February 2008

Never a dull moment at El Pino in Torrox, "it's like an asylum here sometimes" said the English speaking Belgian on reception as we booked in.  We soon found out why, as were entertained daily by the bizarre antics of our neighbours; a crazy Spanish girl who spent her day in dramatic dialogue with either her German, skirt wearing boyfriend with red hair!, or their four barking dogs that would take her for a walk! all tangled up in leads and rope, she would trip over them and when a dog broke free, she'd chase it down the road shouting all the way.  Then there was the Dutchman that wondered around the site saying 'hello' to everyone and everything!  The (Belgian) man at reception told us he came for two weeks and is still there five years later!

Saturday 2nd February:  Went for a walk, didn’t plan it but it turned into a very long walk. We went east along the coast road to Nerja, with stunning scenery all around and waves breaking on the beach along side; every now and then we got covered with a refreshing spray of sea water.  The mountains to our left seem to roll on forever. Oh, so romantic!
After our six mile hike we came across a beach side restaurant, busy with lots of Spanish, drawn like us, to the huge two metre diameter Paella dish being cooked outside on a makeshift fire. A very basic set up with lots of tables and chairs surrounded by bamboo fencing and no shade what so ever. Too good to resist and for a few Euros we ate like Kings, sharing a mixed salad of tuna, asparagus, avocados, artichoke hearts and egg followed by delicious Pil Pil Prawns served in sizzling oil with garlic and tomato, along with a plate of grilled sardines with chunks of fresh bread to mop up any leftovers - delicioso, muy bueno!  We got back to the campsite at 7pm just as the sun was setting having walked 12 miles!

Wednesday 6th February:  Went for another stroll, this time walking down from the campsite to the beach, through a valley of vegetables being grown for almost as far as the eye can see, row after row of potatoes we think and huge red juicy looking tomatoes. We crossed the road to the beach and stopped to watch the huge waves crashing in, very refreshing, and then headed along towards the seafront of Torrox.  A really warm sunny day, we walked along the promenade, lined with many cafes and restaurants, a lovely clean, quiet, friendly seaside resort, with a calming atmosphere.

We still seem to be the youngest people around!.........

Torrox is described as a "cultural melting pot" in various guides, having a rich heritage from it's Roman, Moorish and Christian past.

Close to the lighthouse on the seafront we came across the ruins of a Roman village with a necropolis, baths, basins and common kilns. The ruins had been integrated into the surrounding modern seafront promenade for all to see and enjoy for free.

Thursday 7th February:  Cycled through the "Valley of Veg"! Hard going on the rough ground, we went into the town for some groceries and I carved a car up forgetting I was on my bike! Very scary moment especially as in trying hard to get myself out of this dangerous situation, my foot slipped off the peddle. I managed to peddle like mad and carried on past a queue of bemused onlookers at the bus stop, I was too embarrassed to stop and catch my breath!

Lesson learned – give way to vehicles whilst on push bike!

Sunday 10th February:  Cycled to Nerja and beyond!  For most of the journey we rode along the hard shoulder that we had walked along previously, still very windy with waves pounding and crashing in, getting splattered with salt water spray every now and then.
On we went, past Nerja and down a very steep hill to Playa Burriana - at the bottom, a tiny picturesque seaside village with a sandy beach enclosed by dramatic rocks either side of the bay, shops, cafes and bars along a one way street fronting the beach. It was busy and noisy with lots of Spanish having their lunch, a wonderful atmosphere.  We locked bikes up and went for a stroll – I went for a wobble, my legs like jelly after yet another marathon bike ride. On leaving, I pushed my bike back up the steep hill to save my energy for the massive hill on the return ride from Nerja which I did cycle up - I was well chuffed (and well puffed!) back to site moments before sunset, just as well as we hadn’t taken our bike lights with us...........

I must confess that I had led Alison all the way down to Burriana to check out a dive centre that I had found on the web called Buceo Costa Nerja (www.nerjadiving.com).  It looked good and the staff were all very friendly.  They were open for business but due to the current strong winds, were not diving during this week. If we return here we could park Nel close to the centre and beach for the day.

Monday 11th February:  Left site and drove to Frigiliana - a traditional Spanish village up in the mountains.  With Nel parked on the roadside close to the village, we wandered around the maze of tiny, narrow, cobbled, stepped streets with rows of small white-washed houses clinging to each other; plant pots perched upon the steps and secret gardens hidden behind walls and gateways.  A truly beautiful village, really pretty and highly recommended for a day out.

I still wish I had got the olive dish I fell in love with, made by a local potter.
Back to Nel, we ate our lunch in the van looking down to the sea in the distance before driving on eastwards along the coast passing through many tunnels, that meandered through the mountains.

