Following the Sun Diary: Mon 7 Feb

Our last week at Los Gallardos was rain every day. It was too muddy along the tracks I take to the gym in Turre to cycle, so we were taking the motorhome out each day to get around. We would pack up quickly each morning after breakfast, then head off. Moira would drive, dropping me at the gym for an hour’s workout while she did some shopping. When she picked me up again we would head for the beach, and watch the waves as we had lunch. When we left last Monday the weather was beginning to improve but we were happy to get to pastures new.

San Jose

We didn’t travel very far, about 70 kilometres, to the Cabo de Gata National Park. This is situated at the south east corner of Spain where the coast turns towards Almeria and the Costa del Sol. It is a very dry region with very low rainfall, our week here has so far confirmed this, with blue skies every day. Our campsite at Los Escullos is near the coast in a quiet area, the nearest town San Jose is 8 kilometres away. When we arrived we had a walk around looking for a good spot. We spoke to an English guy, who had a big satellite dish, and asked how the TV reception was. He said that he had a multi-point LNB on his dish and if we were close enough we could hook up to one of them. I found a pitch behind him and later connected up to his dish, we now get all the BBC and ITV channels.

The area is a walker’s paradise with numerous routes along dried river beds or rambla, up beautiful mountains and on coastal paths. Our first outing was along the coast to San Jose; after a short climb to the cliff top the trail was fairly flat with the rugged rocky shore below and towering peaks on the other side. San Jose was a lovely little seaside resort with beautifully white painted houses and a packed marina where we sat to have our picnic lunch feeding little fishes with crumbs. Another day we climbed a track that cut diagonally up the side of a mountain to a huge white dome at the top, the locals call it the golf ball, and is a metrological radar station. This spot on top gave us magnificent views of the Mediterranean coast and the surrounding mountains. Those circling mountains are actually the crater of an extinct volcano, Vulcan de Majado Redonda, formed between six and seventeen million years ago. Yesterday we hiked into the crater along a rambla which was the only opening into the gigantic bowl. The area is quite fantastic and these outings are only in the vicinity of the campsite, many more pleasures are waiting when we drive out to the other walking trails listed in our guide book.

The White Radar Dome or 'Golf Ball'

The site has its own gym, nothing elaborate, plenty of barbells and dumbbells, and some exercise machines. The big plus is that it is free and I have had a few good workouts to keep my muscles in shape. So far I have been on my own pushing weights; nobody else on site appears to be interested. The other facility available is a Wi-Fi area but it isn’t very good. Our attempts on the internet amount to a very slow check of our e-mail, downloading material, such as podcasts from the BBC, takes nearly a day for a half hour programme.

Where the ‘population’ at Los Gallardos was all English, here there is a mixture of nationalities. In our section of the site we have German, Dutch and English but we have come across some French and Italians as well. The Dutch like to get together for pre-dinner drinks and can be very noisy, but once they return to their own ‘vans for their meals everything becomes quiet and peaceful again.

The Mediterranean Coast

We are thoroughly enjoying it here so will stay for at least a month. The weather is excellent and we still have lots more walking to do. Maybe as it gets warmer I will be tempted to have a swim, there is a beautiful beach at San Jose.

 

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.

Following the Sun Diary: Tues7 Dec – Thurs16 Dec

We have been at Los Gallardos for just over a week now, it is much better than La Manga. The weather has been changeable, though sky has been vivid blue and cloudless the temperature is unpredictable. Some days I have been sitting outside in just shorts tanning my body while on others we keep inside the ‘van with the fan heater on. Last night I was so cold I looked out my sleeping bag to snuggle up in, with the duvet on top to keep warm. Moira braved it with just the duvet but if this winter snap continues she will be in hers quick enough.

This morning we played bowls, not the continental type but the proper lawn variety. They have two greens at the campsite with a very English bowling club which has the usual funny rules of etiquette. We had to buy white trousers and shirts which Moira got cheap at the local market, as for flat shoes that don’t damage the green the club have plenty of them to lend out. Also we were able to borrow bowls from the club; they had a big selection of different sizes to choose from. The greens are not in very good condition, very patchy which results in the bowls not tracking as well as they should, it’s probably due to the lack of rain in the area. The first games we played were trips, three players each side playing three bowls each. We had good games considering we hadn’t played since April when we were in South Africa, both of us on winning teams.

There is excellent walking around the campsite with hills all around. The paths are very good, wide and not too rough. One route in particular is the track of an old railway that runs high up and along the contours of the mountain side. It meanders through cuttings carved among the hills and over viaducts that bridge dried up river beds. We have been out on various different routes over the hills and I have done a couple of cross country runs which is keeping me fit.

As usual the site organises a number of activities for the campers and the permanent residents who live in the mobile homes next to the camping area (much better laid out and organised that at La Manga). They have whist, darts, pool, quiz nights and dances each week at the restaurant. We have played whist twice and I was successful on the first occasion when I won a prize of E10. There was supposed to be a quiz last Monday but it was cancelled because lots of people have gone back to the UK to be with family for Christmas.

