Wednesday 29th May 2013

Wednesday 29^th May 2013

We enjoyed our ‘Lightning tour’ of Cordoba yesterday. We are always rather limited in the amount of time we can spend in a city especially when we have to leave Pickles alone in the motorhome. We were fortunate with the cloudy weather which meant that the van was quite cool. Anyway we managed to take in most of the main attractions. Today we left the site early just after 8am. The sat nav took us right through the rush hour traffic in the city centre. We only took one wrong turn and soon managed to get on the motorway heading for El Rocio a small town just outside Huelva near the Portuguese border. We’d read about this town and knew what to expect, a town with no tarmac on the roads just sand. Its about 10 miles from the coast and what shocked us was the fact that the sand was soft and not hard compressed. It might be a bit of a novelty but hard work if you’re pushing an elderly dog around in a ‘pram’. Parts of the town look like a mexican cowboy town, main transport is either 4wd or a horse. I suppose the pictures tell you more about it.

The sandy road leading up to the beautiful church where thousands of pilgrims flock around the time of Pentecost.

10 miles from the sea but this marshland attracts all kinds of bird life and is enjoyed by  the many horses  who graze  around its edge.

Horse or 4wd? The entrance of the campsite actually has a 'no horses' sign.

More pics from Cordoba

The Mosque / Cathedral from the gardens.

Christian and Islamic features side by side.

The Cathedral section.

Photo's from Cordoba





The Mosque section of the Mezquita, this was originally a mosque built around 785 it developed in many ways over the years and became a Cathedral in the 16th century.



Two dogs looking for money......they couldn't even beg properly!

The roman bridge taken from the gardens tower.


 



Part of the gardens Alcazar de los Reyes Christianos



Inside the Mezquita, some of the Ismamic features.

The Roman Bridge wth the Mezquita in the background





Tuesday 28th May 2013

Tuesday 28^th May 2013

We decided to leave early this morning and head for Cordoba. Last night we went for a meal in Torre Del Mar. We were looking for somewhere a little bit classy but couldn’t be bothered walking far. We went to a restaurant about 800 metres from the campsite where they did a menu of the day. For some unknown reason we don’t really bother with these menu’s but we were quite surprised at the quality and value of the menu on offer. For a really good 3 course meal we paid 6 and a half euros each.

We arrived at Camping El Brilliante around 12 noon, it’s a decent enough site and is about  a 15 minute walk to the city centre and about a 35 minute walk to the old city. At 31.50 euros it’s the most we’ve paid on this trip but I suppose its worth it if you want to be within walking distance of the city. We quickly got settled in, had our lunch and then headed off to the old part of the city, taking in the Mezquita, the Alcazar de loss Reyes Cristianos and the old Roman Bridge. For those interested the Mezquita is the old mosque and the present cathedral (cost of entry 8 euros each) the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos is a palace fortress with excellent water gardens ( 4 euros each). I suppose the pictures tell the story.

We were very impressed with Cordoba the old city had lots of attractions from around the 12 century and even later. Even just walking in the narrow streets would lead you to something eyecatching, even if it was just the patio's that Cordoba is famous for.
The newer part of the city is spacious with lots of wide avenues, boulevards and roads. There are lots of Plaza's and parks. If you come only to shop, you wont be disappointed with the wide selection of designer shops and bars.

Torre del Mar Photos

The 'Bandstand' along Torre Del Mar promenade.

The lighthouse, a feature of the gardens along the prom.

Fountain with view of 'bandstand' in background.

The beach at Torre Del Mar

The cycle track that extends right along the waterfront into other resorts.

23rd – 25th May 2013

23^rd – 25^th May 2013

The sole purpose of our next stop was to break up the journey from San Jose to Cordoba.  We decided to head to Torre del Mar and Camping Laguna Playa on the coast not far from Malaga.Again this proved to be an excellent choice. We weren’t too sure of the campsite when we arrived, there was a high wall surrounding part of the site that would dwarf the one around Risley Remand Centre, there were also quite a few flies knocking about. On further examination the site provided excellent toilet / shower facilities, a nice pool and is only 300 yards from the attractive resort of Torre Del Mar. The attraction of  this resort lies in its gorgeous waterfront that has lawns, a cycle track and features such as a lighthouse and a bandstand. It appears to be a more traditional Spanish resort with few tall buildings, in fact most of the buildings along the waterfront are only two storey and look  like traditional fisherman houses. Again there is a lack of competing establishments selling “All day English Breakfasts”. Instead there are small bars on the beach with smouldering charcoal fires offering BBQued fresh fish.

On Friday morning we cycled 5 miles along the waterfront taking in other smaller resorts where it was nice to see most of the houses next to the sea occupied by traditional Spanish families. The beaches along this waterfront are made up of grey shingle and sand and don’t tend to be packed. There is a Mercadona supermarket about 800 metres from the site and a Lidl about 2 miles away.

