be very careful about surface appearances. 

Every little fish is connected to many, many others.

Some of the 'others' may be potentially useful to you, maybe they are the 'big fish' that you would love to catch.

But the 'little fish' could communicate its distress to the 'big fish' and the other many 'little fish'and soon you only have empty water in which to cast your bait.

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I found this story about a recycling lady who was arrested on suspicion of theft when she liberated four plastic chairs from a council landfill skip.

Ms Bove said she was initially offered a caution, but declined because she did not feel she had committed a crime.

She is waiting to see if any further action will be taken.

A North Wales Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that we received a complaint that plastic chairs were stolen from a recycling centre on 2 May.

"On 8 May a local woman was arrested on suspicion of theft and has been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

"We are duty bound to investigate all allegations of criminal offences and this includes theft."

Now from my days studying law at Southampton University I was taught that for theft to be proven you need something called 'intent' or 'mens rea' , the intent in this case would have to be 'appropriation with the intent to permanently deprive the rightful owner'

This is the reason the specific crime of 'taking and driving away without owners consent' or twoccing of cars was passed by parliament.  Because of joy riders who just drove cars away and never intended to permanently deprive just ahve abit of fun and then abandon them or even sometime return them to the spot from which they found them.

Now for Ms Bove to be guilty of theft she would have had to know the chairs had a rightful owner and as the chairs had been discarded as obviously unwanted - the person who bought them had obviously given up their ownership of the chairs. Belief of abandonment by owner means that theft cannot be charged., as there is no crime.  What about the council? It was their skip they were in?

Well the chairs should not have been in the landfill skip.  Does the council own rubbish or is it merely charged with its disposal?  If the accused beleives that the council is charged with the rubbish disposal and does not see the council as the rightful owner (in fact I am not sure it could really claim that it was) then intent to deprive the righful owner is not provable.

In my unqualified opinion Ms Bove was right and no crime was committed.

A council spokesperson said -

"This practice is clearly very dangerous and not allowed under any circumstances.

"We have not pressed any charges."

I wonder if some Wrexham council workman had an eye on those chairs and was miffed when Ms Bove got there before him/her and called the police.

It is common knowledge that anything 'good' that goes into council refuse centres gets 'appropriated' by workers - when are we going to see some of them charged with theft I wonder?

I'm sure I remember a joke about this place which ended 'Wrexham?  Well it doesn't do them any good!'

Can anyone remember the beginning?

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Here's a lovely little beach not too far away from our house.

and another

and another!!!

The water here is so clean and clear it deserves its own photograph just for itself

The camera I use is a Vivitar which is waterproof.  I will be going swimming this week and I will get some underwater shots and maybe some video as well, with sound.

Here's hubby resting on one of our balconies and catching some rays.  He would rather be out on the water but a good cup of tea and a view of the mountains is a bit of a consolation. You can see the vivitar camera in its carry pouch on the table next to him.

Hubby messing about on the boat.

The beach in the early evening.

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In order to get the powerboat registered we needed to see the correct person in the Port Police and submit the correct papers.

It took a while to get hold of him because there were a few language difficulties as our Greek is not even passable yet alas.

After a few weeks of trying to get to see the person we thought was the right one and who seemed to be away an awful lot of the time we finally cornered him in his office.

To discover that he wasn't the guy we needed at all, because our boat was smaller than a certain length and we really needed to see the guy who had told us originally to see the elusive guy in the first place!!

So tip one - when trying to register a powerboat (or any other sea going vessel) in Greece - always tell the Port Police very clearly the length as well as the engine size of your vessel so that they can direct you to the appropriate official first time off!!

From now on it was plain sailing.

We asked what we needed to do and we were told that we needed to get all the documents that came with our boat translated into Greek and the originals photocopied.

Luckily we found a Greek solicitor who had trained in Southampton University and he was very helpful in this regard - for a suitable fee of course.

We had some time to enjoy the scenery - which is something that Kefalonia has in abundance.  This is just the spot where we often park to go to the supermarket.  The structure you can see delineating the horizon in the picture above - is the famous Drapano bridge.  It separates the Argostoli lagoon from the busy traffic area of the harbour, marina and docks.

The lagoon is a sharp contrast from its busy counterpart.  Whilst huge bulk carriers, ginormous cruise ships, numerous fishing and pleasure boats and the regular Lixouri/Argostoli Ferry buzz around in the one half, the more peaceful lagoon is home to many wild birds and fish.

It's a tough life but someone has to live it!!!

