Following the Sun Diary: Mon 24 Jan

I spoke too soon about finding the sun; it has been absolutely freezing over the weekend. We had to dig out our sleeping bags again to get into, as well as the duvet, it has been so cold. Even during the day it was cold forcing us to put on the fan heater, and you thought it was all fun and enjoyment here.

Yesterday we did force ourselves to get out for a walk, so we dully wrapped up warm and set off after lunch. There was a bitter wind blowing forcing us to maintain a very brisk pace to kept the blood pumping. We took the dirt roads through the fields to near the village of Turre then continued over the hills into Los Gallardos. This took us through a luxury housing estate on the outskirts of town, where these big houses are all occupied by ex-pat Brits. The area is very British with a number of local newspapers even published in English. When we got back to the campsite it was just in time, it began to rain and continued lashing down through the night.

Before this bad weather arrived we had an excellent sunny day out in the Sierra Cabrera Mountains. These mountains are behind Los Gallardos and Turre, running down to the coast at Mojacar. The pueblo of Mojacar is built on the top end of the ridge and overlooks the Mediterranean. We took the motorhome out to get to our starting point, the little village called Cortijo Grande and there was a nice sized car park where I could leave the ‘van safely. The village was basically a number of fancy houses built around a golf course situated in a valley between the hills. We could see some paths going up the hillside on the far side of the golf course but were unable to figure out how to get there. I asked some workmen, who were English; they told us that if we followed the road it went up to the town of Cabrera and there we should find some mountain paths.

Moira at Cabrera

 We headed up the road; it was about 3 kays of climbing sometimes steep, to get to Cabrera. There were some beautiful views of the mountains on the way with large house littered over the hillside, some on the tops of ridges and on rocky points like fairy castles. When we reached Cabrera there was a castle, but not the ancient variety a modern building that had a ‘for sale’ sign. It had crenulated battlements and turrets; I’m not sure who would want to buy it. From the village there was a view point from where we could see a path winding its way further up the mountain above Cabrera. We managed to pick up this footpath where we met a woman walking her dog. She spotted Moira’s badge for the ‘Camino de Santiago’, she had also done the pilgrimage so we got reminiscing about it. Before we parted she told us to follow the path we were on, and said that it wound its way up the mountain eventually coming in a circle to meet the road from the village.

Sierra Cabrera

The village of Cabrera

The route gave us wonderful views of the mountain tops and in the other direction the flat plain stretching to Los Gallardos, Turre and Garrucha. It took us an hour on a wide track before reaching the road coming up from the village. We stopped at the side of the road where we had our lunch; it was a beautiful day and pleasant sitting in the warm sunshine. I had a flask of coffee and sandwiches in the day pack; it was a welcomed break after some stiff climbing. After lunch the walk was now on a tar road all the way back to Cabrera, I got some great photographs of the mountain peaks of the Sierra Cabrera and the big houses on the tops of rocky outcrops. We thought at one point we were going the wrong way as the road continued to drop considerable, we didn’t realise the extent that we had climbed, but at last we came into Cabrera. From the village we followed the same road down to Cortijo Grande; it took another hour to get back to the ‘van. It had been a marvellous walk, so we are planning to come back again for another route before we leave the area, if the weather improves.

We have another week here before we are planning to move to pastures new. The weather forecast that we got from the web doesn’t look very promising, saying that it will continue cold for the rest of the week. We can always hope that it is wrong and there is a heat wave.

Following the Sun Diary: Sun 2 Jan –Mon 17 Jan

Nothing very exciting has been happening in the first two weeks of the New Year. The weather has certainly improved, it still gets cold at night but during the day the sun shines from a cloudless blue sky. I have been sitting outside in just shorts working on my tan; it must be warm as Moira has even taken off her cardigan.

Our month subscription for the bowls expired on Saturday; we aren’t going to extend it as we plan to leave here in a couple of weeks. The bowls were beginning to get more enjoyable, probably as we were beginning to play much better with practice.

The whist evening each week has been continuing though not many people attending. A lot had returned to the UK for Christmas and New Year but are now trickling back so the numbers are improving. We have still been going to the quiz night, which is on every Monday, two weeks ago we finished third but last week came nowhere.