The TV that is available from cable to each camping pitch is worth the E25 we pay for a month. We are getting all the main UK stations to watch our favourites plus a couple of sports channels from Sky. I saw the Spurs v Chelsea match on Sunday that was very good, lots of attacking football for a change. Now, if we waken early enough in the morning we can watch the third Ashes test from Perth, though realistically probably only the last hour or two.

All the people we have met during our stay have been very friendly and encouraged us to join in at the whist and bowls. A woman Moira met is going to drive her to the supermarket tomorrow to save us packing up and taking out the campervan. Most of the people come here for five or six months, and have been doing this for a number of years. It is a very popular spot but you would think you were somewhere in England rather than Spain. 

Following the Sun Diary : Mon 29 Nov - Tues 7 Dec

We had intended staying at La Manga until after Christmas and New Year but decided to leave after eight days. The main problem was that it wasn’t a very nice campsite; it was huge with over one thousand pitches plus lots of permanent residents. The permanent’s section was like a shanty town or one of the squatter camps that we were familiar with in South Africa. The mobile homes, caravans with tents and lean-tos were cramped together with no space between them. If a fire was to start it would spread through the camp very quickly. The holiday section wasn’t as bad but the space was small and each pitch was hemmed in by large hedges.

Another problem was satellite TV reception, I could get very little even with the big dish and what I did get kept cutting out every few minutes. We paid for a month’s Wi-Fi, it kept cutting out as well, and as for downloading programmes from BBC iplayer like I was able to do at Benicassim, no chance. There were plenty of activities going on, supposedly managed by the Camping and Caravan Club of GB who were running a rally on this site. But as we had found on previous occasions with rallies the wardens were useless, they didn’t seem to know what was going on. One evening we wanted to play cribbage that was listed on the activities notice board; we spent about half an hour searching in the dark for the venue only to be told the next morning that it had been cancelled.

A Mediterranean bay

It wasn’t all bad; the area was beautiful being situated beside a lake or lagoon that was enclosed by a long narrowing peninsula that looped round into the Mediterranean only leaving a small channel between its end and the mainland. The lagoon, Mar Menor, was then a large sheltered stretch of water with yachting and windsurfing very popular, the coastline was a multitude of glorious beaches which must get crowded in the summer. Inland the area was enclosed by a range of hills where we had an enjoyable walk with some people from the site one day rewarding us with magnificent views of the lagoon, peninsula and the Mediterranean coast.

Other activities, which we joined in, were the quiz night and a whist drive. We were in the team that came second in the quiz; it must be due to watching so much ‘Eggheads’ on TV. At whist Moira had a great game winning the woman’s prize of E18. Even with these enjoyable times we still wanted to go, heading out on Tuesday.

La Manga

We continued our way further south for another 200 kilometres to the town of Los Gallardos, and a nice little campsite in the mountains. This was another area full of Brits who had moved to Spain to avoid the harsh winters that are now becoming a common occurrence in the UK. There were plenty of activities happening here as well, quiz nights, whist, bridge, darts, dominoes, aerobics, and many more. When we were selecting a pitch we looked for the direction to set up the satellite dish but no other ‘van appeared to have a dish in view. Later we found that they had TV from the UK piped to each pitch. It cost E25 for a month so we now have 17 channels to choose from. It seems like we made the right decision to move here, and the weather is much better as well, it was cold at La Manga.      

Following the Sun Diary : Tues 23 - Mon 29 Nov

Oliva Playa the beach area of Oliva where the campsite is situated is dead this time of year. Nearly everything is closed and the beautiful beaches are deserted. A couple of women we spoke said that the site was a bit of a rip off with the price they charge while offering no entertainment or activities. They had pre-booked for two months so were more or less stuck there, we planned on just one week before heading further south.

Anyway we weren’t too concerned about organised events, and had a pleasant week walking and cycling. One day I cycled all the way to Denia, about 25 kilometres. It was easy going on the way out but when I turned I found that a strong wind had been assisting me. It was a big effort to get back. We both cycled one day, and found the campsite, Eurocamp, where we had stayed many years ago when we backpacked down the coast from Barcelona. Another day we walked along the beach, and reached Eurocamp that way, retuning by the country lanes through orange groves. We were refreshed on the walk with windfall oranges that we picked up from the road, they were delicious and juicy.

Orange grove near Oliva

I had a couple of runs though the weather hasn’t been very warm. On one occasion I had to wear a long sleeved sweat shirt instead of my usual thin t-shirt. I ran 9 kilometres in my best time for ages that day; I must have been in a hurry to get back, and out of the cold

As I have mentioned the weather hasn’t been great, we even had one day of rain. Mostly it has been cold, probably the tail of the ice and snow that is hitting the UK at the moment. We have been getting into bed early, and under the duvet to keep warm while watching TV. In the morning Moira screams when I tough her with my ice cold hands, and quickly turns on the fan heater. So we are heading further south, to La Manga, a site that we have had good reports about and is recommended. Hopefully we will find the sun again, and it will be warmer.