Without plans en route, we woke casually and were in no hurry to leave the camping park. After breakfast and showers we departed to continue down the Adriatic coast toward our final destination of Bari, to take the ferry across to Greece.
From our research, there were a number of camping sites available on the Gargano peninsula, jutting out from the Italian mainland into the Adriatic. This peninsular was a little mountainous and covered in national park forests.
The journey south was fairly quick, interchanging between Autostrada and local roads for some variation in scenery, and it wasn't long before we turned off to travel through rather than around the Gargano National Park.
Gargano National Park
The National Park varied between lush, moist and densely wooded areas to grassy escarpments high above the Adriatic. Winding our way slowly through the forest, we were in no hurry to leave the shady enclave. At one point we came across a group of pigs, scattered across the road and through the forest seemingly oblivious to the passing traffic. There were fences in places along the side of the road, but that we were in the middle of a National Park suggested that these contently delicious morsels were running wild and free.
The camp ground that we were looking for couldn't be found in the GPS unit, but as the place we were heading toward (Pugnochiuso) was quite small and with few roads we figured that we could find it by chance. The final 50 kilometres was spent slowly winding through the forest and then coastal roads with magnificent views, before descending into the town.
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| Pigs in the National Park. There were fences, and they look a little pink to be wild... not sure if they were farmed or not. |
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| Gerle... prior to panicking and jumping back in the car! |
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| Not scared of people, the pigs were comfortable being approached very closely. |
Pugnochiuso
Pugnochiuso was really only a speck on the map, so coming into town we had our eyes open looking for the campground. Perhaps weary from the drive, and distracted by the beautiful scenery, we could not only not find the place we were looking for, but also any signs for a camp ground of any kind.
Figuring that as we had passed numerous campgrounds on the approach to Pugnochiuso, that we would pass numerous on the way further south, we decided to continue in the intended direction toward Bari and just look for something suitable. We hadn't 'wild camped' yet, but were prepared to if nothing came up that was suitable before dark. Either way, we were making ground that wouldn't need to be travelled the following day.
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| A tourist town a few kilometres prior to Pugnochiuso |
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| The road south leading to Pugnochiuso |
Mattinata (?)
After about another 45 minutes driving, where we saw no campsites in contrast the the dozen or so in the previous hour, we figured that we might have already passed the main camping area on the peninsular. Just as we were about to start searching in earnest for a spot to wild camp, we camp across the village of Mattina and a multitude of campgrounds. There must have been at least 20 options strewn along one boulevard running parallel to the beach.
Driving past in one direction, we quickly summed up which one looked best and headed in. The staff were quite surprised, as were the residents, to see a Landcruiser, Rooftop Tent and foreigners. Our suspicions the previous night seemed confirmed that most foreign tourists avoid the Adriatic coast, and opt for the opposite Tyrrhenian (Mediterranean) coast.
Nonetheless, we set off for the beach, again hoping to find sandy shores. Alas, another stony beach, but it was a nice evening and we sat watching the locals swim and fish. Tired (from doing nothing) all day, we returned to the campsite for dinner and were soon asleep ready to head to Greece the following day.
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| Old timer catching small fry. |
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| Not quite the sandy shore we were imagining. |
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| Paid beaches.... so weird from an Australian perspective! |
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