Our friend came out of hospital on the Tuesday with his new stent fitted and was looking very well. We had a catch up and stayed anther day to be with them. Had a small walk from the campsite on the edge of the national park. Really barren landscape, lots of rabbits running around and wild dogs are seen as the spanish have no regard for dogs really. They are just there to protect their property or land and if no good they get dumped and roam free in packs. The polly plastic fields all around the campsite are used to grow, tomatoes, peppers,beans etc and they get about four crops a year from them. Some areas are miles and miles of them supplying the likes of tesco and Sainsburys I expect.  

   
We headed out on the highway on Thursday to the site where we are at now. Marjal Campsite Costa Blanca. A very posh site. Booked in and found our pitch with electric, water,drainage and a TV hook up point and lots of sunshine with the mountains as a backdrop. We had a walk around the campsite to inspect the facilities. WOW who needs a hotel. Even the dogs are catered for here, not the ones that roam around in packs or strays. Your pet pooch has its own shower/ bath room. The dog walks up the ramp into the bath, gets showered then walks to the mirror and hair dryer and walks down the ramp. 

 
I was getting pretty excited walking around because of the amount of RVs and big motorhomes here especially a Man truck   converted by Ketterer. I need a lotto win for that one. Another one I very much liked is the 45 ft RV. Even spoke to the owner and got a look inside that one.  

   
The people next to us are from the uk also and are here for a a month or two so they have a car. Yesterday they invited us to go with them to a market about ten miles away. Another market in another town. We strolled round and had a coffee bought a couple of bits and then went down the beach for a stroll, got us off site for the morning which was nice. Sat outside late afternoon and a huge black cloud of starlings flew over off to their roosting ground. When I say huge there was thousands of them stretching about a mile into the distance, a fantastic sight. Not sure how long we are staying here as the next site we had earmarked is a small one and often gets booked up so we may not get on that one. And time is running out for us, we only have a month left as we have booked our ferry home on the 29th February. Not looking forward to that bit. So that’s us for now, living it up in luxury because we’re worth it. 

After surviving the earthquake, we packed up and said our goodbyes to our new freinds and neighbors and headed for the Capa de gata national park. But first we needed shopping as we were low on everything . Down to my last two pints of Guinness and Nikki down to her last bottle of wine. We new there was a large Carrefour a couple of junctions down the road. We had checked it out on google maps and the parking was going to be a bit hit and miss but there was another one a few more miles further on if we could not park. 30ft of camper is not very supermarket freindy.

Here it is the junction shouts Nikki as we go off and round a roundabout straight into a hospital carpark full of every nationality, man,woman, and child. And we all know what hospital car parks are like in a car at the busiest time of day when everyone wants to go visiting. You try it in a 30ft camper. It’s interesting especially the car owners faces. we turn around and try and find the right turning for the supermarket. 

So parked up in two spaces we go off into the shop. My Favourite pastime. NOT. About an hour later we emerge from the depths of the supermarket with enough shopping including beer and wine of course to last us two weeks.Back on the highway to the campsite.

Now this campsite Los Escullos , we were told about back in December and we really wanted to go there and spoil ourselves for a couple of days. It’s a five star site and a 15 minute stroll to the beach which has good snorkelling, and in a national park. Driving along a car starts to toot us at a junction so we pull over thinking we can’t go up the road were on. And it’s a freind of ours who we were with at the site in Portugal. Her husband is in Hospital ( not the one we drove round) he had chest pains so they called a ambulance and he was taken straight in and has had to have a stent fitted. They are staying on a campsite not far from the one we were going to. So we tell her where we are going and we will pop in and see them in a couple of days on the way back. 

We get to the campsite  and wander in to the reception and are greeted by a loverly young lady. I say hello in Spanish,German, Portugese,French and English. She answers in very good Engish. She shows us on the site plan where we can go and where we can’t because the workmen are moving on site in three days time to start a load of work.so we go looking around the site. Disappointed,that’s what we were. Five star No, pitches to take us No and I did email them before we got there to tell them our size,expensive Yes. We walk back to reception and I tell her how disappointed we are. Sorry she says in her good English voice. By now it’s one o’clock and I am getting hungry, which is not good because if I get hungry or tired I get grumpy and start to growl. We decide to head back to where our friends our camped, only about six miles down the road. We book on for a couple of nights get parked up and within five minutes Nikki has produced a very large roll filled with meat and and salad. I love her.our freind is out of hospital today hopefully so we will stay to see him then off again. 

Woke up this morning about 5.15am to the camper rocking as if someone was outside rocking it. Got up looked outside, was still dark but could not see anyone, so crawled back into bed. Joked to Nikki that it was a earthquake. Dozed of back to sleep and woke about 7am, Nikki is on the Internet and yes it was a earthquake. Measured 6.6 on the scale followed by a 5.8 aftershock and was about 100 miles out to see in the Gibralter straight. How exciting. Just to let you know no Guinness or red wine was spilt LOL

Yes we are still here at Balerma, but we are moving on Monday. Only about a hour down the road. We strolled down the market the other day. Bit disappointed, about thirty stalls but twenty five of them selling the same stuff. Ok if you want big knickers or socks.After leaving the market we diverted to the other side of town to the supermarket to top up with essentials. The range of food is so different to at home and so much cheaper. We only got enough food for 2/3 days because we have to walk back with it about a mile, but we walk along the beach which is nice. We stop for a rest now and then and surprise surprise we manage to get back to the camper with some food. Nikki spotted a bottle of Carva for a change from the red wine and at £1.32 a bottle could not resist. Apparently it was very nice. So nice infact we walked back down to the super market the next day and got another bottle. I hate to think how many we would have bought at that price if we had driven down there. 

