Fun day at La Manga.

Colladus Beach and now once again, as I love it, sun kissed and wave sound blessed. The vicious Easter Bank Holiday storms have now thankfully passed over.

Yesterday, Easter Monday, was still a dull day so a good day to join my friends and local residents Mark & Naomi for a day out at Sinnods Bar fund raising event for the local cats protection league with the La Manga locals. (Jo Taylor via fc/bk if wanting to know more). This turned out to be a very different day to my normal solo lifestyle where I am rarely involved in local community activities. Hey! But what a fun day it was. Raffles, tombola, bingo, kareoky & delicious chilli con carne en mass. Simba, Mark & Naomi's aging labrador came too and became a kareoky star by barking almost at all the right parts for 'Who let the dogs out' by 'The Baha Men. It was hilarious. I'm afraid there was no duet with Tanya. She was, as she did all day, determinedly walking the floor hoovering for left overs and getting strokes from everyone.

I won a prize too. A lovely, and I will here gender neutralize said prize, unisex silvery grey leather bag which became our 'go to' storage facility in particular for the star prize won by a delighted Naomi herself. This was a voucher inviting a full meal out for two at a high reputation Italian restaurant already a top priority on Naomi's list of planned nights out.

Classic Highlight of the day though had to be both Mark, whose birthday it was, and Naomi, unbeknown to each other, bidding against each other to successfully secure a beautifully made and decorated chocolate Easter cake. The single candle (no clues there) was, with ceremony blown out by Mark and gorgeous looking cake was soon being carved up & distributed to all. A welcome dessert course after the Chilli Con Carne even for the two sisters on their high bar stools who happened to be the esteemed Easter cake creators, makers and decorators. Excellent cake it was too.

Boy were Tanya and I tired when we finally arrived back at Rap3 tucked up in the dark safe and sound by the beach.

Easter Storm

"Will you look at that Tanya: a puddle of seawater where we normally park. We're virtually at sea level and in this storm, even though the wind has died down, I'm not sure we're gonna stay here overnight. Only wants one of those huge storm waves to breach the outer rocks and we'd be sitting in a tidal race!"

 WOW! Sure is impressive to watch though through my little rain spattered side window perched as I am, in my meditation spot where I see these huge rolling, menacing grey storm driven waves breaking and foaming their way toward me only to be split, divided and rendered impotent by the magic of rocky reef and angled sandy beach. Needless to say this is not a silent, benign or still meditation. I feel, as its Easter Sunday, this is more akin to being in touch with powerful forces that can and do rise up anytime, again and again. Magnaminous forces of immense power who reincarnate at will reminding us continually, that, particularly like the vast Oceans, I and all other, are never still, never completely or securely level, never far away from unceasing change.

Yes, this is Colladus Beach, La Manga strip, on Easter Sunday 2019; and a very different beach from the normally benign and sun-kissed one I am more familiar with. I'm at present parked a few metres further back from my normal spot on a slightly raised gravel area up against the rusting railings and crumbling wall of the 'forever been for sale' posh looking villa. The rain is sounding on the roof and the wind is gently rocking 'Rap3' around. Better though than yesterday as I drove up the strip and the vicious storm winds were nearly knocking 'Rap3' across the carriageway. We stayed further down the strip last night tucked under a conveniant wall on the kinder and sheltered Lee side of the strip. A pleasant night it was too with a lovely long walk around the area and the marina earlier and before the rain set back in.

An added colouration to the experience is knowing the UK is enjoying a beautiful warm and sunny Easter. I'm not grumbling though. In fact it is the opposite as the sole reason I've travelled all this way South is so I can command the inclement weather to be here in Spain. This in order good old UK can for once enjoy and relax in benign weather. No, no, please, don't even attempt to thank me (big BIG lol here.) I've already enjoyed beautiful sunshine as per my previous blog. This is the least I can do for you all especially as it is so needed after all the Brexit stress/angst.

"Phew! That was a big one". It reached and breached the beach rise and refilled the large puddle of my normal parking spot. Got a feeling this storm is maybe still on the rise. I shan't move yet but will move back to my sheltered spot under the wall before dark. I don't fancy being here, in the dark, as the winds and seas rise to the ultimate climaxic cacophony of a gleefully screaming mature storm.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE.

Snorkelling plus an anniversary

"Done it, finally done it". I said stumbling back up the beach while pulling off goggles and snorkel. I flopped down next to bronzed bodied Alia who was also here on the exquisite 'Caletta' beach down its steep path from the village of 'Maro'. I love this beach with its alternative, non commercial and clothes optional feel. But today I loved the fact I'd finally managed a snorkelling swim in the still quite cool crystal clear Mediterranean water.

