Thursday 28 February 2013

Awoken at 3.00 am to thunderstorm and torrential rain - yep we were right, we've seen the last of the sun! Still raining at getting up time so it was a very wet and bedraggled Terry (who volunteered!) servicing the van.

Today we start our return home in earnest, working our way up the coast into France then north across country. We won't bore you with a blow by blow account, just show you a few pictures we took between the showers.

Roundabout art, near Cambrils

More just up the road

We by-passed Tarragona then headed for Barcelona and here's where it all went wrong! We discovered our planned route took in toll roads, and being the cheapskates that we are, we don't use toll roads! Now anyone who has driven around Barcelona will know that it is worse than Spaghetti Junction and inevitably we managed to get onto the Ave. Diagonal, the main road that runs straight through the middle. In rush hour. Well T has been here before so just carry on and take some pictures while we're at it. At least it had stopped raining!

No idea. Somewhere off the Ave. Diagonal

Lots of roundabouts, lots of traffic lights and millions of black and yellow taxis.

This building was at the bottom end of the Diagonal, and the area is now totally different to what T remembers. There was also a dearth of road signs, trying to follow the netbook was hopeless so inevitably we got lost, ending up in the commercial port area and having to retrace our steps. Eventually, in a little side street somewhere, we came across a signpost! At last, no longer lost Not where we wanted to be but not lost.










So we were spat out back on the coast road and found our way back onto our route. The sea was very rough with large waves crashing onto the narrow beaches, threatening the railway which was all that was between us and a good wetting.

Now way behind our schedule we revised our plans for a stop. Fortunately a bit of research told us of a couple of aires just beyond Lloret de Mar so we headed there, an area visited more than a few times in T's professional past.

For once the book got the directions right and we came straight to the aire at Feliu de Guixol, near the bus station, and joined several more vans for the night. Then it started raining again.

Wednesday 27 February 2013

The wind has dropped, the sun is shining, we've managed to position the van so we've got full sun all day.

So we're going to make the most of it!

Must remember not to leave the camera lying around!

We might not get another chance - tomorrow we're starting north properly.

(Note: Blog might get a bit erratic from hereon - depends on getting WiFi)

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Yesterday was a stay put day; although the sun was shining brilliantly out of a blue sky, there was a strong cold wind blowing so the day was spent "indoors", planning our journey home.

So today we've programmed a further run up the coast, again sticking to ordinary roads wherever possible. But the whole countryside has changed to extensive industrial development, including a huge Ford plant just north of Valencia, which we skirted on the Ronda. There also appeared to be quite a number of factories in the ceramic industry. The towns and villages were very ordinary, quite different to what we'd found further south, obviously serving the local industry. 

There was even a shortage of supermarkets: gone were the edge-of-town retail parks and we were well into the day before we spotted a Carrefour in Vila Real, off the main road and a bit of a pig to get to but we managed.

Not quite sure where this was....... Cullera?

So we spent most of the day in quite heavy traffic which was obviously avoiding the toll AP-7 motorway, although the N340 is a very good road.

Castello de la Plana

We had thought we might get to just south of Tarragona but trying to find a water pump (failed again!) and the heavy traffic meant that by stopping time we were only as far as Peniscola. Not to worry as there were several campsites, one of which had been personally recommended so we spent 20mins going round in a big circle (again) trying to find the entrance to Spa Natura Resort, which is a little way outside the town.

Spa Natura Resort

And before you all jump to conclusions it's NaturA, not NaturISTa! (It ain't warm enough for that!)

A very well laid out, medium-sized site with lots of amenities, including a pool and health club. We were offered 2 types of pitch, a basic (i.e.cheap) and a much nicer fully serviced, roomy place, complete with AstroTurf for surfacing! We booked for 2 nights.

Sunday 24 February 2013

Moving on today - La Manga is a very large site and although very nice it is a little noisy from passing site "traffic" i.e. gabby people! So, off north again in brilliant sunshine and on the way try to find a new water-pump - for the domestics, not the engine - as it is getting very noisy and we don't want it to fail at an inopportune moment. Of course it is Sunday (and to keep it simple, the first place didn't have the right model, although I could probably have adapted what they did have, and all the rest were closed. We'll try again later.)

More roundabout art in Elche
Mummy and baby giraffe

We're definitely on the Costa Blanca now and, past Alicante with its large airport, the coastline is mostly continuous modern towns and villages, dedicated to, or supporting, tourism. The countryside just inland is also quite mountainous, the ground rising around 5 km from the coast and we could see the ubiquitous white Spanish villages climbing the slopes. There also seemed to be quite a lot of new development too.