A couple on site told us about a castle down the road which has a display of old guns and weapons. It’s not far they said. They do have a car and are in there late 70’s so there idea of not far is a little different. So I checked it out on google maps and thought I am going to walk there. Nikki said it was to far with her back and hip giving her some grief. So of I went yesterday with my camera and water. Took me 3/4 of an hour to get there along the road. As I was nearing it I could not see the road up to it and could not remember where it was on Google maps. I could see the castle but no road so walked on around the next bend, but still no road so decided to do what the enemy would have done and climbed up the hill beside the castle. Luckily there was no one trying to shoot at me. So I get to the top, have a drink of water, catch my breath and walk round to the back of the castle. CLOSED the enemy had locked the gate and were not coming back until 4.30pm. So I wandered round the outside and took some photos and looked back to where I came from and started the hike back. Just over five miles return trip. It’s the weekend now so we plan to move just enough so no one thinks we have died. Next stop on Monday is camping Los Escullos which is in the Cabo de gata national park about a 15 minute walk from the beach. Very posh site so won’t be there too long. 

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside. Sorry to tell you all but it’s a loverly day here again in Balerma. Someone said you had snow and cold frost etc. If you can arrange for it all to be gone by the time we return that would be nice. Or maybe we will just stay away until it has gone.

So yesterday we strolled along the beach in the sun (there’s  that word again) and I spotted this loverly ol house I would love to live in, yes it looks a bit tatty but a lik of paint and it would be sorted. A view to die for and a garage round the back for the hot rod. Now I just need to win the lotto.

  
See what I mean. As we were strolling Nikki was collecting shells and I was taking random pics of the waves. I love the sea. The noise it makes, the smell, the power etc. Every wave is different and makes sun nice photos. I think so anyway. So there’s a couple of photos for you.

  
Tomorrow is market day in Balerma so we will have a stroll down there. There’s a nice little prom to walk along and a little bar/ cafe so we may have to have a rest there on the way back. Maybe we should think about moving on along the coast a bit further, but it’s hard to find the time to plan a route or another site when we are so busy chilling. MANANA

We left El Pino on Monday morning, the weather forecast was for gale force winds and heavy rain, but we had been there a week so had made our minds up it was time to head out on the highway, that would be such a good title for a song. So we left the campsite, no rain but as soon as we got on the mountain roads it was bloody windy, and I mean windy, I had to fight the steering wheel. There where a lot of tunnels through the mountains but as soon as you came out of them whoosh the wind got you as we were high up. Nikki was very quiet. Maybe I should drive more mountain roads. LOL.

We arrived at Balerma, a small town. In fact it’s the most ancient town of campo de Dalias, founded by the fishermen at the beginning of the XVIth century. Bet you never new that. I never until we stopped here and it says so on the brochure from the campsite. It was still blowing a hoolie when we got here but the wind dropped right off today leaving us with a sunny day and temputure of 20 degrees in the shade and a loverly sunset after eating outside and a cold beer or two.  The campsite is quite new and is very nice. A big investment has gone into it. You walk out the entrance and cross the road and you are on the beach, to the side and behind are mountains and in the distant mountains you can see snow on the tops. That’s the white bits on top the mountains in the photo. The campsite is surrounded by poly tunnels which you can not see unless you really look. There is a bar and restaurant on site which we will try tomorrow. We also plan to walk into the small town tomorrow. So that’s us up to date.

Torrox Costa, try saying that when you have had a few beers. So that’s where we are now, been here since Monday and staying until Monday. Nice site but very tight for motorhomes due to all the trees which provide shade in the summer here when it’s really hot. We had a great drive here up through the mountain roads etc and the scenerey was fantastic with the mountains either side and little houses dotted up the mountains. No idea how they get to them, perhaps they have a donkey instead of a car. 

We got set up and just chilling having a beer in the sun when a friend from Somerset  appeared round the corner. We have been tracking each other and was hoping to meet up with them at some place but then we were in different places etc so it looked like it was not going to happen. They had got fed up with the weather in Portugal and as they are only away for a month they decided to move on. Was great to see them and we had a real good laugh. 

Yesterday we walked to the beach, about twenty minutes away and along the promenade with the sea on one side and the high rise apartments on the other. Not really our cup of tea but nice to see, at least it’s not as bad as Benidorm. We felt quite young looking around, but you can see why the oldies come here for the winter as its cheap warm, and plenty of promenade for their mobility scooters. They probably go out at night and have races around the blocks of flats. We sat outside a bar in the sun watching the world go by and the scooters. The guys selling the watches and jewellery never far away. Today are friends left and are heading up the coast a bit further. As I said we leave here Monday and drive about a hour and half to the next destination which is a campsite right by the beach. See you there. 

Happy new year to you all. Hope you had a good one and not to many beers. No I lie hope you had lots of beer or wine but a happy new year. We spent the evening or the early part with friends in their RV with a few beers and a curry, not a late night, but did wake up to hear cheering and laughter and to see fireworks going off in the surrounding villages and towns.

We have now moved on from Mikki’s place to stay as we were to cut off and fed up with it there as so many problems with the campsite owners. Tell you when we see you. We drove out of Portagal and are now back in Spain at a place called Humilladero, only here for two nights as a rest point then off again tomorrow. On the way here we saw storks nesting on the electric pylons and even saw a few close up flying past. You would not one of them to hit your windscreen. And bought the cheapest fuel yet at 70p a litre. When we got here the campsite reception was closed so we found a pitch and set up and waited for them to open to book in. While we were waiting around we saw a load of pigeons flying around, but not your normal ol pigeon these have been dyed all colours and are fantastic to see in flight. Don’t ask me why they dye them because I don’t know but if I find out I will let you know. Enjoy the pics, they don’t do them justice as when in flight they look fantastic.