Where to find Repsol Propano (propane) gas in Cambrils

We love Spanish Repsol gas cylinders because they are so

Repsol propano 

much cheaper that their British Calor gas counterparts! Our original cylinder was obtained from another camper at Mojacar two years ago. They, and we, prefer propane as it is still usable at much low temperatures than butane (so perfect for an English summer!), however we have had problems finding propane exchanges in Spain. Repsol garages practically all stock lots of butane, but frequently don't have propane. Here it is just too warm to need it!

In January last year we struggled to find propane near Mojacar and eventually succeeded by my interrogating other campers at El Quinto. This year we have driven to three Repsol garages in the vicinity of Cambrils, none of whom had any and where staff at only one of which were vaguely helpful. The cashier there suggested 'behind the Esclat hypermarket'. Esclat has a petrol station at the back so we drove there optimistically. Nope! Having driven round the nearby industrial units, none of which looked hopeful, we returned to Esclat so I could ask at the Customer Service desk in my bestest Spanish.

Tiene Propano? No.
Donde comprar aqui?

I finally met someone who knew what they were talking about so big thanks to the Esclat staff, especially as we haven't even shopped there! What we needed to do was drive to the back of Esclat, turn right down a tiny lane, ford a small stream, turn left across the motorway bridge, turn right again at a rough metal Repsol arrow sign (towards the horse riding centre), and following a further two Repsol arrows until we arrived at the Repsol gas distribution centre. This is basically one man in a small prefab in a fenced yard that contains dozens and dozens of lovely full gas bottles. We paid in cash and an 11kg propane bottle was €13.10. That's even cheaper than last year!

Just in case my directions aren't completely clear, I've put a marker on this Google Map and the blue line is from Camping La Llosa to the Repsol yard. Hopefully this post will save someone else the runaround - or indeed us next time when we've forgotten where we went!





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Walking around the abandoned Bedar mineral mines

If you're looking for spectacular views and an unusual walk in the

We only peered into this tunnel 

Mojacar / Bedar area of Spain, you would probably enjoy the Sendero Local 77 walking route which takes in the now abandoned Bedar mines. We spent three hours exploring there on Tuesday afternoon and were so taken with the industrial remains and the gorgeous rock colours that we are returning there with friends on Saturday - weather permitting. It's turned distinctly chilly here the last few days and I almost got blown over by the wind today!

We parked off road at the beginning of the official walk. This Wikiloc page has several maps and routes uploaded by others who have walked here. There's a narrow road off the Los Gallardos to Bedar main road with a large abandoned stone building visible from the main road. The building has a large bricked-up arch at each end and looks as though trains originally drove through it. Park by the map placard, start walking past the building and then head up the steep track to your left. All the best Spanish walks seem to start with a steep uphill!

The beginning is wide tracks passing agricultural land and this tree which we are yet to identify. It really stood out against the predominantly alond and olive trees. We saw our first almond blossom of the year too. We also saw this bizarre cut-away hill which appears to be quarried for soil. It looked even more spectacular on our return as the sun was setting and really brought out the colours.

Well, it's not almond or olive! 

This cutaway hill is a
distinctive landmark 

We mostly stuck to the SL-A 77 route with a few quick diversions to interesting viewpoints such as the Hoyo Jupiter (Jupiter Pit) which is probably the most unusual landscape I have seen since Iceland. We saw rockscapes in purples, in vivid yellows, and in a delicate cream colour. If only a pop-up geologist like on Coast could have been conveniently placed to explain to us what we were seeing. The hillsides are dotted with numerous caves and mineshafts, plus we saw the remains of a cable car tower and railway signal boxes. Part of the route is along the now dismantled railway and crosses a narrow barranco - not the greatest place for those with vertigo but there are ropes each side. We went through tunnels hewn through the hills and peered into others that had been closed off. It was a fun walk and a memorable afternoon!

It's awfully dark and gloomy in there!

This final photo was actually taken on the beach near
Sopalmo but shows the beautiful rock colours 

Walking part of the Bedar to Garrucha mining railway and discovering a good tapas cafe in Mojacar

We chose ourselves a fairly easy walk for yesterday afternoon! The

View through abandoned building window 

imaginatively named PR-A 367 takes in a section of a now abandoned mining railway that used to run from the mines in Bedar to the port at Garrucha. It officially begins in the village of Los Gallardos, but we chose to park out by the Camping Los Gallardos entrance instead so we could have a quick nose at the site!

