Costa Dorada

As we head north the camp sites are getting bigger and better. The camping La Torre del Sol boasts a cinema, disco, Jacuzzi and two huge swimming pools. Rosemary went off to explore and came back having had her hair cut - Spanish style in the site hairdressers! Serve her right for poking her head round the door. The site is on the beach but you pay €3 extra for the front 3 rows - saves you walking 30 yds! I guess we will be here at least a couple of days to find everything. The best part is that these last two sites are cost us just £10 per night.

Must get Rosemary a gin and tonic now to help her recover from her hair cut.

Neverlanders (as we call people from Holland) told us that it had been snowing in Germany and Switzerland and to stay low (meaning south) but we decided to press on north.

Benicassim - Costa Azahar

We were on our way to the Costa Brava up the coast road when we came across Benicassim on the Costa Azahar (no - we never heard of it either). It was still very Spanish and too far from Easyjet or Ryanair to have been overtaken by foreign tourists. However it has been discovered by over wintering European motorhomers.

The Bonterra Park site was excellent, as was the resort, so we stayed four nights which included our wedding anniversary and we enjoyed 3 days of doing nothing very much except getting tanned and treated ourselves to a paella meal out. Although this was only in the site restaurant, it as very good and excellent value, which suited Rosemary just fine. I managed to fall over (nothing to do with wine) and bang my knee but nothing serious and his time the camera escaped intact. A can of diet coke was less fortunate and burst on impact.

Camping Altomira near Valencia

Final, longish (180mile) leg, of the journey back to the coast finds us 30km from Valencia in a wooded valley high above the small town of Navajos. We had time to sort out the plan for doing Costa Brava and to swap tales with some like-minded Brits from Poole in a small van conversion beside us. They are in Spain for 2 months like us and have spent most of their time in the Pyrenees where they have had quite a bit of wind and rain.  

Don Quixote country

The Andalusian countryside is very attractive with low mountain ranges and millions and millions of Olive trees.

Stayed in another even quieter site with just the sound of the birds and the bees and with one other couple. It was in the Sierra Alcaraz, which is in Don Quixote country and we had a look round some of the historical sites. The small pueblo 300m up hill from the site was typical Spanish.

North via Granada

Took off north and on route we bumped into the same couple of Brits for the third time right on top of a mountain. El Torcal has some interesting geological features like Bryce canyon in USA that make weird rock formations. It was also an interesting drive up to the summit to say the least.

We used part of the inland motorway system and spent a night just north of Granada on a quiet site by a lake with the snow capped Sierra Nevada in the background and huge carp splashing around in the lake and we even saw a turtle in the shallows. First encounter with giant ants - well bigger than English ones - in the sandy soil. No time for fishing unfortunately but we would not have been able to land anything we caught.

So off again and this time via the old N roads to cut off the Alicante - Costa Blanca coast, which we did not fancy. Hardly any cars on these roads and as we only cruise at about 60 there is no advantage in fighting the big lorries on the motorway . The Andalusian countryside is very attractive with low mountain ranges and millions and millions of Olive trees.

Costa del Sol

Spent a 3 enjoyable days on the Costa del Sol for bit of sun and relaxation. Its now very civilized with big campsites to choose from with pools, supermarkets, Internet cafes, expensive restaurants and many long term Brits. Rosemary still prefers home cooking and has just bought some huge prawns, a bag of mussels and is currently gutting a squid for me to barbecue later.

We have nice flowery pitch with our own little garden to look after!

We are 2025 miles and four weeks from home and just starting to head back north, more or less, on schedule to be back home in the middle of June. We have only had 10 minutes of rain since second day. Perfect!

Apes at the top of the rock

Went back in to Gibraltar for a days sight seeing and shopping. Marks and Spencer, Next and then the cable car to the top of the rock. Fantastic views, but a bit murky, so we could just about make out the  mountains in Africa above the heat haze.

Lots of monkeys, or are they apes, around the cafe hunting for food scraps and posing for photographs. The rest were just crashed out in the trees. It was hot.

We bought some English things like bacon, red Leicester cheese and fresh English milk.

Gibraltar

Off to Gibraltar via Jerez, which was a none event and we went round the ring road at least twice I think.
Arrived at the customs late afternoon - what a bizarre change. A completely out of place bit of England at the bottom of Spain! But what an impressive sight - no wonder we do not want to give it up. The rock towers above the surrounding area and dominates the entrance to the Mediterranean. We soon found ourselves in a Safeway supermarket car park, having flashed our British passports at the border, and suddenly we are back in the UK. Everything you would find in Morrisson’s and paid in pounds sterling. I had two blueberry muffins and coffee while Rosemary shopped.