We had a few sunsets to go before the boat would be legally usable.  But once it was, we were going to have a few adventures with it.

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The boat was parked overnight in the layby directly outside the house and many watchful eyes kept guard on it.

Next day, Hubby the powerboat instructor and two seasoned fishermen proudly towed the vessel to the Marina at Argostoli - the capital town of Kephalonia.

The boat drew many admiring glances, although when the clasic Greek questioning began about how much we had paid, they seemed to think we had been mad to spend so much.

But as we said this is a one of a kind boat, a custom boat and built by a small exclusive company and so one must expect to pay a premium for rarity and top quality.

This was met with serious nods of grudging agreement.

The weather was a bit blustery and rainy with wind speeds about force 3 - 4 and wave heights choppy 75cm.

The Greeks were not optimistic about going anywhere in this.  But Hubby had been told of the superior ability of our boat to cope with adverse sea conditions, and this was a pond compared with the stuff he regularly powerboated in, back in the UK.  So he made a decision and took the craft out for a very short circular pootle just outside the harbour and back - not even a 5 minute journey.

The boat was brought quickly back to harbour and we were kindly donated a space to berth by a family whose fishing boat was currently out of the water.  The winter cover was put on to keep the weather out and hubby and Greek fishermen returned home, looking forward to future sea fishing expeditions in calmer waters and hubby began girding his loins for the predicted difficult task of getting the imported craft registered with a Greek flag by the local port police.

Until the boat was registered now, we would not be able to go out in it, and so there followed a few weeks of enforced anchorage.  Young son was impatient to be wave jumping, and zooming about on the water no matter what the weather.  I made enquiries as to where to puchase my first wet suit and water skis and soon was kitted out like a psychedelic walrus on bright luminous orange skis.

A buoyancy aid and ski rope completed the kit and meant that both young son and I were getting more and more frustrated as we waited for the wheels of beaurocracy to do their stuff.

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The view through the reception window of the Superfast XI ferry as we headed in to Patras in Greece with our multihull powerboat in the hold.

The sun was shining - well this is Greece after all - and we were starting to feel like our old selves again.

The menfolk relax while the Superfast ferry docks at Patras Greece.

Straight off the Superfast and straight on to the Strintzis Ferry home - the Kefalonia ferry was already in dock and with its loading doors open, so no delays here at all

This may be the fastest this boat ever moved

Nothing says Kefalonia like er, well the sign Kefalonia ...

This is a view of the ship we arrived in Patras on.  Pretty darned huge eh?

You can see the little (not really all that little) boats with new provisions etc clustering round to ensure a really fast turn around for the voyage back to Patras.  If only the scruffy smelly ferries we went on between France and the UK had been this nice. 

This really was more like a cruise than a purposeful passage.

My trademark 'over the side' picture.

I love digital cameras LOL

They love the fact they are securely attached to me by a sturdy safety chord to stop them falling overboard.

This is what it's all about for me.

Just look at that water.

Blue, foamy, full of life and action.

I just want to dive right in there!

Our wake stretches back into the distance. 

A tiny boat bobs on the horizon.

Not really tiny just very, very far away.

We'll soon be home.

Son and I rushed off via the pedestrian exit to get these momentous shots as our boat arrives in the Mediterranean!!

Lets go home....

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So there we were my teenage son and I.  He was in the back seat and hubby had been sent back to the ferry offices to see what was going on.

We had been told where to park and wait until the loaders could work out whether there was any room on the car deck / lorry bay for our boat on its trailer plus our car.

They had promised that 'if they could they would squeeze us in' but I was pessimistic.

Lorry after lorry after lorry drove onto the ferry.  Surely there would not be room?

The smartly uniformed guy with shiny buttons and a two way radio shouted orders, and another guy drove a clever little vehicle that hooked up to lorry containers that had been left as freight.

This little vehicle looked a bit like the one they use in hospitals to pull little trucks, but he drove it much faster.

For a while I forgot my anxieties as I watched him manouvre gigantic freight trailers expertly.

Then suddenly there was a head at the drivers door.

A bearded lorry driver opened the door and attempted to sit on the driver's seat.

From my limited understanding of Greek I managed to work out that because other lorries had parked and blocked his way he now wanted our car moved immediately - so that he could board the ferry with his lorry!!!

And he was intending to move our rig himself!!!

As I was fully aware that our insurance did not cover us for any damage to the boat if it was damaged by a stranger driving our car, I was very verbal in making it very clear that he was NOT to drive the car.

