After watching The Boat That Rocked it was turned 11:00 when we got in bed and apart from one of our fellow campers having a sneezing fit that went on for ages and the planes flying overhead we slept soundly. We were awake at sunrise if only just, but enough for Val to take some photos of the red fireball that seemed to be coming out of the sea. Stunning sunrise, the snaps don't do it justice.
We were packed up and away by about 10:00 and headed for Rojales where we did some shopping and had a look at our friend Ian's house. He is coming over to Spain on the 7th January and all being well we'll pay him a visit.
Onwards inland towards Alquerias which is about 8km from Murcia. After setting up we had a reconnoiter round the village. We found the river and the cycle track which takes us into the city.
Back to the van for a couple of beers sat in the sunshine. When the sun went down the temperature dropped sharply so we retired to the van for some dinner cooked with electricity. Then as the wifi was so slow it was a case of keeping up with United's game on BBC's football page and on Twitter. Great result.
We enjoyed a proper shower after the game and settled in for a quiet evening with some Smooth radio over the net. Happy days. Camperpark Huerta Alquerias: 38°00′25.96″N 01°02′37.25″W €13 per night
3 January 2017
I don't know if it's because we've moved inland but it was brass monkeys after the sun went down last night but the van was snug as a bug with the electric fire on.
We woke just before the bread man arrived tooting his horn, we didn't need any this morning but we'll have to be on our toes tomorrow.
After breakfast we set off on the bikes and met a couple from Epsom who we had bumped into yesterday. They were wondering aimlessly after giving up trying to find the cycle track. Our normal navigator Val guided them and me to the track and they rode with us through the lemon and orange groves all the way to Murcia. As we got to the outskirts Dave's bike made a startling sound and his saddle fell off.
We left them searching for a cycle shop and did our tourist thing visiting numerous bridges, the Cathedral, the Town Hall, the Market where we enjoyed a beer and a tapas and various other sights before heading for the shops.
Just as we were almost back to the bikes we came across Dave and Teresa who had found a bike shop and got sorted for €12. We left them looking for somewhere to eat to celebrate Teresa's birthday.
Back at the van for the last couple of hours sunshine before doing the washing up that had accumulated from last night and this morning and then it was time to get the fire switched on to combat the dropping temperature. The only film left to watch was about Brian Clough and his very short stint at Leeds United. Poor Val.
4 January 2017
We spent most of the day chilling out away from the noise and stress you sometimes feel back home. We got HM the queen out and placed her on our coffee table in the sunshine and her solar power kept her waving away to all our fellow campers most of whom parked around us are German and very nice they are too. Whilst Liz was waving joyfully to passers by we caught up on some admin. Val did some research for her up and coming trip to New York and I read a few chapters of the Tony Hawks book I bought for her indoors as a birthday present back in September.
I set up the iBoost to improve our reception of the sites wifi and what a difference it made and all that before a late lunch. About half four we jumped on the bikes and rode down the cycle track into Murcia. We had a good walk round and the parked ourselves in a prominent spot by the river ready for the light, water and music show that commenced at half six.
The show was going well but after about ten minutes in it suffered a sudden attack of electrical meltdown. The crowds who were watching didn't disperse so we took that to mean that perhaps everything wasn't caput after all. Low and behold it all started again and this time ran through to its conclusion.
After returning to the bikes and attaching our lights we snaked through the pedestrians on the footpath till we came back to the cycle track. I had rigged up the solar light come torch that Lisa bought for my birthday last year and taped it to Val's handlebars. It had been sat alongside her majesty all day soaking up the sun and it provided some excellent illumination on the way home.
Back to the van for a light meal and a couple of glasses of red to refresh us after the 16 km we did on the bikes. We'll sleep well tonight.
5th January 2017
We woke to another day in paradise and before the bread man arrived pipping his horn. Val nipped out to bag a baguette at €0.70, a bargain in anybody's book.
We did a bit of sunbathing with Liz until about mid morning when we decided to venture out, circumnavigating the roads to the bike shop in the village. Our objective was to buy some bike oil to lubricate Val's pedals but as the bike shop was closed we had to settle for onions, green beans and frozen prawns. The good thing about riding in France, Spain and Portugal is the marked contrast to the farrago of lorries vans and cars that seem to crowd the roads back home even in the small villages.
The 5th of January is a bit like our Christmas Day so after some more sunbathing with Liz, at 4:00 pm we headed once again for Murcia. This time with a sense of great anticipation to see the Festival of the Three Kings who carnival through the streets handing out sweets to all the children.
