8/9 DAY 10: A WRONG TURN

Today was supposed to be an easy day. But I made a wrong turn and accidentally headed up into the mountains. I finally made it to my beautiful dune-side desitnation on the Costa Verde (Green Coast), but did I ever take the extreme long way. I slept like a baby last night, not even noticing until dawn that my air matress valve was wide open. I slept in and then moved myself to the hammock when the tent got hot. I had myself a cappuccino and pastry before packing up. It was fresh socks day today. I was out of the campground by 10. It was supposed to be a short day.

I headed down the coast to Maceddi and found the long narrow bridge across the bay. I stopped a little roadside stand and stocked up on olives, sun dried tomatoes, and delicious little peppers stuffed with tuna, capers, and something else that I didn't understand. I headed over towards the coast, hit a beach and a dead end. No one was able to help me find my way south. I could see another town further down the coast, but couldn't take my bike down the beach. The wheels got bogged down in the sand. I cut away from the beach and followed a rocky dirt track up a steep hill. I had to get off and push my bike. It was either this or turn back. I finally hit an asphalt road going south and assumed I was headed in the right direction. There weren't any road markers. The problem was the combination of maps I was using. Instead of going to the Marina of Arbus, I went to Arbus. Up, up, up into the mountains I went. I ran out of water during my ascent, but an ice cream stand miraculously appeared out of nowhere. I was able to stock back up on cold frizzly plus have a little treat. It was my second six liter day in a row. I went over Mount Vecchio and down into Arbus with the flattest depressing plains visible off towards the east. I passed all sorts of abandoned mining operations that I had read about in my guide book. But where was the coast and my campground? I ended up having to enter the Costa Verde the way I had planned to leave.

I now find myself in a place that's very difficult to get to. And it's gonna be tough getting back out of here again. There's a lot of squiggly lines on the map between here and my next destination. At least I had a cool sea breeze the whole day today. It never truly got hot. It's just frustrating knowing that I had taken a wrong turn and instead went through a huge mountain range. Oh well. I finally reconnected with the coast. I met up with two Italian cyclists, a man and a woman from Mantova, who were cycling the whole island. They're camped not far from me here in this windy dusty campground. It's a totally different scene than two nights ago. It's a steep dirt track down the mountain, and campers can't get here. The people here are younger, more hip, and actually quite good looking. The restaurant and grounds are beautiful. The views of the sea through the dunes and the pretty green hills are charming. The scrubby macchia seems so much softer and greener than I know it is.