As with the Via Verde that we walked back in March at Navajas, all the track rails, sleepers, etc, have been taken up, but we saw the remains of three derelict station buildings and the walking route goes through steep sided cuttings and across high embankments. There are some dramatic views along the way. Dave took the fabulous photo above looking through one of the buildings to the hills beyond. All three buildings were the same with no doors, windows or roofs, but we could still make out where the fireplaces and chimneys would have been inside. Most of the terrain is unpaved caminos and tracks with a few narrower footpath sections. There was only one short but steep downhill-uphill bit. That was where a stone bridge no longer went completely over the rambla so we had to walk down one bank and up the other. No scrambling needed though! We also passed through agricultural land with large fields of broad beans and what looked like coriander plants. Hard to tell through the white fleece covers.

Abandoned railway building on PR-A 367 

I have clicked out a Google map of the route we took. Follow this link to see it: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6515988 Our original route was only planned to be about two hours but, once underway, we saw this signpost and couldn't resist adding the loop onto our walk. So the whole walk ended up at three hours and forty minutes. I still don't know what the Pago De Angela Antonia is though.

By contrast, we spent today in the car with flying visits to Nijar, Sorbas, Los Gallardos. Nijar is famous for its rugs and ceramics and has a number of large stores along its high street with an incredible range at very good prices. We saw lots of things we liked, only being restrained from a shopping spree by not having anywhere to put anything. 

Sorbas is a pretty town built on a hillside. It has a web of narrow streets and we got quite confused about where we were. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, we were hoping to find lunch in a nice cafe. The perfectly located one had closed down and we didn't fancy eating by the main road, so just had a quick coffee before heading off to Los Gallardos - which was effectively shut for siesta time!

Ending up back at Mojacar, we headed up to the pueblo (in the lift!) and were fortunate to stumble into the Cafe De Torino. We were warmly greeted and, as well as a large outdoor terrace, the cafe also has a glass-walled room with stunning views for miles and miles! We had perfectly cooked tapas - swordfish, squid and chorizo for Dave; tiny sausages, kidney and a huge salad for me - followed by coffee and a pastry each - strawberry slice and apple tart. All in with beer, wine, bread and crisps for €20 and we're still too full for dinner now!

Picnicking on a beach in January

We had a lovely day yesterday! Starting with retracing one of last year's

Picnicking on a beach near Sopalmo 

strolls from Camping Sopalmo with our friends currently there, Chris and Marta, we then all enjoyed a picnic lunch in warm sunshine on the beach - in January! - before returning to that campsite for the late afternoon and evening before finally heading homeward to Camping El Quinto.

It is much busier at Camping El Quinto now and I think about three-quarters of the pitches are occupied. Most of the newcomers are British and look like they are going to be stopping here for several weeks as they have large awnings and extra cupboard-tents stacked with Stuff. We were shocked when the couple diagonally opposite us made space for their awning on their pitch by cutting down one of the shrubs marking the boundary! We had seen the man pacing out distances and when he then reappeared with a saw, I assumed he was going to remove an encroaching branch, but no. The whole plant has gone. He then continued his deforestation attempts a couple of days later by pruning overhanging tree branches with a borrowed set of long-handled shears. I was so surprised, not only by his nerve and cheek, but also that people consider a variety of gardening tools to be essential caravanning equipment. I guess we still have a lot to learn - and we must obviously plan ahead by buying a considerably bigger awning!

By contrast, Camping Sopalmo is eerily quiet. Walking around had a nice sense of familiarity but, as it was pretty full there for our visit last year, the mostly empty pitches were a little disconcerting. We didn't arrive until late February/early March though so maybe it's just too early in the year? Chris and Marta are doing their best to spread out over multiple pitches and make the place look busy!! We joined them for late morning coffee - we were late - and then all set out with best foots forward. I was interested to see the plants that are growing wild towards the shore as they are different to those thriving in the hills, but maintain the same colour scheme of purples and yellows. Does bloom colour affect plants in this climate? Are the insects around at this time of year particularly attracted to purple and yellow?!

