More of Northern Sicily

25 May 2016

Palermo has a striking backdrop.

This is bulk olive oil. These are 200L drums, and the picture shows only a small part of the drums stored. This is big, big business here. 

Another huge industry is farming prickly pear! Yes prickly pear! Now my Italian friends may not think much of this but the Australians  (particularly the Queenslanders) will be horrified. 

These are prickly pear farms, seen over a wide area of Sicily, and also elsewhere in Italy. What do they market them for? I don't know! The fruit? For jam? The whole plant is actually edible. You can fry the "leaves" if you shave off the prickles. and slice them. We didn't see them in shops. and I haven't tried the leaves. The jam is good though! 

26 May 2016

We drove today towards Messina where we will cross by ferry to Calabria, on the Italian mainland. 

During the journey we saw Mt Etna once again, this time sitting quietly. She seems like an old friend now, seen through the haze which plagues Italy, and much of Europe. 

We can also see the Aeolian Islands of the North Coast, also through the haze, but rather pretty. 

Stromboli, one of the Aeolian Islands is also an active volcano. Between this and Etna there is often a smoke haze over northern Sicily. Some say it is the volcanos, some say Saharan dust. Others say it is simple pollution, aggravated by the volcanoes. Since it is all over Europe I think the latter explanation might be close to the truth. 

We stopped for a lunch break. This was our view! Notice the sailing boat. Cafe Matilda popped up again and we had bruschetta for lunch.

We reached Missina and caught the ferry at about 4pm. We arrived in Calabria at about 4.20 pm, after a very efficient and smooth passage. 

This is our track in Sicily,1331.4 km. and we enjoyed it all! 

Scenery of North Western and Northern Sicily

23 rd May 2016

"Steps of the Turks" where soldiers of a Turkish invasion climbed onto Sicily a long time ago. This white rock extends some distance along the western coast, which is otherwise quite flat and featureless.

However in the northwest the coast becomes much more dramatic.

We saw this helicopter hauling people up and down behind this cliff. We wondered whether this was practice for rescuing refugees, or perhaps there were actual refugees stranded there. We heard later that a record number of refugees had crossed that day so maybe. In any event it was a sign of the times. 

We camped at San Vito Lo a Capo which has wonderful cliffs as a backdrop and a beach. 

This area has been heavily influenced by Muslim inhabitants in the past and this is evident in some of the architecture. It is also evident in the food, the local specialty being couscous. This is usually fish couscous, but we found a resturaunt offering "couscous verdure" (vegetable couscous). 

It was beautifully presented and in a great position overlooking the beach -at last a very nice beach in Sicily! Where I eat is almost as important to me as what I eat, so I really enjoyed this meal! 

Forts for surveillance against invasion from the south are everywhere. 

Human sacrifice, ancient opulence of nobility, and religious wars

21 st May.

The feature of the next couple of days was archaeology. With ancient sites from 600BC. At Palazzolo Acreide there is an ancient Roman site which has an amphitheatre which is still used, 

and strange underground structures. There are two schools of thought about the meaning of these tubs. One is that they were used for the drying out (and draining away of fluids) of the dead. The other is that slaves were left in here to die, apparently without food or water. 

There is also a theory that human sacrifice was part of the religion, and that is supported by this frieze which seems to show just such thing happening.

Our camping place after this was down a dirt road at a derelict cottage, set amongst a eucalypt forest! We felt right at home and could even smell the eucalyptus! Eucalypts seem to be very successful here -perhaps a pest? (Oh well, they gave us prickly pear)!

Matilda feeling right at home among the gum trees! 

22nd May

Another day for archaeology. This time we visited the Villa Romana del Casale (close to 

Piazza Armerina).  This was the home of a nobleman, and used as a hunting lodge. He had his huge residence with guest quarters and service quarters, laid with a mosaic floor. He had teams of African artisans lay the mosaics, with hunting scenes, bedroom scenes, scenes of hunting in Africa (bringing back animals for display in the amphitheatres). They are very extensive and very well preserved. 

The reason they are so well preserved is that they became covered with a layer of silt in a 12th century flood, protecting them until they were discovered and restored. They are said to be the best example of Roman mosaics in Sicily. 

One thing that interested us us that the hunting scenes show a number of tree species, and forest which no longer exists in the area. And the animal species shown that they hunted included boar, deer, hare or rabbits, pheasants. The area has since become denuded of trees. 

From here it was on to Agrigento, the Valle di Templi, with a number of Doric temples, dating from the 6 th century BC, including Tempio della Concordia, one of the best preserved Greek temples in existence. 

Tempio Di Hera

And the opposition accross on the next peak doesn't quite match the temples! 

All of these sites were ransacked by Saracens (Muslims -and there are scenes of beheadings in some of the sites) or the Cathagians (Hadrian?) in 400 BC . The religious wars were devastating. 

But I guess that geography plays a large role here. We are only 140km Kms from Nth Africa here in southern Sicily. And has anything changed? Mankind is still facing-off accross the Meditoranian! 

