Alicante, the coastal strip & internet.

"Oh I'm sorry about this Tanya." I said as we once again started to pass by more depressing Spanish Costa seafront esplanades along with their obligatory sea facing high rise blocks of apartments. I suppose they are not all bad and If you stop, as we did in Ste Pola, and walk around a bit some are quite nice. This however was gone 5 O'clock and past the time for Tanya and I to be looking for a perch for the night.

"It's my fault Tanya, I should not have spent so long trying to find a beach side parking slot."

There had been a wide beachy type area just south of Alicante where other motorhomes were. We stopped there for lunch and 75 year old Vanna, a German fulltimer like myself (including small dog) helped me with his very fancy sat nav locate the garage, which turned out to be only 5 minutes away, where I could once again top up my gas bottles. I was really quite pleased at how Vanna and I got on seeing as he spoke only German and I only English and our communication was about finding a Spanish location! However; I decided to push on once gas bottles were replenished as the beachside site was by a busy road plus a rail line. A whole night struggling with German/English language impasse was not too appealing either despite our earlier sat nav success.

This need to move on from company, or the crowd, was especially so after the two nights and days we had just spent up in the mountains between Xabia and Cocentaina. Such beautiful terraced hillsides with nothing but agriculture, small villages and the Spanish rural population. Most importantly though; this high country contained ample places to park Sadie where we were alone, with virtually no traffic, and certainly no other motorhomes. Tanya was free to roam and we could together walk the innumerable tracks leading inwards and upwards through the terraces yeilding ever more spellbinding views the higher you got. We even found the odd castle and beautifully adorned hilltop church.

Consequently it was now a bit of a come down following this coastal strip and being met with signs phrohibiting 'Acampacar' at every reasonable stopping place. This was coupled with more than frequent sightings of 'Guardia Civil' (A type of cop that carries a 'not nice' reputation!) riding about in cars or on motorcycles. The message it gave me was;  'you will get moved on if you stop and yes, we do know it is January and not high holiday season and we do'nt care!'

The problem was soon solved with a decision to move inland a little way just past a huge complex of 'Salinas' (salt producing lagoons) where a conveniant bit of scrubland presented as an ideal spot for the night. We were just in time for the beautiful sunset to flood Sadies windscreen while to the side and just down the lane we watched a big artic lorry being loaded with medium sized potted Palm trees. I wonder where they are off to?
-  -  -  - 
Internet & wi fi seem to be a bit more hit and miss here than in France. I was in a cafe yesterday and logged on to their wi fi. Or to put it more precisely logged on to their router which was not connected to the internet. I had a go at explaining this to the guy behind the bar whose total command of the English language comprised the words; 'No problemo mi amigo!' Delivered, I have to say, with a beaming smile indicating that indeed, connected or not connected it was .... 'no problem' ..... to him. I gave up in the end and left feeling a little peeved as this was the second so say, internet cafe where this had happened.

The real problem though is as I am getting older I cannot be bothered with the difficulties around these, so say, essential modern day technologies. For example; the TV is now not working. I think it is because I need to change to another satellite which involves entering new numbers somewhere into the satellite dish control box. Out comes the instruction book and after ten minutes of reading a dawning realisation that I was losing the will to live finally persuaded me to stuff all back in the cupboard and put my music back on, which I enjoy more anyway. What better than good music and the Terrific View from Sadies panoramic 3d colour with no adverts front windscreen.

New Friends and a mountain villa.

New Friends and a mountain villa.

"Is that a Shnauzer?" I said as I approached this tall handsome looking man just up from the seafront in Xabia.

"No. It's a Shitzhu." He answered in perfect English.

As I drew close and Buster turned to see and smell Tanya I could see that indeed he was a Shitzu. A bit smaller and with different colouring but very similar to Mitzi the Shitzhu belonging to Doreen. my brothers partner,

Lenny and I stopped where we were on the pavement and chatted, as you do, for some time. It turned out he was in town with his partner Win and had clocked Sadie as they were driving past where she was parked. They had recently bought an older Hymer Motorhome themselves and Lenny was eager for hints and tips from an experienced fulltimer like myself.

