A little mishap with the toilet leads me to some more hand gesturing with the locals in order to find a caravan service dealer to get some spare parts, The woman on the reception who Debbie believes was flirting with me has kindly offered to drive me to the service yard as the roads through the village are very difficult to navigate. Fortunately the repairman had actually come to the caravan park to do another job and had a look at it while he was there. (I don’t know how Deb organised this) Unfortunately he could not fix it on the spot so I had to quickly pack up camp and follow him to his yard, as Deb had just put a load of washing in the machine I left her and the kids at the park. As we drove out it began to rain leaving them stranded, this is where your faith in human nature is restored. A Swiss couple, (Philippe and Kirsten) noticed Deb and the kids still there and kindly offered up their van as they were going out for the day and said that they could just help themselves. Forcing the key into Debbie’s hand amid protests, Debbie finally relented and graciously accepted just as I arrived back. We were so thankful to their generosity and invited them over that night and had a wonderful time discussing travel and cultures while enjoying the local Vino and some Averna. As for the toilet situation well unfortunately the parts were not available in Sicily so we will make do until we get back to the mainland. After mucking around for about 30 minutes putting things back together and the guy would take no money for his troubles.I also had to get Daniels Bike welded a week ago as it had snapped in half, I found a guy building a fence and with hand gestures was able to learn that yes he did have a welder and yes he would get it out and he would even weld it for us and noooooooooo noooooo noooo no moola is ok big smile and a wave ciao (chow/goodbye)
Driving like an Italian takes a little bit of skill, understanding, patience and creativity, at first I was frustrated by all these Latin lunatics blowing their horns as they overtook me on the imaginary overtaking lane created by my moving to the right and oncoming traffic slowing and moving to there right. After a week or so you begin to understand these unwritten laws and become accustomed to allowing people to overtake wherever they want. As a matter of fact I have become quite adept at this skill myself and regardless of oncoming traffic we just overtake slower vehicles by blowing my horn to let them know I am passing and like Moses parting the sea the traffic parts and the imaginary overtaking lane opens for us to pass.We also blow our horns at cars about to turn onto the road incase they don’t see you, pedestrians who might walk out in front of us, bicycles we are about to pass and as soon as the traffic light is about to turn green.I don’t think this would be appreciated in Australia so I will have to retrain before our return.We have boarded the Ferry and returned to the mainland and are now traveling along the South coast of Italy, along the sole of the boot. The roads here are much flatter and wider and the motor home is enjoying the easier roads for a while. The weather is warming up again so we are looking for a nice beach to bed down for the weekend before we hit theAdriatic coast.