We walked for an hour or so to reach the beach and indulged in a quick paddle before lunching. Wow, that water has gotten so much colder since my last swim at the start of November! I had no intention of going in over my ankles, but Dave was happily prancing around up to his knees. Walking back via Sopalmo village was picturesque and it was interesting to view the route through different eyes as well. Marta is an artist so she often picks up on details of colour and texture that I might have overlooked. She's also a good chef and had made a rich beef casserole for us all. A few games of Yahtzee later - I lost them all, grrr - and we nearly couldn't leave Camping Sopalmo as it was already gone 11pm and the gates to the road were closed with us in our car on the inside! Fortunately campsite owner Simon must have realised we were still there because the bolt was across, but not padlocked. Phew! Thank you Simon! We were locked out at our El Quinto end too, but it's only a single barrier here and easy to walk around.

Perhaps unsurprisingly after such a late night, today has been a quiet day with just an afternoon wander down to Mojacar playa and back for me. The sun was almost too hot for walking at 3pm, but I had a fantastic audio book I wanted to finish - A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, read by Jason Isaacs. Review to follow in my next bookish post ...

Making a few changes to our Bailey Orion caravan

We're having a lazy day today due to our overambitious walk yesterday

that's seen us both feeling pretty tired today. We ended up way off where we thought a route should be so had to do some energetic uphill and scary downhill scrambles. Both of us now have scratches on our legs from dry scritchy plants and brambles - Dave's array is particularly impressive. I thought about trying to create another Google map but we're not totally sure where we went and I don't think I would want other people following those particular footsteps. So instead I'm going to blog a out the little improvements we have made to Bailey recently.

There's a brand new addition to the outside of our caravan this week - as you can see in the photo. Having lugged the empty Repsol bottle that we bought at Sopalmo campsite last year all the way down through France and Spain, this week we got ourselves to a Repsol petrol station and exchanged it for a full one! There is only one place local to Mojacar which sells the propane gas cylinders and that is out on the road from La Garrucha to Vera. We could only get butane easily at the other petrol stations in the vicinity, but should have got the propane further north. Apparently propane is better in low temperatures and the whole point of travelling this far south is because it is warmer! Dave had already researched how to connect the Spanish cylinder to the British pipes and had purchased the right adapter before we left home. The installation wasn't completely hassle free but far easier than replacing the water pump! Our new gas is now connected up and working and ridiculously cheap compared to British prices. 11kg of Repsol propano was €15.40. 3.9kg of Calor propane is £15.99 on their website and we think we remember paying more in Eastbourne!

Our other recent changes are purely cosmetic. I can't remember if I mentioned our jettisoning of the carpets before we left Camping Florantilles? They had always looked a bit grubby because they had been left in their plastic coating from new for far too long. This meant the glue on the coating had come off on the carpets leaving them covered with tiny sticky bobbles. I spent a couple of afternoons cleaning them with daubs white spirit which helped a lot. However, we finally got fed up and decided the bare wood floors looked so much better! And they do so to hell with the resale value! We bought this rug on Wednesday from Souvenirs Maria Rosa in Mojacar. This is my first photo taken with my Kindle Fire so please excuse the quality. It looks better tiny!

I also spotted this beautiful wrap at Kasbah on Mojacar playa. It is made of aloe fibres and is currently doing duty covering the back of my bench seat.

Our final 'upgrade', which doesn't really warrant a photo, is a new chopping board. The Bailey Orion came with a large white plastic circular one which also doubled up as a cover for the sink. Unfortunately its designed home, with the table top in a vertical space between the fridge and tbe oven, meant it was exposed to considerable heat when the oven was in use. So it warped and would no longer fit securely on top of the sink. It scored very easily when chopped upon too, and was far too large to conveniently fit in the washing up bowl. All told, a nuisance all round! It has gone binwards today to be replaced with a €2 Bright Orange rectangular one.

As regards further alterations, we are thinking around the idea of not needing the mains hookup everywhere we go. This might save money and will allow us greater freedom when choosing campsites, especially those CL sites in the UK which have no electricity. Our friends, Chris and Marta, might be getting a solar solution soon so we will interested to learn how that works out for them. Personally, I am intrigued by pedal power generators. We saw one at the Alternative Living festival in Socoa, France. I found this LowImpact.org website which explains the principles, but my brain has given out by the time I get to the technicals. I like the idea of using Dave's bike effectively as my exercise bike and contributing to the caravan's energy store at the same time.


