Into the mountains of Velez Rubio

We had a fabulous week in Mojacar with the company of our new friends Martyn and Izzie, Barry and Jean, we cycled into the hills beyond Mojacar Pueblo, we walked along the coast both ways, had drinks together and a great Menu Del Dia in the Irish Rover Bar in town. But all good things must come to an end and eventually we went our separate ways, the others headed south whilst we stayed a bit longer to visit our dentist for annual checkups and hygienist appointments (we get excellent treatment at the Mojacar Dental clinic, it costs considerably less than in the UK and they speak English - but it is a long way to go to visit your dentist!)

We then headed inland to meet up with some friends who live in Zurgena, a sleepy Spanish village where we were treated to having the use of a rather swish villa owned by their neighbour, it even had a swimming pool but sadly it was far too cold to make use of it. Philip and Krystina looked after us extremely well and we discovered what a marvellous cook Krystina is! We went out and walked their two dogs scrumping for oranges on our way back. Oranges picked straight from the tree are the sweetest you have ever tasted!
Saying a sad farewell to Philip and Krystina we headed further inland to Velez Rubio, a town surrounded by imposing mountains and a short distance from the Parque Natural de la Sierra Maria here we anticipated some good cycling and we were not disappointed!

Velez Blanco castle

We stayed on the free Aire on the edge of town and spent a few enjoyable days exploring the town which has a very good local museum and tourist centre (entry fee only 1€ !) and a Saturday market with very cheap fruit & veg as well as getting out exploring the local countryside.
We made some more new friends Jane and Keir, who I'm sure we will meet up with again on our travels.
And on our last day we awoke to find our step had been stolen! Poor Keith nearly had a nasty accident stepping out onto a non-existent step! It left us wondering who would do such a thing- another motorhomer or maybe someone more local? We will never know, but we did go to a Chinese supermarket and bought a cheap plastic step which cracked and became useless the very same day! I don't know, the trials and tribulations of being a motorhomer!

Nevertheless we really liked this area and particularly the abundance of cycling routes, the towns like Velez Blanco, snuggled into the hillside and dominated by a very imposing castle and the very 'spanishness' of the region - no tacky tourist shops here!
Having spent so much time in Spain we feel much more comfortable than we used to and even though we only speak a little Spanish, we feel relaxed and at home - it all feels less foreign. We can certainly understand people wanting to move to Spain for the weather when we have had so many days of sun, warmth and blue skies, when the sun shines its lifts your mood and gives you the opportunity to spend so much time outdoors (hence the many keen Spanish cyclists!)
But moving lock, stock and barrel to Spain is not on our agenda so we content ourselves with living in Spain in our motorhome, if we don't like a place we can simply move on!

Velez Rubio

Firecrackers in the night!!

Las Gredas de Bolnuevo (sandstone formations)

Sadly we ended up making a hasty exit from La Azohia, after a visit by the police word quickly spread that all the motorhomers parked up on the rough ground on the seafront had to leave by Monday (a couple of days away).
We decided to head off straight away and travelled about 7 miles along the coast to Bolnuevo, a quiet and unspoilt village with a handful of shops and restaurants. In the centre of the resort are strange natural sandstone sculptures created by the weather eroding the rocks over thousands of years. In front of these weird sculptures is a huge car park overlooking the beach where motorhomes can park for 48 hours. Unfortunately the local young people think it fun to keep the motorhomers awake in the early hours of the morning by setting off loud firecrackers and hooting their car horns. Sadly, it seems another beautiful place has become another place where motorhomers are being made to feel less than welcome.

Fortunately, we didn't experience the noises in the night personally as we were at the opposite end of the car park and enjoyed our stay in Bolnuevo meeting up with a lovely couple we had met in La Azohia the previous week (Martyn  & Isabel) Together we enjoyed a day out walking (and talking!) along the coast path with a picnic on the beach, the weather being very warm and sunny, but maybe not quite hot enough for a dip in the sea!
Leaving Bolnuevo the next day we travelled further south along the coast to Mojacar where we parked up right on the beach just south of the town, we love it there listening to the sound of the waves lulling you to sleep in the night. It's a peaceful place to park up, the police occasionally pass by without stopping and it seems that Free camping here in this area is maybe better tolerated then in other areas.