My training is going well though I haven’t been doing much running recently. I usually cycle to the gym in Turre, have my work out then cycle back. I have done a couple of long rides on the bike, about 50 kilometres each time. I have a route that heads north to Antas then through Vera to the coast. I reach the coast at Garrucha and cycled down beside the Mediterranean to Mojacar; from there it is 12 kilometres inland again back to Los Gallardos.

Yesterday we walked to Turre, over the hills on a dirt road. We went to the Indian restaurant there, where we had our Christmas lunch. It was lamb Madras again, and was just as hot and tasty as the last time. The walk back which took about an hour, this helped to work off the big meal.

Moira has found a web site for motorhome exchanges throughout the World. She is concentrating on Australia and New Zealand where she found people who want to come to the UK next year. We don’t have to swop at the same time so we can go over to Australia and NZ the following year which is when we would prefer. It’s still in the early stages, but it looks promising for having another holiday in the Antipodes.

As the blog is called ‘Following the Sun’ and we have found it, I am now going to take advantage and lie in it.

I have had trouble posting my blog for over a week now; the internet hasn’t been functioning in the area. Seemingly there had been a fire in the local telephone exchange and this caused the problem, that’s what they told us anyway. It appears to be up and running again, so I am able to publish this update.

Following the Sun Diary: Frid 17 Dec – Sun 2 Jan

It has been a quiet fortnight at Los Gallardos during which we haven’t done anything particularly exciting. The sun that we have been trying to follow seems to have deserted us, being replaced with a lot of rain. For one week it rained each day at some time, at least when it rained the temperature was mild, but when the skies cleared it got cold especially during the night. In bed I’m still in my sleeping bag and Moira has had to get into her bag as well.

When the weather dried up we have been playing bowls but the green is in a very poor condition making it difficult to bowl a consistent line. As we found in South Africa it is a peculiar crowd that play bowls with their trivial restrictive rules and regulations, they are much the same here. It must be our attitude to this form of petty bureaucracy that we inevitably rock the boat and I have run foul of the club captain on a couple of occasions. We had thought about buying bowls when we get back to Scotland in the summer and play there, but are now having second thoughts. I don’t think the people will be any different there.

We have managed to have a few walks in the hills behind the campsite. It is easy walking with good paths constructed from an old railway line with cutting through the hills and viaducts over rivers. I have had a few runs in the hills when the weather has been agreeable, I am managing to run for over an hour comfortably without a stop. I have recently joined a gym in Turre, a little town about 5 kilometres away. I cycle to the gym and back over quiet dirt roads that go beside cultivated fields which are green with rows of lettuce. The gym is not very big but it is fully equipped with all the usual machines and weights; it looks fairly new with everything well maintained.

I discovered the gym in Turre when we walked to the town on Christmas Day. We had booked our Christmas lunch at the Indian restaurant there, some may thing a strange choice for the festive season but it was excellent. We both had lamb Madras curry, it was a bit hotter than we are used to, making our eyes water. The price of the meal was very satisfactory, only E24 and that included drinks.

We have been playing whist regularly each week but haven’t managed to win anything since the first time. We did pick up second prize at the quiz night that was on last Monday. We tied for first place with another team; the tie break question was – ‘how many miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End’. You would have thought that we could get that right considering we have walked most of it, but I said 1250 miles, that’s nearly 400miles too much. Maybe it feels that much when you are walking it.

This place has turned into a Little England. All the permanent mobile homes are occupied by Brits and there are lots of people who come for the six months over winter, they’ve been doing that for years. It’s like a ghetto of ex-pats who spend their time moaning about either the UK Government who have in their opinion forced them to move because of poor pensions, or complain against the Spanish who have allowed their economy to deteriorate, making their life style not so cheap and comfortable.

We have decided to stay on here until the end of January, that’s when the membership of the bowls and gym expire. Moira has been looking at other places to visit with good campsites. We will make a decision nearer the time, until then we hope the weather gets warmer so that we can spend more time outside.

I hope everyone reading this blog has had a good Christmas and wish you an enjoyable and healthy New Year.