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Our most ambitious ascent yet - walking the hills above Mojacar

We discovered a stunning walking route yesterday. Dave had already

View back down to Mojacar pueblo and playa from way above 

researched a way out of Mojacar pueblo that would get us out onto the hills, already pretty high up, and we could then strike out 'off piste' as it were and explore at will. Starting with a very slight downhill section out of Camping El Quinto, practically all the first two hours were relentless climbing, and an equal proportion of the second half of the walk was, unsurprisingly, almost as steeply down again! However, we managed a total of five hours actual walking with an ascent from lowest to highest points of 600 metres - our longest ascent yet. Plus, neither of us ended up injured so we are very proud!

If you'd like to try this walk yourselves, the following link should go to the gmaps pedometer website where we've clicked round the route, as accurately as we could see. The tracks are fine, but the middle section of the footpath was tricky to make out on satellite view. For walking purposes, stay on the footpath! It's mostly very clear on the ground. Overall the whole route is a little over eight miles and I'd advise walking sticks and good boots as a few short sections are bordering on a scramble.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6506363

Setting out from the campsite at 11am, we went up the road to the edge of Mojacar pueblo, further up past the school and the big car park, up past the back of some apartments, and out of town another street that passed a house with six barking dogs and ended by a water building. Then onto a rough track which, when it forked, had a Privado chain across the road, but with a obvious footpath width clear to the left side for walkers. Every so often we could hear bursts of almost Moorish music floating up from one of the buildings on the edge of town. Be sure to turn back every so often as you climb away because there's some great views back down to Mojacar and beyond. The horizon was hazy but even so we thought we could see as far along the coast as Mazarron.

The track became rougher the further along it we went as fewer vehicles needed to use it. Eventually it petered out altogether and, casting our eyes around, we spied a single-person-width footpath continuing on into the wilderness. At this point, we had no idea where the footpath led but, as it seemed to be upwards, we had a crazy idea about getting to 'the top', we had our lunch with us and all the afternoon's sunlight remained, we followed it. The ground changed from dry greyish scree to a rich terracotta-brown earth. There was lots of thyme, heather and lavender, and the air is beautifully clear. We had pure blue skies as well and not too hot so perfect for walking. Are you envious yet?!

At some points the footpath is fainter than others, but by using the 'El Torcal' method of navigating - looking for the darker colour of repeated footfalls on rocks - we kept going.The route varied from almost flat path to scrambles up what appeared to be a little dry waterfall. Around 1pm we began to get a little worried as we weren't exactly sure where we were in relation to looping back before dark. We knew we could easily retrace our steps, but having already been that way, we wanted to keep travelling forwards. We found ourselves with GPS on Dave's phone. The track, however, was too naturally coloured to show up on the satellite view. We decided to keep going forward until lunch. The views across the hills and occasionally out to sea are so beautiful. In the very far distance we could even see snow-covered mountains. I almost wished I had a tent in a backpack and could keep going right until the horizon!

A(nother) abandoned building just below the skyline to our right with a dry streambed below it was the setting for lunch. We were careful not to leave anything behind as, unusually for Spain, we hadn't seen any litter at all since leaving the vehicle tracks. Given the extra half hour of our being still, Dave's phone GPS managed to really sharpen the satellite image and I could now make out not only our footpath, but also a white track close by in the direction we were going. The whiteness looked as if it would lead round to wide tracks back home. Imagine our surprise when our footpath not only actually met this track, but we crested a slope to be greeted with this signpost - the first and only in nearly three hours!

We came from 'A Mojacar'

I was glad that we had lunched where we did, ie before joining the PR370 track, because the footpath, despite being obviously well-used, felt isolated and almost magical. I loved feeling as though we were the only people there and that we had this vast landscape to ourselves. If I ever do get around to writing my own novel, I should definitely set some of it here! 

Once on the PR370, there were vehicle tyre marks and and we left the fox-red earth behind for dry scree again. Somehow knowing other people have walked a route, historically or recently, has a certain romance to it. Knowing they drove there in their cars just doesn't have the same effect. There were a lot of sparkly slate fragments lying by the sides of the tracks and heaped in steep valleys. They looked like silver twinkling in the sunlight and where the roads had been carved into the hills, the sides were a wonderful blend of coloured rocks from purples to oranges. The track was marked with official yellow and white striped marker poles and, had we gone to its conclusion, would have taken us to Turre - not far from our campsite - where there are bars. However, in order not to have to finish with an(other) uphill, we instead took ourselves off via La Alcantarilla which must have been a pretty hamlet once but is now mostly deserted. Here there is a quaint stone bridge over a narrow single-carriage road and an orchard with three cute donkeys in it. There are also two new houses each with several barking dogs. We had walked these few streets a few days ago in the outward direction so remembered that when the way ends in a high gate, we could step left over a dirt bank onto a crumbling road which would be suicidal for motorists. It's fine for walkers though.