Inland from Benidorm

Of course, there is one name that covers the whole gamut of tourism, and that is Benidorm. Passing the town that gave Spain it's tourist industry, it is quite obvious that it is nowhere else!

Skyline of Benidorm

Out of interest the picture shows what once was the tallest hotel in the region (and Terry has actually stayed there - another story) but on the very left of the picture is a new construction, nearing completion, which looks like it will take that crown. We tried to get a photo as we passed; it consists of two narrow towers joined across at the very top by a futuristic-looking bridge of several floors - won't get us staying there!

For our stop, we'd picked out several places, including Benidorm, but the day was still young so we continued along quite a scenic road to Calp (or Calpe - many places in this area are also spelled in Catalan)
and after missing the turnoff found a very nice town. Unfortunately the campsite, right on the edge of town, was full. We've noticed that, from being deserted in the south, as we've moved into the popular holiday areas so the campsites are getting more full, with many people staying for long periods, 2-3 months is not uncommon.

Cap de la Nau - Javea

So we continued up the coast to Javea (Xabia) to another ACSI site on the edge of the town, which we had a fine old time of finding, circling it at least once before we found our way in. We could see it but...... At first we thought we were going to be turned away here too, but for 2 nights the nice lady found us a space.

A short walk took us to a suburb of the main town right on a lovely beach with restaurants, bars, gift shops and the supporting commerce. Back to the site as it got dark and started to turn very cool.

Friday/Saturday 22/23 February 2013

There's really nothing to report, we stayed put at Caravanning La Manga. A little shopping, a little cleaning and a lot of lazing about. The weather has been warm and dry although occasional clouds and breezy winds have reduced our ability to enjoy the sun. We are still wandering around in shorts and T-shirts though!

We've now decided on a date to return home and have booked a ferry for March 6. So, although we're already on our route, it's time for some serious planning so that we're not rushing up the motorways but then again not having to kill time. We were going to route back across Spain to the SW France border then more or less back the way we came, but think that we've a better choice of stopovers if we continue along the coast, past Barcelona and into France via Perpignan then north.

So tomorrow we'll head for one last extended stop and then start to make our way home.

Thursday 21 February 2013

Well, we got unstuck OK and the day is warm and sunny again so after breakfast, service the van and on our way.

Target today La Manga, just east of Cartagena. Used the autovia for a while before turning off at Vera to find a supermarket for, you guessed it, more supplies. From then on we took the minor roads, really enjoying the scenery. A couple of roads were marked as special tourist routes and were into the mountains - it would have been much quicker to use the toll motorway, but we don't do rush and we don't do tolls. Photos really cannot do credit to the real thing, but here's a couple of tries.

Aguilas

A mountain road somewhere today

More scenic roundabouts

Cartagena from a distance

Cartagena was another fine clean, tidy and bustling city. We drove through the centre looking to refill our gas bottles, such facilities being rare in Spain, though plentiful elsewhere in Europe. The obliging attendant told us he expected Spain to start catching up in the next 12 months.

Our destination, La Manga del Mar Menor, was about half an hour away and situated on the southern end of the Mar Menor, or Little Sea, a sea lagoon separated from the Mediterranean by a narrow spit of land. It has been quite comprehensively developed as a tourist area and La Manga Caravanning is HUGE. As well as around 100 holiday chalets and some "permanent" units, there are around 950 touring pitches, each a nice size, surrounded by hedges for privacy and fully serviced, with all the facilities we could possibly need. We don't normally go in for this type of site but it is an ACSI, (a discount scheme operated all around Europe) and is only 14 euros which is cheap for Spain.

Sunset

So we booked in for 3 nights and after settling in, went for a walk around the complex. (The bar/restaurant is offering English fish and chips tomorrow!) before returning to the van just as it got dark.

Wednesday 20 February 2013

Dull and cloudy day yesterday, as forecast, so we didn't do much. However, overnight we appear to have had Spain's entire annual rainfall in 5 hours. And this morning.....

Err, Houston we have a problem...

Stepped out of the door into 3 inches of mud. Tony managed to get off okay but when we tried to move we just sank in.

Oops

We could probably have got off but as we were not leaving today, on the advice of some Germans who came to assist, decided to not make matters worse and wait for the ground to dry out - they said it would be okay tomorrow. Another (Brit) told us the site manager would pull us off if it became necessary.

So, apart from getting a bit muddy whilst trying to do the tanks etc., we left it at that. And as I write this the sun has come out and things are drying rapidly. We'll let you know!

