Our new campsite at Moncofa

After a day of flooding then two days of high winds at Les Medes, we decided to travel further south in search of good weather. Without wanting to tempt fate(!), I think we have found it in Moncofa. We have stayed near here in previous years, but have not visited this town before.

Our campsite is called Camping Monmar. It is located within a couple of minutes cycling of the beach and is pretty much at the edge of the town. We are using our ACSI card to get a 17€ per night price. After 7 nights this drops to €15 and if we stay 30 nights or more we would only pay €12 per night. At the moment this is a possibility, but we haven't yet seen how the campsite changes for weekends! The site is about a half and half mix of touring and permanent pitches. Most of the permanents are closed up, but a few Brits stay here all winter. The staff are great - very friendly and helpful. The pitches aren't huge and are marked by pruned trees and metal canopy poles so there's not much greenery. However, the shower blocks are well maintained and we have water, electricity points and two working sinks right by our caravan.

This morning we cycled along the seafront promenade. There is a wide sandy beach and the sea looked inviting although I am sure it is too cold to swim! I loved the palm tree avenue and the white painted pavilions with their tiled boat scenes. As usual for this time of year, we had the place almost to ourselves. A half dozen cafes were open along the seafront, but otherwise we hardly saw anyone. Our own private world!

We paused several times along a terrace of beachfront houses, all of which I think were built in 1932. They reminded us of the villas in Benicassim but not on such a grand scale. We plan to explore the town further over the next few days. If we are still here on the 17th November, I would like to visit the Medieval Market. It might be like the Denia one! We also want to see Castellon, do lots more cycling on the plain here and maybe even get some walking in the hills.

Après une journée d'inondation puis deux jours de grands vents à Les Medes, nous avons décidé de voyager plus loin du Sud en quête de beau temps. Sans vouloir tenter le destin, je pense que nous l'avons trouvée à Moncofa. Nous sont restes près d'ici les années précédentes, mais n'ont pas visité cette ville avant.

Notre camping s'appelle Camping Monmar. Il est situé à quelques minutes à vélo de la plage et est pres a la lisière de la ville. Nous utilisons notre carte ACSI pour obtenir un 17€ prix de la nuit. Après 7 nuits cela tombe à 15€ et si nous restons 30 nuits ou plus, nous ne paierons que 12€ par nuit. Maintenant c'est une possibilité, mais nous n'avons pas encore vu comment le camping se change au week-end! Le camping est d'environ un mélange moitié-moitié d'emplacements tournées et permanentes. La plupart des permanentes est fermées vers la haut mais quelques britanniques restent ici tout l'hiver. Le personnel est excellent - sympathique et tres serviable. Les emplacements ne sont pas énormes. Ils sont marquées par les arbres élagués et poteaux métalliques couvert. Il n'y a pas beaucoup de verdure. Toutefois les sanitaires sont bien entretenues et nous avons l'eau, électricité et deux lavabos au bord de notre caravane.

Ce matin,  avons roulé le long de la promenade de la plage. Il y a un plage du sable et la mer avait l'air accueillant bien que je ne sais pas qu'il fait trop froid de nager. J'ai aimé l'avenue arbre de paume et les pavillons blancs avec leurs scènes de bateaux en mosaïque. Comme d'habitude de cette période de l'année nous sommes presque seuls. Une demi-douzaine cafes sont ouverts sur le front de mer mais sinon nous n'avons vu personne. Notre propre univers personnel!

Nous avons suspendu plusieurs fois le long d'une terrasse des maisons, que qui je crois ont été construits en 1932, en bord de mer. Ils nous ont rappelé des villas a Benicassim, mais pas à une telle échelle grand. Nous avons l'intention d'explorer la ville plus loins dans les prochaines jours. Nous voulons aussi voir Castellon, faire beaucoup plus de vélo sur la plaine ici, et peut-être randonner dans les collines.

Camping on the North Wales coast - Llandanwg and Harlech

View from Llandanwg beach 

I vaguely remember going to Anglesey for a week with a schoolfriend some thirty years ago otherwise I don't think I have explored North Wales before now. It's beautiful!