Booked into Castillo de Banos, the village and campsite sharing the same name.  Apart from the campsite, this small coastal village has a cafe bar, a tiny grocery shop, a Moorish tower and a few local residents.

Pitched facing out to sea, with only a chain link fence and a few boulders protecting us from the surf, we couldn’t be any closer to the ocean if we tried.

Wednesday 13th February:  Awoke at 7:20 am to the beautiful sound of a blackbird, then silence, then the full Dawn Chorus, was absolutely wonderful. No wind this morning, a beautiful blue sky tinged with pink streaks. Packed up (again!) and off we went, seeing many newly built viaducts on the journey towards Mojacar.  Passing Cabo de Gata National Park on our right as we drove inland on the main road, I was map reading and decided on a detour, asking the driver to turn right towards Carboneras on the coast.  An almost Luna landscape unfolded before us as we drove along the road carved out of the rocks surrounding us.

"Goodness!" I said, "that looks a scary track high up there on top of that mountain ahead", little did I know this was the road I had chosen! We were driving up and up, around hairpin bends with scary drops in the coastal mountain range of Sierra Cabrera, Paul laughing hysterically and me with eyes shut, nearly sitting on his lap. Wow! What a road, what a view!.............

Our close friends Daughter Gemma and her boyfriend Adam now live in Mojacar so we called by to say hello.

Arrived in Mojacar and drove the length of this seaside town with a village feel about it, houses perched high up in the hills and shops lining the road. At last! we were stopping in a town with shops! Yippee! This is a first!
Chose campsite called El Cantel for its central location, an open plan site with lots of tall trees. Seeking the perfect pitch we drove up to the back of the site where it opened out into field, as we entered the field people stood looking at us, so I waved and they all waved back! little did we know we had driven straight into a Hymer Owners Club Rally! Not being members, we had a quick chat and were politely directed back out to the commoner’s area! Set up camp and made contact with Gemma.

Thursday 14th February:  Still windy. Following the directions Gemma had given us we walked along the sea front and met her outside an Irish Pub.  It was wonderful to see her! Great to chat to someone we know! Had a lovely lunch in a little restaurant called The Lemon Tree, all chatting excitedly and catching up on news and gossip! After a long lazy lunch Gemma took us to see her lovely new apartment with smashing views of the town, beach and sea below. We had a great day, was just brilliant to see her.

Friday 15th February:  Walking along the road, a van beeped its horn, we didn’t look up as are used to not knowing anyone and the van turned round – it was Adam! Gemma’s boyfriend! Was so surreal to see him, we had a chat and arranged to meet them the next evening.

Saturday 16th February:  Gemma and Adam picked us up just after seven as arranged and took us to a fabulous Chinese Restaurant. For ten euros each you can eat as much as you like! You help yourself to a selection of raw meats and vegetables, hand it to the chef who asks which sauce you would like, he then cooks it for you! It was delicious! We had a great evening, again, spending the time chatting! It was great to see them both.

Sunday 17th February:  Left site and drove back down to Cabo de Gata, the National Park. Vast, almost eerie deserted in places with terrific scenery, vast mountains in the distance with huge open spaces in front and around us. Stopped for lunch in the van at Las Negras (I rustled up a delish Greek salad!) parked in a tiny car park on top of the beach.
Drove round and through San Jose along their one way street, up steep hills round and down and out the other side with rocky coves and beaches below reminding us of the Cornish coastline.........

Little did we know at the time, we had parked for lunch at Las Negras only meters away from a dive centre! Unfortunately on arrival at some of the most beautifully awesome coast we had seen so far, the weather started to change - cold, windy and drizzly - so we did not stop, deciding instead to return here later when the weather is better - still, we have sussed out some great campsites and dive centres too!

We needed some gas for our refillable bottles and knew the closest LPG filling station to be in Murcia, so we headed in land.
With night drawing in we picked a nearby campsite and found ourselves driving up a mountain in the dark. If that wasn't scary enough, the clouds then closed in around us as we made the very hairy drive up a twisting, narrow mountain track in rain and fog!

.........heading for the site we had looked up in our trusted ASCI discount book! A huge black cloud appeared in the distance getting closer and closer until it was overhead and it absolutely chucked it down. We drove on through Alhama de Murcia the town at the foot of the mountains and again, we drove up, up and up, still pouring with rain, now pitch black being early evening. Went through either fog or low cloud along a very narrow road with many hairpin bends. Every now and then I would close my eyes as a car squeezed passed us in the opposite direction.  Another scary road, this time in the pitch black and pouring rain!
At last! arrived at Camping Espuna in the tiny village of El Berro, high up in the Sierra Espuna.  Both in shock having endured that journey! went to the small friendly bar on site for a well earned drink and sat in front of a most welcomed log fire!  There we were then told that Sunday nights are the worst for driving up the way we came, as it's the time when Spanish visiting for the weekend are all driving back home down the mountain!

