Destination: Campofelice di Roccella, Sicily
It was a very sorrowful me leaving the wonderful Villa Julia to head towards my next destination. Although I had a great few days lined up, I had really enjoyed my stay in Pompei, Pasquale and his family had been incredibly hospitable, and the site was just lovely.
And to be honest, if I had known what was in store for me, I’d have stayed another day!
Because I’d stayed an extra night in Pompei, instead of heading south the night before, I’d have a much longer drive today. As I was heading for the ferry over to Sicily. I was hoping to have at least a couple of stops.
Stop 1: Servizio San Giovanni Ovest
Unfortunately, the storm that had come in overnight was still raging the next morning. I was driving in absolutely torrential rain for a good few hours. It didn’t really let up until I’d almost reached the ferry port at Villa San Giovanni. I needed fuel and wasn’t sure of the situation on Sicily due to recent weather events. Luckily just as I hit the signs for Villa San Giovanni I spotted a Servizio at RistorAgip Villa San Giovanni Ovest
It was a pretty decent service station. The fuel was a bit pricey but I’d kind of expected that. But there was hot food, coffee, and a lovely place to sit outside that overlooked the Straight of Messina.
I made the most of the break, had a coffee and a panini and called home while I stretched my legs, soaked up the view and appreciated the finally blue skies!
Stop 2: Villa San Giovanni
My next stop was at the ferry port at Villa San Giovanni. I had pre-booked my ticket with Caronte & Tourist ferries before my trip, which made it super easy when I got to the port.
The ferries to Messina run every 20 minutes and take around 25 minutes including embarking and disembarking, which is very well organised. As I had my ticket on my phone I went straight into the pre-paid lane and onto the next available ferry.
I found out while I was there that I needn’t have even booked a ticket, as it would have recognised my toll tag! There’s a lesson for next time.
It was a lovely crossing and after the long drive the sea breeze felt amazing!
Getting off the ferry was really easy and before I knew it I was in the middle of Messina. I really should have learned my lesson in France and sorted out my satnav while I was on the ferry!
Stop 3: Tempio di Ercole
I was soon on my way again, I’d definitely recommend having your satnav sorted to navigate Messina. It’s quite a busy town and as you exit, there is a criss-cross of autostrade’s that is a bit confusing (for me anyway).
I would be driving next to the coast for some way before my first stop in Sicily. I couldn’t help wondering how many of the big blacked out cars belonged to ‘mafioso’ and definitely checked my driving.
As I approached my first stop at the ‘Tempio di Ercole‘ the road wound precariously up the side of a mountain. It was a great road, but surprisingly busy and because of this, a little challenging despite my new found love of extreme driving. I’m sure some of the Sicilian drivers were more than a little irate at how slowly I was navigating the hairpins.
When I finally reached my destination, I was to be disappointed. The Temple was closed for renovation, and because of this was totally fenced off. Due to the narrowness of the road, there wasn’t even anywhere to stop for photos, which was very disappointing as the view is incredible!
Overnight: Villa di Teti (0/10)
As I was driving I started receiving calls and messages from the campsite which was a bit worrying. When I eventually found a safe place to stop I realised they were just checking what time I would be arriving. I was due to arrive a couple of hours before ‘reception’ closed so I let them know and carried on.
It wasn’t long before I started getting more messages. Could I get there earlier? Ummm … no. As it was, the directions to find the site were absolutely dreadful and I found myself going round and round in circles.
When I did finally get into the site, I realised there wasn’t an actual reception. I was shown my ‘pitch’ by someone who made it clear they had been waiting for me, before promptly disappearing. To call it a pitch was a stretch, it was actually a car park. And the bathroom ‘facilities’ seemed to be little more than a public convenience, and a really rough one at that. There was no light, no lock on the door, and it was absolutely filthy.
Additionally, the site wasn’t in any sense secure, there was public access from the beach and the main road. I immediately rethought my plan to pitch up and head into Palermo on the train. I didn’t want to leave my car or TentBox unattended, as this place did not feel safe at all. Instead, I decided to head to the local supermarket for some snacks and get an early night. I’d had a long drive and I figured I could aways get up early and head into Palermo in the morning. How wrong I was!
When I got back from the supermarket and put up the TentBox I was approached by a guy staying in one of the holiday rentals on the site. He was very annoyed as he had issues with the rental and the ’emergency’ number was not being answered. He asked me in broken English why on earth I would come to such an awful place. To be fair I had begun to think about trying to find somewhere else, but it was just one night … it couldn’t be that bad, could it?
Actually, yes it could.
Around 3am, I was woken by the sound of someone trying to get into the TentBox, I could hear them struggling with the zips. I sat up and quickly turned on a light. Then I waited … I couldn’t hear anything else but I was absolutely petrified. In an effort to scare the potential ‘intruder’ off, I set and reset my TentBox alarm, which was thankfully very loud in the still of the night.
And then I did the thing you always will people NOT to do in films … I decided to take control of the situation and get out of the TentBox. I know, on reflection it was beyond dumb, but I didn’t want to be a ‘sitting duck’ all night.
As I got out of the TentBox I realised all the lights had been turned off.
There were now no lights at all on across the site, it seems the only pitch in play there was the darkness. I quickly got into my car and locked the doors, setting off the car alarm quite by accident this time. I tried calling the emergency number, to ask if I could get the lights put on, but of course there was no answer. So I manually locked the doors of my car, and sat and waited what seemed like an eternity until it was light.
Finally, absolutely exhausted from adrenaline overload and lack of sleep, I clambered back into the TentBox to close my eyes for a few hours … before getting the hell out of Dodge!
In case you are wondering, yes I did check the reviews on Pitchup before I booked and it all looked legit. Although checking back now, you can clearly see that the TentBox shown on their site is pitched in what turned out to be the the car park, and subsequent reviews have commented on that. Additionally, the site did have a relatively low rating, especially considering the cost.
Note to self, and to any other solo female travellers … pay very close attention to any pictures, and never give the benefit of doubt to anything with a rating less than good.
