Jeff: A busy time in Spain part 2

The next morning we got up and decided to go for a short run through the fruit groves (Rich is trying to keep us fit, I on the other hand would have preferred a cup of tea in bed) and then we headed off to Valencia. We parked about 5 miles outside of the city and got on the bikes and cycled towards the Ciudad de las Artes Y la Ciencias which is a science and cultural complex. The buildings are futuristic and there is lots to see. We parked up the bikes and walked around to explore the pools, the buildings and to walk through the garden. We then continued our cycle towards the city centre where we parked the bikes up and started out tour of the city. We walked to the central market which was amazing with such great foods and produce. We wanted to buy everything and did wonder why we don’t have these markets more in the UK. After the market we did a short walking tour around looking at some lovely old buildings and we decided that this was probably the prettiest city we had been to so far. Then as usual for us we found a vegan café had lots of tapas as a late lunch and then headed back to the bikes before cycling back to the van and headed down south. We arrived at a little town and as it had been over 30 degrees all day we decided a quick swim in the sea was needed to cool down before settling in for the evening at the beach.

The next day we didn’t have anything planned and you know how these days can either be terrible or great well I’m not sure I would say ours was great but it was interesting and fun (at times). We decided over our morning cup of tea to go to the nearby national park and climb a mountain (not my choice as I’m sure you would guess) but on our way there I was doing some research and found out that some national parks need booking to keep the number of people managed. I found the park we were going to had a cave, called Cova Tallada, that required booking so I booked it. I believed the cave was probably on the mountain so it made sense to book it. Well I was wrong (see I can admit it) and it turns out it’s a sea cave that you can either walk to via the coast or kayak to. Well we had the paddleboard so we quickly (and much to my happiness) changed plans and set out to the beach. When we got there the weather wasn’t looking great and we even heard a rumble of thunder but we thought what the hell we are here now so off we set. We got to the cave in record time of 20 mins and there was already a tour group in there. We walked around the cave and thought well this was okay but not really worth booking and then we found the rear caves which seemed to go on and on. We explored the caves for a good 30 to 40 minutes using our phone torches as it was pitch black and there were holes for you to put your foot down, over hangs to hit your head on (yes even little me!) and bits to slip on. After exploring and finding our way back to the entrance we decided to have a snorkel (where the tour had been snorkelling) and saw lots of fish. After this we headed back on the paddleboard to the beach which while we were paddling against the tide was nice as the weather had cleared and it was turning into a lovely sunny day. Once back we had a snorkel in the local bay which was also really nice and clear.

After this we decided to continue with the crazy national parks and headed south to Calp where there is the Parc Natural del Penyal d’Ifach which has a large limestone outcrop which you can climb. This was again my idea and I did regret this several times during the climb. It states it should take about 2 hours for the round trip and as it was only 3.30pm we knew we had lots of time. The climb starts off nicely with a simple track up to a tunnel which you need to walk through which was nice, although it was very dark in places and you had to watch your footing. Once through there then all health and safety was gone (there was a sign saying risk of falling and boy was this true). The climb continued up and got progressively rockier and involved clambering across rocks with only a chain to hold on to and a sheer drop next to you. Those of you who know me well can imagine how much I enjoyed this! My fear of heights came into full force but onwards we went (after the occasional sit down to calm myself before/in the middle of difficult bits) and we made it to the top. After a couple of photos we started the climb back down and did take a little detour to the Mirador of Carabiners which is an extra 0.5km but also had great views. Once we were back on solid ground and in Jeff we knew we had to finish the day with a bang and well we weren’t that far from Benidorm so off we went. We parked up and walked in to the town which was bustling and interesting. From our walk around we quickly identified all the brits from a mile off and I saw more mobility scooters there than anywhere else in the country. We decided to have dinner and some drinks (and who could resist at 3 euro pints!) before heading back to our parking as we were exhausted.

After not the best nights sleep due to the noise in Benidorm we got up and decided what to do. As the weather was not looking great (and it turned out it rained on and off all of the day) we decided to head to the campsite we had booked to stay on. This is a rarity for us and its only the second one since we got Jeff (the first being in Wales) and it was really interesting to see all the various motorhomes. There were some huge ones and very modern ones and we even got chatting to some other brits. Once we parked up we decided to get on with the chores we had been ignoring including our washing, cleaning the van and organising some of the cupboards which had got messy or where things weren’t in the right place. As we have had Jeff for a month now we know what we need and what we don’t so it gave us a chance to properly reorganise the van to make the best use out of the space. We also encounter an issue, the location of our spare toilet cassette had caused one to develop a hole and this wasn’t fixable on the road so we need a new one. We tried the local camping shop without success but we managed to find one online that could be delivered and with some help we have managed to get it ordered and it will be delivered next week. After an afternoon of cleaning we decided it was time for a swim in the pool which I think the rest of the motorhomes found weird considering it wasn’t that warm and the pool was not heated but we brits are hardy and it was a lovely way to finish a busy day.

The next day we finished up the chores and headed out continuing our route down south and stopped in a local town to try and get a rack for my bike. Having tried to find one online and in other stores we were not hopefully but actually the bike store were great and not only had one but fitted it for us, we then found bags for it at Aldi which was lucky. Once that was done we continued on south and found a beach, called Playa las Palmeras, to spend the day at. The beach had strong waves so Rich had a go at surfing on the paddleboard which is definitely harder than it looks but he did well. We decided to spend the night at a beach just up the road where there were some other campers. They seem to have an issue with campers on some beaches, especially those campers over 5.5m (which we are) so we had to check where we could spend the night

This brings us to today and this morning we went for another run before heading slightly further south to Villaricos beach where we spent most of the day and planned to sleep. Again it was a little bit too rough to snorkel but we did have a swim and relaxed in the sun. The town has a market on tomorrow so we thought we would cycle in to have a look around and then decide what to do for the afternoon.