Sunday 23rd October 2022
Well we had an early start this morning as we had a 9.10am ferry to catch. So we were up at 7 which doesn’t sound too early to you at home, but when the sun doesn’t come up until after 7.30, it means getting up in the dark. This is a definite No No in DBs rule book. But not today. We were on our way to the cafe for our B&B break at 7.40am. We arrived at the cafe and neo-one was there so we were thinking we were going to be hungry this morning. As we left the Mama opened the store with mop in hand. Lucky for us.

After our usual fresh hot croissant and then honey/apple cake and fresh juice, I even had a cappuccino which is ok with a bit of sugar. I figure maybe better than a coke at 10am. It was really difficult getting served today as Mama had no English. We used a little google translate which helped. But she didn’t obviously understand the message that we were staying at Incur which gave us free breakfast there because as we walked down the street she called out thinking we had don a runner without paying. Once she understood it came with our accommodation booking she was all smiles again.

Well today, we are headed to a new island again. This time we are going to the volcanic island of Stromboli. On 9th October they had a volcanic eruption and lava flowed to the sea. The last time this happened was in 2002. So we arrived at Stromboli at 10am with 2 hours to wait until we could check in. So we found some shade and had a drink and a little rest but not before we had 3 business cards handed to us for boat tours to the volcano activity for the night. We didn’t take anyone up on their offer as we already had a hiking tour to view the volcano activity at 400m elevation.To do this you must have a guide or face a 500 euro fine.

At 12pm we walked up the street to 70m elevation to our B&B for the night. On the way trying to find somewhere to buy a baguette and some ham for our packed dinner or lunch today. No luck as the baker doesn’t work on Sunday. We checked in with the help of google translate and had a rest for 30 mins. We then headed down the street (literally down) and found an interesting pastry parcel for lunch. Mine had fish and vegetable inside which unfortunately turned out to be anchovies and veggies. Yukky! David stayed safe and had cheese. We befriended a guy who had lived in Melbourne for 5 years, who when speaking English even had an Aussie accent. He had some great stores and information about life on the island. It was really interesting. We then walked down to the port and did a lap as far west until the path ended. We passed a couple of black sand beaches, a jetty and some amazing white houses. They all have signs made from painted tiles. I don’t understand why they have white houses when there is ash from the smoke of the volcano everywhere. Anyway they do and it looks really lovely. We walked about 6km over the next 2 hours, just what you do before you have a 5 hour excursion hiking 8km up and down 400m elevation. But that’s Broady tours for you. We got back to our room at about 3.30pm, had a rest for another 30mins and then got ready for our tour.

We met at the church square at 4.30pm, ready for our hike to the viewpoint on the ridge of Sciara dell Fuoca at 400m. This is where if there is an eruption with lava, it is the only place the river of lava has ever run to the sea. Stromboli is a very active volcano that usually only has explosions. Unfortunately we missed the lava flow of last fortnight but our guide showed us video footage and it looked amazing. He felt so lucky to have been able to witness it. They only allowed people toes the flow with a guide and only to 270m. I was a bit worried that I would be too slow if they had a group of young people, but I need not have worried, the hike was sower than slow. Although some people still struggle with the continuous uphill climb. Along the way we saw a momentary sunset, which was amazing. Unfortunately we started a little late and only had a short glimpse of sunset. It was so incredible, the sun was bright red and because of the mist/haze in looked like a bright red ball sinking in the middle of the ocean.We continued walking up, up and up, then were welcomed at the 400m elevation viewpoint with an amazing explosion. We were lucky tonight there was only our group of 11 at the viewpoint. Last nigh there was 150 people which would have been very crowded. We watched for about 30-45minsas Stromboli shared its explosions with us. It was very active, which was great. e then donned on our covid masks to prevent breathing inbthe ash as we walked down with helmets under torchlight. Everyone kept close together which made the trail like daylight. It was an easy 4km walk down and back to the square to end the tour at 9pm.

We enjoyed a Calzone Strombolano for dinner. A pizza pocket with ham, mushroom, tomato and cheese inside. It was very nice and we capped it off with a really nice gelato. We then headed back 1km up 70m elevation to our hotel. Unfortunately I can only manage today’s story tonight. I will try to get the pictures done tomorrow as we have a 7.15am ferry to Sicily to catch tomorrow and a 15min walk to the ferry. So I will do my best to get it done tomorrow, Sorry!