Monday 18 February 2013

Moving on today to meet up with a work colleague at Las Negras, in the Parque Natural Cabo de Gata-Nijar. Our route is again along the coastal roads, stopping off at Adra for some supplies, and through the various towns and villages. Initially there were more acres of plastic but they ended past Adra and the scenery again became hilly dry and brown, with white-painted villages clinging to the hillsides.

The town of Puebla Vicar was very smart and seemed to have something of a roundabout-art fetish. Numerous junctions on the main road through the town all had different themes, sculptures, call them what you will, so here are a few piccies we managed to catch as we went along.

The town of Almeria, which we ploughed straight through the middle of, is the port for ferries to Melilla in Morocco and was obviously geared to that activity. We got a little mixed up in ferry traffic that had just arrived but no problems, just busy. Leaving the town, our route now took us off the main road into the Parque Natural, for a change satnav, netbook and the signposts all agreeing! As the name implies, there was no cultivation and few villages, just a rolling, sometimes mountainous countryside which eventually dropped down to the sea at Las Negras.

A small seaside village, the large campsite of El Nautico de la Caleta is situated about 1km along a narrow road in its own bay surrounded on the other three sides by steep-sided hills. The site was virtually empty so that we could pitch wherever we wanted – in theory. However almost all the pitches were covered, for shade in the summer, and we could not get the van underneath so rather than take up eight or ten bays by parking in the middle, we chose to pitch together with Tony in an open piece of land. We still had all the facilities available to us but we felt that this site could be restrictive to motorhomes larger than campervans during the full season. Nevertheless the English-speaking receptionist could not have been more friendly and helpful, so we booked in for 3 nights.

Later we had an acceptable, if not memorable, dinner at the restaurant overlooking the beach.

Sunday 17 February 2013

Washing Day

Less sunny today but a nice breeze makes it an ideal time to catch up with the chores.

It's blackcurrant juice, honest!

A time to sit in the sun, feet up with a nice cool drink and listening to the waves gently breaking on the beach 10m away!

Saturday 16 February 2013

Continuing onward  our intention is to avoid motorways wherever we can and also take a look at the towns and cities as we pass. We are in absolutely no rush.

So first we headed into the city of Malaga, the place where millions have started their holidays on the Costa del Sol for so many years. Busy as expected, we found it quite attractive, not at all like you might think although it is a large city.

We think this was at
Rincon de la Victoria

Working our way out east along the coast, the countryside started to get more mountainous. The N340, in places becoming the autovia A7, has been well reconstructed and is a delight to drive on, by-passing town centres but staying close enough to provide a proper feel of the typical Spanish way of life. There is far less evidence of tourism here, as generally the topography doesn’t lend itself to blocks of hotels and holiday apartments.

We paused for lunch just after Nerja, again a lovely, slightly touristy town, at one of the parking places made out of the old road which, you can see from the pictures, gave spectacular views along the coastline. The road is often up and down, in and out of valleys falling down to the sea and it made a super drive. We attempted to take more photos but the views always seemed to appear suddenly and with no opportunity to stop.

Looking south to Nerja

Typical beach

La Calleta

This, for instance, was La Calletta, a fort built on and into a large hill and overlooking La Herradura (we think!), but trying to get a good picture from the moving van was a challenge and the photo does not do it justice. 

But it does at least provide us with memory reminders, (so yah boo sucks to you!!!)

Sierra Nevada

Whilst at Torremolinos, we thought we could see snow-topped mountains to the north, and during the afternoon we caught glimpses of the Sierra Nevada range, which goes up to almost 12,000ft. A reminder that, despite the warm sunshine we are enjoying, it is February.

Fields of plastic sheeting

Climbing up out of Almunecar, we started seeing lots of plastic covered structures and dropping down onto the coastal plain we saw the land virtually covered with them. This is where, of course, all the winter grown fruit, tomatoes and such, is produced and exported all over Europe. Coupled with the somewhat industrialised area around Motril, this was a less attractive part of the coast, but everybody has to make a living and if this is where it grows well then that is as it must be.

The countryside now changed to the more crumbly brown desert type landscape, lacking much in the way of vegetation, and the villages more separated. The day was getting on and we had earlier identified three possible campsites. The first was right on an unattractive, flat beach and did not appeal. The second was right in the centre of Castell de Ferro, a nice looking town, but not for us. The third was a little further on, again set on a narrow beach at Castillo de Banos which, apart from being the last of the three, looked quite attractive.

At first it seemed quite crowded, but we were told that the Camping and Caravanning Club were holding one of their annual rallies here and had taken over half the site. The rest was just fine, busy but not overly so and, joy of joys, each pitch had water and waste connections as well as electric! No more humping heavy water carriers.