Hmmmm! Not sure about that accolade but it made me feel good. We parted company after a while and that should have been that.

However; a short time later I was in Sadie experimenting with my wi fi aerial in a supermarket car park just opposite a Mac Donalds. I have to say without success. I am not sure whether it is something I am doing wrong but the aerial is a piece of junk as my laptop without the aerial plugged in was getting a better signal. Ho hum!

Anyway; there was a knock knock on Sadies door. Made me jump I can tell you! I opened the door fully expecting to see some sort of uniformed law enforcer ready to shout at me in Spanish about a local parking infringement or similar. No such thing. There was Lenny again offering me his card and phone number. Well that soon extended to further chat and to me being introduced to his attractive and charming partner Win with a follow up invite to visit them at their Villa the following afternoon.

Win loves cooking so a fair exchange was soon agreed of more chat and mutual viewing of motorhomes and Villas with in return an invitation to join them for an evening meal. Oh! And yes there was plenty of roadside space to park up Sadie for the night.

So the next afternoon found me wending my way back Northwards for about 20km to Olivia and thence directly up 'Suicide hill', aptly named by Win and, incidentally, a way I did not leave by. This aptly named zig zag of a hill was challenging even to Sadies admirable capacity to defy gravity as we slowly but surely found our way to Lenny and Win's stunning mountainside villa with magnificent views over the coastal plain and out to the Mediteranean.

Sadie was duly parked and levelled on the roadway just outside and just in front of their car. The villas own parking space was given over to their recently purchased in the UK older Hymer motorhome. It seems they had a great time collecting it from Hastings and driving it all the way home to Spain over the Pyrenees. No mean feat as they did not know it or motorhoming well. Carrfour supermarket car parks did them proud as overnight stopping places and Lenny coped well with the total loss of second gear in the Pyrenees and the subsequent removal and re-fitting of a re-conditioned gearbox once home. A very different kettle of fish compared to Sadie but ideal as a weekend away vehicle for them and it was obvious they both thought the world of their good looking and much improved since purchase, vintage Hymer.

Lenny and Win are a lovely ex pat couple and I feel very privileged to have met and spent time with them. We all shared a very pleasant Friday night and Saturday, with a Chilli dinner to die for, at their beautiful villa complete with turret and pool, high up in this stunning Spanish hillside 'Urbanization' (a development of 200 or more dwellings)

Tanya and Buster got on really well together too. I think Tanya was quite sad to see them all drive off to their Sunday Baptist Chapel service this morning. I guess I was a little sad too but it was time to move on. The mountains and warm sunshine were beckoning.

I needed to get my confidence back too. Lenny had been dubious about the mountainous back road route I was proposing to take over the next few days. His doubtful looks and dire warnings about the difficulty of some of the roads had eroded my confidence.

Until that is he said; "My motorhome does not have power steering and some of those bends are quite difficult."

That cheered me up some. Sadie is big but with her short wheelbase, rear wheel drive, tight turning circle and very good power steering she is a delight to drive on the majority of minor mountain roads normally deemed only suitable for the likes of Fiat Pandas. And even those have power steering these days!

That is why tonight we are indeed parked below the 'Embarrage de Beniarres' after a confidence building drive up the windy CV700 from Pego. Mind you the last bit was hairy.

We arrived at the dam and my intention was to find a track that led to the waters edge and park there for the night. Just before the dam was a little sign that I thought directed to a park and picnic spot. Well in a way it was; but it was down a ruddy long and quite uncomfortably narrow strip of tarmac. So much so that I am a wee bit nervous about how the hell will we get out tomorrow morning.

We had to come down this far, which is a very nice spot amid the mountains and a stream and some caves, before we could turn round. Ho hum and Ahhh well!  And well we are here now so we may as well settle for the night here. Tanya can roam freely which she loves.

We got down here by Sadie having to run one set of her wheels in the drainage channel at the side of the track. Guess if we did it coming down then we can do it going back up.

Hmmmm;  that is as long as Sadie does'nt start skidding on the gravel in the drainage channel as we try to get round those steep, uphill, hairpins that were not all that easy to steer round on the easier downhill run.