We booked in for four nights at a Camping And Caravanning Club certified site in the tiny village of Llandanwg, about two kilometres from Harlech. Ymwlch Farm campsite is essentially a neat stonewalled field with electric hookups and several water taps. There are a pair of toilets off to one side and the possibility to take showers at the nearby farmhouse. A 'shock horror' moment revealed there was absolutely no phone or portable wifi signal there so I had the bizarre experience of being almost internet free for several days! I say almost because there was a good signal about a hundred yards away on the beach. The campsite was £16 per night including electricity. Showers are 50p extra each. There is a fairly tight turn off the road and I was glad we only had our trailer tent on tow although larger caravans than Bailey were in the field so it probably would have been fine!

View from Llandanwg beach 

Ymwlch Farm's great advantages are its proximity to a wide sandy beach and to the historic town of Harlech with its interesting shops and cafes and the partially restored castle. There is good walking country hereabouts too, but unfortunately Dave came down with a nasty cold for a few days so we will need to return and walk! We did manage an hour or so strolling towards a small harbour and back around on our first evening. The views were stunning and these photos really don't do them justice!

We visited Harlech Castle the next day. Edward I had its construction started in 1283, one of a number of structures he commissioned, and it was virtually completed by 1289 which is apparently fast by large-stone-castle standards. I learned that 950 men worked on the build at the busiest time and, like all grand designs, it went rather over budget although at just over £8000 was still Edward's cheapest castle! By the early 1400s Harlech Castle was occupied by Owain Glyndwr (whose name we last encountered I think in Llandovery) and the famous anthemic Men Of Harlech song was written about the siege of Harlech Castle during the Wars Of The Roses.

View across to a harbour
near Llandanwg 

Entry to the castle these days is by way of a ticket office with attached gift shop and cafe. Once inside there are a number of informative poster boards and I especially liked two small models of the castle. Towers and walls have been restored so it is possible to climb (too many!) spiral steps and get long views over Harlech town and out to sea. At the time of its construction the sea was much closer, but now there is a band of protected dunes and a small golf course between its sea gate and the water.

Going paddling at Broadsands

Dartmouth Steam Railway above
the South West Coast Path 

It's been glorious in Torbay this week! Making the most of our time here before the schools break up and the bay is swamped with tourists, we decided to walk another short section of the South West Coast Path. Our intention was to explore from Goodrington Sands to the edge of Brixham, thereby joining up (as near as makes no difference!) with our previous Brixham to Berry Head walk.

We parked at Goodrington Sands where three hours is £4 except I got a bit confused and put £3 in the machine so we only had two hours for our walk. In hindsight we should have just jumped on a bus from Torquay. My dayrider ticket would have been £5, but Dave has a free bus pass. Then we wouldn't have had any time restraints or been obliged to return to our start point. We'll know for next time!

Looking back towards Torquay 

The Coast Path swiftly leaves the Goodrington Sands water park - and its shrieks! - behind to undulate along the cliffs. It pretty much follows the Dartmouth Steam Railway line that we travelled last summer in the train. Not exactly alongside though - that would be far too flat for a good footpath! Instead, here, the path is uppy-downy enough (technical term) to challenge us, but without ever making us feel that the effort would be overwhelming. We had expected a sea breeze to diffuse the day's heat, but that relief rarely materialised.

Having originally planned to go further than Broadsands Beach, some three-quarters of an hour's walk from Goodrington Sands, we were actually happy to pause there a while and have our first paddle of the summer. After a few minutes the water felt positively warm and Dave is keen to return soon and swim. We also treated ourselves to a Devon-made Yarde Farm ice cream each (I loved the Lime And Basil flavour) before scrubbing dried sand off our feet and booting up for the return walk.

Beach huts at Broadsands 

Our visit to sunny Salcombe

Shell doorway 

We decided to pay a visit to the South Hams town of Salcombe yesterday, our reasoning being that it would probably be less manic on the Friday of a Bank Holiday weekend than it would be on the Saturday. We began at the Park And Walk car park which, like at Sidmouth, is at the top of the hill. Salcombe's costs £3 for a day (or £3.03 if you don't have the right change and pay by mobile). It's then an pretty 15 minute walk into the waterside centre (allow 20 minutes to get back!). We both loved the pictured doorway, liberally adorned with seashells, which is just past the town museum.

Salcombe has a wealth of independent shops and businesses, many of which cater to more affluent residents and visitors. We noticed that a significant proportion of the houses hereabouts are holiday lets and I liked this advertising tricycle. I suspect it does not get ridden up the hill out of town at the end of each day!