We settled down with mugs of tea to enjoy the late afternoon sun.

Friday 15 February 2013

Once the domestic chores are out of the way spent the rest of the day with the kids on the beach.

Some piccies just for the family!

Adam

Mollie

Uncle Terry, can we............

Again Mummy

We're moving on tomorrow

Thursday 14 February 2013

Definition of "framily" - closer than friends but not quite family.

As mentioned yesterday, we had planned to meet up with Brens friend Margaret and one of her daughters plus grandchildren, who are staying at an hotel in Torremolinos for a week " to get some sunshine". And who can blame them, particularly as today has been the warmest of our trip.

So today was spent enjoying their company, lunch in a beach restaurant and playing with the kids on the beach.

A lovely day!

Wednesday 13 February

Early start to another bright sunny day which promises to be somewhat warmer – at least that’s what the forecast says!

We’re now at the true start of the Costa del Sol and have arranged our route to take us through the seaside towns and resorts – just to see what they’re really like. And we have to say we’re pleasantly surprised at how clean, bright and attractive they are, although it has to be remembered that this is well out of season and there was quite a lot of cleaning and improving going on. 

Estepona

After our usual stop to replenish the larder, our first “resort” was Estepona which we thought was lovely, the hi-rise hotels and apartment blocks almost totally absent. A large car park at the NE end of town persuaded us to stop for half an hour and enjoy a short stroll along the promenade.

A little further on was Marbella – right we thought, this will be Blackpool On The Med. But no, although a working city as well as hosting many hotels and apartments, it again was fine, though much “busier” (can’t put it better than that). There was certainly nothing to put us off.

Now following the coastal autovia A7 and N340, we stopped for lunch just short of Fuengirola before continuing NE. We decided not to venture into the town as the map showed it to be somewhat tortuous through the middle, so stuck to the by-pass. This is not to say that it looked unattractive, but we felt the time would be better spent making progress toward our destination.

Then I promptly missed the turn back onto the coastal road for Benalmadena, which we really needed to take.  The next junction was a little way but the map showed we could get back on our route. So off we headed along a back road and spotted this new building which bore no information but we later discovered was a mosque built for the benefit of the recent massive return of Arabs to the area.

 Shortly after we turned down a winding steep road, rounded a corner and discovered Disneyland! We remembered that somewhere in our notes we had seen mention of this place as being the inspiration for the original Disney castle and it certainly appeared to accept tours, although it was actually closed this day. There were no signs or directions and unless you knew about it or, as we did, stumbled upon it you would never find it.

Along this stretch of coast there really was no proper break between built-up areas, the land being filled in with holiday developments and residential complexes, some, regretfully, looking to be just shells and the building work stopped, probably due to lack of investment money. There has been a lot about this kind of thing in the news lately and the evidence was there for all to see.

Which made it difficult to establish precisely when we entered Benalmadena, that is, until we passed under a great big bridge sign saying B E N A L M A D E N A! Clue there somewhere! Another very pretty holiday resort, obviously designed to attract a better clientele than Club 18-30! Strangely the roads were very quiet and, though we had not seen evidence of this before here, it looked very much like siesta time. Even passing under another huge sign saying T O R R E M O L I N O S we began to think it was Sunday afternoon.

Another missed turn (netbook navigator playing up) took us right into the centre of Torremolinos but due to a complete lack of traffic it was no problem and we found our way back onto our route then our target campsite just on the NE edge of the town. Siesta here too but we roused reception and booked in for 3 nights. It is here that we are to meet up with the “framily”.

Monday 11 February 2013

Rain and strong winds during the night and the morning was grey and cloudy. Our plan today was to visit Gibraltar so, after breakfast, it started with a walk down to the health centre, about 1 mile, and take a bus into the centre of La Lineas. We have to say that the ride did nothing to change our initial impression of a town that had stopped looking after itself, scruffy is probably the kindest description. But at least it was only 80cents each for a 10 minute trip. The bus set us down in the central square which was only a few minutes’ walk to the frontier, again crowded with cars but pedestrian traffic was moving freely.

Our first stop was the tourist office (kiosk?) for a map and to learn that the cable car to the Top of the Rock was closed due to strong winds. This meant that the tour companies were doing a roaring trade and, after a discussion about how far we would actually be capable of walking, agreed to splash out on a guided tour by minibus. As a matter of interest this cost us 75 Euros, but we did get a brilliant driver/guide all to ourselves who, apart from being a fierce Gibraltarian, was a mine of information we wouldn’t have got by trying to do it ourselves. It also included the various entrance fees which would probably have cost us 40euros. It is quite possible to tour the Rock independently, but you would probably need at least 2/3 days and to remember that everywhere is either very up or down!