Oh I do like a challenge!! But I do have power steering and also lots of grunt under the bonnet.

NB - we did get out!

Platja la Barraca + Xabia.

This tiny little typical Mediterranian beach down a very steep and twisty lane between 'Rich peoples sumptious villas' is, at present, being battered by wind and rain. Sadie is rocking in the wind but not alarmingly so, and every now and then the rain batters on the skylight above. We, that is Tanya and I, are snug, warm and well fed. My Zen player is on random play and things ain't at all bad really.

Earlier I was feeling a little down and sorry for myself which I now accept as par for the course of this, my travelling life, when certain conditions come together.  Conditions which usually comprise of leaving one place which has been enjoyable and driving quite a distance to another, which on unfamiliar roads and in bright sunshine can become tiring very quickly. Put that together with the difficulty of finding a wild camping spot down here in the Costa Blanca area between Xabia (pronounced 'havia') and Benidorm. It is highly populated, and popular with the Brits, built upon, but attractive all the same, area. Plus this particular spot is steep and Sadie, despite being perched right on top of the levelling ramps is still sloping to one side.

These are day to day difficulties but the last few days have been really enjoyable which made the emotional burden of moving on heavier than normal.

We visited Burriana and Jurates family. Jurate is one of the team of dedicated carers tending to Richards considerable day to day needs. She was in the UK with Richard so I was royally welcomed into their Burriana apartment home and treated so kindly and generously by husband and first class chef Sergio, who cooked two delicious meals for us all. All of us included daughter Emily and son Alejandro who, poor wee soul, went down with a bug while I was there. It seems it was affecting half his school class. He did look sorry for himself but I expect he will bounce back in a couple of days.

It did not stop us all enjoying several firsts though. First time they had seen Sadie and met Tanya (and rode out to Port Burriana too.)

First time for me picking and eating straight off the tree lovely sweet juicy Mandarin oranges. Sergio knew just which trees had the juiciest and sweetest ones. Yummy! I now have enough Mandarins in Sadie to keep me in vitamin C for the next few weeks!

First time that Tanya, along with loads of other pets of every sort, partook of the festival of St Anthon. Not sure she quite got it but she did definitely get a good splash of holy water from a very jovial and fully robed priest before we all followed the procession to the bonfire and traditional Spanish dancing in the square.

Another first tonight too which is my second night here in Xabia. I'm listening to Bay Radio which is broadcast in English. Same as all commercial radio mind. 90% dross but nice to have all the same. Tonight we are street parked in town after doing two quite long walks in the bright sunshine but very windy conditions to promontories both East and West of this lovely bay with Xabia nestled snugly in the middle.

According to the English Spoken weather forecast the high winds are here to stay for the rest of the week. After my Scottish gales experiences the high winds tonight are giving me little concern. However; they are making the news down here. There is an amber warning out and the DJ has just announced his friend's outside settee has been blown into the swimming pool. Wow! Now I know I am in Spain. Never mind the difficult Spanish Euro crisis. News here is when the wind blows garden furniture into swimming pools.

You just gotta laugh have you not ....... and I did.

Fear, animals & LPG.

Fear. 

It rules my life, and most others also, according to my previous experience's with clients in the therapy room,  Fear not of ultimate annihilation but fear manifesting as anxiety and worry around unwanted or unwelcome change in daily life. Pi from the book 'Life of Pi' explains it well as he reminds us as humans we are merely territorial animals who have compressed our territory, our comfort zone if you like, into four walls. We call it home, work or, in my case, a motorhome. I, like any animal whose territory becomes threatened or is subject to unwelcome or unfamiliar change, becomes anxious and stressed. So it is with my motorhoming life on several levels.

Anxiety is heightened by basic things such as a new country, unfamiliar language, different shops etc etc. I choose to do this though, which is where we differ from the animal kingdom. 'Animals in the wild lead lives of compulsion and necessity in an environment where the supply of fear is high.' (Life of Pi) This leaves little chance for anything other than instinctive choice around survival. We humans have evolved a modified form of choice knowing we have a thing backing us up called intelligence which for the most part allows us to successfully survive a much higher percentage of choices made.

