We were up with the alarm at eight bells and off on the bikes by 9:00 heading to Grao just over 8km down the coast road. We had been told about a BP petrol station where you could get a Spanish gas bottle and only pay for the gas it contained whereas all the local dealers were charging €20 for the bottle alone and then the gas on top. We set off in jumpers and fleece as the temperature dropped to about 13°C this morning even though the sun was shining brightly.
After stopping a couple of times for photographs we found the garage as directed and had a word with the chap inside who spoke good English. We copied the coordinates from our iPhone so that we can input them into the sat nav next time we're out in the van. We just need and adapter and some hose to connect the bottle up once we have it. Better than paying £1000 plus to have a Gaslow system fitted to the van.
After that we cycled into the centre of Castellòn in search of the market. We wandered around for a while and had decided to head back when we came across it by chance. We had a good look round and bought some produce and we spotted a Lidi not too far away. We went in and bought one or two more things including a couple of pies for lunch as it was well into the afternoon. When we came out of the supermarket and got back on the bikes Val realised immediately that she had a puncture and we were about 12km from home. Oh, oh. I got online to look for a cycle shop but the ones I found were due to close in 3 minutes for that Spanish institution, siesta.
We started walking back rather than wait till 5:00 pm for the shops to reopen. We got about halfway back on foot when a Yorkshire couple who were cycling back to Benicasim stopped to see if they could help. The guy who was called Andrew pumped up Val's tyre and off she went like billio along the prom with the Yorkshire couple and me in hot pursuit. When her tyre went down Andrew pumped it back up and this went on till we got back to the site. What a lovely gesture and a great help to get us home.
After dinner it was a quiet evening in the van with a bit of TV and a bit of Netflix followed by some light reading. Has another day gone by so quickly. Tired happy campers.
8 November 2016
What a great morning. We went with the owners of the site Paco and James to their fields of mandarins which have been in the family for generations. They gave us lots of information about eating them when the skins are thin and still green and how to tell the best fruit to pick. They gave us a bag each which we filled, we'll be eating them for a good week.
When we got back I got on with putting a new inner tube in Val's front tyre. She still has a slow puncture in the rear one but it goes down that slowly we will be able to ride downtown to the bike shop. Ideally she will have new tyres front and back, new brake cables and blocks and a new seat. It was to late to go today as it would have been siesta by the time we got there so we will combine it with lunch out tomorrow.
After Val had done the second lot of washing and emptied the machine we headed into town to seek out the bike shops and found three. We did a bit of shopping in Marcadona, everywhere else being closed and the headed back for the Pétanque grudge match which was won 2-0 by yours truly. I got to do the washing up to celebrate my victory.
The evening followed our usual routine with dinner and a drop of vino and a couple of episodes of Suits watched over the wifi. I've got into Val's book called Round Ireland with a Fridge written by a guy called Tony Hawks who is a stand up comedian who hiked round the Emerald Isle with the aforementioned Fridge. We've been here a week and it's flown by. The place is quiet with it being close season but it's just the way we like it. You can go on the beach and feel as if you have it to yourself. Happy trails.
9 November 2016
We spent the early part of the morning watching the news from the USA which to my mind was predictable just like the Brexit vote. Time will tell whether it's a good or a bad thing, after all Ronald Reagan became president.
Next job was to mend the bikes. We both had a slow puncture so I took the inner tubes out and stuck a sticking plaster on both of them. Val had been having trouble with her gears and I was in the middle of trying to fix them when our Dutch neighbours turned up and Lex who didn't speak a word of the Queens waded in and more or less took over. He took links out of the chains, fixed the gears and oiled every component that hadn't seen a drop for years. His wife Siska did the translation. The even helped us with getting the adapter for the Spanish gas bottle.
We finished about 2:00 in the afternoon and I had lunch in the tent. I stripped one of the outer sides of to let more air flow through which made it a little cooler and more pleasurable.
Later we rode down to the beach and along the promenade up to Benicasim Tower. We stopped a few times for a stroll along the boardwalks and took a few snaps. We caught the last of the sun and got back to the van just before dusk.
After dinner we got to wish our grandson Theodore a happy birthday. It's not every day of the week you reach five years old. We also got to have a chat with Louis, it was so great to talk to them. There rest of the evening followed its usual pattern. We are really into the Netflix series Suits even though we can watch TV over the wifi it's thar strong a signal. Happy campers.
10 November 2016
Market day in Benicasim. We were up reasonably early and out heading into town not so much to the market but in search of a certain bike shop. It was almost time to head back to the site for our paella lunch when our search ended and we found the shop which was closed for vacation. The market stalls were packing up but we just had time to pick up some tomatoes before heading home.
We were a few minutes late when we pitched up for lunch but as we were the only ones who had booked it didn't matter. The paella was just as good as last week and we enjoyed a couple of beers to wash it down.
After getting in a couple of games of Pétanque 1-1 We went out again with our Dutch neighbour Lex in search of a brass pigtail hose connection. We finally found one at the caravan shop but at €35 it was a real rip off when I can buy one in the UK for less than £10. Ill wait till we're home for Christmas and bring one back with me.
We caught the end of Pointless and watched the news whilst having dinner and then settled in for some more Netflix. I could have watched Question Time but it doesn't start until 11:35 in Spain and we had our heads down before then following a late one last night. Sleepyhead campers.