I had managed a very short swim yesterday at the 'Fina del mundo' beach (End of the world) which is equally remote but even more difficult to access down a very long and steep scrambly path. Poor Tanya had to be carried some of the way down and most of the way back up; not an easy task on a steep cliff hugging loose gravel slippery path in very hot sun. Her back legs are definitely starting to loose strength on steep climbs but on the level or gentle slopes she does just fine. None the less that first very short swim was the encouragement I needed for today. Alia had mentioned she was going to 'Caletta' and she is a good swimmer so I felt further emboldened to have another go but this time with snorkel. Plus, as its a longer, but less risky/difficult walk I did it the even longer way, by road using my e bike with Tanya in her green bucket. She was a lot happier and quite at ease tackling the final flight of steps once e bike was safely secured at the small parking area.

Nobody took a blind bit of notice either as this blaringly obvious 'unbronzed and scarred' body toddled across the beach and into/out of the water. Mind you there were not that many takers of the pleasure of swimming in the still, according to Spanish temperature sensing, freezing water. But no matter. I was delighted and despite my body being a lot thinner than previous the body temperature sensing worked as normal which was something I'd been nervous about. Would my body react OK to the initial cold or would it seize up possibly shocking me into a seizure or something? Well I've now proved post op body is going to do no such thing. Get the shoulders under water as quickly as possible, six or seven seconds of shock as blood is moved rapidly away from the skin and then within another ten seconds or so total acclimatisation to the water temperature. Such a good feeling. I have not pushed it though. I know I am not as fit as I was plus I am thinner and considerably lighter than I have ever been. Ten to twelve minutes was enough to enable a feeling of encroaching overall coldness but not enough to have me, and my old, thin, very white and scarred body, crawling up the beach shivering and hyperthermic which, would not be a pretty or acceptable spectacle for the mix of bronzed new age beach dwellers or the more adventurous and liberated young and old holidaymakers dotting the beach in various stages of bronzed nakedness. "Yes; I had better spare them all that horrific image". I thought to myself as I floated serenely among the rocks in the gentle swell following shoals of medium sized stripey fish.

I was tired, somewhat sunburned, but pleased as Tanya and I made our way back up the steps. Such a relief as e bike made easy going of the steep rough track through the terraced Avocado and Nispora fruit orchards and finally the tarmac'd, but still steep, road back to Maro. Just a short hop then to the secluded, ocean view wild spot I was parked in and sharing with Alia and, nearly my age, new ager Bernard from Germany.

A great day that ended with Tanya and I accompanying Lena and her three large doggy's back to her cliff hugging cottage where she sliced off an 'Alo Vera' leaf for me to apply its healing balm to some rather crimson bits of my anatomy. One day I'll remember to put that stronger sun cream in my beach rucksack.
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"yes; it is always difficult to find just the right spot in a 'Carthosis' affected back such as yours. But here we go I think this will be an ideal spot."

 That was the last thing I remember hearing before drifting into an aneasthetic coma for over five hours as two skilled surgeons removed my cancer affected Oesophagus. Today, April 19, is my first anniversary of that momentous day. No wonder I've been feeling a bit comumbulated.

I find it quite difficult to get my head around these sort of 'life altering' events, of which cancer was just the latest of several that have deeply altered and affected my journey upon this planet. Things outwardly carry on as normal but the rucksack of 'baggage ' takes on a slightly different weight and feel with every new event. That subtle shift affects 'normal' so that it is a different normal in every way. Different actions, different thoughts, different dreams, food and different people crossing your path.

There is nobody crossing my path tonight however: A contemplative reflection upon my more than good fortune is required so I am wild parked in a remote location with blue sea and steeply rising hills filling my Moho's doorway. Waves crashing against the ancient coral limestone cliffs with high pitched birdsong form the soundscape. It is Good Friday but an unusually cool and dull one for this Murcia area of Spain so the Bank Holiday crowds of exuberant Spaniards seem to have stayed away, probably in the popular touristy bits of this beautiful wild and largely agricultural coastline.

Yes: a good place to reflect upon this last year's Surreal journey. A journey where death was firmly on the script sheet as it always is once the big C word is mentioned. A journey of twists and turns, of despair and strong love and support and one of convincing and accepting that  Moho life was over. Yet here I am, a mere 365 days on looking out from my Moho door, and hardly daring to believe that what I am seeing is real. Meanwhile Tanya snores gently on her bed after having eaten a good dinner. Guess I'm a very lucky guy.

