Alcossebre beach from the Vistabella bar.

Cycle buggy converted to pushchair

Sunday 7th April 2013

We were kept awake for most of the night by some really strong winds that rocked the van a bit. Buckets and plastic containers could be heard blowing around most of the pitches. However around 5am it died off and we were left with another pleasant day. We left the site around 11am on our bikes with Pickles in the attached buggy. We rode through Alcossebre and followed the coastal road to Torrenostra, a pleasant enough resort which shows signs of great ambition with its numerous developments most of which remain unfinished and on hold. We returned to Alcossebre and stopped at our favourite bar Vistabella on the front where we sipped our favourite spanish beverage...draught San Miguel Selecta, a strong brownish beer that has a distinct taste. On our way back to camp a large ferocious looking dog came tearing towards Pickles buggy, I immediately slipped into sprint mode and only lost it after 300 metres that would have seen me overtake both Cavendish and Wiggins! Unfortunately just as we lost it we hit one of the many potholes on the road and the buggy overturned and spilled Pickles out into the road. He's not having the best of times at the moment but looked unhurt by it all.

6th April 2013

After the rain of yesterday we weren't really expecting much weather wise. However it turned out to be a nice sunny day but quite windy. We went on a walk to Font de la Parra. This is a walk to a so called fountain that follows a narrow gorge up into the mountains. It wasn't quite Cheddar but was still quite spectacular in parts with a wide range of fauna and vegetation along the route. The actual 'fountain' was a bit of a disappointment, a trought carved out of the rock where water seeped into it. But still the 2 hour walk was enjoyable.

4 - 5th April

Well Wednesdays trip to the vets was a bit of a disappointment, Pickles blood sugar level was still a bit above the norm so the vet has increased his insulin slightly. We have to go back for a further test in a weeks time. So its another week in Alcossebre. This wont be too bad as we really like it here although the sites position outside of town makes it difficult to visit the bars and restaurants at night. I think we'll move down 20 miles to Benicasim after next weeks visit to the vet. If things are still not quite right we can always drive back up to the vets.
 After the trip to the vets it was so hot that I went for a swim in the pool, it wasn't heated but felt quite comfortable. The Yorkshire woman who has been here since November has been using the pool and swimming in the sea all winter. She seemed to put my 'bravery' in its true perspective. I've been led to believe that she and her husband are occupying one of the very nice chalets for £350 a month even though they have a VW camper. This probably works out a lot cheaper than the camping pitches.
The dutch couple with the 13 year old alsation have now gone along with two other vans in our 7 van alley so we really are Billy and Barbara no mates.
Yesterday (thursday) we pushed Pickles along the coastal path and sat on the beach for a while.
Today (Friday) is a lot cooler around 13c with light showers so we cycled into town and stocked up with a few supplies from the supermarket. The forecast for Sat. and Sun is cloud and temps around 15c with a return to hot sunshine on monday. Last night we caught up with all of the Corry episodes via Youtube and we've now got BBC1 and ITV on the internet for free. Barbara is presently reading the 'shades of grey' trilogy which she describes as "rubbish" and "just full of sex", however she's now raced to the midway point of the 3rd volume!
Will include some pictures soon and I must try and get out more so that this blog will be more interesting.

2 - 3rd April 2013

The site is now only a quarter full. Its a lot quieter now since the Spanish families returned home, really relaxing. We've mainly spent our time walking along the coastal paths with Pickles in his buggy. We have been told of a good 5 hour walk into the mountains that takes you past several fountains so we may have a go at that in the next few days. We have to take  Pickles to the vets today and we expect her to discharge him. He continues to look better every day although we intend to stay here at Ribamar another week just so that we have easy access to an understanding vet if we need her, he seems to be responding well to the daily insulin injections.
The weather has been excellent and we woke today to clear skies and bright sunshine. Not really a lot to say today!

Monday 1st April 2013

Another warm sunny morning. We expect the site to empty out today as most of the Spanish return home after the easter break. There were 20 adults on the next pitch last night all partying. They had draught beer on tap and a Karaoke machine. Surprisingly it was all good fun and not too noisy so as they all had kids (god knows where they where during the party) they all went to bed around 10:30. We've really been enjoying the relaxation of it all and since our options are a bit limited (dont want to leave Pickles alone too much, sea and pool too cool) we've enjoyed mainly staying on the site and reading. Although we went for a meal on the site last night, food generally looks good but the waitress talked us into trying cuttlefish....a bit rubbery. We'll probably walk into town today. Pickles is still stable and showing more interest in any bitches that come his way.