Rasbro's Ramblings - No. 17

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February 2013

After farewelling Uncle Bernard we went to pick up our laptop from the second service place to have looked at it in as many weeks and unfortunately they could not find the problem, only referring to it as a “software” problem – duh, we could have told them that! At least they did not charge us for it. Brian has since narrowed the problem down to when we connect to the internet but it still is not fixed.

We motored up the coast to Santa Pola where we stopped for lunch near the lighthouse then drove on to Altea where we parked up behind the local police station. We had a quiet night and the next morning we drove inland to Fonts de Alguar where we hiked up 700mt and 13km to Fort Bernia and back. We returned to the police parking at Altea for another night. On Monday 4 Feb we drove along the coast to Calpe to walk around the huge chunk of rock called the Roche Ifan de Penon ( or something like that). However it is hard to appreciate as it is hemmed in by enormous high rise development. We next followed a twisty coast road to Cap Nao for lunch then on to Cap St Anton where we had a pleasant 6km walk with great views over Javier. After a couple of false starts we ended up spending the night in the picnic area of the park, dogs howling was the reason for us to move.

On Tuesday morning we drove the scenic route to Bernia, parked next to a restaurant which looked closed up for the season and did the circuit of the Sierra de Bernia which was only 9km but included some difficult scree, a cave scramble and fabulous views of the coast. We got back to the sunny terrace of the restaurant to find a load of people finishing lunch so after chatting to a Welsh couple who said it sometimes is and sometimes isn't open, we got ourselves a table and Brian ordered food – and what food it was! For 25Euro (for 2) we had a feast of bread, aioli, salad, roast rabbit with 50 cloves of garlic, hand made chips, beer, wine and coffee; all with a view from the mountains to the sea, interspersed with almond trees in blossom and the knowledge that we only had to stagger to the motorhome to sleep! It doesn’t get much better than this.

The next day we left our mountain eyrie to follow another lovely valley route to our next stop at Campell in the Val de Laguar. This was yet another tiny mountain village with many good walking routes from the camp site and a friendly owner to provide walking maps. On Thursday we headed out for what was to be a HUGE walk! It was very windy again so our foray up to the ridge was abandoned and instead we did the route of 10,000 steps! No joking, it was 1000mt of ascent over 20km of distance and nearly all of it was on steps built into the hillsides. However, it did keep us in the valleys and out of the worst of the wind and it was spectacular in the gorges.

After this we decided to give our legs a rest and move a bit further north. We drove to Gandia where we found a motorhome dealer who sold us a new thermostat for the fridge which had been playing up (although he did try to tell us the fridge needed replacing). Luckily, Brian picked the problem and the new bit fixed it (never travel in a motorhome without an engineer!). We eventually found our next camp spot for the night in the deepest, depths of the massive orange groves south of Valencia – and it was free even though in season it could accommodate hundreds of campers.

On Saturday we found ourselves in the delightful Camping Ribamar on the coast in the Park Natural Sierra de Irta. It is only small park area but feels remote and the helpful camp owners showed us the walks. Next day we did a decent hike to Campaniles, the highest point at 572mt, found a record 8 Geocaches, did 19km and ascended 700mt. Not bad at all! The next day we decided to have a rest day and only walked 12km into the town of Alcossebre for a beer.

Tuesday 12 February was another very windy day. We drove to Peniscola which has a nice old town perched on a round hill within a fortified wall – but very quiet at this time of year. We ventured into the northern part of the Park de Irta and found a few more Geocaches before giving up on the wind and heading inland to the Els Ports Natural Park. We visited this area last time through and knew it had more to offer but this time were stopped by the gale force winds. We eventually sought sanctuary behind a cemetery but even this was not enough so we moved across to the larger lee of the sports hall. The local police came by twice as the gate to the cemetery was setting off its alarm with the wind but all they did was wave at us.

The next morning the wind had eased again as we drove the inland route along the Rio Ebro. There are more lovely mountain ranges to be seen with walking signposts tempting you to stop the van and get the boots on, but we were heading for a the Cistercian monastery at Les Poblet and it was worth the visit, especially as we spent the night in the car park afterwards. Valentines day saw us driving yet another scenic route through craggy mountain ranges, over cols with far reaching views and across the plains to Barcelona, well to Camping Vilanova Park which is actually 50km south – none of the campsites close to Barcelona are open at this time of year, none that we would stay at anyway. This site is well organised, has very helpful staff and a lovely indoor pool and spa. We spent the next two days tramping the streets of Barcelona, enjoying the sites, the sounds and the general buzz of the place. We also enjoyed some good tapas and good shopping – the people of this town know how to shop!

On Sunday we moved on up the coast towards Girona which has a lovely old town with extensive rebuilt walls you can walk along. It also rained on us for the first time in ages. Unfortunately I came down with a bit of a bug over the next few days which slowed us down. However we still managed to pootle around the countryside east of Girona to visit some cute old medieval villages spending 3 nights staying in various quiet car parks on the outskirts of Peratallada and Sant Feluda de Boada, and Brian enjoyed a couple of short walks and a meal out whilst I wallowed in bed.

By Friday I was starting to improve so we visited the medieval town of Besalu then drove around Figueres to find a campsite not far from the French border. Camping les Pedres would have been an attractive site until bushfires 6 months ago wiped it out. They lost many trees and 75 cabins! They are gradually rebuilding but it will be some time yet to completion. Saturday was windy again and bitterly cold. We drove to Roses which was not motorhome friendly so only stopped for lunch then continued up the coast through Llanca and across into France. We eventually arrived at Port Vendre aire late in the day to find it a nice sheltered spot with about 20 other motorhomes. On Sunday the weather did not improve so we walked to Collouire and back, stopping to enjoy a local market and a “menu du jour” which proved to be a splendid 3 course meal for 15euro.

On Monday we visited Perpignan which is a pleasant town without any great drawcards. Tuesday the weather improved so we headed up the valley via Prades and Mont Louis to the aire at the bottom of the Pla del Mir chairlift at Les Angles. We were too late in the day to ski so walked down to the village and browsed the shops, had a vin chaud then caught the free bus back. Wednesday morning we were on the ski lift at 9.30am and driving back down the valley by 10.30am! The promised sunny day did not happen as the cloud came down really fast, then the snow came. Given that I cannot ski in a white out and we still did not trust the snow chains to stay on the wheels we decided to get below the snow line quickly. It turned out to be a good move as the next couple of days it rained and snowed intermittently even down at 600mt altititude. However, we found ourselves a lovely quiet aire at Vernet les Bains and enjoyed a great 14km walk on Thursday. The cloud was a bit low for us to enjoy the views of Mt Canigou but the valleys were pretty.

That's your lot for this month. As I type this the snow is falling heavily in Vernet les Bains and we may not get out of here today, unless we are willing to risk the snow chains!

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