Thank you all for all of that love and support along the way. It seems to have helped.

Turnaround & Birthday

Ah: that's good. It's starting to brighten up now. As I turn my head and look out the front windscreen the snowcapped 'Sierra Nevada' glistens in sun but nearer, through my passenger seat window I watch as a jet takes off from 'Santa Fe' Airport under squidgeons of dull grey clouds.
I'm wild parked amid the olive trees and their accompanying dumps of litter at the well known and used, by the Punk and new age group, 'Sante fe' hot springs. I was warned about the litter before I came here but it isn't as bad as I thought and is certainly no worse than I have experienced elsewhere in Spain.
What is 'underwhelming' are the hot springs themselves. The water is about 38°C and very nice too. But over use and recent rain have rendered access and entry to the three small ponds more akin to a mud bath experience. No matter; the young with tattoos, piercings and crazy hairstyles are here in their tents and converted vans/lorries with smiles, songs and weird smelling puffs of smoke drifting up from the Reed beds as you walk by. All seem perfectly OK with the place c/w mud just as it is so who am I to judge. I may just take another paddle thru the mud myself later for a dip in that deliciously warm water bubbling up from Mother earth's depths.
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'Benalmadena Pueblo' Buddhist Stupa and accompanying 'Grotto de Virgin' (or Mother Earth) have become the turning point for my journey this year. For me, as I've mentioned before, the place has become a regular stopover and a powerful spiritual destination. I required a few days of quiet contemplation in order to decide whether to continue my journey westwards or to stop/turn around and meander slowly Eastwards and Northwards backtracking my journey so far. The answer duly came and, via a lovely beachside free camp and evening shopping spree at popular tourist destination 'Torremolinas', Tanya and I found ourselves settling in to a stunning little wild spot just East of the village of 'Maro' in the 'Nerja' area. The area is again one that is firmly on my favourites list.
It was by accident though that I came across this little hidden gem of a wild spot. I have in the past parked up in the 'Maro' village main car park. This time as I pulled in Mr Guardia Civil (police) were there thoroughly going over both the occupants of, and, their assorted converted lorries and vans. I saw them all driving away later. Needless to say I did a quick turnaround before they spotted me and headed off about one kilometre down the gorgeous N340 and hey presto, an even better, and well hidden, wildspot. Especially when you have an e bike which makes the ride to either Maro or Nerja effortless despite the steep hills.
Meeting me there was Meichele, a fellow sole moho'er on her first trip out with her large and very luxorious classic 'Silver Mint' moho. She, like me, belongs to the Facebook group MWWWM. (Mad Widows & Widowers With Moho's) A good group of like minded idiots. Meichele was looking for a spot near 'Alumenicar' where she was collecting a rescue dog as travelling companion. It did not all go quite according to plan but sure enough Dillon, a black medium sized, and very intelligent, doggy of mixed heritage arrived a few days later. Meichele, a highly capable lady, then moved on Eastward to meet up with other group members and eventually a house renovation paying job she has organised with a previous employer. Safe travels M & D.
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Last year my seventieth birthday was firmly cancelled due to my cancer condition. But how to celebrate my seventy first and my new found, free of cancer, health and wellbeing? Well Gaia via the good old Maro, spring fed Valley, complete with its stunning scenery, and mix of local agriculture and 'alternative' dwellers supplied the answer.
Alia lived in her van just below me and hails from Cornwall but is of Swiss origin. She was at one time the only 'fisherwoman' at a small Cornish fishing village. She now, like me, lives in her van and splits time here, in Maro with walking in the Pyrenees. She is good friends with Lena, a Danish lady who finances herself by being the Spanish speaking Copenhagen tourist guide during the hot Spanish summer. Winter though finds her and doggy's living in her cliff hugging, end of the dirt road from my wild camping spot, tiny cottage with palm trees producing real live organic bananas.
As an aside both these ladies give generously of their time supporting Lenka who lives a little further along the cliff edge, only accessible by foot, in a tiny shack in the middle of a precarious cliff clinging Bamboo Grove. Lenka has terminal cancer.
But to continue. Alia and Lena were delighted to accept my offer of a free Thai cuisine evening meal out at the local 'Burriana Beach' to celebrate my good fortune in reaching this ripe old age with compromised body and highly suspect sanity. The evening was a great success with excellent food, wonderful service, and stimulating conversation/company with two lady's who really appreciated my evening of Birthday luxury and celebration.
I got pressies too. Organic fruit and veg from Lena. Home made Almond Dates from Alia and 'Ferrero Rocher' from Meichele. Truly a Birthday to remember.