Now if I had a euro for every time I have said watch out on this trip I would be staying out here a bit longer. Now your all wondering, what is he on about now, has the cheese slid off his cracker, has he finally lost the plot due to to much sun. Everywhere you walk in Spain, France or Portugal there is dog poo. They just don’t pick up after their dog. Well some do, but most don’t. I know it’s bad in the Uk but not as bad as Europe. And it’s not the dogs fault, it’s the owners. So as we walk off down to the beach or town to the Chinese shop, supermarket etc it’s like a obstacle cause with me shouting WATCH OUT as weave our way around the poop piles, some small, others bigger. That’s enough of that dirty talk now.

Over the back of our pitch here are olive trees and barren ground. The amount of different birds I see in there is amazing. Blackbirds, sparrows, blackcaps, redstarts, Black redstarts, Siskin, and even on rare occasions a hoopoa. the other day when we came back from the shop, sat on the fence singing away was what looked like a white sparrow, grabbed the camera but to late he had flown away. The next day he was back, hopping about on the ground eating. I managed to get some photos of him this time and relized he was a canary and must have escaped from his cage. Going back to the Hoopoo, no we’re not talking about the dogs and Chinese shop again. HOOPOO he did that one over there, no not him hepoo no Hoopoo I don’t know Hoopoo. The Hoopoa is a mistle thrush sized bird found in Europe and sometimes seen in the south of England in the spring while on there migration course. Beautifully coloured with a long bill and a crest on there head which stands up when they are excited. Wanted to get a photo of one but you don’t see them that often. Well the other day one landed and was searching for food on the ground, they eat spiders and grubs etc and dig in the ground with there long bill. Got the camera out and stood very still and reeled off a few shots. He was very obliging coming even closer and at one point even sitting down in the sun for a small nap. He was not very excited about having his photo taken though as he never raised his crest.

Before we came away I dusted off my 25 year old mountain bike to bring with us. I wanted to be able to get out a bit further than just walking. We both did to be fair and the idea was to buy two E bikes but lack of funds put that on hold until next year. Nikki was ok with me bringing mine and her running along behind. No not really. She does not do running, even a long walk is painful for her hips and feet. So before we come away next winter we are going to get her a E bike. I have not used my bike for a long time so my bike fitness is very poor but I go out for small rides now and then. I used to bike a lot and am getting back into it now. Although not as mad as I used to be when I used to go up on ex or every weekend and hurtle down the hills at stupid speeds. I checked out google maps as I knew there was a reservoir not to far away and wanted to go up there. You can cycle to it with out going on many main roads which is always nicer. Took me about half an hour to get there. The reservoir is called Embalse de Amadorio It’s the closest reservoir to the sea in all of Europe supplying all of Benidorm and surrounding areas. It’s not very full at the moment considering it’s winter time which is when it mostly rains and fills up. It was really Erie up there, nobody about. In the summer it would be packed as there are lots of nice picnic spots all around, loads of paths shooting off all over the place. A road runs all around it up and down through the hills but the road is fenced off so you can’t get through with a car, only a bike or walk. My aim by the time we leave her is to be able to cycle from where we are staying all the way up to the dam and around it and back. Will keep you posted. You go through a tunnel to get on the main dam wall go across and a tunnel the other end takes you to the start off the road. Lots of graffiti on the walls as usual in Spain. I noticed a couple of good points to get some photos so cycled up into the tunnel. Found the archway, covered in graffiti, dark and Erie. As I stepped into the archway and started to take photos I could hear footsteps and a voice. I had not seen a single person. Am I going to be mugged and thrown into the dam and my 25 year old bike stolen. I stepped out of the archway and saw this scruffy unshaven man approaching me with two dogs. I smiled and said Ola and he walked on by. Lucky for him, I like my old bike and the water looked cold.

So that’s us to date. As we don’t do Xmas we both wish you all happy holidays and hope you have a good one and it’s not to cold. We will have a walk down the beach in the sun and if it’s to hot take shade under a palm tree. Until the next time. WATCH OUT.

Whenever we are on a campsite we always end up giving peaple names, only because we don’t know there real names. So at the moment, one side of us we have a retired Dutch couple. She is called the Ya Ya lady because everyone she talks to all you seem to hear is Ya Ya. Her husband does not say a lot. She is normally talking to the guy the other side of us, a Belgium guy called the walrus, because he has this big walrus’s type moustache and just looks like one. Another Dutch couple walk past us to go to the shower block. She is very stern looking and never smiles she is scary lady, he always wears his clogs so is called Mr cliperty clop. Then we have Hat man, he was here last year and is still wearing the same cloths and no matter what the weather he always has his hat on, a black leather beret style, must be so hot but I don’t think we have ever seen him with his hat off. Tilty man is over the other side of the campsite, named because last year his pitch was sinking but he refused to move so his van was all lop sided. Maybe he is related to the leaning pole down the road. I will let you know if more peaple with funny names arrive. Just don’t park next to us, you never know what we might call you.

It was time for a hair cut again. While coming back from the beach one day we saw a barbers with an English name and all the signage was in english. Makes it easier if they can understand you. So a couple of days later we were passing that way and it was open. No time like the present I thought and went on in. Only one girl in there and another guy. Yep you guessed it. Spanish speaking. So the trying to explain and lots of hand gestures to the young lady and I think her boyfriend, with Nikki joining in and me she stood there nodding. To be honest she could have been saying she was going to cut my head off and I would have said yes. She was very nice and gave me a very nice hair cut.