Monday 18th February:  Walked to the local (only) shop in the village to get some groceries wearing our (unintentionally) matching black Kagools! To be met by a man walking towards us singing ‘Is this the way to Amarillo?"!

We had bumped into Michael, aka Bandido to the locals, a very likable, funny man from Coventry..........

Seeing that he was clutching a fresh Baguette "Never mind the way to Amarillo" I said laughing "where's the Bakers?" He pointed and said "ooh right up that hill and round the corner" chuckling and singing as he marched past towards the campsite - of course we were standing almost right outside the Bakery!!

........It's still drizzly and misty but we have free Wifi at this wonderful site! Both looking forward to seeing the area on a sunny day. The campsite is next to a wonderful small traditional Spanish village with a bar, a restaurant, a small grocery shop, two bakers and has only a hundred residents.

Wednesday 20th February:  Having spent the last few days cooped up in the van due to the awful weather we were delighted to see a dry, if cloudy day with a little bit of sunshine thrown in! Making the most of the weather we made a packed lunch and went for a walk. Fantastic! Climbed up the hill behind the campsite to a statue of Jesus looking down onto the tiny village with a spectacular view that just went on and on with other mountain ranges miles away in the distance. Truly wonderful. Walked down and round the side of the village, down through a terraced valley area of lemon and orange groves with almond trees in blossom, shedding blossom like snow, leaving a blanket of pale pink petals on the ground. We can only hear birds singing and bees buzzing. We rested for lunch sat on a pile of rocks in an olive grove. Another romantic moment!

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Someone is knocking on our door! (No one has ever knocked on our door before, it was very exciting!) It was Penny from the big American RV a few vans down, inviting us to the bar! We got changed and spruced ourselves up and went to the bar to find Penny, her husband Roger and a few other people sitting quietly drinking Hot Chocolate! (For some reason this just tickled us and I still smile now, reading this a little while after!).
We sat chatting to these interesting people with whom we had more in common than other people we have met on our travels, the love of the outdoors, fresh air, walking etc. We had a lovely time chatting to these like minded people. The bar shuts at 9pm so we said our Goodnights and headed down into the village to the local bar bumping into Michael "Bandido Loco" as we named him, who introduced us to some of his local Spanish amigos. We had a lovely evening it was great fun......

It is testament to the beauty of El Berro and it's excellent campsite that most of the people staying here return every year and some have never left! - Michael has been turning up and terrorising the locals for the past seven years!

One of Michael's Spanish amigos called Ricardo managed to explain with sign language and sketches on paper serviettes that diving at Mazarron (only an hour away) is muy bueno and that there are ancient remains of Phoenician boats close to the shore.

I have contacted a dive centre called Zoea (www.zoea.com) at Puerto Mazarron that will be open next month and it looks like they may have some interesting dive sites.

Thursday 21st February:  Still cloudy! Securing items in the van and reserving our pitch with chairs and chocks we set off in search of the LPG! Having heard its available in Murcia about one hour drive away from here, but also having heard its very hard to locate! No one seems to be able to find it! Paul translated a Dutch website he had found, converted some coordinates, entered them into the sat nav and off we went! This time avoiding the hairpin road we had driven up.  A beautiful drive down the mountains along roads lined with flowering almond trees and spectacular scenery in every direction. Back down on the main road, we both said how pleased we were to have headed inland to this beautiful area and wonderful campsite - sticking to the main roads you have no idea of what is up in them there hills! Nel's Sat Nav directed us straight to the LPG depot where we very excitedly re-filled our cylinders.

Stopping in Alhama on way back at about 5pm to get some groceries, it was dead! No one around and really quiet, strange we thought of a town of this size; on leaving an hour later the whole place came to life! Lights! People! Action! - we are still adjusting to the Spanish opening hours and siestas.

Back at the campsite, we just had to pop into the bar where everyone was waiting for our news, a loud cheer went up as we entered with LPG fulfilled smiles on our faces! We were Hero’s! with everyone congratulating us on our find.

Friday 22nd February:  Over cast day, called into Fina’s the local old fashioned grocery store – whose prices are surprisingly unbeatable to stock up on a few things. Did two lots of washing having got the key to the laundry room from reception only to find out the machine doesn’t spin too well - ended up with lots of very wet washing, a right pain with the damp cloudy weather! At 5pm decided to go for a walk, along a dry river bed up through a beautiful valley, walking between boulders and under huge pine trees with clumps of aromatic thyme bush around us. Came across an old terraced area with long forgotten gnarled & wissen trees; no one around, didn’t see a soul, and can only hear bird song. Turned and headed back down through the valley in fear of walking too far with the sun due to set in an hours time. Back to base just as the sun plopped over the mountain to the right of us.