Martyn, Izzy, Barry, Jean, Keith & me on the cliff path to Mojacar 

Our stay here was made even more enjoyable in that we were joined a couple of days later by Martyn and Isabel as well as Barry and Jean who made our acquaintance via the Free camping group on Facebook. And so began a very enjoyable week of company on Mojacar Playa.
One of the wonderful things about this Motoroaming life is all the people we meet along the way, from all different walks of life, on similar or different journeys, but we all have Motorhoming in common that bonds us and creates lasting friendships.

Our parking spot for the week - Mojacar in the distance 

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 🇪🇸 

Discovering the Via Verde de el Maigmó

If you have been following my blog for a while you will know that one of the things we love to do whilst we are away is seeking out new off road cycle routes. Purely by chance one day I found a Via Verde on the website (link at the end of this post) that we hadn't yet discovered and it was close to the area we were planning to visit. So, we headed south, stopping for a couple of nights at the El Palomar camperstop to indulge in the free use of the washing machine and tumble dryer as well as a lovely walk through the fields alongside ancient irrigation channels built by the Moors hundreds of years ago.

After leaving El Palomar, it took us a while, but eventually we found the Via Verde at Agost and a huge car park right next to the trail - a perfect place to stay for a couple of days whilst we explore the area.
The Via Verde itself is 22km from start to finish, built in the 1920's as a railway link from Agost to Alcoi the Spanish civil war intervened and the rails were never laid. The impressive viaducts and half a dozen tunnels have only been used by the walkers and cyclists who frequent the trail these days. The rough gravel track heads steadily uphill through dramatic mountain scenery to Maigmó where it ends conveniently at a service area with a cafe/restaurant and then its downhill with hardly a pedal turn to get back to base!

The dark unlit tunnels add particular interest to the journey through the hills, we were glad of our bright cycle lights! It was strange being in the tunnels, although they were built almost a hundred years ago you had no feeling of the passage of time once you were inside, the interior being completely sheltered from the elements, it almost looked newly built.
On our first day at Agost we cycled the Via Verde from start to finish and back and on the second day we took the adjacent road up to the top of the trail intending to head back down on it, but the weather was against us and a cold wind brought light rain so we whizzed back down the hill to the cosy warmth of the van. Since we arrived here in Spain the weather has been colder than average but when the sun does come out, if you can find shelter from the wind, it can be lovely and warm.

But having said that, I'm not complaining about the weather here in Spain-it's cold and snowy back in the UK!

Here is the link to this Via Verde:

http://www.viasverdes.com/en/itineraries/itinerario.asp?id=14

All along the Watchtower

It's not often you get the chance to have a whole Bell tower to yourself is it? I had this opportunity on our last day at the camperstop at Alcossebre, we cycled about 5 miles inland to the town of Alcala de Xibert, a town perched on a hill overlooked by an ancient castle. When we arrived the church square was pretty quiet and we sat on the church steps in the sun eating our picnic. In the far corner was a small tourist information kiosk and inside sat a lovely young man who gave me some local information and also offered to let us into the bell tower, at this point Keith declined as he is no fan of heights but I accepted the offer. Inside the ancient tower the steep stone spiral steps worn smooth with age wound up and up to the bell chamber - look carefully at the photo - that's me in the window above the clock! I then ascended more narrow stone steps (only room for one person it was so narrow!) to the next level - the views across the rooftops to the distant mountains were well worth the climb.

Coming down the steps was quite scary I had to cling on to the walls on each side as I carefully descended the hundred of steps, but what a great experience. I'm glad nobody else was in there as there was no room to pass on the stairs!
The next day we left the camperstop and found a gorgeous beach side location at Torrenostra, a quiet car park near to the town with just the sound of the waves to break the silence. Whilst we were there we were able to cycle on quiet roads through the wetlands all the way along the coast to Oropesa. We also met a lovely couple Rob and Hayley who we discovered had many shared interests - motorhoming, cycling, keeping fit, healthy eating and shopping in Lidl to name a few - we chatted for England until it was time we had to part. We hope to catch up with them again on our travels to continue the conversation. I think most motorhomers would agree that all the people you meet on your travels is one of the very positive aspects of the nomadic life!

Sunset at Torrenostra - how lucky are we to be parked in such a fantastic location