Friday 26th April
Johannes and Ari arrived after the last stage of the Giro Sardinia and we drove to Cala Ganone.
Satuday 27th April
We went climbing at Cali Fuili down by the sea where Ari and I had also climbed, briefly, in 2023. There are a few easy climbs at the beach. It was much busier than last time but we found a few 5b climbs to do. We then went hunting up the valley a little bit. It was much less crowded and we found another climb to do before heading back.
Sunday 28th April
Instead of climbing we hired mountain bikes for the day and did two nice rides leaving from Orosei. The first was up Monte Tuttavista, a 800m hill behind Orosei. We had a bit of a false start after discovering the map didn’t match real life. It looks like the locals had claimed some small public roads for themselves including building a large wall at the end of one road to stop through traffic. Still, we found our way out to the main climb and headed up steeply through pine trees that gave way to other types of trees and several switchbacks.
We locked our bikes and walked the remaining 50 vertical metres to the top of the hill. There was a large summit cross with a statue of an unhappy looking man attached to it. The ground dropped away steeply on the other side of the summit and there were nice views down to the small towns far below.
We continued biking along the top as far as the road would take us to another little spot. Some photos and then we dropped down via an unsealed forestry road. The gravel was thick at times and made it hard to steer but we successfully picked our way down between the ruts arriving back in Orosei some time later. Michi and Dana met us at a pizzeria for lunch after communication issues meant we’d failed to meet up during the ride.
We all went for ice cream after lunch and then headed off for another bike ride. This time we cycled up the coast with Dana and Michi and took a look at some of the gravel stage of the Giro Sardinia. It was a nice little ride and we ended up at the beach briefly before returning to Orosei later in the evening.
Monday 29th April
We collected Phil and Julie who had arrived in their camping bus the evening before and we all drove to Buchi Arta, a crag along a very narrow windy up and down Italian style road. The climbing there was quite nice although I was not particularly motivated after a few climbs. We tackled a few 5s, top roped a 6a and the others found a very difficult 5c.
We BBQed in the evening in the big garden below our apartment.
Tuesday 30th April
After meeting Phil and Julie at the unsealed car park just before the tunnel leading back through the hill, we piled into our rental car and drove to Monte Bonacoa for some climbing. It was an adventurous drive. The road was shingle complete with steep sharp switchbacks and pot holes.
The climbing was nice and we did a few easy routes. It threatened to rain on us as we were leaving. We scuttled off to the car as a few drops came down leaving Phil and Julie to rescue some gear in a route they’d got stuck on.
As we were driving away down the bumpy road we were passed by two cyclists riding gravel bikes that turned out to be Dana and Michi. They’d planned a ride that passed through where we were and it had turned into a horrid bike pushing mission due to the quality of the road.
Julia and Eric had also arrived during the day, unfortunately sans rock climbing gear thanks to the airline. We all went out to a pizzeria in the evening for dinner.
Wednesday 1st May
The weather wasn’t great in the morning. Ari and I went for a wander around the town and bumped into Phil and Julie by chance near the bakery. We were all curious about the delicious looking colourful sugary things being sold there. We had a coffee there and shortly afterwards Julia and Eric both joined.
In the afternoon the weather improved and we went for a walk up along the ridge above Cala Ganone towards Monte Bardia. The views were nice and it was a good little dawdle. The sun was out and the wind was strong.
Phil and Julie came over for dinner again and we ate far too much food.
Thursday 2nd May
We packed up and met Julia and Eric for a coffee at their campsite. It had started raining again in the morning but as we sat chatting the weather cleared and we decided to do some last minute climbing. We drove over the hill and parked in Dorgali. The crag S’Atta Ruia is above the main road that runs above the town. We did just one climb there before having to leave to the airport in Olbia.