Siracusa and great camping!

19 May 2016

After leaving Mt Etna to her fate we took the freeway to Siracusa. We found a camping ground which looked good initially, but the hot water worked for about a minute, just long enough for me to wet my hair and the dust from Etna and then it went off. There wasn't even any cold water in the tap. I was not happy. The toilet had no paper, and the grass had prickles in it. And then to make things worse the dogs barked all night. 

However the saving feature was meeting a Dutch couple who also had travelled by 4wd, and we had great coffee (a la George Cluney) and great conversation. Unfortunately we didn't get their names! So we would not be able to take up their invitation to visit if we are in Netherlands again! So please if you read this please contact us! 

Siracusa was a venue for piazza food and music, near the Duomo.

But we had enough of towns and we headed for the hills. The hills around southern Sicily are better described as plateaus, with very harsh conditions for farmers. 

Have a look at the stone walls on this hill side! They have been built by shepherds over generations, clearing the rocks to allow grass to grow for the sheep, as well as making terraces for olive trees. How much work has gone into this! And was it worth it? 

The cliff sides also have been used for burial holes. 

The plateau is broken by a deep gorge, with fabulous looking swimming holes. And have a look at this house, accessible only on foot. At least they have great swimming holes. 

20 May 2016

We struggled to find somewhere to camp, but after the last campground experience we were looking for somewhere quiet off road. We noticed a sign indicating a nature reserve so down the Laneway we went. We were stopped by a derelict (we thought) steel gate, with a sign including the word "scouts" in it. There was just enough room to turn the vehicle around and we decided that since there was unlikely to be passing traffic we would camp on the very narrow rocky track.

But we had just poured our glass of wine when three very threatening dogs appeared, followed by a couple from the nearby farm. Expecting to be told to leave we indicated with hand signs that we wanted to sleep here. The farmer gave us a very cheery "OK" and collected his dogs and left! So we relaxed with our wine again. But no sooner had we settled down than a 4wd vehicle appeared and indicated he wanted to go past us! This was a young couple, not the farmers. 

After a few minutes of discussion it transpired that he wanted us to follow him through the old gate. He seemed friendly (an acrobatic pilot we learned, with a cousin flying for Qantas Link in Melbourne!) and so we followed, down a very steep and narrow track with overhanging branches, some of which we had to remove. 

This is where we camped.

We think the farmer had contacted the young man (?his son) to come and bring us into the scout camp rather than leaving us to camp on the road! We were told we could stay as long as we liked, and simply close the gate when we leave! This is the Italian hospitality and warmth we have come to know, and we feel far more welcome here than we have in some other European countries. 

So I took the opportunity to wash my hair at last! We do have an inside shower but the outside one is a real pleasure in the right conditions!

We had a campfire and relaxed. Wonderful. The campground had nothing to offer like this! 

Mt. Etna

17th May 2016

Today's blog is a photo shoot of Mt. Etna -and one of the best/most interesting camp-sites we have found for quite awhile! 

Photos like these are often labelled -"hope"!

And the mountain!

Etna -smoking! 

Earthcruiser at Etna-smoking! 

We camped here, enjoying the black landscape, but soon became aware of the rumbling from the mountain! This was a new experience for us. Should we assume this was normal? Or was the mountain about to erupt? 

There was a small amount of passing traffic and none of it seemed to be pannicking. So the locals didn't seem to be worried! But do we trust the locals? Well at home we know that the locals very often underestimate the risk from our own hazards -like cyclones, crocodiles, and stingers. 

Oh well. We found that we couldn't hear the rumbling from inside the camper -so we decided to sleep on it. I did though, veto the idea of going further out of sight where we wouldn't be seen by any authority evacuating the area.....😅

18 May 2016

Well if yesterday impressed us with the rumblings of the mountain, today had more! When we awoke the rumbling had increased and the mountain was much more dramatic! 

We travelled on to Etna Sud where there is a cable car and 4wd drive tours much closer to the crater. 

But when we got to the top of the cable car we found that the 4wd trips had been temporarily stopped because of dramatic action from the mountain. 

The rumbling had become much louder and more often and the emissions from the crater more dramatic. We did eventually get taken up closer to the crater but the walks had been cancelled because of the increased risk. 

In fact we noticed that the staff were bringing down buildings from near the crater, presumably because of the risk of a significant eruption. We were told that last time the volcano was this active was Dec 2015. 

As the day wore on we noticed increasing activity, with increasing solid matter being erupted and occasional red molten material being thrown up. 

It was an exciting day! We felt the money we spent on the cable car and 4wd tour were well worth it. It was definitely an experience of a lifetime for us! What more can Sicily bring up for us!

I did get some great videos of the action but so far haven't managed the technology to get them from the camera to the blog. If I do manage this I will load them on to the Facebook page. Search Facebook for "Waltzing Matilda -our Earthcruiser journey around the world". 

Ciao.