'OXI, OXI, OXI!!!; I bellowed at the top of my lungs and pushed him back out of the car.

He screamed back at me at the top of his lungs and while the tone was frightening I noticed that he maintained calling me Kyria at all times - which at least was very polite of him.

Teenage son leaned forward and pulled the door shut and I put the locks on.  But the windows were still open due to the heat so I removed the keys from the ignition after a struggle and clearly sat on them so the guy could see there was no point making any more trouble.

As is always the case, help arrived just as soon as the crisis had passed.

Hubby arrived back from the offices of the SuperFast Ferries waving our boarding passes.

The lady in the office had secured us a space.  The only snag was that hubby would have to get up at four in the morning to move the car and trailer to let lorries disembark to Igoumenitsa.

At last we were safely on board and the boat was in the hold.

We had a cosy and relaxing time on the lovely Superfast XI Cruising ferry. This boat is amazing in comparison with UK ferries.  It is like a floating hotel.  We had a meal in the restaurant as I didn't want to risk seeing the hijacking lorry driver in the self service area.

So I can thank the lorry driver, for that as the meal was superb and the service fantastic.  I have had much more inferior meals in expensive restaurants in both the UK and Paris!!

The cabins were very comfortable and apart from the early morning wake up we all had a lovely sleep.

The founder of SuperFast ferries is from our tiny village on Kefalonia so we felt pleased that his company had provided us with a brilliant voyage and it somehow made the experience feel like we were almost home already.

We arrived at Patra at around 11.30 in the morning.

This is the famous Rio Antirio Bridge at Patras - which is the longest suspended bridge in the world!!! 

It has to be strong enough to withstand earthquakes, tsunamis, liquifaction of sea bottom and the movement of the tectonic plates!!!

It is an amazing example of Greek engineering skills and I find it quite an inspiration.

Next post will be the last leg of the journey - as we finally bring our boat home to Kefalonia.

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Last time I had got to the point where we had just got through Italy and we were getting to Ancona.

Now the plan was to catch the Superfast Ferry XI from Ancona to Patras via Igoumenitsa.

We knew what time the ferry was leaving and our travel agent had not got us return tickets including our boat on the trailer as the system had trouble giving return tickets which had no trailer on the outward journey and a trailer and boat on the inward journey. So we had ordinary return tickets and she had told us to 'just pop into the office and get them upgraded and pay the extra and it wouldn't be a problem.'

This is where the difference between me and hubby gets highlighted. I wanted him to phone ahead or contact the Superfast guys well in advance to get this upgrade at least sorted out in principal - even if we couldn't pay til we got there.

But hubby believed implicitly in the agents pronouncements and insisted it would be fine to leave it to the last minute.

Me and 'last minute' have never been happy company.

To be perfectly open about it, me and 'last minute' hate each others guts. I try and avoid coming into contact with 'last minute' as much as possible, and 'last minute' does its best to ruin my life wherever it gets the opportunity.

This day was no exception.

After a pleasant night spent wide awake in terror in the front of our car 'guarding' my peacefully sleeping menfolk as the entire armed assassin section of the Mafia prowled around us in the motorway carpark, my normally placid personality had taken a slight detour.

Anyone who knows me well will attest to my gentle affability, my ability to ride adversity like a child rides a roller coaster at a fairground - but without the screaming and being sick part.

Easy going is my default characteristic.

But Italy had done things to me. My eyes were wild and bloodshot. My hair was tangled and it was the first time I had ever been able to feel anger actually in the roots of my hair.

All I knew was that until I set foot back on Greek soil everyone around me was going to suffer if they did one single thing to thwart that aim.

What I didn't know was that thwarting was the order of the day and 'last minute'  had ordered up plenty of it with a side helping of irritation.

Let's have a soothing image now.

The lovely waters of the Adriatic as seen through our porthole when we finally got onto the ferry. 

Back to the narrative.

In the queue for the ferry, lorry drivers and drivers looked admiringly at the large spanking new boat on the back of our trailer.  Hubby had gone to enquire about our 'problem free upgrade' safely to be left to the last minute, while teenage son anxiously sat watching me in the same way that army bomb diposal experts regard a particularly tricky incendiary device.

I could tell from the slope of hubby's shoulders as he emerged from the office doors that all was not well.  Let's face it, I had known before he even went in there.  But would he listen to me?  Oh no, hubby loved to flirt with my arch enemy 'last minute'.  He would flaunt their salacious relationship with me regularly, and accuse me of over reaction whenever I protested.

