Aussie in the Boot: Sicily Road Trip

I am spending six months travelling around Italy. I am staying with hosts around the country, WWOOFING (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). Learning, sharing and creating great connections. There will be ups and downs, but I have my yoga mat packed and a 560g jar of Vegemite, so I’m ready to take it all on. 

Region: Sicily

Red Renault road trip!

We said our goodbyes to the guys at the camp before hitting the road! We are driving in Martin’s red, Renault 4. It was originally his grandmothers and is still in great condition. Built-in 1984, it has an unusual gear system, has 199,680 km on the dial and no airbags. What an adventure!

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The guys at Gunarri told us that the street food in Palermo is very significant. They said that the cheaper and dirtier the place, the better the food. So, our first stop was Palermo. We walked around the city in the extreme heat. It didn’t feel like Italy at all, it’s more like an Arabian desert. We got the famous sandwich with a chickpea flour patty that is fried and then topped with potato balls that are fried. It was very authentic and delicious.

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After seeing lots of sights and being shocked by the difference in culture to the north, we headed back on the road. We stopped at a side cart on the road for some crunchy chickpeas and oranges! We were definitely ripped off by the stallholders.

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A quick supermarket stop (the last one hopefully — we want market stops) to buy some vegetables to cook up. Martin said that it’s hard making every decision together. It’s early days.

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We had a swim at a nearby beach. We parked at a national park. We cooked up our vegetables and had a nice dinner in the tent. The night was super hot and sweaty and it was hard to sleep. But the sun rose and was shining through the plastic window at our feet.

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On at the road at 8:00 am.

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A little beach stop on the side of the road. A swim, sun salutations and stone collecting. We made a stop at a little stand in a small town. We bought lots of vegetables (potatoes, salad, onions, zucchini, beans, tomatoes, free basil!). €4.20

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A lot of tension and bickering. We didn’t get much sleep because of the heat so we are both very tired. This whole situation has also brought up a lot of food stress … many things that I thought I was over are just bubbling up, very aggressively.

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We stopped in the only shade we could find in this desert: beneath some palm trees, outside of a restaurant placed in the middle of nowhere. We cooked lunch and had a very timely rest.

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We had to do a 26-second hug to catch up.

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We stopped in the town of Mazara del Vallo. It is famous for having the largest fishing fleet in Italy. We bought a yummy gelato and had a walk along the water.

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Each day we have had to search for water to fill up our bottles and the 12 litre tank. We have to find things like fountains. Sometimes to get the car started we have to shake back and forth. This is because, in Martin’s words, the spark rocks don’t rub together properly (I think something is being lost in the translation from German).

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We have had many people honk us, wave and give the thumbs up … everyone loves the car!

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We drove on and found a national park that has rocky mountains and isn’t too far from the sea. We cooked up a yummy dinner of salad, lentils and rice. We then set up the tent and tried to escape the mosquitoes.

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There were many clashes throughout the day. I am saying that it’s because we are in a very unnatural situation. We only just met and now we have spent many days of almost all of our time together. That is a recipe for tension.

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We had a great night on our Rocky Mountain. There was a cool breeze and no mosquitoes! We were able to sleep-in and I felt much more energised. We decided to walk down to the beach that was in our sights … it turned out that we had to scale the side of the mountain. It was a great morning nudie swim, no better way to start the day! We then had some breakfast (leftovers) and headed on the road at 10:15 am.

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Stopped in the village of Agrigento to buy some fruits and vegetables for lunch. We also noticed that the fruit stall people were putting “bad fruits” in the back of the van. So before leaving, we got some perfectly good apricots. We also witnessed a very Italian act: people that lived in the top apartments of buildings had buckets on strings, hanging down to the street. The baker drove along and dropped bread in them!

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We found the “Valley of the Temples”, a place that we were wanting to see, full of old Greek structures … it cost €16 to enter so we decided to drive around it and take in what we could. We then parked off the road, under some trees, with the view of one of the structures. I made some wraps from scratch and we filled them with chopped vegetables. We then headed off.

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Each day we are working better together. Fewer arguments and more meeting in the middle.

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There was a wildfire on the side of the road! It’s almost 40 degrees. We have driven through many towns, some very touristy and some very poor. Either way, they are filled with rubbish!!

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We both have super intense Birkenstock tan lines because we wear them everywhere, no matter the terrain.

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Drove for a long time. Ending near a town of basically just tomatoes before stopping for gelato. Not the nicest that we have had. Also got some vegetables and chickpeas for dinner! Found a park right in front of the beach and had a very refreshing swim before starting to cook our tomato and eggplant sauce. We had a great dinner of sauce, pasta and a rainbow salad with chickpeas. I have been very pleased with our cooking! All done out of the boot of a car.

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I have gotten really good at wild wees and “potty-less” poos.

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In the morning I had a beautiful swim/shower in the sea. We ate some leftovers before hitting the road, heading far south because we found out that there are going to be some waves … Martin is a keen surfer.

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Martin and I are getting along much better, working out how to interact with one another.

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We drove to the most southern point of Sicily. We found water in the town and a shady bus shelter to spend a few hours, waiting for the surf and the cool weather. We parked by the beach, had a refreshing swim and realised that there aren’t really any waves coming. Martin was disappointed about the surf but it meant that we were able to relax. I did some carving and we went for a nice walk.

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The tent was set up for the final time, we were facing the last tip of Italy. The closest I can get to home. I got in the tent early after a nice sea shower! Taking advantage of the sea breeze, cooling down the tent.

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Before bed, Martin and I shared our favourite moments of the trip. Some of them were: discovering Palermo, scaling the mountain in the morning to swim on a beautiful beach, walking through the town with our yummy gelato and our 26-second hug to break the fighting.

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Had my last sea shower and some leftovers for breakfast. We packed up all our things before getting on the road. It’s a 2-hour drive to the next place. After 860 km on the road, we are excited to see what is to come.

See ya, arrivederci.

Kindly, Steph.