We regretted not having pre-booked a tour at Salcombe's gin distillery, but did make a point of sampling Salcombe-made ice-cream and sorbet - both excellent. At the Tonic Gallery, we were both impressed by Greg Ramsden's paintings. He has an incredibly ability to capture light and to see the beauty in boatyard scenes. There are two wood sculptures currently at the gallery too, one which, resembling a wing, is particularly beautiful, but I forgot to note down the artists' names.

Back on the streets, we walked right out to the end of town passing a private quay and a row of old boatyard workshops several of which it was good to see are still utilised by boatbuilders. Others are now studios for other creative businesses including Will Bees Bespoke which makes gorgeous classic bags and purses. I was sorely tempted here!

Strolling back to the other end of the waterfront I was taken with the sign above the old public water fountain. Dire consequences are threatened to anyone caught using it to wash fish!

Salcombe has a lot of food sling establishments ranging from bakeries and delicatessens to luxurious seafront restaurants and it took us a while to make up our minds what we wanted to eat and where. Eventually we settled on The Fortescue Inn, a lovely olde worlde pub. I can highly recommend the fish finger sandwiches and Dave enjoyed his locally-smoked salmon sandwiches too.

Looking back over to Salcombe 

We toyed with the idea of taking an hour long estuary cruise, but the wide sandy beaches on the opposite shore looked too inviting so, instead of that, we crossed over on the pedestrian ferry (£1.60 per person each way). The beaches are privately owned, but open to the public and were popular with sunbathers on Friday. A few small children braved the water and I took my shoes off to wander in the surf, but wouldn't have wanted to swim. The water is still cold! We managed to get quite a way up to and through rocks before the water became too deep to continue. In the time it took us to decide whether we should continue, we nearly got ourselves cut off! The tide comes in quickly up the sand although a rock scramble was still an option.

I did like Salcombe as a place to visit. It is a very pretty little town with lots of charm and plenty to do for a day trip or long weekend. I am not sure I would be so keen to actually live there though. It was busy enough on Friday. I can imagine it being so crowded as to be uncomfortable through the summer months and getting in or out by road would be a nightmare!

Early bluebells in Torquay

Bluebells at Meadfoot Green 

Did you have a good Easter? We treated ourselves to slices of homemade Simnel cake from a stall at Torquay Indoor Market and managed to resist the allure of chocolate eggs. I might look to see how much the unsold ones have been reduced by when I pop to the Co-Op later though! I learned that Torquay's branch of Thornton's is closing down in a couple of weeks so there might be good bargains there too. There's a 60% off sale at Thornton's online!

I have enjoyed rediscovering my way around Torquay over the past couple of weeks. Those of you who know my appalling sense of direction will understand how much of an achievement it will be for me to actually learn the whole town! Just before the Bank Holiday weekend Dave and I walked down to Meadfoot Beach where there were actually people - mostly children admittedly - swimming in the sea. In April! Madness!

Looking over towards Thatcher's Rock 

We paused to look out to sea and wondered at what appears to be wall remnants on Thatcher's Rock. Does anyone know if it was ever inhabited or is this just how the rock has eroded? And why is it called Thatcher's Rock? Travelling always brings up more questions than answers, even when I travel at home.

Cutting inland from the far end of Meadfoot Beach, we turned into Meadfoot Green parts of which are anything but green at the moment. Apparently the water board have been digging trenches. The ground is now refilled, but awaiting grass seed. We crossed one of the wooden plank bridges into the woodland and I was delighted to find bluebell carpets. I always think of them as a May flower because I generally see them around my birthday, but here in the English Riviera at least, they are already putting on quite a show. Coincidentally, in my brilliant Rebecca audiobook that I am currently listening to, the second Mrs de Winter had been discussing Maxim's opinion of bluebells the day before we saw ours! Even more profuse here are a white variant that I think are probably Spanish bluebells, not the rare albino British ones. They are eyecatching too, but in a different way and didn't have the same ethereal quality as the blue ones.

White bluebells 

A Sunday afternoon cycle - Vinaros to Cases

Machine gun post near Cases 

We cycled all the way to Catalonia today! Yay us!
Admittedly this feat only actually meant about a three hour pedalling round trip, but it was fun to pass under the Welcome to Catalonia signpost on the N340.

We drove from Calig and parked near the outward point of our previous Benicarlo to Vinaros cycle so we could continue along this stretch of the coast. It was a glorious day so the promenades and restaurants were packed. Fortunately the car park is huge so we had no trouble finding a space and unfolding our bicycles. The route is on roads through the edge of town for the first 10-15 minutes which could have been hairy were we in the UK, but here drivers are patient with cyclists and gave us a wide berth when they did pass. Eventually, just after an uphill curve, we spotted the beginning of a dedicated cycle path and this continues all the way into Cases. There were stunning sea views all the way!

