July 21st – my 23rd birthday today. I’ve always been a bit self-conscious about my birthday, I remember one year being invited to another party on the 21st, and making my family swear they wouldn’t tell anyone it was my birthday. So being alone in a foreign country is a dream come true for me.

I ate breakfast in the shade of this woodland, the cicadas playing thier tune at full volume, and then set off for Capo Rizzuto, deciding to tackle the 50kms in one hit for a change.

It was another hot, flat day along the never ending beach, going past beach club after beach club. One game I play to keep myself entertained is the ‘how long can I paddle with my eyes closed’. I imagine I’m in the middle of the ocean and have gone blind, and the challenge is to get back to land. I think I’d probably perish, because it’s amazing how rubbish I am at staying on course – I’ve usually spun 90 degrees when I open my eyes. But I love the weird feeling of dissociation I get from the sensation of the waves combined with the psychedelic light show of the sun flickering through my eyelids.

A headwind picked up as I cut across to Le Castella, a town on a rocky headland with a crumbling old fortress and according to wiki, the world record for the biggest fish soup.

I then had a message from Pasquale, saying he was was watching me from his balcony with his telescope, and I was about 1 hour away. This bay is the biggest marine reserve in Italy, and I arrived to a round of applause on a lovely little beach with crystal clear water and beds of sea grass.

Pasquale, Alina and Elena had seen my trip somewhere online, and it was just a coincidence that I arrived on my birthday – a great coincidence. It was lovely to have a shower and bed, my first since Capri, and I was treated to a delicious feast on the balcony overlooking the bay below, the sun setting over the mountains. First I had a whole dish of handmade fusili al forno, and then beef, potatoes, salad, bread, and melanzane ripiene – the local aubergine speciality. Thank you so much to Pasquale, Alina and Elena for a very memorable birthday, it was wonderful.