The anniversary cruise ....or maybe not

There's never a dull moment travelling except when you're waiting for buses and trains to arrive... and expecting them to be on time.

We started the day by packing up and heading for the bus stop: the bus was due at 9.35am and after many empty tour buses rushed by finally the blue Sita Sud bus arrived. The only problem was that it was the first bus of the morning and was bursting with people so we didn't have a hope of squeezing on with our bags. So, another wait with the only entertainment being a few altercations between rival buses going in opposite directions around a very tight corner.

Another bus trip to Amalfi and a quick change onto the bus for Salerno, more than an hour away. The roads seemed even narrower than before and certainly more precarious. The travel advice is to make sure you sit on the right hand side of the bus going south so you can look out to sea and enjoy the picturesque coast. Excellent advice until you find yourself peering down sheer cliffs hundreds of metres above the sea, and only a small stone wall between you and the cliff face.. At one point our driver - the first female driver we've seen - had to do a 6-point turn to get around a hairpin bend past another bus. Reverse a few feet...... go forward.....reverse again ......and so on. Certainly more thrilling than the usual bus ride in Melbourne!

As we approached the huge city of Salerno we could see a huge white boat with Carente Turistico in huge letters on the side. Our luxury cruiser ...or was it? I wondered whether this was the luxury cruise liner Ewan had booked as a 30th anniversary surprise??!!
As we walked towards the ship we realised we were surrounded by truck drivers loading their trucks onto it. When Ewan realised that one of them was full of live pigs I realised that perhaps this wasn't the QE2 or similar.

We couldn't see any other passengers approaching the ship at all and I thought that maybe he'd booked us on a cargo ship. We found ourselves on a long deck of the ship designed for trucks, and were pleased to see a person beckoning to us in the distance. We did feel a little odd wheeling our bags along the huge open deck!

Luckily (for Ewan)  there is a very pleasant passenger section with a bar and a restaurant. We are currently esconsed on some very comfy padded chairs to while away the 9 hours of the trip. I've done a promenade of the deck and we have enjoyed antipasto and risotto for lunch, with a very nice Sicilian apple cake to follow. Sicily is known for its amazing array of desserts so that will be something for me to enjoy, when we finally arrive.