11 November 2016
When we wake up everybody else on site seems to be already sat out having breakfast, some have even hung their washing out. I was sat out and had just finished breakfast and watching last nights Question Time when Lex came round to take me to Grao to pick up a bottle of Propano. I had been talking to another neighbour John who had told me how to backfill the system so with the Spanish gas and the attachment we use to connect the Cadac to the outside cooking point, it was all systems go. Spanish propano €11.72 - English propane £21, twice the price.
After lunch we set of on the bikes to Castellòn on the cycle track about 13km away. We took the large ruck sacks so that we could do some shopping and after calling at Aldi and meeting the couple who helped us with the punctures, we came back with full bags.
Before dinner we had a game of Pétanque with our Dutch neighbours men versus women. We finished in almost total darkness, it's a good job the jack was bright pink. The game finished 1-1 with the decider arranged for tomorrow.
Val made us a pasta dish whilst at the same time keeping an eye on Pointless. In no time at all it was the England versus Scotland game and good on the FA for giving FIFA the finger and supporting the teams wearing poppies. Another day that seemed to flash by. Happy campers.
12 November 2016
After a solid nights sleep we woke to a sunny but slightly cooler morning. After breakfast outside it started to get hotter and I retired to the tent to get some shade. We spent a lot of time planning where to spend next summer and checking the CC&C Temporary Holiday Sites and the MCC Special Events. Cornwall looks like a place where there is plenty of options and we could have the grandkids with hopefully plenty for them to do.
We spent the afternoon shopping and found a Supermarket we hadn't visited before. We bought some San Miguel and a can of another beer we liked the look of which was on offer at €0.38 for a large can. We might have to go back and fill our daisies.
Round two of the Pétanque took place with the ladies in fine form giving us lads a good hiding two zip. I put our poor form down to too much sun and the lack of a stiff drink before we started. Unlike last night we finished in good light but darkness fell not long after we got in the van.
We walked round to the restaurant where we ate last week but it felt too cold to sit for a couple of hours even with a body warmer on so we decided we would have something to eat in the van whilst watching strictly. How the hell is Ed Balls still in it? We watched an episode of Suits and started fading. Old bu**ger campers.
13 November 2016
Remembrance Sunday, lest we forget.
We can't half sleep when we're in the van it's seems more relaxing. It didn't come close to us missing my favourite Sunday morning show but there wasn't enough time for a shower before it started and we're an hour ahead.
One of the owners of the site Camping Tauro was performing with the Benicàssim Band and kindly invited us to the Municipal Theatre to see the performance. We had a great time especially as I love a bit of Brass. It always makes me nostalgic for a viewing of Brassed Off which I've seen too many times to recall. I even seen the stage show which Lisa took me to on one of our visits to Sheffield. My favourite scene is when about ten marching brass bands stop for a pint in each village and the are judged in each village they pass through. Anyway, I'm rambling... It was a great show that started about 12:30 and by the time it finished we were well Hank Marvin.
We had lunch at a restaurant in town not far from the theatre called Select. It was a shared menu for €15. We didn't really know what to expect, the baguette arrived cut up in rolls in a basket, all good so far. Next came a gargantuan ovalI tray of tuna salad that hardly fit on the table which took us about half an hour to polish off. Then came the kicker, we had been using the Zendogs wifi to translate what it said on the menu board. We knew our next course was mixed meat, we didn't expect a whole cow, two extremely long sausages that overlapped the plate at both sides and a chicken. We finished eating that course another half an hour later, three quarters of the cow was still on the plate, one sausage and about quarter of the chicken. The waitress walked past about ten times and gave me the "have you finished" look. About ten times I gave her the "can't eat another morsel" look. We had time between this staring at each other episode to look up the translation for delicious which she understood and too much which she didn't. Val managed to convey that we would have a doggie bag, I know what's for dinner tomorrow and probably a few days after that. I breathed a sigh of relief when the expected bucket of ice cream was only a bowlful and Val's tiramisu was a normal sided portion. We had coffee and vino and paid the bill and come managed to get the contents of the doggie bag to fit into a normal sized carrier bag. Phew.
We staggered back to the bikes and cycled back to the van on tyres that looked flat. We flopped on to the recliners feeling stuffed for a siesta. When in Rome or in our case Spain. We soaked up the sun till it was almost down and the temperature was dropping and then retired to the comfort of the van.
We have a young Russian neighbour who is disabled. He lives or is staying in a small tent on a pitch to the rear of the van. He has some weight lifting equipment set up outside the tent and a full sized fridge to make the tent his home from home. His girlfriend turns up about four times a week. I call them Ding Dong and Bang Bang because they are either having a right ding dong or they are having a loud bang bang and usually in that order. I suppose the sex is better after a good ole ding dong. Last night followed the usual pattern with about an hours lull before hostilities resumed again for round two.
They didn't spoil our two episodes of Suits otherwise I would have been over there telling them to keep the noise down. Apart from that we had a quiet evening reflecting on the day. Our Spanish has improved from only knowing the words "dos, cervera, por for vor and grathias". We now know the words bana which means bathroom and haste luego which means see you later. Sleep tight happy campers everywhere.
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