View from the Vinaros-Cases cycle path 

After detouring to zoom round a potential campsite for next year, Camping Estanyet, we pedalled into town. Cases was even busier than Vinaros. We paused at a little Tourist Office kiosk to pick up a couple of local hiking maps, pleasantly surprised at its being open on a Sunday, before continuing straight on as far as another campsite, Camping Cases, which didn't look as promising for future trips. We didn't immediately realise that this was about as far as we would get. We tried cycling further, but had to rejoin the N340 which was heading to a grim-looking industrial plant and wasn't fun. We decided to about turn and look for lunching opportunities in Cases.

It soon struck us that, while we might have enjoyed the excellent cycle path facility, we hadn't seen any bike stands or bike parking since Vinaros. A quick zoom around Cases revealed only one bike hoop which had a restaurant table so close to it as to be unusable. Despite many cyclists, there was nowhere to lock up bikes and weirdly, none chained to railings or lampposts either. Where were they all? Hmmm! Fortunately we hadn't been sure whether any food places would be open - they all were - so had packed an emergency apple! We ate this on the prom, hoping it would provide energy enough for our return to Vinaros.

Machine gun posts near Cases 

I was intrigued by the sight of these two Civil War machine guns posts just outside Cases. We had seen them on the way in and couldn't work out why they were just offshore. You can see in the first photo that Curious Dave nearly got his feet wet in reaching one to peer inside! According to a handy signboard (in four languages!) the concrete emplacements originally faced out to sea from above the waterline and were part of extensive anti-fascist defences along the beach here. Since the 1930s, sea moving the shingle underneath has turned them around so they now seem to glare inland. As well as these two, there was another single post about half a mile further on.

Once back in Vinaros we were pretty tired. It turned out that the 'flat' cycle route had been slightly downhill on the way out! We thought again about lunch, but couldn't make a decision so instead treated ourselves to coffee and cake (and a caipirinha for Dave) at The Royal Bar before heading home.

Walking from Camping Ametlla - olive trees & rocky beaches

Toucan guarding the motorway tunnel 

One of the big draws of our current campsite, Camping Ametlla just outside Ametlla de Mar, is its proximity to the Catalan GR92 hiking route which passes along the coast about 200m away from our pitch. We have now walked several 1-2 hours sections of this path in both directions and it has gorgeous scenery. The coastline is only half the story though. We also discovered pretty walks directly from the campsite by turning inland. A few days ago we again set out on foot from our caravan, but chose to start by edging through a somewhat flooded tunnel under the motorway.

Narrow agricultural roads (camis) criss-cross the land here in all directions as far as distant mountains so there are no end of routes to choose. The trick is to stick to camis that actually lead somewhere rather than picking those which peter out after a couple of miles, usually at a house guarded by a half-dozen loudly barking dogs! Fortunately Dave usually plans our wanders ahead of time by perusing Google maps. Unfortunately this was more of a spur of the minute excursion so ended up being an out and back walk rather than a loop!

Anyone recognise this flower? 

Like the Olive Gardens walk I blogged on Wednesday, most of our scenery was olive and carob trees with an occasional smattering of almond trees to ring the changes. I loved the colours of wild shrubbery along the roadsides and on unfarmed land. It is yellow-and-purple season at the moment so we saw bright yellow flowering gorse and whatever-the-pictured-plant-is interspersed with tall purple heathers and unbelievable amounts of wild rosemary with its delicate pale mauve flowers. It's a shame none of our regular meal recipes call for rosemary - there's acres of the stuff here growing as a weed! At one point, as we crossed a derelict field, we trampled thyme, releasing its beautiful scent. This might not have been the sunniest or most picturesque walk, but it was one of the more aromatic!

Eroded sandstone cliff 

We returned to Camping Ametlla after not much more than an hour so decided to extend our walk by looping down to the nearest beach, along that and returning by a tarmaced road on the other side. The walkway down to Platja de Santes Creus is sandy and passes between roped off natural spaces. We both were intrigued by this eroded sandstone cliff. The holes and caves make fabulous shadowed images against the glowing stone towards sunset.