We’re not going deeply into the history on this blog; the Rough Guide to Spain has an excellent section on Gibraltar, or the Tourist Office website is a very good source of reference.

The Pillars of Hercules

The first stop, after a short drive through the town to view the old walls, was the Pillars of Hercules, at the Jewish Gate.

There are apparently 5 religions in Gibraltar; Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish and, would you believe Hindu, all living peacefully together in a population of 30,000. English is the main language, but the locals speak it with a Spanish-like accent, having descended, not from English ancestors, but from a number of nationalities who settled here 200 years ago when the English started to allow civilians rather than only military, which is what British history here is all about. Look it up.

St Michaels Cave

Then onto St Michaels Cave. This is a large natural cavern with spectacular formations of stalactites and stalagmites. 

For WW2 it was set up as a military hospital but, never used as such, it has now been converted to a concert venue – the shows must be awesome given the background.

Cuddly Monkeys!

From there Johnnie, our driver, took us up to meet the apes, tailless African Barbary Apes originally brought to Gibraltar as pets, but then let free to roam in the wild. The numbers are controlled now and they are fed daily so that they are no longer aggressive and do not stray down into the town. They are still opportunistic thieves, however, and you should hang on to your possessions and never feed them – 800 euro fine!

View from the top

Next was the Top of the Rock – we should point out that you cannot bring your own vehicle up here, it’s either an official tour minibus, the cable car or walk!  From here there are spectacular views over Gibraltar and the surrounding coastline, including of course North Africa. Unfortunately, because of the weather, our photos have not come out well – but we did get better views a few days ago.

Halt! Who Goes There?

The last official stop on the itinerary was the Great Siege Tunnels. Hewn out of the rock there are apparently 7kms, constructed to form part of the defences and turned into a formidable gun battery, looking out in all directions over the sea.

Overlooking the harbour

Further round

Johnnie then drove us back down to the town, briefly stopping to view the walls and the Moorish Tower, and the little effect the siege cannonballs had on its immensely strong walls. 

We were dropped at the southern end of Main Street, the pedestrianized main shopping area of Gibraltar Town. We strolled along, viewing all the British names, lunching in Burger King (and watching “Corrie” on their telly), spotting a British bobby and generally enjoying the afternoon sunshine ending up at The Casements, the main square. We caught a bus from here to the frontier (across the main airport runway!), walked through and, because feet had given out, indulged in a taxi back to the campsite.

We have been told that Gibraltar is a place you either love or hate. Not knowing what to expect, we would describe it as a slightly unusual tourist destination with its own special character. Of course it is also a strategic and economic base too which greatly colours the atmosphere. We like it and will no doubt come back. 

The Spanish are still trying to take it back but the Gibraltarians are strongly united – they are proud of being and will remain British!

Saturday 9 February

Rock of Gibraltar

Writing this in brilliant sunshine, just 2 miles along the coast from the picture. So please excuse any typos, can only just about read the screen!

The trip from Tarifa (I've been spelling it all wrong) was not very far but easily one of the most picturesque roads we've been on so far. After a call at Lidl for supplies for the weekend, we had to stop several times just to admire the view. The pictures on here won't do it justice, but you'll get the idea.

Coast looking southwest

On one stretch, we missed a superb shot, so turned round and went back! We've got better on the camcorder so will try to change it later.

An electricity pylon
Gibraltar from the west overlooking Algeciras

From here on, the road dropped down to the coast at Algeciras and we took the by-pass around this very busy town, but always with the rock in view. Once past, we took the road to La Lineas de las Concepcion, which is the border town and followed it right up to the crossing. There was quite a queue waiting to cross, but we had been advised not to take the van over as it was a lot of hassle getting back. The Spanish are still sensitive about Gibraltar!

So after checking possible parking places if we should decide not to use the bus to come back, we continued along the coast road to a campsite about 3km north of the town and booked in for 4 nights. A nice site next to a sports centre with around 50 pitches, we were the only people there! We were allocated a very nice spot, in full sun and reasonably close to all the amenities.

A chat with the lady revealed there was a bus from "just down the road" that would take us into the centre of town. A walk later showed it was 1 1/2 km, albeit along the beach. We did note however that La Lineas was quite scruffy and obviously this was not the best part of town. Will have to think again.

Our pitch in the sun

Returning to the site we found a French motorhome had arrived, but parked not too close. Later, as it got dark, an English van arrived but they stayed quite close to the reception area. Will go and chat with them later as we think they used their van to get to Gibraltar.