The joy of Free camping?

The bay of La Azohia

Having dragged ourselves away from the Camperstop at Totana we headed back to the coast and the huge gravel area opposite the beach at La Azohia, it's one of our favourite places to free camp as you can park up almost anywhere and have a great view of the sea and the gorgeous bay with the mountains in the background.
We always love it here, it's not overcommercialised or spoilt by a multitude of high rise hotels, there is also an abundance of cycle rides and walking routes nearby (also a Mercadona, Lidl, Aldi and other supermarkets close by at Puerto de Mazarron - this is an added bonus for us discerning shoppers!)

If this all sounds too good to be true, well it is. The truth is this lovely area is spoilt by its popularity with the touring motohomers of all nationalities and the ill feeling it causes to the local community (the people who complain the loudest are the Ex-pats not so much the Spanish locals) The land on which we all park is private land and undisputed, but we all need water and a place to empty our grey and black waste. The motohomers are accused of stealing the water from the beach taps or emptying their waste inappropriately.

One member of a Motohome forum even called the motorhomers 'Scum'. Whilst parked up there we often see passersby stopping, staring, pointing and obviously talking about the many motohomers parked up on what is just a large piece of wasteland. But we are all spending our Euros in the local businesses, most of us are respectable retired folk, we don't have wild parties and there is not so much as a toffee wrapper left on the ground, all our waste is disposed of appropriately.
But whenever we are here we get an uneasy feeling of not being welcome - apart from by the local businesses, restaurants and especially the Spar shop who must thrive on our business!
It's just an unfortunate thing that the number of motorhomers overwintering on the Spanish costas is increasing every year and we can't spread ourselves thinly enough not to be constituted to be a nuisance to some.
It's a controversial issue, there are two sides to it. What needs to happen is for the Spanish to welcome the many motorhomers and provide more facilities to accommodate them - designated areas to park with services provided thereby bringing an added boost to the Spanish economy. What better way to utilise all the empty space they have?  What do you think?

Sunny days and cycling

A recent survey on Facebook revealed that posts of yourself in the sun having a lovely holiday can have a depressing effect on those left behind. If you're sitting at home watching the rain hitting the window as the wind howls and rattles the panes then maybe you should stop reading now.
If you're still with me, I send you my apologies. After some very gusty winds that kept us awake rocking the van in the night, it all settled and, although temperatures dipped at night, the days turned sunny and warm - perfect for days out on our bikes!
After we left Janet & Frank we moved inland, staying in the Murcia region, to one of our favourite Camperstops at Totana. Once again we planned to stay for a few days but ended up staying for over a fortnight, catching up with quite a few friends whilst we were there.
The first time we came to Totana a few years ago, we liked it, but not overly so, it took time to discover all the different places of interest in the area, the fabulous scenery and the diverse cycling routes.

We both feel now that Camperstop Sierra Espuna is like our second home in Spain, we have friends here, we can find our way to our favourite supermarket (Mercadona) tucked away in the maze of narrow roads in the centre of town as well as discovering the best cafe bars for coffee or restaurants for Menu Del Dia in the area.
There are also great walks in the vicinity for days out of the saddle.
We were joined by friends whilst we were there and also met up with Paul who was staying at El Berro campsite twelve miles from the Camperstop.

I think if we wanted to live in Spain this would be a great place to live - the beautiful Sierra Espuna natural park on your doorstep, an abundance of walking and cycling, the relaxed atmosphere, it's also not far from the coast and the major cities of Murcia, Cartagena or Lorca. I have taken to fantasising, musing as I pedal along on my bike, about the house I would like to live in with views across to the distant mountains, the blue skies and sunshine, a house with enough space for our motorhoming friends to park up and visit, enough bedrooms for family and friends to stay for a while, imagining this place being my home!

But it's not going to happen! We love the roaming life and our home back in the UK, it's just a dream!

Cycling in Sierra Espuna Parc natural- the Sierra Espuna mountain in the background 

Flamingos and Fresas

We continue our journey slowly south staying for a couple of nights on a friendly little Camperstop a few miles inland from La Marina, we were the only English motorhomers there but the German owners were very welcoming, as were the other 'campers' - most of them there for the winter months- escaping the cold of Northern Europe, known as 'Snowbirds'

Our next stop was a lovely discovery- El Fondo natural Parc near Elche. We stayed a couple of nights in the massive car park, we were able to pick up a map and booklet about the Park, its birds and plant life from the friendly guy in the visitor centre, he also told us it was ok to park in their car park. 

The park was lovely, but for some reason the birds were in hiding that day - just our luck!! We saw quite a few moorhens, coots and a couple of different species of ducks but that was about it. Although I have to make an observation about Flamingos - there were some there but they always seem to be at the furthest corner of any lake we come across, looking like cotton wool balls on legs - they are somewhat shy birds it seems, I think we need some good binoculars!

Nevertheless we enjoyed our stay and the peacefulness of the natural park.
Just a note to add to any other motorhomers reading this who might be thinking of staying there - be sure to adhere to the rules of Free camping there, we were told by another UK motorhomer that in the previous week someone had been fined 200€ for releasing their waste water onto the gravel of the car park and another motorhomer was fined 100€ for putting out his table and chairs!

Our next stop was few few days with our friends Janet and Frank in Quesada. We visited the colourful Saturday market at Almoradi, the stalls piled high with a vast range of delicious fruit and veg.
These delicious strawberries looked too good to eat, but eat some we did and they were sweet and delicious - and only 3€ a kilo.
The abundance of cheap and tasty fruit and vegetables is on of the things we love about travelling in Spain 🇪🇸