Olbia to Castelsardo

So, here I am, a week after we did the  following trip to Castelsardo, sitting on yet another beautiful beach, one of hundreds on this east coast, listening to the waves gently breaking onto the golden sand. It is truly idyllic. It is 38 degrees, but with the cool sea breeze, even I find it pleasant! I am so thankful that I am not in Alghero today where the forecast is for 41 degrees! 2 degrees warmer than my spa in winter.

Anyway, back to the blog which I have not had time to write since setting off on the road trip with my friend Guni.

She is a great driver, totally unflustered by the thousands of curves, potholes in the road and even a very large tortoise suddenly appearing in front of us to cross the road! I have to admit to being a shocking passenger on these curvy, narrow roads, over passes, particularly the roads we experienced near Arbus. But, that is another blog! Our car is a rather skinny Fiat which seems to wobble quite a bit.

Our first day was a mass of memorable visits to absolutely magnificent places. It was an exhausting  day because there was just so much to take n, to admire and to enjoy.

Our first stop was , as the name says, the Bear Rock, Roca d'Orso, in the far north. There is a breathtakingly beautiful view from the pathway up to the rock.

It was so hot out of the wind, but as we walked up the wind became stronger and stronger, making it easier to understand how these Incredible  creatures of granite have been carved by the wind, and of course,  rain and sun.

Granite pillars towered anove us. They reminded me a little of Bryce canyon in the States. I couldn't help but wonder how long they would remain.

The massive Roca d'Orso with its spectacular view towards the ferry terminal for Corsica was well worth the upward climb in the heat. It was blowing a gale here, so hats and telephones had to be held very tightly.

The day just continued to get more andmore spectacular as we followed the route around the north cape. Capo Testa was fabulous in so many ways - the colour of the sea, the variety of plants and the marvelous, colourful cliffs and rocks.

At the end of one path, battling against incredible wind gusts, we arrived at the so-called granite graveyard. It was sensational.

After lunch near the granite graveyard, where we had to stop everything  from blowing away in tthe fierce wind, including our sandwiches, , we headed to the next fantastic beach,Rena Majore.actually, it was not the next, but probably about thirty beaches away. We had a great map of the beaches and chose just a few which looked particularly interesting from the little pictures on the map. It was a very difficult choice.

This beach was spectacular thanks to the fabulous contrast of colours, the waves, golden sands, cliffa and a very pretty natural garden on the dunes and rocks. 

We made some great choices of beaches, the last being Le Cozzi, just north of Castelsardo. It was a pretty amazing descent into the bay, which has huge villages of holiday bungalows, all very well designed to fit into the landscape of red cliffs and stone. The shapes here were also incredible.

Once more the contrast of colours was stunning. 

I loved this horse's head perched delicately on top of the rocks.

What a perfect first day we had. Tired and happy we arrived late afternoon at Castelsardo, a must-visit fishing village.