Although, we were glad to get back to Bailey again for a well-deserved sit-down and a cup of tea, I think this is one of the best walks we have done. I remember one in the Brecon Beacons and one in the Picos which had similar senses of vastness. I love walks where the path seems endless and the possibilities infinite. I hope we will discover many more!

We go to Vera and wrestle with a water pump

When we first arrived at Camping El Quinto, one of the stacks of flyers

A Gaudi-esque apartment building in Vera 

Dave noticed in Recepcion was advertising a caravanning and camping accessories shop in the nearby town of Vera. We were particularly interested because the flyer specified gas canister refills for various makes including our Repsol propano. Having had a long country walk on Tuesday this week, we thought a town visit would ring the changes on Wednesday and we could take the opportunity to drop by this shop. We found the shop remarkably easily but were disappointed by the Se Alquilar (for rent) poster prominently displayed in the window. Oh well!

We parked up there anyway and walked along the main road into Vera town centre. It seemed that at least a quarter of the commercial premises were empty which made the road feel run down, but had we also passed their elegant and grand bullring which was well maintained and an impressive triumphal arch in the centre of a roundabout. We were unsure of the triumph it celebrated. I took a photo for Facebook of a fun Don Quixote sculpture in the grounds of the secondary school. It was similarly made, using metal, to the one we saw last year in Valoria La Buena. The pedestrianised town centre had a bustling community atmosphere in contrast to its suburbs. Christmas decorations were strung across the narrow streets and there were also at least three loudspeakers playing seasonal songs to the shoppers.

Our ultimately unsuccessful search for coconut milk led us into several independent supermercados - one international Indian-owned shop did stock large pots of spices for a euro each. I snapped up ground ginger which can also be hard to find in this part of Spain. Another supermercado was doing a roaring trade in green beans which were practically being sold out of the back of the van that had brought them to town. There was great excitement and women buying two carrier bagfuls each. I think the grower must have been a local farmer with an excellent reputation for their produce.

We spent a good couple of hours wandering Vera and luckily spotted the Gaudi-style apartment building pictured above as we were trying to head back to the car. It reminded us of our citybreak in Barcelona.

Back in Mojacar, after lunch I set out on a stroll with my current audio book - Walking Home by Clare Balding - down to the beach and along to a potentially interesting shop we had driven past before lunch. It is called Kasbah and has a fantastic range of Moroccan style clothing and homewares. I bought a wrap made of Aloe cactus threads dyed in vibrant stripes of red, purple, orange and gold. It is now draped over my bench seat in Bailey and looks gorgeous. We may need to return! The shop's owner is actually an American, originally from New Orleans. We've been there!

New Year's Eve didn't start too well. Halfway through cooking dinner, our Whale Water Pump decided to give up altogether leaving us with an uncooked rice problem. We filled a bottle with water from the campsite tap to last us overnight as we didn't fancy trying to work out how to fit the new pump by the light of a head torch and after a few glasses of mulled wine. Sometimes we just have no sense of adventure!

Today we decided to sort the water before walking as otherwise we might be too preoccupied worrying about it to enjoy the great outdoors. I suffered this a couple of days ago after forgetting the pin to my debit card. It's a good thing we did as the whole job took nearly two hours. The theory is simple enough - pump has an electric wire that needs threading through an outer blue casing. Blue casing is two connected tubes, one for water, one for electric. However, the instructions for exactly HOW to achieve this were non-existent. The Whale leaflet assumes the existence of staff! We blundered on regardless.

The raw wire ends are presoldered so solid and sharp enough to begin gouging into the inside of the blue piping at every opportunity, therefore making it impossible to thread the wire through. We eventually overcame this by slotting the plastic tube cover from one of Dave's tiny paint brushes over the wire ends and slathering both this and the wire itself with vaseline. Success. Once the wire is through its casing, the next step was to fit the other side of the blue piping over the water outlet on the pump. The old one had a straight tube with an expanding circle clip thing. The new one has a ledge on the tube that is almost exactly too wide for the pipe and definitely too wide for the clip. We managed eventually to force the blue over the tube but it is at a bit of an angle so possibly not secure enough to stay there forever, although it is currently so secure that we couldn't get it back off to try again. The circle clip is useless, but stuck in position anyway. At least we will know where it is if we need one for anything else.

