April 17th to April 26th

In Spain, a rambla is any dried up river bed. The nearest rambla is accessible a few hundred yards from the site and runs up into the hills for 6 or 7 miles, through a nature reserve. It’s actually used as a dirt road by the residents. There is an abundance of wildlife observable, anything from wild goats to eagles, and is a great place for a picnic.

The area is full of abandoned mines. The Spanish just walk away and leave things, so all the shafts and machinery are accessible. The spoil heaps are most colourful due to the different metals mined over the years. Great care is needed, however, as everything is in a state of decay, as well as the hazards of exploring unlit galleries leading into the hillsides!

More interesting characters: Bob and Mrs Bob. Their method of transport is a tandem on which they travel huge distances at high speed. I told Bob I wouldn’t have covered their trip of this morning as fast in the car. Bob really must be some athlete (he’s been in triathlon clubs) as Mrs Bob claims she doesn’t do much pedalling!

April 9th to April 16th

A quiet week with some pleasant walking. One favourite is along the coast from the campsite towards a fishing village. The picture was taken on the way. It’s not all idyllic (most of it is) as we had to run through dense smoke from bonfires of old tomato plants at one point.

We have some interesting people on site, Mr & Mrs Ken Dodd for example. Not the Ken Dodd, of course. Mrs K.D. often stops you, and in whispered and serious tones, tells you important news. The first time this happened, we thought she was going to say something like President Bush has been assassinated. What she actually said was: “Do you know, my towels have dried in less than an hour!”

Then there’s the German who always rides his bike up the hill to the loo block. On the way down, he pedals like fury and the bike zooms back along the rows of campers, scattering all before him. Any information on where to buy a bike stinger will be gratefully received.

NEW START : MARCH 2008

March 26th to April 8th

Left home Wednesday 26th March. Missed tunnel slot (i.e. the tunnel left without us) due to heavy traffic, but arrived at Chartres, as planned, some 400 miles.

Day 2, reached Pauillac, on the river Dordogne, where we stayed for three days. Saturday was glorious and we visited Rocamadour, one of the great medieval places of pilgrimage. All centres of pilgrimage had a holy relic, and the better the relic, the more pilgrims e.g. splinter of the true cross, miraculously preserved Saint etc. Rocamadour had a black wooden Madonna, fairly poor in the rankings I would have thought, and even that had disappeared to be replaced by a copy. But the town is spectacularly built into the cliff, as the photo shows.

Sunday 30th March arrived at campsite in Pyrenees, surrounded by snow-covered mountains. Slight downside was a Dutchman adjacent who spent ages setting up his mobile TV satellite dish with a high-pitched whistle direction finding device. He got his just deserts half an hour later when a storm blew up and bowled the sat dish down the campsite.

Tuesday, all fools day, arrived at our destination near Mazarron.

Odd, we said. Jane left a pair of shoes in the awning last night & there’s only one there this morning. As we were puzzling, a neighbouring camper asked if we’d heard the dog in the night. Dog? They don’t allow dogs on the site and even throw campers off for feeding the feral cats. Apparantly, this dog sneaks in from the village during the night and chews up any shoes it can find. Yes, Jane’s shoe was found nearby, duly chewed up.

Rest of the week taken up looking up old acquaintances, swimming and walking.

Sunday 13th May

We’ve been at the house in France since Friday. Weather appalling, and we just got soaked walking along an old railway line. Before that we went to an open day at the snail farm up the road, which was interesting. Thousands of snails for processing into gourmet chewy garlic pencil-rubbers!
We’ll be arriving back at Alconbury a week on Tuesday, and look forward to being in touch with everybody soon after.

Thur 3rd May

Tomorrow we are leaving for Vinaros, north of Valencia. We intend to stay there for a few days and then drive through France, arriving at the house there in about a week. We're still contactable by email in the meantime, but no attachments please.
In the last week we have seen wild mountain goats in the rambla, on the steep slopes high up, and a large bird of prey, possibly a golden eagle. The bee-eaters are now here in force and sit on the tree branches in the rambla in dozens looking like multi-coloured parrots.

Wed 25th April

This afternoon we visited the Guns of Cartagena. These are several batteries of large calibre guns that were installed for the protection of Cartagena harbour which is about 10 miles from there. The batteries are on a remote headland with beautiful views of the sea and hills (and the sea approaches to Cartagena harbour!).
The guns were supplied by Vickers UK and erected in 1926. They were operational until 1993 when the army just abandoned the installation, leaving the armaments and buildings intact. Anyone can wander around at will, even into the subterranean passages under the guns (torch necessary). The site is very extensive and would have accommodated hundreds of men. The guns themselves are most impressive, the largest pair being effectively battleship 20-inch guns, capable of throwing a one-ton shell over 20 miles.

Considering all the expense and difficulty of construction in that remote location, and the large cost of upkeep of the guns and garrison, they were only fired in anger once, in 1939 during the Spanish civil war, when a steamship was sunk.

Tuesday 17th April

Today we saw the first bee-eaters, returning from their winter migration. These are very colourful birds, blue, yellow & green, a little bigger than a thrush, which eat bees. I imagine the fellow who keeps half a dozen beehives just behind the site is not looking too happy!