The journey down to the south coast of Sardinia has surprised us because our pilot book, the book that describes the country, the marinas and everything that we need to know about a destination, gave the impression that 9/10's of the east coast was not very interesting and yet we have seen mountains, miles long beaches, beautifully coloured rocks and cliffs that change colour depending on the time of day. All in all we are very happy to have travelled down the east coast.

We visited Cagliari on 1st September because we knew we could not anchor out there and the marina prices drop a little in September, so we spent 2 nights in Marina del Sol, a family run marina. The father resembled granddad from Only Fools and Horses. It was very hot, as he himself said, and yet there he was with a full, white beard!

With laundry, washing the boat and shopping to take care of, we didn't have a lot of time to visit the city but we did see lots of ornate buildings, as Spanish architecture dominates the city. The views of the city and coast from the top of the Bastione di St. Remy were fabulous. There is a bar/restaurant up there with huge hammocks to relax in whilst taking it all in (see photo). A great place for a long weekend.

Our thoughts on Sardinia
We have very much enjoyed the past 6 weeks here in Sardinia. We only travelled down the east coast from Porto Cervo, in the northeast, to Cagliari on the south coast. The scenery changes as you go south from quiet, turquoise coves and nice, low-rise holiday developments that melt into the hillside to quite dramatic steep sided cliffs of red and orange, very long beaches and not much shelter to duck into if necessary. The sea water is the clearest, bluest and warmest that we have ever seen.

The people are very friendly and do their upmost to help you. Chris went into a chandlery shop the other day which was similar to an old-fashioned UK shop with a man at a counter and all the goods behind him. You had to ask for what you wanted. Not speaking the language didn't deter Chris. Out came the paper and pen and his shopping list came to life in various sketches. After a while, the shop keeper ushered Chris behind the counter and together they rummaged through the boxes of bits and pieces until exactly what we needed was found. A few more bits of sign language and Chris left the shop with some items thrown in for free. What more could you ask for.

If you do have the chance to visit Sardinia then hiring a car is a great way to see the island, which is the second largest in the Mediterranean. The island is quite mountainous and has lots of grottos and caves to explore. The northern end is where all the nature reserve islands are that we didn't visit but which look lovely. Each town or village has its own identity and at Easter and during the summer there are lots of festivals and fireworks.

Olbia has some great clothes shops and the sales start at the beginning of August with up to 70% + off. There are also plenty of ice-cream shops too. Chris's favourite was chilli chocolate!

We have enjoyed both white and red Sardinian wine which you probably won't find outside of the island. We have hardly eaten out so can't really say much about the food but if the supermarket in Olbia is anything to go by, then everyone must eat well.

We hope to return one day and explore the west and northern coasts.