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Woolly says – We had a sad start to our day yesterday when we had to say goodbye to Big Bertha, poor Jo was really upset as her Dad bought the tent for her and Zoe nearly 13 years ago and she has provided holidays in England and Wales not to mention being our base for the last six weeks, we will miss her badly but she is to broken to fix. We left our lovely little site in its own cove with no clouds to be seen and the day warming up quickly. Today was going to be a very long drive for us all, Oliver looked happy at the prospect but the rest of us were a bit more reticent.
We were reluctant to travel through the mountains of Spain with the weather forecasts showing thunder, heavy rain and low temperatures so having cut down through the coast we have added a lot of mileage on. So a day of travelling it was to be.
Woolly says – I was bored, very very bored. We drove for hours through what must be the industrial capital of Spain, with no views to admire, not
even a cow or sheep to count, it dragged. The road never changed and the mountains were miles away, we had also lost the entertaining signs of yesterday. By 12.30pm we needed to stop to fulfil a few basic needs so pulled up at Lorca. Jo had wanted to make a stop of this to see how the town was doing following its awful earthquake, we saw the cranes and re-building taking place as we passed by but that was all. On and on we went with the scenery never seeming to change, we played disc after disc of complelation’s that we carry and I had to sit through everything from Snow Patrol, Blondie, The Sweet and so many more, it made my ears ache. As Suzi Quatro was Getting Down in Devil gate Drive we spotted the sea and with only another 30 km to go we shared out the driving sweeties to get us to the end. Arriving in the town of Oliva (Oliver was pleased to see his name on the sign posts, but then he can’t spell very well!), we found our way through the town and down the tight little roads towards the beach and
Camping Azul. This will be a two night stop, a little pricey at 20 Euro’s a night (approximately £16.50 GBP), but we knew there was a castle to see and the possibly of an afternoon on the beach was very tempting. The site looked pretty good, it’s right on the beach, has nice clean showers, loads of washing up facilities and a bar, that sounds like a good idea!
Before the bar came the erection of the new tent. It was a trial to say the least but we finally seemed to be sorted and set for the next two nights, just hoping it stays put!
Woolly says – Ian and Jo have called the new tent Big B, they won’t tell me want the B stands for and Jo said it was too rude to put in the blog! My bedroom looks cosy enough so I only had to convince them to go to the bar to be happy Mammoth. A nice tea with Jo opting for swordfish for me and her and Ian taking a selection of chicken from the tapas menu for me and him. Curled up and tired sleep seemed
to allude us with dogs barking constantly (not on the site) and then a really heavy rainstorm, it only felt like moments until I was being prodded to wake up and get going for the day.
Our first stop was into the town of Oliva, essentials needed and a cash machine not to mention a pharmacy to replenish the paracetomal. Sounds easy…..
Woolly says – the supermarket bit wasn’t too bad and we were quickly back at Oliver to load it in, finding an ATM was a nightmare. Having asked we were pointed in the general direction and seemed to walk the whole town to find the only existing one, luckily it worked. We then had to trek back to the car park, via the chemist, to rescue Oliver. To get out we had to put our shipping receipt against the scanner, it didn’t work! I know we had been gone for nearly three quarters of an hour in our epic quest for cash but surely they would let us out. Jo jumped out and went back into the supermarket and came racing back, re-scanned the receipt and pushed a button, we were free.
Already tired we followed the signs to the Centre Historic, we’re still looking for more! With Ian trying to squeeze Oliver into the small roads we have seen – if it had been Georgie they would have had to move the buildings to get us out – we could see an old church but no road seemed to take us to it, round the maze we went, enough said Ian and Jo let’s try finding the castle,” do we have to” I asked?
It was tight, very tight I found myself breathing in with the hope we would get through, it took all of Ian’s skilled driving but we finally caught a glimpse of our destination. The Castle of Santa Anna, built in 1532 to protect the town from pirates was supposed to be perched on the hill above us. Finally going up a small street which could well have been one way we found a car park and a sign, hurrah.
Woolly says – I hoped this would be good, I had to leave my half eaten donut for later as we set off up the pathway. A sign at the bottom told
us that ‘The Castle of Santa Anna is one of the best examples of renaissance military architecture in the area’, this sounded most promising. Striding off up the path I was the first to the top, I looked around for the castle, and looked again, seeing only two walls, a phone mast and electric box all covered in graffiti, not a castle in sight. If this was the finest then someone, somewhere must have a good sense of humour, we admired the views and left. At least I could finish my donut.
It was a major disappoint so to make up for our morning we headed back to camp, collected towels, sunscreen and all the other paraphernalia we need for the beach. A lovely afternoon of dosing, paddling (a little too cold for a swim) and reading, now this is the life!
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Audrey
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Hi Suzanne and pete wow love reading your comments and looking at your photos. Amazing scenery take care .