Saturday 23rd February:  Overcast again today, (low cloud) waited for most of the day for the weather and visibility to improve (with damp washing strung all over the place). At 5pm walked up the hill to the statue of Jesus and watched an eagle soaring between the mountains in the distance, a magical moment.
Have been invited out tonight to a ‘dance’ in the next village of Gebas, with Michael and local English resident Susan........

Not knowing what to expect we put our best togs on and met them in the bar. Susan drove us down to Gebas, to La Mariposa a small family run hotel in the middle of no where. We enjoyed a night of dancing to a local band: a lady singing, accompanied by a guitar and keyboards. Was nice chatting to Susan.

Monday 25th February:  Awoke to birds singing and the sun shining! At last! Flung all the doors and windows open and put the still damp washing out to dry!
Met Michael and Roger at reception to be introduced to Susan’s husband Mike who was to take us on a guided walk. (a small walk he called it, not small in my book, or easy, or flat, or like anything I had expected!) What an experience though, he led us down tracks and gullies, beneath cliffs with eagles nesting above us, over a dry river bed, up and along an ancient manmade water channel (with a scary drop one side) and along a path through the pine trees. It was wonderful and looking out at the awesome views we saw two large birds circling in the sky, to be told they were buzzards. They looked pretty big until from our left we were awestruck as a huge golden eagle appeared! It was fantastic, sharing the binoculars to get a closer look at the markings of this magnificent bird. Carrying on down we saw Mouflon – wild mountain sheep in the distance.

Tuesday 26th February:  Sunshine!
Met Mike, Susan and Judith (another local resident) and fellow campers Michael, Penny, Roger, Graham and Janet for another guided walk (they called it a walk I called it a massive great big mountain hike) in this glorious area. Roger led us down the mountain side to a tunnel carved through the rock that he had discovered on a previous walk; we all traipsed through wondering why this tunnel was here, who built it and why? We walked down to Gebas and had a lovely lunch at La Mariposa where we had danced the night away on Saturday. A lift by car was offered to anyone who didn’t fancy the hike back up to base. I was fifty/fifty but decided on hiking – think the red wine may have had something to do with my hasty decision – but was glad I did in the end as it is just so beautiful here and anyway I enjoyed marching back up, huffing and puffing, being bright red in the face and perspiring profusely!

Wednesday 27th February:  Sunshine again – we are being spoilt!
Sampled some salami/pastrami and cheese for lunch from Fina’s shop, with hunks of fresh bread and olives, was well tasty, accompanied by a glass (unbreakable plastic beaker) of red wine. Enjoyed sitting in the sunshine having dried all the washing at last.  Took our camping chairs and went up to the terrace above us to sit outside Michaels van, enjoying the afternoon with him, chatting, drinking more wine and putting the world to rights. It was great fun!

Thursday 28th February:  Didn’t want to leave but it was time to move on.
So far, El Berro has been my favourite place......
Having found a dive centre in Mazarron we headed back down to the coast, driving down the scary road that we had driven up 11 days ago, on that dark, rainy, scary night! Which now seems like ages ago. It’s a great road in the day light, you can see for miles!
Once back down to earth, we drove through some non-descript areas towards the coast as we flew down the main road. Stocking up in Lidl on the way we later pulled into the campsite at Isla Plana (www.losmadrilles.com) having chosen this site for its warm salt water swimming pool, warmed by thermal spas. Went for a long walk along the beach with the coastline around us reminding us of Cornwall.

Friday 29th February:  Warm and sunny this morning, on opening the blinds can see mountains behind us and the sea shimmering in the sunlight below us on this large terraced site. Bikes off the rack, geeky crash hats on and off we went on what turned out to be another marathon bike ride! Realising we were camped too far away from the dive centre we looked at other sites closer to Puerto Mazarron; enjoying being out on our bikes for the first time in ages we carried on still looking for the dive centre, riding through a new harbour alongside a large town. On finding the dive centre we were advised of a closer campsite, so we rode on (and on) and checked it out, this one being on the beach in a tiny village. By now we had been out for ages and had drunk all the water from our bottles so decided to stop for a drink (and rest!) at a beach side Tapas bar. Wow, look at that food we said, drawling. An hour later and we were back on our bikes, having enjoyed a lovely Tapas lunch and drinks for less than a tenner! (I will try an recreate the four dishes we had, hot prawns in a spicy garlic oil, potatoes with a creamy dressing, a seafood cocktail and a dish of tuna, egg, onion and a sauce that neither of us could tell its flavour - I reckon it was orange).  Back to site with me holding a World Record of riding 21.25 miles!  Deciding to move site in the morning we just had to try out the sea water pool before leaving.  After the swim I stood in the shower block not sure if my legs would work for me any more today! They had had enough....

Diving tomorrow!!