The mountains in the distance on one side of us change colour with all the different conditions. Sometimes just stark dark mountains but still beautiful. The best time and colour is in the morning when the sun comes up and shines on them, they change from pinkish, through to yellow, red etc. The other morning the sun was coming up but over the mountains were very dark clouds, really heavy dark clouds full of rain. The sky was clear in the east where the sun was coming up. As the sun rose it cast its light on the mountains a fantastic rainbow appeared. The colours were fantastic.

After the sky’s cleared, we never got any rain from those sky’s by the way. Just thought I would mention that. I decided to go out on my bike. I had been looking at google and found a route which I was going to build myself up to for a couple of weeks time. As I went down the campsite driveway I thought I am going to go to Finestrat today and back. To get to Finestrat is all up hill about 7 km. I was having a good day and the legs were feeling good, and the help from the e bikes motor was doing well on a low setting. The bike has four settings of assistance, I was still on number one as I like to actually push myself. With an e bike you do still have to pedal and you only get assistance when you pedal. A lot of peaple think you just flick a switch and away you go. I got to Finestrat and turned left at the junction thinking I am going to go on, a nice downhill, I do like the downhills. As I was going down that hill I was thinking that I have to go on now because I don’t want to turn around and go back up that hill. I carried on up and down more hills and a couple of really nice hairpin bends then through the town of Orxeta. The scenery was fantastic but no time to stop and take photos I was on a mission. Besides I never had my camera with me and I think if I had of stopped my legs would have seized up. An hour later I was back on the campsite having done 22.7 km, an elevation of 408 metres, an average speed of 23 km per hour and a max speed of 50 km per hour that was the downhill bit.

Jeff and Jan our friends who live on this site said about going out for a coffee one day. They know we don’t do the big group going out days or nights but are happy to go out with just another couple. They come from Newton abbot in south Devon but Jeff spent the first ten years of his life in Barnstaple as a kid. I was telling him how much it has changed and he was telling me as a kid how it was. All very interesting. So off we strolled for a coffee or tea to a village called Ermita about a 20 min walk away. It’s the sort of village that has a church, a pharmacy, and a bar/ coffee shop. And locals that when you walk into the village stop talking and stare and mutter to each other….new blood. We set of at about 11 am and after coffee and tea we started to walk back a different way towards the sea and town of Villajoyosa as we were getting hungry now and thought a spot of lunch would be a good idea. Sat outside the cafe in the sun having a spot of lunch, with a beer or wine to wash it down. How very civilised. After lunch and a couple of drinks we started to head back for the campsite. Another pit stop at another bar Jeff and Jan go to just to refuel of course. Out of there and one more for the road up here says Jeff. Another small local bar. Well what can I say. We sat there drinking, chatting, laughing, and eating the tapas that kept appearing in front of us. Outside it had gone dark by now. One more for the road he said, I think we had one for every bloody road in spain. We got back to the campsite and have to pass the bar/ restaurant as you go through the entrance. You guessed it, a last night cap. So after going out for a coffee/ tea at 11 am it was now 10 pm. That night the wind got up (outside) really gusting and was blowing our huge mat we have down, all over the place, so in the middle of the night We were outside fighting to get that gathered up and put in the garage. The next day was very quiet for us, with me in bed most of it and Nikki being a bit fragile but a lot better than me. But as we say all the best times are the ones that are not planned.

We have had some really sunny days all this week, cold mornings but beautiful days. Long may it continue.