Wednesday 22nd May 2013

With all of our food supplies used up its time to find a good supermarket so we'll probably move tomorrow and head towards the Malaga region. That should split up the journey if we do decide to head to Cordoba.
The weather has been good today with temps around 24c, warm enough to take a swim in the pool.

The desert of Cabo de Gata, spaghetti western country.

The driest warmest part of Europe???

San Jose waterfront

17th – 21st May 2013

17^th – 21^st May 2013

“The fair breeze blew,
The white foam flew,
And the forrow followed free”

(Coleridge 1797)

Well for 3 days it blew and blew with wind speeds close to 40K. It was still sunny and fairly warm but you couldn’t ride bikes or swim so we went on a few walks along the cliff tops towards San Jose. Yesterday (Monday) was hot so we rode to San Jose on our bikes and then went to the beach in the afternoon.

It was a bit of a shock this morning, after raining for most of the night, many of the pitches were a couple of inches under water, the rain continued all day…did someone mention that this is a warm desert?

14th May 2013 – 17th May

The view from Mojacar old town.

The beach at Playa Mojacar

The waterfront at Playa Mojacar

1

Our pitch at Cueva Negra

4^th May 2013 – 17^th May

The incident with the Northern Ireland couple made me think about similar incidents we’ve come across on this and other trips. Most people doing the low season ACSI tour tend to be elderly retired, they are also subjected to long days in the sun and also not surprisingly drink a lot! This combination plays havoc with the hippocampus or the memory bank of the brain. These factors may have affected the guy on Ribamar who told me that he would recommend the camp restaurant as he and his wife had tried it the night before. Days later when I told him we had also tried it he replied “oh really, whats it like”. The elderly guy at Bonterra Park who sat down at our table one night because he was tired also revealed that he’d been all around Spain this winter but couldn’t tell us which places he’d been to. He even declared that he couldn’t tell us where he was now!

Fortunately for us we’ve cut down on our alcohol intake and due to the changeable weather we’ve also cut down on our hours in the sun. This blog also acts as a memory aid to record where we’ve been to so hopefully we’re protected from the ACSI affliction..

After leaving Mazarron we stayed at a non ACSI site  west of Mojacar. The site Cueva Negra charged 21 euros a night and was well worth it. We were the only campers on the site. The nearby beach wasn’t much good but we discovered a cliff top walk that took us to the outskirts of Mojacar. The old town of Mojacar is about 5 miles away, inland on a hill top, and we biked it there on Wednesday.

 Playa Mojacar consists of a long promenade with the customary bars and restaurants, a cycle path extends along most of it. The beginning of the prom is about half a mile from the campsite and  is a 20 minute steep walk. We walked it each of the nights we stayed in order to watch a couple of footy games in the bar. The return trip along this dark road meant that we had to wear our high visibility jackets along with torches. We must have looked like a couple of Community policeman and when returning to the site the security guys came running out of their lodge almost standing to attention.

We liked Mojacar and would consider returning in the future although it would be nice if there was a site closer to the town.

On Thursday (16^th) we left Mojacar and headed south.

When she sings her famous song we will be able to reply to Dionne Warwick and tell her we know where San Jose is because we arrived here today. Well its not quite the same town as the one in the song but it’s the closest we’ll ever get to it.

Camping Los Escullos is about 5 miles from San Jose and is quite remote. It’s 700 metres away from a secluded cove with a couple of bars and restaurants. However the site has most amenities essential for a short stay. Before arriving we stocked up with enough supplies for about a weeks stay. Unfortunately on arrival the winds really got up quite strongly and today (Friday) they continue to be quite gusty. The area is natural protected parkland and is the driest part of Europe being classed as a ‘warm’ desert. The landscape is spectacular and is Spain's largest volcanic rock formation with sharp peaks and crags in red/ochre-hues. It falls steeply to the mediterranean creating jagged 100-metre high cliffs, which are riven by gullies leading to hidden coves with white sandy beaches, some of the most beautiful in Andalucia. Offshore are numerous tiny rocky islands and, underwater extensive coral reefs.

9th – 13th May 2013

The toilet block at Camping Playa de Mazarron

The beach next to the site

The site entrance

9^th – 13^th May 2013

After 7 nights at Mazarron we have decided to move on tomorrow and head for Mojacar. We’ve had a pleasant time here and overall its satisfied most of our requirements. A decent beach next to the site, a pool, good facilities and some decent bars and restaurants nearby. We enjoyed watching the cup final on Saturday and glad that Wigan were successful, a complete surprise. Mazarron itself isn’t really a tourist town but the area we’re in seems to cater for tourists. The weather is forecast to be ‘changeable’ so there’s always the option to change our plans tomorrow and head further south. Today a couple from Northern Ireland arrived on the next pitch, we met them at Javea and chatted to them quite often. As they were settling in I said hello and asked them when they’d left Javea they looked at me with surprise and asked how I knew they’d been to Javea…..its not always funny being invisible!!! 