We'd had strong winds for a few days prior to this walk so the beach was scattered with debris washed up from the sea. Much was natural including seaweed and lots of sea urchins and sponges that we hadn't seen in such numbers out of the water before. There was also a depressingly large volume of plastic items, presumably discarded from boats and on other beaches along the coast. Faded and worn, but still mostly recognisable as bottles, cigarette lighters and other common items, it was a reminder of just how much litter is swirling around our oceans and that it won't simply rot away as the seaweed will. Greenpeace have recently started a petition for a Deposit Return Scheme on plastic bottles in the UK. I think it's a great idea. For more information and to add your signature, Click Here.

Walking the Coll de Balaguer from l'Hospitalet

Footpaths Of The Mediterranean 4 

We thought our Saturday walk was just going to be an easy 6km legstretcher, but it ended up being considerably longer and lasting just over three hours! The route was another from our new Footpaths Of The Mediterranean folder and the first half was along another section of the GR92 coastal path. L'Hospitalet de l'Infant, our starting point, is named for its original purpose, a 14th century hospital for travellers traversing the Coll de Balaguer pass on their way from the Ebro delta to Tarragona. The hills here look very different now to how they did then because tons of earth were moved to create two motorways, the railway line and the N340 road, but in medieval times this area was particularly dangerous. With no towns to speak of for over seventy kilometres, travellers were at risk of frequent attack from bandits in the hills and corsair pirates from the coast. Fortunately these are no longer a problem and the only evidence of violence we saw were the remnants of wartime gun emplacements and a sign warning of the start of a hunting area.

View from Coll de Balaguer 

We parked up on the outskirts of l'Hospitalet, past the Arenal beach, and followed the GR92 south-west along sandy beaches as far as the Cala d'Ocques campsite which has pitches practically on the beach. We were a little envious until we got back home and looked up their prices online. I think we'll stay at Camping Ametlla for now! The GR92 turns inland up the Barranc de Cala d'Ocques and briefly follows a road until it turns off again and becomes a proper narrow stony footpath leading upwards to the ridgeline. The views up here got more and more stunning the higher we climbed until we almost had a panoramic 360o view. We could see for miles towards Miami Platja and Cambrils!

View to Platja de les Rojales 

The GR92 did have one short but scarily steep scramble at this point, but otherwise wasn't too challenging. The mapped route finished at a high point, Punta de les Rojales, with us then having the option to make our own way on a circular route or to retrace our steps. We prefer circular routes anyway and I certainly didn't fancy trying to get back down the steep bit! Continuing along the ridge until the GR92 descends to a beach-bound road looked hardly any distance on the map, but was probably the best part of an hour's more walking. Good walking certainly and with more fabulous views!

We were all the way up there! 

We descended by way of a winding road to Platja de les Rojales, a long sandy beach with gently lapping waves and beautiful colours from the setting sun. Two cyclists zoomed downhill past us which looked great fun, but we were less encouraged to emulate them when they turned around in the car park at the base and started back upwards again! From that car park, we walked through a short tunnel under the railway to reach the sand and, beforehand, could look back up over trees to the ridge from which we previously gazed down. Steps lead up from the other end of the beach so we had a short section along a wooded footpath passing El Templo del Sol nudist colony. It looked pretty closed up at this time of year! Then we rejoined our outward route to get back to the car and were both proud of our three hours non-stop hiking.

Happy New Year from Les Medes!

Les Medes 

Bye bye 2016 and hello 2017!
Although we woke up effectively in a cloud because our campsite was swathed in fog, the sun is now shining through, the caravan door is wide open and, as soon as my chair has dried off enough, I am going to sit outside with my coffee.

We are now in Spain and our new campsite is Camping Les Medes in L'Estartit, near to Girona. It is a bit of a car park compared to the green campsites of France and also far busier, but worth it for the sunny warmth! The site is named for three rocky islands just off the coast, pictured above, which are now one of the most important marine flora and fauna reserves in the Western Mediterranean.

On site, €19 per night with our ACSI card gets us a pitch with our own water and electricity, plus access to the heated indoor swimming pool - which we haven't actually tried yet. Wifi is extra at €15 a week. The pitches are snug, half the size of those at Le Florida, which wasn't a problem for us with a caravan, but we have seen a couple of accidents and several near misses with larger motorhomes abruptly meeting low hanging trees. We have the use of two newish heated shower blocks plus the bar/restaurant and shop are actually open, not closed up for the winter. There are several large campsites nearby, but only Camping Les Medes is open throughout the year which explains its popularity.