The pavement alongside the river is lined with benches occupied by groups of old men and old women chewing the fat with the odd bench taken by young lovers. It must be a ritual at that time in the evening as it was just the same yesterday.
We tethered the bicycles a little further out so that we could stretch our legs. Finding the carnival route was our next mission, we stumbled upon a policeman who was manning a road block and just further along our biggest clue was one of the streets was lined with three deep plastic chairs on either side of the road. Elementary my dear Watson.
Mission accomplished we retired to a bar we had passes yesterday evening for some liquid refreshment and to contemplate wether to pay €5.50 each to sit in one of the aforementioned plastic chairs to watch the procession. It was a big decision so much so that we found another bar that overlooked the route. In the end we went for the free option, tight buggers that we are.
We found a good spot at the front and leaned on some railings, that being the next best option to sitting. The show lasted a couple of hours with the final three floats majestically carrying the Three Kings and a good night was had by all.
When we retrieved the bikes the road that was still shut made our journey back to the cycle track easy and just to top off the evening we rode back to our site to the rousing sound of fireworks and the promise of cheese on toast. Can life get any better.
6 January 2017
Ten bells had almost struck before we saw any meaningful sunshine this morning. It came just in time for our excursion to a nearby Belen. Belen is the Spanish word for Bethlehem. As we cycled the cumulus alto clouds reemerged and the temperature reflected the cloud cover. I was glad I put my hiking gloves on for the ride.
The Belen was in a town called El Raal. After a few wrong turns and some directions in the language of the world from the locals, it was a bonus that we could show them a piece of paper with El Raal wrote on it, we finally made it. Murcia News had said to expect large crowds and traffic James galore, but to persevere as it was well worth seeing. We arrived around 11:00 which was opening time and were number 6 and 7 in the queue outside the living Nativity scene complete with donkeys and people dressed as they would have been all those years ago at the birth of Christ. At first glance, the same three Kings who were on the carnival floats last night were making another appearance with bags of sweets for the children of which they there were very few in the queue to get in. Never mind, adults can old there hands out too. On closer inspection it wasn't the same three Kings but I had a feeling they were wearing the same wigs from the carnival.
What we realised when we arrived is that the river run alongside the Belon with the cycle trace next to the river. We had cycled miles out of our way to get there when we could have just followed the track. As we rode away we waved goodbye to the Kings who responded with a not too majestic wave back. You could tell they only donned their crowns once a year.
We made good time on the return journey and decided as it was a cloudy day to move on to pastures new. I went and practiced my Espaniol on Trinny the site owner and she practised her English on me. We had a veritable feast for lunch and then took about an hour to pack up the van, by which time the sun was cracking the flags and by now it was mid afternoon. We had a short discussion as to what we should do and a few seconds later I was plugging us back in to the electric and setting the loungers up facing the sun.
When we finally got back to the van we charged our glasses in celebration of our conquest in the supermarket and enjoyed some crisply chilled lager before we settled down for a magnificent spread of chorizo and salad sandwiches and a night of recently acquired video's
7 January 2017
We were woken in the wee small hours by a cacophony of barking dogs. I can't imagine any of them were called Rover or Spot but my assumption into based on any empirical evidence they just sounded like gnasher's or the like. It seemed to take forever for them all of them to quieten down but after what seemed like a good hour the only ones that could be heard were a long way away.
We arose somewhat begrudgingly after hearing nine bells from the local church and with the arrival of the bread man nigh, a certain amount of enthusiasm for the day was required. So it was up and at em even though we were suffering from what the French call a wooden gob (hangover).
Two cups of the finest English breakfast tea and a refreshingly hot shower did the trick and we were packed up and on the road in no time. We turned right out of the site and made good progress for the first 500 meters before we met a rather large articulated truck trying to back into what us northerners call a snicket. It was enjoyable to sit and watch the driver perform the miracle of fitting a three metre wide trailer into a three point one meter wide gap. Val even had time to get out and take photographs of the beautifully decorated church we were stopped outside.
Our first destination of the day was Castillo de Monteoguedo and Sean our Irish sat navigator had one hiccup on the way. When he turned us left down a rather narrow lane we had our suspicions, but we saw a large van parked up and thought we'll give this a go. When we reached a bridge that would barely fit a car under it we knew we had dropped the proverbial clanger. Fortunately there was a dirt track off to the right that I could back into and after castigating Sean we managed to turn round and get back on track. We were very close to the monument we had come to see and were there in no time.