Another quite secluded cove.

Wind and water erosion creating spectacular sandstone 'mushrooms'.

A secluded cove used by some 'wild campers'.




 

One of the many secluded coves in the nature reserve.

Cycling in the nature reserve west of Mazarron

6th – 9th May 2013

6^th – 9^th May 2013

We woke to more glorious sunshine but noticed some cloud in the mountains where we were thinking of moving to. Pickles trip to the vet revealed that his blood sugar levels are still slightly raised. The vet reassured us that he would be ok and to get it retested in about a month. The present level isn’t serious.

We left Javea around 12 noon. Last night we had another great meal on the waterfront down by the marina. We’ll miss Javea but it was time to check out Mazarron.

We arrived at Camping Mazarron around 3pm, a distance of 150 miles from Javea. It was hot and we liked the look of the site despite the lack of natural shade, shade is available from the netting that rolls out over metal frames. However with temperatures around the mid 20’s its not too bad in the sun. We spent these 3 days biking it to the supermarket in the morning and sunbathing on the beach in the late afternoon sun. Wednesday I had my first swim in the sea and found it quite comfortable. The site is situated just west of Mazarron on the outskirts. The site has an outrageous toilet block with water fountains in the middle and with a staircase straight off the set of Morecambe and Wise that takes you up to the showers. Walking up these steps is a bit like climbing up to the circle at the local Regal cinema! Just outside the campsite about a 100yds away we found a bar that has skysports, all of the English footy matches can be viewed here.

Barbara has some doubts about the town of Mazarron, she feels its more like a working town and not touristy. However we haven’t really explored it much. Today Wednesday we decided to cycle the opposite way, more west away from the town. This proved to be a good choice. After a mile the road ends and then there’s a rough trail that skirts the coast. We passed some great little coves with spectacular rock formations. We even spotted a motorhome wild camping on the beach. The area is also set aside for naturists.

Our 'gaff' at camping javea

Camping Javea pool.

Camping Javea

The marina prom and the nice restaurants.

The marina prom.

Beach area in front of restaurants on marina prom.

Javea view from the harbour wall

The small beach area in front of the marina area.

3rd – 5th May 2013

3^rd – 5^th May 2013

On Friday evening we were treated to a spectacular firework display that started around 10:45 and went on for about 20 minutes it was really good to watch although it set off a lot off car alarms and got the dogs barking again. It was another of those occasions when Pickles must have been glad to be deaf. We continue to do a lot of walking in the sunshine and have had a couple of swims in the pool. The bank holiday weekend continues for the Spanish and places seem a little more popular. Last night (Saturday) we tried a Nepalese restaurant that was full to the brim, mainly with brits. It was nice but the food wasn’t as good as the restaurants on the marina front. We also visited a charity shop and got chatting to an elderly couple who were a little eccentric. They were telling me that the Javea council are one of the few who have been managing to reduce their financial deficit. They were looking for a good film to watch and appeared quite well off, I asked them had they seen the Shawshank Redemption that was on the shelf for 2 euros. They hadn’t but thought the price was too high! Today we plan to watch the Lpool v Everton game, have a game of tennis and start packing up. Pickles is due another blood test tomorrow at 10am and after that we’ll probably either go about 15 miles into the mountains or head further down the coast to Mazarron.

1st – 3rd May 2013

1^st – 3^rd May 2013

Well at last ‘Spanish’ weather returned on Wednesday. It was warm enough to use the site pool and walk about in just T shirts. Both Wednesday and Friday are public holidays so a lot of Spanish seem to have taken the Thursday off as well to give them an extended holiday. Consequently the bars and restaurants were busy and on Wednesday  everyone flocked to see the Barcelona v Bayern match. Thursday was  hot with the beach being quite popular. Temperatures are set to rise further reaching 27 on Tuesday. On Wednesday we actually found the 16 mile cycle path to Denia that takes you around the large mountain separating the two towns, the countryside surrounding the path was picturesque although quite muddy in parts. We covered a distance of about 18 miles but decided not to go to Denia as we’d already visited it and weren’t particularly impressed. This morning we woke to world war 3! As its festival time the fireworks started at 7:30 and went through till 9:10. I say fireworks but they were just constant loud bangs that as far as I could see were only designed to wake up and annoy the thousands of dogs in the area. I just don’t understand why the Spanish set expensive fireworks off so early in the morning.