Seagull sculpture at L'Estartit 

We have been on a couple of cycle rides locally, firstly along part of the long promenade at L'Estartit which is perfect for cycling and strolling at this time of year. I imagine it gets pretty full in summer! The village is easily cyclable and walkable from the campsite and, slightly further afield, the town of Torroella de Montgri is also cyclable. The countryside is very flat here in the valley!

Our second cycle ride turned out to be practically no distance at all. We planned to check out a local caravan storage place, Caravan Parking Ter, before going to Carrefour to get a couple of backpacks worth of shopping. Instead we stayed chatting with the owners Paco, who is Catalan, and Denise, originally from Brighton, for nearly two hours! Topics included the wonderful Catalan Christmas tradition of the Tio - a log with legs and a smiley face painted on one end. The Tio 'lives' in the house in the run up to Christmas present giving (on the 6th January her, twelfth night). Every evening it is 'fed' in much the same way as leaving food out for Santa and his reindeer, and then on the morning of the 6th, this poor smiley log is beaten with sticks until it poops out presents for the children! The word Tio has an acute accent on the o so is pronounced Tior and means 'uncle' in Spanish and 'log' in Catalan. The below image is from Wanderlust Living.

A Christmas Tio 

Walking the South West Coast Path from Torquay

View across Torbay 

One of our main considerations when choosing Torquay as our new base was the availability of great walking routes near to our home. We had already tried a few rambles on Dartmoor when we were here in the Spring, but only managed one short coastal wander. We're rectifying that now and have been on a couple of good walks directly from our front door out along sections of the wonderful South West Coast Path and back home again. All car free so far which is great and we are also enjoying simply exploring the streets up around Wellswood, the Lincombes and St Marychurch. There is so much interesting architecture and green expanses that I don't think we will be getting bored walking around here any time soon!

Our first coastal wander took us out past the Imperial Hotel near Torquay harbour to join the Coast Path. We were actually directed through part of their car park! Once onto the Path proper, there are gorgeous views out to sea and across Torbay. It's all pretty easy going underfoot, albeit with steep step sections, so I imagine the Path can be walked at all times of the year to appreciate the differing colours and moods of the sea. We continued as far as Daddyhole Plain which is a limestone plateau 75 metres above the sea. Apparently Daddyhole is an ancient name for the devil and Kevin Dixon wrote an interesting article for the Torquay Herald Express about Daddyhole Plain's folklore. The only sort of unusual thing we saw up there was this stone bench created by the National Association of Master Masons in 1984.

NAMM stone bench on Daddyhole Plain 

Further walking, now fortunately downhill, took us to Meadfoot Beach which is considered one of the nicer swimming areas. The tide was in though so the beach was mostly a concrete promenade. Fortified and refreshed by locally made Marshfield Farm ice cream, we headed home following an almost hidden uphill path which began a little way along Meadfoot Beach, about in the middle of the parking layby. We ascended through pleasantly shaded woodland, emerging eventually in the Lincombes and near to home.

View across Torbay 

Beach walking in the sunshine

There are so many wide sandy beaches along from

Dones Remendadores by Maria Dolores Ortuno 

Cambrils that it is easy to see how the many holiday apartments and campsites around the area will fill up during the hot summer months. It's fantastic having everything practically to ourselves at this time of year though! Admittedly a good proportion of the bars and restaurants are closed on weekdays - far more open up for the weekends - and we have only braved sea paddling - although we have seen other people swimming - but to be able to wander and gaze out at yellow sand, blue sea and huge blue skies feels wonderfully privileged.

Yesterday we cycled along the promenade and a bumpy dirt track for about half an hour before chaining our bikes up and walking for an hour along the sands. It was so peaceful and pretty. We could see built up areas in the distance, but once we were clear of Cambrils itself, there was surprisingly little construction along this coastline and most of what does exist is low level one- or two-storey buildings.

Returning back to our bicycles via an inland route wasn't

always quite so picturesque especially here where the footpath goes through a drainage tunnel! Fortunately it was dry - in comparison with the motorway underpasses a couple of days ago which were several inches deep in water.

I enjoyed walking past fields of agricultural land. Yesterday's crops appeared to be mostly almond and olive trees and we are seeing the first of the Spring blossoms beginning to flower. This reminded me that I hadn't yet posted the beautiful bluebell-like flowers we saw earlier in the week. When we were at Foxley Wood in Norfolk, we learned that they call a pale mauve bluebell variety Spanish Bluebells. I wonder if these red-pink flowering plants are remotely related? The bloom shapes are similar but the overall plant shape is quite different.