But was I right? OF COURSE I WAS BLOOMIN RIGHT!!!!

More tomorrow - I am off for another decaffeinated beverage to calm my post traumatic stress LOL

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Although surrounded by spectacular scenery, it is hard to relax and enjoy it when you are pulling behind your car a boat on a trailer that is the physical representation of the sum of your life's savings!!!

This was the first time that my husband had undertaken such an arduous task and he assured me that one way or another it would definitely be his last!!!

If you are new to this blog I will just quickly precis the story so far (although it is well worth reading the preceding posts and there are some cool photos and even my first ever video clip!!).

We had bought a brand new powerboat kitted out with a full bimini cover for the meditteranean, which was where we had recently moved to live.

We had been planning this purchase since July 2007 including two visits to boat shows (a boat show in South Wales and the Southampton boat show) and at last the time had come to collect our long awaited powerboat in February 2008.

We were now towing it across Europe, having started from the south of england and having crossed the channel to Cherbourg from Poole harbour.

Back to the current point in the story of our epic trailer trek across a continent!

Passing through snow covered terrain we made our way towards the first tunnel.  There are actually many tunnels both before and after the Mont Blanc and although some people might be entranced by the informative signs which enumerate the length and breadth etc of each and every one, I'm afraid we have a very low boredom threshold!

Looking back we should have got so much more from this experience, but as it was the anxiety seems to be the one thing we all remember most

Apologies for the blurry picture - at this stage my eyes were a bit strained, during the moments when I actually was brave enough to open them!!

The roads were quite icy but we were trusting to the Suzuki SX 4x4's superb road holding abilities and of course our driver's superior skills.  We weren't at all worried about the Italian lorry drivers hurtling past us - honest guv, we weren't, we always whimper like that, it keeps our vocal chords exercised.
 
The first of these psychedelic masterpieces is what happens when you take a picture inside a mountain while an Italian lorry hurtles past you and you don't know much about cameras.

The second is a picture taken inside a mountain but without the added fun of said Italian lorry.
We emerge into the light at the end of the tunnel.  Here we arrive at the point where we pay to enter the Mont Blanc tunnel at last and here is where the photgraphs stop for quite a while as things started getting fraught. We got to the pay booth and started getting anxious - yes even more anxious, nails were rapidly descending in length.  Here's why:
Tolls

Vehicle with two or more axles
and a total height greater than 2m
and less than or equal to 3m   charge - 42,70 Euro

Vehicles with three or more axles
with total height greater than 3m   charge - 248,90 Euro

Quite a difference in toll between 42,70 and 248,90 Euros!!! We didn't have the larger amount in our toll cache in the car and in any case we were hoping that we wouldn't have to spend that kind of money.

Problem with our rig is that if you include the height of the radar arch we were just over the 3 M mark!!!

The lady in the booth came out of the booth and looked at the boat on the trailer.  She went back into the booth and came back with a very long ruler.

She measured the height of the boat and trailer.

We all held our breaths.

She made a non committal noise and returned to her booth.

Looking down at us from her lofty height, she pronounced her decision....

42,70 Euros !!!     Much happiness ensued and it may have been the most joyfully given toll she ever received!!

Into the Mont Blanc tunnel (Wikipedia info) we went, and it was much the same as the other tunnels, just more so, and more so and more so.

A lifetime later we emerged into italy. Sadly we prefer to draw a veil over our Italian experiences. But in a very short description here it is:
Mad Italian Drivers, speed speed speed, narrow narrow roads, road works at maniac speed and inches away from nasty poky out walls threatening to rip the boat off its trailer and throw us across the motorway to our certain death.

A night spent asleep in the car in a motorway services (when I say asleep I mean awake in wide eyed terror convinced we were surrounded by murderous mafiosos (or mafiosi or whatever they are called - true terror knows no grammar) and a final miserable rush to catch the ferry at Ancona.

I will recount the Ancona experience tomorrow.  Right now I need a stiff cup of decaffeinated something to restore my nerves after that awful traumatic recall of Italy, or as our teenage son calls it Sh - Italy!!

Normally I frown on strong language, but in this case it is only too justified.

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We checked it over, checked the car, and set off again.

The plan was to get over Mont Blanc and as far into Italy as possible before stopping for another night.  We had felt quite uneasy travelling through Italy on the trip to the UK.

The auto route from Ancona to Mont Blanc through Italy seemed to be the UK equivalent of driving through such salubrious areas as the industrial sections of Bradford, Birmingham, Manchester and so on.