However; When I see gas is getting low in my re-fillable butane cylinders and realisation dawns that the one thing I forgot back in the UK was the correct filling adaptor for Spanish LPG pumps. Well that is when anxiety rises to panic proportions and I am fiercely reminded of just how close to the animal within I really am.

As realisation dawns fear arrives complete with clammy sweat breaking out on my forehead. Only after that original Amygdala driven fear response has passed does intelligence kick in and allow a reasonable solution to be planned.

Mrs sat nav, being a major player in this reasonable solution, guided me to within a stones throw of one of the few garages in Spain, and the only one in Valencia, to supply LPG. Now forecourt service is quite common here in Spain and it was a wonderful site indeed to see the uniformed attendant walking across to Sadie with his box of various adaptors.

Phew! Problem solved! Anxiety level reversed and replaced with secure jubilation.

Are not animals just so fortunate in that they do not require Low Pressure Gas adaptors!!

-  -  -

I used the TV tonight and note, on this the 17th of January there is heavy snow due across the UK tomorrow.

The pink blossom photo is today, the very same Jan 17, in the hills above 'Gatova' where Tanya and I enjoyed a pleasant walk in a cool wind but warm sunshine once sheltered from the breeze.

A stunning drive and a further steep uphill walk to 'Gurugu', in this the 'Parque natural de la Sierra de Espadan'  were then enjoyed as we meandered slowly along the very narrow continual hairpin bend CV200 road between 'Segorbe' and 'Ain'.

A truly stunning mountain pass drive but not one for the faint hearted or anyone in a hurry. I expect most would also say not for motorhomes either. Suffice it to say I have not seen another motorhome anywhere in these hills and I do get some amused and quizzical looks from the swarthy and well wrapped up locals. The main AP7 route South is about 6 miles away toward the coast. All the motorhomes will be speeding down there. They just don't know what they're missing!

Why I do'nt get very far in a day + more.

"Well will you look at that Tanya, 8.00 am, only 9 degrees inside Sadie and thick freezing fog outside. This is not what we came to Spain for is it?"

It was not long before we were warm and snug having had breakfast and re-set Mrs sat nav to use more main roads and so speed our way south to some warmth. Off we set in the thick fog until that is we hit a longish tunnel. Well not actually hit it but like go through it and it is a magic tunnel like cos on the other side is bright warm sunshine and no sign of fog anywhere. Just an amazin magic tunnel like!

Well that considerably cheered things up. So much so that when I saw the lovely old church of Bastida up there on the side of the hill with the sun shining on it I could not help but say; 

'Tanya old girl. I've just seen where we're gonna do that walk I promised you yesterday."

Beautiful indeed it was. Warm too. We walked on to the top of the hill above the village where it overlooked the magnificent Rioja vineyards stretching out for miles in front of us. Behind us a high ridge with inviting and traffic free roads winding way up the steep and rocky limestone bluffs.

Well! Could'nt resist could I!  Mrs sat nav was turned off and original plan of speeding south abandoned. For today anyway. It was not long before we were having lunch high above the Rio Ebro valley and as I said before, with Rioja wine country stretched out to the westerly horizon. A recently completed and very plush Mirada (viewpoint)  is where we were and still are this evening. The day was still warm and sunny so we rigged the bike and cycled to the top of the ridge and then walked and clambered even higher on the rocky bluff to admire the views.

Being higher it is once again cold tonight but with wonderful views of the stars and the star-like orange lights of the many small villages laid out before us across the plain.

We may have only travelled 40 or so miles but that is insignificant against a day of such surprise and pleasantry. Hopefully tomorrow we may make Logrono on our route to Soria and eventually the Med coast.

Or maybe we wont!
-  -  -  -

2 DAYS ON.

The rough guide dismisses the high plains of central Spain as of little interest and bitterly cold in the winter. Today and yesterday Sadie carried us safely across them. They are fascinating and I want to see more of them but .... Aha! There is always a 'but' is'nt there. This particular 'but' confirmed the second part of the rough guides description. The bitterly cold bit.