And now the new pump works! And it's as loud as the old one used to be! Running water is restored. As a treat and due to all the 'stress', we are now having a lazy day, as you can probably tell from this overlong post, while our breadmaker is whumping and whirring away kneading us a tasty loaf for a good walk's lunch tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

In search of A Good Walk - we set off to Mojacar

After a ridiculously early start - by our current standards, probably

Fun tepee tiles on El Quinto shower block 

luxuriously tardy to anyone else - at quarter past nine yesterday morning, we arrived 135ish miles away at Camping El Quinto, just outside Mojacar in plenty of time for lunch. The reason for our hasty departure from Camping Florantilles was not skipping the bill - everyone has to pay up front there (!) - but that we needed to arrive at El Quinto before Recepcion closed for siesta at 1pm. They don't reopen again until after 5pm and we didn't fancy waiting around outside for hours unable to get in and set up. Dave had emailed ahead and Marina had said we would be welcome to pull in but please not to select a pitch without assistance. It turned out that, due to our wanting to stay here at least three weeks, there were only three available pitches from which we could choose. The campsite is less than half full right now but I guess it is going to get a lot busier come the beginning of January.

We chose to return to Mojacar again so soon because we know there is lots of good walking here. We keep talking about having been here 'last year' overlooking that our previous stay at nearby Sopalmo was only in February so still 'this year' at the moment! El Quinto was recommended to Dave by someone he got chatting to at the washing up sinks at Florantilles. It's amazing how much one can learn about other campers and their travels over a bowl of washing up! It is situated on the 'other side' of Mojacar from Sopalmo and we are now within 15 minutes walk of the town on the hillside. The difference of only 5 or 6 miles has opened up a whole new vista of walks right from our doorstep. Dave was told how pretty El Quinto is and the information was right. The large pitches are delineated by shrubs and small trees, all of which are green and leafy not overpruned skeletons. There are cute little garden areas for sitting and relaxing and everywhere is neat and clean. There's only one small sanitary block so it might be a case of picking our shower times when the site gets busy. However it has everything we need and lots of good pressure hot water at the turn of a tap - bliss! I think we're going to like it here.

We have had a couple of problems with Bailey recently and are wondering if bits are starting to wear out already. Both are water related - the Truma water heater and water pump. The water heater appeared to blow when we arrived at Florantilles. We switched it on and all the electrics promptly went off. Dave untripped us at the external electric box. Switching the water heater on again now just tripped its own circuit in the caravan. We've checked the fuses but can't see into them! We've stopped trying the water heater on the electric, but Dave's considering trying it on the gas here. Forums suggest a variety of potential problems including the demise of the element. Hopefully it will be something as 'simple' to fix as this because, although we don't use it that often, instant hot water in Bailey is very useful at times.

The Truma water pump was very loud when we first bought Bailey, to the extent that people on neighbouring pitches sometimes commented! Not having had one before, we didn't know what they were supposed to sound like, but realised they probably weren't intended to be heard three pitches away. Over the months of last winter's travels the pump quietened down and we hardly noticed it. Now, however, it has started whining on for ages after we turn a tap off. I think the pump itself is wearing out. It's fine when then Aqua Roll is full, but once it gets below about a third remaining, the water pressure falls significantly which I guess is why the pump keeps whining - it's taking so much longer to refill the pipes. Fortunately a spare water pump was one of the precautionary purchases we made at John's Cross before we set out again this year. At the price, I think the current one should last longer so we're going to hang on with it as long as we can bear the noise - or as long as it keeps going anyway!

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Sopalmo and Mojacar and Bigastro

Mimosa on the Mojacar cliff walk 

We've had downs and ups since my last post and I'm not talking about the ridiculously steep hill that our current site, Camping Altomira, is built upon. We meant to leave Bigastro after one night but, due to an accident which temporarily put Bailey off the road, we ended up staying there for a second. Before anyone panics, the accident was minor, at low speed and no one got hurt. I may have taken a sharp corner slightly too sharply and bashed the end of the motor mover bar on a high kerb. In the car, we just heard a bang, followed by Bailey not wanting to move on one side. The motor mover was stuck pressed against the tyre on one side and we couldn't shift it so after unhitching and pushing Bailey off the road - thanks to kind Spanish guy who came over to help push - Dave drove back up to Camping La Pedrera to seek assistance. The very helpful receptionist tracked down a fellow camper, a German who 'likes fixing caravans' and, after nearly two hours non-stop work, he managed to fix Bailey. Big thanks to him too. Woo hoo and phew!! (We took a slightly different route out of Bigastro on Wednesday.)

