The day dawned with wall to wall, glorious sunshine. It's now 138 days since we left Grosvenor Park? After a lazy morning we set of like the proverbial hare and the tortoise into Torrevieja. Val obviously being the hare.
We took the scenic route along the sea front and came across a small gathering of Motorhome's who incontestably knew about a wild camping spot that wasn't on any of our app's. We copied down the coordinates from the iPhone just in case we might want to visit spot at some time in the not to distant future.
The city centre beckoned and we headed in but not before stopping for a cerveza medio on route. After the waiter brought our half pints of beer we sat out in the early afternoon sunshine enjoying today's Daily Mail which I found lying on the bar. After no time at all my mind was reeling from the torrent of new and interesting information from one of the worst culprits of the UK's sensationalist tabloid newspapers. That is top of the list of things we don't miss about being away from our green and pleasant land.
We didn't stray far from the sea front where there were lots of unusual sights to have a butchers at. We found lots of attractions that Val had researched and saved to Pocket. Our penultimate port of call on our sightseeing expedition was the Orient Plaza. We scoured the back streets with the help of a map we had picked up from one of the many tourist information offices. It was a lovely square with a modern church which was unfortunately closed. Then it was on to the town hall and after taking a few photographs we found a tiny tapas bar where the bar tender had a good grasp of the Queens English. We enjoyed a couple of beers each and about eight tapas to share and all for the unbelievable price of €11, mmmmmmm.
We thought we in for a quiet evening by ourselves but alas, no. We got a text from Ian and Glenys, a couple of friends from Morecambe, asking where we were and ten minutes later they were on our doorstep. Next it was a FaceTime from Gregg and the boys and then a bike examiner from DSA got in touch to arrange a catch up in Torrevieja tomorrow. We hadn't even time to watch a movie as the evening just flew by.
17 January 2017
The morning changed from a sunny start to cloudy with a cold wind. It felt more like a day in the UK. The temperature on the internet said 13° but it felt much colder. Our plan was to move down to Torrevieja to a spot overlooking the sea but we quickly adopted plan b and headed north to an aire with electricity and hot showers.
Ghol aire: 38°07′05.86″N 00°39′20.33″W - €7 per night
On route we had a good drive round Guadamar where we intend to visit either tomorrow or Thursday. Sean tried to take us under a low bridge but he doesn't now he's guiding a ten foot tall van around. We found a few wild camping spots with lots of French, Dutch and German vans parked up.
Apart from the low bridge we parked up in San Fulgencio without much incident. We plugged the into the hook-up and switched the electric heater on to warm things up. The first job was to acknowledge out heritage with the cup of tea ritual. Then some friends from Blackburn arrived and we spent a couple of hours catching up, more tea. They and two other couples share a house close by in La Zenia and get to use it four months of the year and they also have a Motorhome. It was good to meet up, catch up and share some information.
After they left we went for a walk to the Lidl which was close by. They have an offer on a decent Cava at the moment at €1.39. Imagine our bitter disappointment when the store was closed. The Spanish are big on their fates and festivals and we could only put it down one of those. The only place open was a Chinese Bazaar which stocks everything including the kitchen sink, but no Cava. It did entertain us for half an hour walking round.
In the evening we had short bursts of rain and hail stones, that's not supposed to happen. We waited with an apolitical sense of foreboding for the thunder claps and jagged bolts of white lightening but either fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view they didn't materialise. We had an entertaining evening back in Benicasim a while back with a storm that stayed overhead all night, with the most amazing streak lightening.
The day went by in the blink of an eye. We had a quiet evening and with good wifi so the movies were on permanent download. Val did us another gourmet meal which we enjoyed with a drop of vino tinto. We even found an English radio station playing the hits of yesteryear. Happy days.
18 January 2017
We were greeted with the news of snow to both the north and the south of our location here in San Fulgencio. There a dark grey clouds gathering above us and it can only be a matter of time before we get a covering. The British chap a few vans down has been into reception to complain. I think he's a glass is half empty kind of guy. I told him there's a blizzard forecast and last saw him marching towards the site office.
The highlight of our day was a walk to Lidl and Iceland. The Cava was no longer on offer but we managed to stock up on some much needed liquid refreshment. Iceland was a mystery to me, they sell English goods at inflated prices. Even when the original price is printed on the box they still hike it up. It doesn't seem to deter our fellow Brits. The place was packed and doing a roaring trade.
The rest of the day was all about the weather. The thunderclaps and ferrous streaks of lightning we waited for yesterday turned up a day late. The ground under the van seemed to vibrate with each clap. Needless to say we were stuck in most of the day. We had rain, hail, snow then back to rain. The Costa del Sol turned into the Costa del Snow. It's feels like home.
We both started with a cold and didn't think much of it. We kept ourselves entertained with the help of the wifi. We had a combination of Tidal, the radio, Netflix and last but not least a good book. Happy Campers.
19 January 2017 - 23 January 2017
These few day are much of a blur. We both had coughing fits on Thursday the 19th and as the day wore on Val started feeling very unwell. Our friends Ian & Glenys who were close by kindly ran us to the nearest health centre and from there it wasn't long before Val was admitted to hospital after suffering another heart attack. The attack was thankfully a mild one and has not caused any more damage to the heart. They stayed with us the hours it took before I could leave Val and then they run me back to the site where the van was parked.
For me the other few days were spent going backwards and forwards which was made difficult by the flu. I felt like a decrepit octogenarian and struggled with holding a thought for more than a few seconds, not to mention the effort needed for even simple tasks. This is the first time I have experienced real flu and fingers crossed, it's the last.
Val came home on Monday 22nd. I had already booked in to our rally site for the next five weeks, a good site with top class amenities. Hopefully we'll get involved in the rally in the coming days when we both feel more recovered.
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