Matera

Day 70. 3.6.23.

Overnight ferry to Bari, then on to Matera, Italy

Luckily there was no need to worry about reversing up the ramp on the ferry. There were already vehicles on the deck as this ferry came from Patras first. We were in the 3rd row sadly, so no sea view and nose to tail with the other vehicles. We think the ferry was sold out as there were so many lorries and Gareth saw some of them parked on the ramp for the whole journey!

It was a little late getting to us so, once on board and plugged into the electric we went to bed ( there was nothing to see anyway as it was dark). There was quite a lot of noise, mostly the humming of the engines so we opened all the skylights but kept the windows shut.

This did mean we had a very warm night. Meg was great and slept through the lot.

In the morning I went up on deck to see if there was an exercise area for dogs – the ferry line prides itself on being pet friendly and there were quite a few dogs on board.

Sadly, there is no exercise area, you just have to walk them around the outside areas. I didn’t want to take Meg up there as she’s not good at doing her business if there’s no grass. She was very good and waited until we were off the ferry and out of the port. The first spot we came to was just far enough for her .

When it was our turn to come off the boat, the attendant shouted, back, back, back and Gareth reversed, while other vehicles were doing the same , I likened it to synchronised swimming. The attendant saw my big smiley (but worried) face and laughed while crossing himself .

Anyway, all disasters were averted and we exited onto the dock. As with our other ferry experience, this was a free for all, no signage, vehicles and pedestrians everywhere, whilst you try to find a dock worker pointing you in the right direction . Finally arriving at the customs gates, an officer said to us, ‘UK’? And asked were we going home? No, to Pompeii Gareth told him, he said we must also visit Herculaneum and then waved us off cheerfully .

We headed for Matera and chose a P4N which is on an old GoKart track called Area camper kartodromo Matera. The Park4Night link for those who want it, is: https://park4night.com/en/place/63928

What a fab idea. It was lovely, parking on the track facing the grass, chairs, tables and awnings out and dogs were allowed to be free if you wanted. There were a couple of good showers too, plus a bar and included in the €30 a night, a free shuttle into Matera old town, with time options for pick up.

There are a few P4N’s here, but the beauty of this one is that it’s not directly on the road so there’s less traffic noise.

We got the 15.30 shuttle and wandered into the amazing old town of Matera. If you like James Bond you will have seen the chase through the town in No Time To Die. It’s one of the oldest inhabited places on Earth.

There are cave houses and churches, a beautiful gorge with a rope bridge to cross and lots of tiny shops and cafes etc for you to catch your breath.

Stable in a Cave House

Cave house

We managed 60 floors on the Fitbit wandering around and up and down.

There are a few tourist trails to follow with directional signs every now and then, though I’m not sure we stayed on any one the whole time.

Gianfranco back at the campsite gave everyone a map and marked places not to miss, so it was quite easy to not get lost.

We stopped for a Matera beer, stopped again for delicious gelato and then later for a sharing board of meat and cheese with a bottle of Matera red wine. Very nice .