Lola's Travelling Circus: Floater

Cinque meaning five, Terre meaning lands, Cinque Terre comprises of five seaside towns all connected by hiking trails along the Portofino Coast.

Yesterday I hiked the blue trail, which is the popular coastal route that most people have heard of.

The day before, I was afforded the company of five fantastic people sharing the dorm with me, and we got along so well that we teamed up and hiked together. Lorelei and Lisa from Canada, Nick and Pete from Burmingham, and David from Germany.

L-R Lorelei, Lisa, David, Nick, Pete, Me

The first leg from Riomaggiore to Manarola, is Via Dell'Amore, nicknamed the Lover's Walk.

Along the stretch hundreds of padlocks can be observed hanging from the fence- a symbol of locking your loved one to you and throwing away the key.

Due to erosion, the trail between Manarola and Corniglia is closed, offering hikers a 2min train trip between towns, or for the more adventurous, a 2.5hr long detour up through the mountain.

The detour was my favourite part about the entire walk. Although breathless and slimey from the uphill grind in the heat, once we reached Volastra, we had a steady gradient and an incredible view of the coast! Unlike on the rest of the trail, we passed not a soul, aside from the occasional wave to locals tending to their gardens.

As we traipsed the narrow trails through vineyards, grapes in their youth were beginning to droop the vines and the salty air began to reach us on the cooling breeze. From our vantage point we could see two of the towns and endless blue. The sky and the water were so incredibly blended that you could not tell where one ended and the other began.

Stopping for lunch in the second last town, Vernazza, I rewarded my efforts with the best mussels and clams that I have ever tasted, on spaghetti. It also gave us some respite from the sun that now, in the middle of the day, was blazing down upon us in a heated rage.

Rested and fed with renewed vigour, off we set for the final 2hr leg of the trail- up, up, up, up then down, down, down, down to Monterosso. The temptation of the cool, crystal clear water waiting to coat our fried skins at the end, was a particularly good motivator, and we arrived in no time.

Aaah such bliss to sink beneath the chill of the Mediterranean and relax the muscles. For the first time in my life, lead legs here was able to float due to all the salt! Now I can understand why people do it- it feels wonderful!

A perfect plan to end the day, once we had trained back to Riomaggiore, showered and dressed up a little, it was two beach ball sized margherita pizzas and several bottles of 2Euro Italian wine on the rocks for sunset. It's days like these which make you think that life really can't get much better.

I'm now on the train to Naples after having farewelled my new found accomplices. Actually, I'm heading down with Lisa and Lorelei until they depart at Rome. All this time sitting and looking out the window has given me a moment for contemplation- the first chance I've had in days.

Today I'm feeling a little in No-Mans Land. I left on this trip for a number of reasons – adventure, escape... but largely hoping that I would find some answers for which direction to propel my life into now. I have nothing holding me anywhere, and while that is incredibly exciting most of the time, I'm meeting people who are excited to return home after their six week adventure because they have lives to start. What do I have?

No return ticket to Australia (and no desire to go back there without a focus), no fantastic job to begin... At the end of my European adventure, I get to look forward to returning to London with no job, no money and nowhere to live. And most likely, the compass in my head still won't settle in one direction.

It's a strange (not yet morose) feeling to have absolutely no frigging idea what the hell I am doing with my life. I feel like I'm bridging a gap, but I have no idea how wide the river is.

I wonder how much building I can do alone before I tire of it.