Corsica at Last!

Today's route

We managed to make it to the ferry terminal in Livorno with a bit of time to spare but not much because we were soon being directed onto the ferry.  Catching a ferry is so easy compared to that between France and England.  There is no check-in but instead men go down the rows of cars with an electronic hand-held computer.  They check your booking and put a sticker on your car window to signify that you have paid and 'checked in'.  Simple but effective with no fuss at all.

We drove onto the ferry and got out; going inside the passenger part of the ferry to find a suitable seat on which to place our bums for the next 4 hours or so.  We found a table near the front window of the ferry so were able to look out ahead during the crossing.  Well...  at times it was difficult to see out because the waves would hit the bow and spray would spurt up, hitting and cleaning the window at the same time.  It made for a good exciting crossing for some but not for others.  Our 'neighbour' at the adjoining table looked ill and held his head in his hands.  I was tired and managed to sleep across two chairs for a while before moving to the floor where I could stretch out more.  Later on our fellow traveller's wife disappeared and came back a short time later, seemingly having found another place for them to sit.  The ferry was being bumped around a bit and with the chap feeling ill - it didn't help.  He ended up crawling across the lounge area of the cocktail bar on his hands and knees, getting up when he found a stable hand-hold near the bar and walked with his wife down a passage.  I later found him sitting cross-legged on a passage floor with his forehead against a glass wall.  People were lying down in the passages or on any surface they could find, some of them looking quite unwell and making use of handy bags.  I found one lady in the bathroom, holding onto the sink and looking very sorry for herself.  At least she had made it to the bathroom in time - others didn't and had puked up in the stairwells or passages - that despite every passenger being given a nice bag to do the job in.

We arrived in Corsica 1½ hours later than expected - probably due to the rough crossing. There were queues of cars at the ferry terminal - people heading off the island.  We were glad not to be waiting in THAT queue.

After a couple of hours drive along the coastal route of the island we finally arrived at one of a couple of campsites that Paul had in mind that we could possibly stay at but decided to press on southwards to a smaller campsite in the hills.  When we got to the campsite entrance it was raining and a strong wind was up, whipping up dust-clouds where the earth was dry.  We didn't feel happy about unpacking the tent in the rain let alone in strong winds so headed to another possible campsite not far from Porto Vecchio.  Fortunately the rain hadn't hit the coastal area and the wind had died down quite considerably by then so when we arrived at La Chiappa Naturist Village (http://www.chiappa.com/en/) so we decided to stop there.

Once checked-in we were driven by electric car to find a suitable spot (vehicles are not permitted on the site unless unpacking or loading up).  We found a suitable spot, fetched our car and drove in.  Well, the pitch that we found was nice but not quite 'it'. So we had a wander around the area on before finding something more suitable.  One pitch was on a rocky outcrop overlooking a bay but there would have been no ways that we could get our tent pegs into the ground.  Another pitch was a bit too small for our tent (Paul pacing the site out).  We finally found a spot that was big and level enough for our tent but was away from the ocean and more public areas of the campsite (such as pools, restaurants, tennis courts, communal showers, etc).  We don't have a view of the bay because of the trees but it is a nice enough pitch ... except for the biting midges or mozzies, or whatever is chewing my legs and leaving itchy bumps.

We shall see what tomorrow brings.