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Happy Valentine's Day from Cambrils!

I hope your beloved remembered?! Dave and I exchanged

Street art on Cambrils prom 

cutesy cards this morning and went on a lovely walk up a dry river bed rambla this afternoon, returning by way of cami tracks through agricultural land where we saw wide fields of curly kale and Brussels sprouts as well as several different huge cactus varieties. The weather nearly bested us though - glorious sunshine as we started, spitting rain for the last ten minutes, and we had just closed our car doors as the heavens opened. Our walk was just a couple of hours and I was shattered by the time we got back to the car.

Street art on Cambrils prom 

The reason? I have actually got A Cold! In Spain! That's not the idea of coming out here at all, but it is the first of our three winters that I have succumbed. I've felt rubbish for the past three days and improved today so hopefully it will all be over within a week and we can get back to our usual hilly walks. Yesterday was embarrassing - after just forty minutes gentle strolling along the seafront promenade, I was happy to turn for home! However, I enjoyed spotting examples of the 'Hola!' street art along the route. There are lots of differently styled men and women, all wearing monochrome striped tops and saying 'Hola!' to cyclists, joggers and walkers. It was such a lovely afternoon that Dave even went paddling in the sea. I didn't capture that moment, but here he is wistfully gazing further along the coastline to where we might explore another day.

Dave doesn't want to turn back yet! 

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Enjoying Tarragona seafront and anticipating the new Rachel Ries EP

We are back on our Cambrils campsite now and taking

Tarragona seafront 

advantage of a couple of light rain showers to stay lazily indoors all afternoon. We're exhausted! However I have still got lots to write about the attractions of Tarragona. Before I wax lyrical about the port, marina and wide sandy beach though, I have two other mini announcements to make.

Firstly, a book I nominated as part of Amazon's Kindle Scout programme has been selected for publication so I am looking forward to reading The Three Deaths Of Magdalene Lynton by Katherine Hayton (update: book received, my review here) when it becomes available. I was attracted to the book by its synopsis and also because its title is similar to that of one of my favourite film, The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada.

Secondly, singer-songwriter Rachel Ries has a new EP out

Cardinal by Rachel Ries 

on March the 4th to coincide with the start of her European tour. Entitled Cardinal, the EP was written during her residency in Rouen, France, last summer and 'each song represents a direction or a key for living.' Rachel says, 'if you ever have trouble holding on, or struggle to believe in your path ... well, then I made this for the both of us.' Cardinal is available for pre-order via Rachel's online shop now and there's gorgeous artwork options encasing the physical product.

Back to Tarragona!

We walked down to Tarragona port and marina on

1927 Crane 

Monday. It covers a surprisingly large area and the port consists of a number of large buildings called Tinglado. Several of these looked to be administration offices, but one had housed a theatrical work during what in the UK would have been pantomime season. Another is the headquarters of a group of Castellers, and Tinglado No 1 is curreny displaying an exhibition of Ethel Marti paintings. Unfortunately the exhibition is closed on Mondays and we didn't get back that way on Tuesday. Examples of the port's history are preserved for visitors. The pictured crane, which is a roundabout centrepiece, dates from 1927 and I think I remember correctly that it was the first electric crane used on the harbour front. Another roundabout displayed a little old steam engine. There are wide promenades for pedestrians and cyclists plus a sign I hadn't seen before - roller bladers are directed to use the cycle paths!

Pausing for refreshments at the marina led to a two hour

Beatrice Bizot sculpture 

hiatus as the three Gin and Tonics ordered came in such huge glasses that we continued on to order a good lunch at the same bar-restaurant. (My red tea was nice too, but considerably smaller!)

A trio of sculptures were situated in shallow pools along the promenade. Each had been created by Italian sculptor Beatrice Bizot in 2007 and all three are pictured in the Public Works section of her website. The one pictured has a Romeo and Juliet feel to it and its accompanying plaque is in Catalan: 'La finestra, apertura per on entra el futur quotidia i surten els nostres somnis.' (Opening the window where it enters the future and leaving our everyday dreams)

We had a beautiful day for our wanders, even enabling me to wander barefoot along the sandy beach and paddle at the edge of the sea. The water was cold, but not numbingly so!

Tarragona marina 

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