Obviously we would need to spend at least a day here so started to look at campsite books while waiting for a Monach airlines plane to land. The runway goes across the road so all traffic is halted for about 15 mins while planes take off. Noticed the tell tale signs off a few motorhomes at the back of a car park just by the border fence. I found it was a car park that also did 24 hour sleep overs for motorhomes and long distance lorries for €13 so we paid our money and had a perfect position right beside the floodlit rock for our barbeque.

Seville

We left the strange world of El Rocio for a short drive to Seville for some more traditional culture. We found a convenient site in what used to be an old monastery at Dos Hamanas. It has been sold to developers so was a bit run down, but Ok for a couple of nights. Rosemary was bombarded with seeds dropped by bats from the tree that we were parked under. We took the 30min-bus trip from outside the site into Seville.

It was very hot almost 38deg but we still managed to do most of the sites, the moorish Alcahza, huge cathedral (Christopher Columbus buried here - allegedly) and walking up the Giraldi tower which has 160 ramps to the top. Cooled off in Santa Lucia gardens and had late lunch before returning to site.

It was over 30 deg in the van until after midnight. An English couple were long terming on the site with young children, must be horrendous in mid summer. The high walls make the site into a pizza oven.

El Rocio - wild west of Spain

Left Portugal on Friday intending to go to Seville, but were told we must go to a place called El Rocio so after spending the first night back in Spain on a nice beach site at Isla Christina we went there for the weekend. It has a campsite on the edge of town.

El Rocio is a weird mix of weekend retreat, religious pilgrimage site and a Wild West town with a weekday population of a few hundred. All the 'roads' are sand and shingle (no problem with double yellow lines here) and people ride by on horses, in 4x4, pickup truck, pony and trap or anything. There is the occasional gunshot and we found a load of 12 bore cartridges just scattered in the main street. The following week the place would be invaded by tens of thousands of people to witness/join a procession carrying an image of the Virgin Mary from from the church El Rocio to the nearby town of Admonte to celebrate some miracle or other.

The reason for being so strange is that it is very cheap area and thousands of Sevillians(?) have weekend apartments so it just goes mad at the weekend. Its also on the edge of nature reserve and not far from coast so its much cooler in summer - but its the strangest place we have ever been.

Southern coast of Portugal

Out of the Algarve now and heading towards the Spanish border. We had two free nights on two beach side parking areas which were much quieter and nicer. You meet some interesting people at these places - some have been there for months for nothing!

We shared one site with a JCB as it was being used as a builders yard, but it is was only 100yds from the little harbour. We bought some peas and potatoes from a wrinkled old man who brings his produce down to sell in a trolley on the back of a bicycle.  I spent an hour shelling peas one afternoon.

Algarve at Playa de Luz

After a couple of days chilling out at Sagres we moved east towards the Algarve and stayed at Luz, just outside Lagos. Walked down to the beach and could have been at Torquay - English people everywhere, all day breakfasts – even 'genuine' Cornish pasties at one restaurant.

It was a bit of a shock after several weeks in real Portugal and so we decided to move on ASAP.

We had a look round Lagos before moving on and bought some more strange fish to grill and topped up the wine store at a big Intermarche supermarket. Only 90cents for 1 litre box and its fine with the BBQ.

luz

Sagres - the end of the world

Very windy site but we managed to barbeque the fish bought earlier in Porto Covo, later found these are called horse mackerel. Lots of fit surfers and bikers on this site – we got a few funny looks.

Next day Rosemary stayed and did some ‘house work’ while I walked the 4 miles to Cabo de San Vincent lighthouse which is the most south westerly point in Europe and considered to be the end of the world until 16th century (and I have got the T-shirt to prove it).

This is the furthest distance, as the crow flies and there were quite a lot of these at the lighthouse, we have been from Leicester.

Porto Covo

Stopped at Port Covo in a cliff top car park, very popular with motorhomes, for the night. Nice secluded coves, crashing waves and attractive village where we did a bit of cheap market shopping before completing the hop down to the Western end of the Algarve at Sagres.

Lisbon from Quincho

Stayed at a beach site near Cascais/Lisbon so that we could see a bit of old Lisbon water front. The Belem tower, war memorial and 25th April Bridge are all in same area.

We spent a couple of hours here and had a coffee and cake before deciding to try and escape the traffic. Took a couple of goes crossing the bridge in the now very busy Friday afternoon motorway traffic. Once out of the suburbs the motorway cleared as we put in about 120 miles to get halfway towards the Algarve.  

Capo do Roca

Made for the coast again just outside Lisbon, sand dunes and Atlantic breakers and every nationality in Europe all around us. Made a visit to nearby Capo do Roca and its lighthouse (the most Westerly point in Europe) which was surrounded by Japanese tourist taking 'compulsory' pictures of each other by the landmark.

I managed to get a space to have my photo taken.

Balael

Stayed overnight on 'free' car park site overlooking pretty seaside village of Baleal and took some sunset pictures.