Murcia to Mula

A rather large fish in the river at Murcia

We stayed at Camperpark Huerta de Murcia for four days in the end enjoying the relatively peaceful surroundings (you're never too far from a barking dog in Spain) and the cycle path alongside the river. 

Arriving back on site one day an English couple had parked their motorhome next to ours, we soon got chatting and Mick had caught his head on the edge of his window and had a nasty gash - I'll have a look at it, I say, so out comes our First aid kit and one pack of steristrips later and it's fixed! Now what are the chances of lacerating your head and parking next to a nurse in the middle of Spain??? If you're reading this Mick I hope it healed well after my ministrations!
And as a postscript a few days later whilst out walking in the town we assisted with a young man having an epileptic fit in the street until the ambulance arrived, no-one around knew what to do so together Keith and I took charge and kept him safe until the fit was over. Another good deed for the day!!

During our stay we also discovered an unusual pigeon sport, the birds are kept in boxes, their feathers coloured with food dye for identification, trained to go to a female pigeon with a white tail feather then at competition time the male bird who stays with that single female the longest is the winner. Weird!!

We were back on the road on Thursday, our destination being Mula - an inland town on the Via Verde del Noroeste, the old railway line that used to link Murcia with Caravaca. As is often the case, there is a motorhome 'Aire' on the edge of the town where we parked up. The town itself is dominated by an ancient 16th century castle set up high on the mountainside the town buildings and houses seeming to tumble down the hillside, the modern buildings and apartment blocks right at the bottom. Joining us on the Aire that night were other motorhomes from France, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium and Holland, we always wonder what they're doing staying in these towns off the beaten track.

Friday morning and although the sun was shining there was a strong gusty wind blowing - not the best cycling weather! Nevertheless we set out to embark on the Via Verde deal Noroeste, leaving the town on rural tracks rather than the old line as it was lost to the new road. The way was steep in places made even more difficult with the strong wind, but the views made up for it. Eventually we were cycling on the old line, the incline was more steady but it was uphill all the way to Bulla - our destination 14 miles from Mula.

After slogging up to the town of Bulla we had our picnic lunch sitting on a convenient bench then turned around and headed back, being treated to stunning views across the arid countryside, the mountains of the Sierre Espuna in the background, the orange and lemon groves of the valley replaced now with grapevines, almond and olive trees growing in the sandy white soil.
We were out all day and only saw on the way a group of young walkers and one other couple walking - no other cyclists at all, we more or less had the trail to ourselves, where else would you be able to find that?