We were doing well and kept going via a diversion up to a bitterly cold and snowy Montana Alavesa mountain pass then back onto the N234 heading south toward Daroca and Teruel. The road was totally deserted but beautifully smooth and winding its way over the high plains and through numerous small Hacienda type villages. Finally it was time to stop for the night so we veered to the left near Ciria and soon had all four wheels level and stopped on a convenient track between fields of deep red soil. The dark ominous north easterly front we had been outrunning soon caught us up. We were 1100 ft up so this was not gentle rain falling on the plains of Spain. This was blinding snow! Freezing too. Nothing we could do so we  snuggled in for the night. My tired mind kept me awake most of the night with needless worries about gas running out and us being snowed in and no one finding us. Crazy as we were clearly visible from the road which as I recall had one car go by while we were there.

Morning came and yes we were snow and ice covered but not too badly. Brrrrrr! It was freeze your whatsits off cold though with long icicles mocking me as they hung off the wing mirrors.

"C'mon Tan, best thing we can do is drive out of this till Sadie gets toastie warm inside."

The small roads we had to negotiate were literally slicks of ice so it was a case of proceed slowly and with extreme caution. Sadie has unpleasant characteristics once she starts to slide on ice. She is definitely not a 4wd off roader that's for sure!

Once we reached the main N234 things improved a bit and it was not long  before we were once again parked with a now defrosted and toastie warm Sadie.

"Ahhhh! Now we can enjoy breakfast eh Tanya."

We've done well since then and tonight we are lower down and only a few miles short of Sagunta and the Med. Much warmer too although still cool but our perch here in the middle of an olive grove has a warm Mediterranean feel about it.

Oh! And we still have plenty of gas!

-  -  -  -  -

And now? Jan 15th.

Well here I am in a cafe where I have Wi Fi at the Port of Sagunto. I'm on the edge of a huge area of empty condominiums where there is wild parking galore and nobody about. Today is sunny and warm. Steve is OK & happy with his lot! This will do me for a while. I'm just down the road from where Jurate, one of  Richards carers, lives. She is in Salisbury at present but I reckon I will stay in this area for a couple of weeks and maybe make contact then.

Buenos dias amigos.

Spain in January. We are actually here!

To Spain in January.

"I reckon Tanya it is 43 years since I last sailed across the Bay of Biscay."

We were in our doggy friendly cabin onboard Cap Finistere as she ferried us across the millpond of a sea toward Spain. Very different from 43 years ago when I recall being on the viewing deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle watching below me the bow of the flight deck, itself 50 or 60 feet above the water, bury itself in the front of another storm lashed wave.

Memories of youth, of fearlessness and of how fortunate I am never to have suffered any sort of sea or travel sickness.

Bilbao at last, and apart from missing an exit sign and ending up at the UK bound check in gate where I was kindly U-turned around and pointed in the right direction, all went well.

With the help of a downloaded Google map (thank you Richard.) we were soon safely tucked up just over the hill at the beach resort of La Arena.

The weather was damp and cool which this morning helped 'the plan'. Yes Steve now has a plan. That is why tonight we are wild parked by a stack of big square straw bales on a rather good farm track in the hills above .... Well actually I don't know. I can see that there is a small village below me. We came through it and onto this track but I was following Mrs sat nav while absorbing all the sights and I missed the name of the village completely.

Ahhh! It is Aminon. Just asked Mrs sat nav.

'The plan' is now to head across Spain to the Med coast and a firmer guarantee of mild and sunny weather. The town of Soria was selected as being on that route and Mrs sat nav was duly given instructions to take me there using mainly secondary roads. Fun it is. Fast travelling it is not. Especially as Mrs sat nav in Spain seems to take great delight in regarding unpaved pot hole riven tracks as secondary roads. Couple that with the fact of nearly all pedestrian crossings being atop giant sleeping policeman which Sadie loves as long as its at crawl speed. Well you get the picture don't you. Steve Tanya and Sadie will get there, but ever so slowly!

Tonight though is fine. Mrs sat nav was turned off half way up this agricultural track and here we are safely perched for the night. It is dry, 18 degrees and the day has been a mixture of cloud and sunshine. That will do me nicely thank you.