Mojacar Nazarene 

Before catching the blog up to where we now are, I want to talk more about walking around Mojacar as I completely failed to mention the recently built cliff walk from Sopalmo direction to its beach front strip of cafes and tat shops. The path has been cut out high above the water line and gives good views out to sea as well as affording glimpses of some of the mine workings for which the area was previously known. It's a bit narrow on places so cyclists zooming round blind corners could be a hazard and we even spotted a couple on a big motorcycle attempting the footpath too. What we knew - and they were about to find out - was that there was a pair of rather matronly Spanish women walking a few minutes behind us. I suspect the motorbike duo weren't going to get far.

One 'local landmark' which now has an official information board on the route is the Nazarene pictured here. Apparently, many years ago, some miners were on the cliffs below this rock formation when there was a landslip  further up. The men would have been forced into the sea and drowned, but for the presence of the Nazarene which blocked the path of the tumbling rocks and saved several lives. Personally, I don't quite see a person in the rock shape, but it is pretty amazing how it stays put at that angle - the slope really is that steep. Perhaps someone's been up there with lots of Blu-Tack? Anyway, it's a (tenuous) excuse to shoe-horn in the Sam Baker song at the end of this post! I think we'll definitely be going back to Mojacar at some point in the future because there's far more great walking that we didn't even attempt. The Mojacar Walking Group has detailed information on their website if you're interested.

Finally, I've recently seen fun news from one of our earliest campsites, Camping Beira-Marvao, on their Facebook feed. Annick and Rudy are offering a selection of Portuguese cakes and pastries on the campsite this season including my favourite, the pastel de nata custard tarts. Tempting photos have been posted!

Superbly sunny Sunday in Sopalmo

We were only going to stay at Camping Sopalmo for a few days but have been over over a week because we like it so much! The drive here was a bit of a nightmare for me because both the first and last thirds of the journey involved mountain roads with scary views down into gorges or crossing high bridges. I managed but it wasn't fun. The last part between Carboneras and Mojacar, passing through Sopalmo, is narrow and full of hairpin bends as well! Both last Sunday and this morning, hordes of motorcyclists have come roaring past the campsite entrance on their way to enjoy the road. We think there were over 100 in one group alone last week. You'd like it here, Dad! It's the ALP-118 and has one of those green borders in our atlas.

The site itself is quite small but busy and a large proportion of the people here are staying on the one spot for four or five months. There's good discounts for long stays but even the over-a-week discount makes a big difference. The shower blocks are pretty good and remarkably draught free! Simon and his staff are friendly and helpful and the other campers are some of the friendliest we've encountered. They keep having afternoon parties. We've even been out to another caravan, with new friends Bob and Carol, for dinner, practically unheard of for us! Downsides are that the wifi signal is poor unless I'm sitting right outside reception. It's warm enough in the daytime, but screen reflections are irritating. I've got through loads of books in February though because of not spending all evening bumming around the internet - did you read my Month In Books reviews?!

There's lots of good walking around Sopalmo. The 'rambla' which is the dried up river bed leads up to the village and down to a cafe and the beach. Plus there are many dirt tracks going up into the hills and along ridges with fantastic views out over the sea. We did one picnic walk of over four hours where the first hour and a half was relentlessly uphill and the view from the radio masts at the top was spectacular. I'll try and get a couple of maps added to this post if I can work out how. On our last walk we encountered a goat herder with his herd of goats which must have numbered well over 200. They were all different colours from white to grey to brown and seemed to 'flow' over the hillsides. An unusual sight for us. 

Mojacar Pueblo, up on the hill nearby, is an old village where all the buildings are painted white. Dave came here before about fifteen years ago and says that the transformation has been drastic. We walked around for a morning enjoying the hidden glimpses of Moorish architecture. It's still a pretty, quaint village but now has many cafes and tat shops whereas before there were just small houses. There's a long strip of restaurants and bars along the beach at the bottom of the hill too which wasn't there before.

We think we'll probably move on from here in the middle of this week. Hopefully we can take the weather with us - or find more en route - as, apart from an unexpected gale last night, it was been gorgeously hot and sunny. Perfect lounger weather! 
And to end, in case I don't get to posting again in time, Happy Birthday Andy! 

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