Valencia Southbound

Wednesday saw us up a bit earlier than usual as we were moving on. After our usual routine we headed back up to Valencia to pick up the A7 autovia for the run down to Alicante as we saw no point in flogging down the, admittedly pretty, coast road around Javea, Benidorm and the like, having no intention of stopping off there.

Needing to restock the larder we were watching for supermarkets and at Alcoy we followed signs to a Carrefour where we spent an hour filling a trolley with essentials plus, of course, lots of “nice to try” things. We are supposed to be on holiday you know! Lunch in the carpark then onwards. We picked out a commercial aire we had used before, just south of Alicante near La Marina, which was a nice distance. Unfortunately we now discovered that, indeed, it was very busy on the Spanish costas and both sites there were full.

No worries, several more options and we shortly identified quite a large campsite we'd stayed at 3 years ago. Deciding to investigate they did have pitches for the next few days, but we'd have to keep changing. As it was getting late we elected to take a one-nighter and move on tomorrow and settled in the only spot left next to the services, which wasn't actually any bother. A cuppa then take Jamie to the “beach” before tea and relax.

Moving on the next day (18^th) we had no particular destination in mind so followed the coast road into Cartagena, ending up in the port area. With no real thoughts about stopping here we sort of got a little lost so Bren fired up Nellie (the netbook) to help us navigate our way out. We weren't far out so carried on the coast road which now became a bit mountainous but with great scenery so, finding a bit of a pull off, we stopped for lunch. More researching found us a couple of commercial aires a bit off the beaten track about an hour along the road so we thought we'd suss them out. We already knew they'd be basic and the first looked okay with plenty of room. The next was somewhat closer to a village and the coast and was basically just a gravelled area looked after by a very friendly old guy who apparently sits there all day, doing a bit of tidying up where necessary. No electric but water and waste disposal so we found a pitch with full sun all day and settled in for a couple of days.

Friday saw a somewhat dull day but not cold so we took Jamie for a walk into the village and the beach. Not a lot there, just a couple of cafe/bars and a somewhat scruffy beach so wandered back to the site where we were subsequently joined by a couple of Brit vans with whom we had a good natter.

But with the time approaching when we were to meet our friends somewhat further down the coast we needed to get some kilometres on the clock, so after breakfast and servicing the van Saturday saw us joining the non-toll A7 motorway in bright sunshine again. From here on the A7 provides a fast route along the coast as far as Algeciras, giving us a good choice of places to meet up. A diversion into Almeria to find a supermarket became a disaster when we got completely lost, obviously having missed the signs. We did eventually work our way to a Carrefour but, as is quite common in these climes, all the parking was beneath metal sun shelters, far too low for us, and being Saturday any other parking was out of the question. So we found our way back to the motorway and a few miles further on found another Carrefour we could get into and which also had a fuel station.

Lunch, refuel and more motorway miles until we approached Motril where our friends were aiming to meet the coast. Although we would have again preferred an aire, there were none within easy distance so Bren found a couple of ACSI campsites and, having already passed the first, headed for the second. Missing a well-disguised entrance, we tried again and found Don Cactus at Carchena, quite a large site with chalets and a lot of “permanent” units but with lots of space towards the back. Found a sunny spot with, for a change, all services on each pitch, and our plan was to stay a couple of nights and arrange a place to meet up with Derek and June. Settled in okay but later in the evening suddenly all the lights went out in the van! Nothing obvious although Terry suspected a fuse but it was close to bedtime and we had a couple of working lights plus torches so decided to investigate in the morning.

Sunday morning, our usual Full English Breakfast, then found all the lights were working again – hmmm! A bit of checking found nothing amiss so we'll just have to see if it happens again. So after clearing up we took Jamie onto the beach for a good run about. He seems to be losing his fear of the sea, every time taking his ball and dropping it in the water.........

Back to the van for a cuppa and check emails etc. and there was a message from June & Derek. They were having to return to the UK and wouldn't now be joining us...................