The smell of pollution had been dreadful, and whenever we stopped for petrol or toilet requirements, we were accosted by dubious types trying to sell us laptops or other dodgy items.

So we didn't want to spend too long on that part of the journey.

Here's a picture I wasn't sure would come out well.  I stuck the digital camera out of the car window, pointed it in the general direction of the boat as it was towing along on the motorway, and just hoped for the best!!

So this is what a powerboat driving along at 110 kilometres an hour looks like!!!

The powerboat's first glimpse of snowy mountains.

The road looked nice and straight, but I suppose we should have known it was too good to be true and that there were problems and danger up ahead.

At this point we were blissfully ignorant of the challenges to come.  The sign was just a direction we were following.

But we were soon aware of the dangers!!!

This road looks like a thin and very high shelf, teetering what seemed like miles above the valley.

Yes we did have to tow our brand new pride and joy over that precipice!!

Don't look down everyone!!

Everyone closed their eyes, except for the poor driver who just kept them firmly on the road ahead and tried to ignore the chasm either side.

Brand new powerboat owner - the stress and fear and concentration !

Our poor driver had already suffered above and beyond the call of duty to bring our boat safely home only to face another warning sign !!

Next post will cover - how to get a powerboat through a mountain and why we took no pictures of Italy!!

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We were the first to arrive and we sat listening to our CD of 'Yes Minister' as we waited.

The neon sign was nice and clear, so we knew we were in the right place - it was just a matter of time...

Before we knew it, we were safe and sound in the hold.  We checked her carefully like a mother hen checks her new chicks.  Then we left her alone to find our cabins and get some much needed sleep.

There was to be a lot of driving the next morning!!!

La soleille est brille!!!

We were very lucky with the weather during our trip from the UK back to the Mediterranean where we live. 
The sun shone down on a fresh new day and we set off full of hope and enthusiasm and with a very large burden on the back of the car.

We stopped for some petit dejeuner after a few hours.

The car we had bought in preparation for collecting our boat was chosen for its all round versatility, safety, towing capabilities and fuel consumption figures.

It is a  Suzuki SX4 and it is a 4X4.

Where we live the roads are often rough and we like to go down to the little beaches that are inaccessible without an 'off road' vehicle.

The Suzuki was quite biddable whilst towing the boat, although reversing was a bit of a struggle as the trailer brakes came on and there was no trailer break lock off so the car had to push against the trailer brakes which made for a nasty smell of clutch burning.  But the car couldn't be blamed for that, and indeed we were impressed at how it coped.

Otherwise the trailer handled very well.

We decided to take the Route National on the way back through France and down to Italy.  We had used the auto routes on the way up to Britain and although fast, it had been a bit of a dull journey.

The N roads were anything but dull!  We saw some lovely old buildings and scenery.

This section of the journey was a bit treachorous though.  The pavements had little steps onto the road.

With the extra width of the powerboat trailer on the back this made this little stretch somewhere that the driver had to concentrate hard to avoid disaster!!!

Not far to go now, before the Mont Blanc Tunnel and Italy!!!

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Electrical fault in the rear lights of the trailer being attended to at the last minute.

Monday February 11th 2008 and we are off!!

The first drive towing was a white knuckle experience.  Particularly as we had our European car to pull it with and the first leg was through the UK to Poole, to catch the ferry to Cherbourg, so the driver was on the wrong side!!!

We drove very carefully not wanting anything to happen to our new treasure.  Full of excitement and looking forward to getting it home.

There were lots of local fishermen eagerly awaiting our return as well.  They were keen to see this new British boat.  We had told them about the handling characteristics and they were hoping we would take them out fishing on it.

Another friend who runs a local watersports centre and another pal were also keen on going water ski-ing.

The future looked like it would be packed with fun and aqua ecstasy.

We had researched the kind of accessories and fittings required for a med boat and got a lot of info from Rod Heikell's blog in particular his advice regarding bimini designs and mosquito cover for the mediterranean .

Hubby was familiar with Rod Heikell as he had numerous books by him as hubby is a long experienced sailor with Yacht master Theory under his belt and tons of sailing hours under his belt as well.  He had eschewed getting his Yacht Master Practical Exams sorted, and decided instead to get his qualification as a Powerboat Instructor - in preparation for our new purchase.

Hubby does not believe in doing things by halves - if he gets qualified - HE GETS QUALIFIED!!!

Number one son also got his PB2 sorted out - so we were well ready for our meditteranean boating.

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