Weather wise, we have had some frosty mornings, well I think it was three,but by nine o’clock the sun has come out and it has been hot. We are due for some rain tomorrow. Not happy about that as that will be the second day of rain in the 24 days we have been in Spain. Still we can’t complain when we hear what you guys in the Uk are getting. I am still trying to get a fishing licence sorted but seems very difficult after doing some research on line, you have to have two passport photos, an address in Spain etc. I have one more place to try down by the marina so will wander off there soon. Nikki is happy as Cava has been reduced in the supermarket, now down to £1.32 a bottle. Think we’re going to need a bigger camper. Which leads me onto a very nice camper that arrived two days ago. A Concorde liner plus. German built with hundreds of options and a garage in the back for your small car. When something unusual arrives on site it’s like a magnet, everyone wants to see it. We were lucky it was not far from us. It parked up on the pitch, only just fitting lengthways the back end went down, the garage door opened and out came a original fiat 500. By this time there must have been about twenty peaple all looking on. The garage door closed, the camper levelled itself and the owners went in for a cup of tea. Never even signed autographs.

We went for a loverly coast walk, passing the marina and heading on along the footpath past some loverly houses and some not so loverly. Or they would have been when they were built a few years ago, now they are just abandoned with a loverly piece of land, just waiting for someone to buy and completely rebuild. Nikki sat in the sun while I went a bit further along on the rocks. Camera in hand I was trying to get a shot and had to be low down and as I crept further forward on the rock towards the sea, I started sliding towards the sea, it was like ice. All I could think was I am going in. I was not at all worried about going in the sea but was worried about my camera, holding it as high as possible and a quick decision to launch myself at a rock nearby worked. It all happened so quick but seems like it was in slow motion, if you know what I mean. I never went in but was close and the camera was ok. This is not the shot I wanted but a safe one.

Good morning, that’s what the title says in Spanish, just in case you thought I had gone mad. Really I am just showing off that I have remembered some Spanish from our Spanish lessons. I know a couple of other words also, but must admit Nikki is far better than me. I suppose that’s the difference in going to school and not going a lot when we were young. We have now had two Spanish lessons and I must admit I am struggling with it. They say things in such a different way to what we do. I know that’s stating the obvious but it’s true. The teacher Yvonne asked me what year was I born. I know I was born in 1960 but to say 1960 in Spanish you say it as it is in numbers, so it’s one thousand nine hundred and sixty. Mil novecientos sesenta. Can you see why I am confused. Mrs clever clogs Nikki gets an easy question. Like what pitch are you on. 90 = noventa. Still we are having a laugh. It’s a good job we don’t go to the Bingo, but i think that’s all in English.

Our friends Bill and June took there van to the garage after the Mechanic came out and said it was the injectors and would need it for a couple of days. They had to find somewhere to stay while it was in the garage and found a loverly little apartment down in the old part of Villajoyosa overlooking the sea. We let them get settled in and then went down to see them. The view was fantastic, shame it was a overcast day. The photo is taken from their balcony looking out and to the side.

Looking up the street from the balcony.

They had this for two nights and everything was in it they needed. After admiring the veiw we decided to go for a stroll along the front and have a drink with them. We sat outside at one of the bar/ restaurants watching the fishing boats coming back with a huge cloud of seagulls around them. Peaple strolling past. And ordering our drinks in Spanish. When we are back in the UK we don’t go out a lot because of the expense, preferring to save our money for when we are away. You will understand when you work this out. Just add up the price of what we got where you are now in the Uk and then look at what we payed. So between us we had. 9 x glasses of wine, not small ones, 2 x small beers, half pints, 3 x large beers, 1 x big Brandy properly 3 measures, 1 x coffee, 2 x large plates of chips to soak up all that drink. And whenever you get a drink in Spain you always get tapas, so we also had dishes of olives, nuts, crisps. The total bill for that was. £33. Now you can see why we don’t go out much in the Uk. And that is with a poor exchange rate at the moment. Another example is when we go shopping. Last year Nikki bought a bottle of wine at 99 cents just to try. It was really nice so she gets some every time we go shopping now. At the super market the other day. Four bottles of red wine and two bottles of carva. £7 and two pence. So that’s enough of telling you about prices as you probably hate us now or your landlord next time you go down your local.

We left the bar about 7.30pm peaple we’re starting to come out then. Walking up through the town it was like the middle of the day, well not spanish middle of the day because they all close up and go and have a kip. The town was buzzing, all the shops barbers etc all open and every doing there shopping. The Black Friday sales were still on so everyone was looking for a bargain.

Now I am going to make you happy, why because we had some rain, the first rain we have had for over two weeks. Not a lot of it just enough to dampen the ground. Today it’s blowing a hoolie buts it’s going to be sunny later. Then we are in for a cold snap for a couple of days then back to normal. We went for a walk yesterday around the back streets and old houses not far from the campsite. It’s amazing how the Spanish live and we saw some loverly old houses that needed some TLC. This was one of my favourites.

Bill and June got there motorhome back and came to say goodbye, they are off to another site an hour further south. We may go down there to see them, just to get off site for a couple of days and to give the camper a run. We have lots of other things planned also. We will see how the money goes. Can’t believe we are into December already.