A short hop and we are in Alcossebre

Camping Ribamar, on the edge of the Serra d'Irta natural park, is

There's lots of walking in the Serra d'Irte 

probably going to be our last long-stay campsite in Spain. It is only about a two hour drive from Cullera so we had an easy day's travelling yesterday. Dave had printed out maps which, together with signposts in town, meant we got here without getting lost! The last couple of kilometres is a dirt track road which was a little tricky to drive along, but we managed ok. We tried cycling back along it this morning as the Consum supermarket is only 4km away and I had visions of us doing our shopping by bike instead of by car for such a short distance. We made it there and back, but the track was slow going and I had to get off and push a few times which was disappointing. There are a lot of loose stones and rocks that wouldn't be a problem for an experienced off-road cyclist. For a nervous ninny like me though, they took all the enjoyment away. Oh well!

The campsite itself is lovely. It is clean and tidy. The reception is actually open all day and the staff are both friendly and speak good English. The showers are great and within a warm block. And we're only a five minute walk from the beach footpath and a beautiful rocky coastline. Alcossebre town is just under an hour's walk away although there are a few bars even closer. The site has an open tennis court (no net though) and a nice table tennis table (with net) and a petanque court. We haven't played any of the three since Xabia so I think we'll be back to square one for everything except tennis - I hadn't even reached square one with that!

The pitches are big with a gravelled surface and individual water and waste water. The only trouble is with getting onto them - a kerb proved too much for the motormover. Fortunately, several guys jumped up to help push - thank you all! There's also a whole Library room! My little eyes lit up like stars! I swapped my read books for three others - not a great choice but I did find an almost new copy of another David Vann book. I enjoyed my NetGalley read of Aquarium and this one is Caribou Island. The only snag is that it is in Spanish, but we have a big dictionary and it's not a very thick volume ... !

We saw this line of caterpillars crossing the footpath to the beach all following each other exactly and so close to be practically touching. There were twenty-two in all and they are the furry poisonous ones that mustn't be touched. I also photographed some flowers which were pretty and the rocks on the beach which are weird. They almost look like rocky road cake with coloured chunks stuck together. I guess it's natural, not man-made but haven't seen anything quite like it before. Any geologists reading?

A caterpillar parade 

Pretty Spring flowers 

Can anyone explain this rock?