After some sunbathing and with the sun being well past the yardarm it was time for a beer, the only problem being that we only had one small can between us. We promptly departed heading into the village to the Chinese Supermarket. We couldn't resist a quick look into the local Belon on the way, after all who could resist the thought of another three Kings. This time the nativity scene was in an extremely large garage and was more the paper machete variety. The place was packed with young families so we decided to return after our shopping trip.
At the supermarket we appropriated enough lager to see us through the evening and returned pronto to the large garage. Fortuitously our second visit was easier to bear as about half of the young children had disappeared. It was a large display on two levels and in the main a realistic recreation of the birth of Jesus and the land, building and labours of the time. Especially the pig on the spit and the old dome shaped oven where the bread was cooked. The three wise men were travelling by what appeared to be top of the range donkeys and most of the dwellings looked in keeping with the era. One abode however left me somewhat sceptical as on the inside there was a high quality set of pine furniture with bed to match. I kept my thoughts to myself as I didn't want to spoil it for the kiddie winkies observing the set and as it's Christmas the designer should probably be cut some slack and be given a bit of leeway. After all a couple of thousand years on one house depiction is but a drop in life's ocean and I should be more understanding and sympathetic.
We returned to the van rather later than planned but now well stocked with beer, some chilled from the fridge and some not. When we purchased the said beer we chose the chilled but as the Chinese shopkeeper tried to charge us €0.20 more for chilled than warm. At hat point Val intervened and with the help of a youthful looking female shopper who was next in the queue who understood our English she translated the Spanish for "rip off" to man behind the till whose facial expression changed from savvy shopkeeper to sheepish, downtrodden shopkeeper. Looks were exchanged, cans were replaced and our bill was reduced by the grand sum of €1.20 and we still cam away with a one litre bottle of chilled beer as it was only €0.10 more expensive for having spent the last couple of hours in the fridge and more importantly it was acceptable to Val.
8 January 2017
We didn't hear the cock crow or see a beautiful sunrise. Val was awake at a reasonable hour but yours truly didn't arise till the sun was well up in the sky and as sunrise is at about 8:30, we'll imagination is needed.
Once up a ball of energy is the only way I could be described. I was off like a rocket to the Spar shop. The bed was put away, the washing up was done, the bikes were prepared for exit and off we went heading for Isla Playa and beyond.
We cycled along the promenade cycle track, admiring the scenery out to sea, observing the vast amount of tomatoes being grown in long nissan hut type structures covered in plastic, and we were making excellent progress until someone had the effrontery to build a house where the cycle track should have been. Undeterred we circumnavigated the said building but had to then take to the open roads with only glimpses of the ocean.
We were cycling with such exuberance that we only paused at Isla Playa and then pushed on further afield ending up in Mazarron with its resplendent port and enticing bars and restaurants. Our new friends Dave and Joan had marked our card and said if we made it that far we should have the Menu Del Dia at the the La Caleta. We arrived just in time to bag one of the remaining tables and we enjoyed a wonderful five course meal with a bottle of vino tinto for €12. The restaurant was run with military precision with all the young waiters wearing earphones and the older head honcho controlling the via microphone. It wasn't quite like a spy movie as the microphone wasn't up his sleeve but attached to his shirt which rather spoiled the romanticism but fortunately didn't effect the taste of the food. We left with our bellies full after leaving a generous tip. Well €2.70.
We headed into town in search of the Lidl supermarket and found it without much drama. On exiting the shop I asked a guy sitting on a Harley Davidson for directions and probably with good intentions he sent us on the biggest wild goose chase in the history of man. We started questioning ourselves about 5 km out and decided to turn round at 6 we arrived back at Lidl at what felt like an hour later having passed road signs confirming we were heading in the right direction. In hindsight, the old adage of never trusting a man with a big chopper should have been adhered too.
We arrived back at the van and put the recliners up for the last hour or two of sunshine but when Dave and Joan headed for the pub we felt guilty and forced ourselves to go and consume more beer. We had apparently missed the drama of the slanging match they had reluctantly been forced to enter into with another couple whose little dog had almost been eaten by their bull mastiff. We felt sorry for them really as their dog had broke its tether and although she is gentle as a lamb 99% of the time when she goes, she goes.
By the time we left them it was time to touch base with the family, grab a late sandwich and catch up with the blog. Another day in paradise over.
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