Week 9

Europe » Spain » Catalonia
June 4th 2011

Published: June 13th 2017

Geo: 42.0534, 3.19767

28/5/11 Hot & Sunny 22oC

I was surprised to see on my morning ride that a JCB back hoe was on the main beach right down by the water's edge, seems strange, I can't imagine what it's doing there.

Spent the morning on the beach making the most of the solitude before the masses start arriving later today and pretty much every day now as it continues to build up to the peak of July –August I really couldn't cope with it then.

Tonight we had aperitifs over at our Belgians friends, Paul was telling us his daughter who is on holiday in Norway (he told her that the end of May beginning of June was a good time to go) rang and told him that it'd been raining for 3 days and the temperature was a lowly 10oC oh dear.

29/5/11 Very Hot & Sunny 24oC

It's so hot we spent the morning on the beach where there's a refreshing breeze, but after a short time the beach started to fill up with masses of blindingly white families complete with crying, sand throwing kids so we decide that rather than move we'd go back to the site and settle down for a good read in the shade before going for a shower.

Not long after a caravan pulled into the adjacent avenue near to our absent Dutch friends pitch after a brief conversation they unhitched and I went into get my things for a shower, Linda came in a few minutes later to say they were struggling, how the hell can they be struggling I said it's a small single axle van you can turn on a sixpence? Looking out the window it was obvious, when the unhitched and then attempted to turn the van around the wheels were stuck in the depression which runs the length of the avenue, with only him and her they couldn't get any momentum up and they were getting nowhere, really stuck in a rut.

Despite my reservations about helping out with hard physical labour especially under an unremitting sun I popped over to offer assistance (why doesn't anyone else bother) surprisingly for a Dutch man he spoke very little English try as I might I couldn't get him to understand that we had little chance of getting out of the rut to where he wanted to pitch from a standing start, and after 5 minutes I was knackered and then looked up to see Linda giving me one of her withering looks for doing the very thing I said I wouldn't, oh well in for a penny.

I finally got him to understand that I wanted to rock the van out of the rut, move it back some way and take a run at it, guess what success straight in and out of the rut and right into position, then he says I don't want it here I want it nearer to Andréa's van!! (it turned out he's our Dutch neighbour Andréa's brother) After a little more manoeuvring we got it a bit nearer but I told him that's as much as I could manage and I left it there for him finish off. Thoroughly knackered, dripping in sweat I shot off for a well deserved shower.

Once again the weather forecast on Spanish TV shows all of central Spain still plagued by severe thunderstorms with flooding in some places, strangely enough the only places unaffected are on the eastern coast line (where we are) and the Southern coast

30/5/11 Hot & Sunny 23oC am Showers pm

The whole of the main bathing area of the beach has now been cordoned off and in addition to the Back hoe there are now 2 giant Volvo earth movers, something's afoot me guesses.

Just as we arrived back from the market our Dutch next door neighbour Andrea and his wife arrived back, by this time the sky had changed and it began to look like we may get rain. Sure enough just after lunch it started raining, nothing of any consequence but never the less it was enough to confine us to quarters.

We've now been here nearly 8 weeks and although they cut the grass weekly there's obviously bits close to the awning they can't reach so whilst kept prisoner by the showers I did some gardening inside the awning. You have to keep lifting the groundsheet otherwise the grass comes through and if left it then it becomes part of the site, the grass around the edges of the awning is now a foot high so it needed attention anyway. Whilst on the subject of gardening last week my herbs finally gave their last and have now started to bolt and try as I might I can't get Coriander plants here at all they just look at us gone out when we ask; another note made for next time.

The news on Spanish TV showed the continuing devastation caused to crops and property caused by the continuing thunderstorms, and mysteriously the Eastern & Southern coasts are still the only areas to be free of the storms although we obviously on the fringe and the storms seems to be firmly planted over the central area of Spain, the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain truly comes to mind.

31/5/11 Warm & Sunny 20oC am Showers pm

As I rode down to the harbour I noticed that the back hoe was working removing large deposits of sand at the water's edge and in addition to the 3 earth movers there's now 2 large tractors and trailers that are transporting it away, as I made my way back to the site along the sea front I could see that the whole of the beach for a distance of approx. 2K has now been cordoned off to make in effect a safe roadway for the plant to operate albeit with a gap every now again to allow bathers access to the beach although there's a 500m clear zone around back hoe to enable it operate safely.

When we first arrived on the site I took my normal route for my morning ride which starts along the sea front around some apartments and then out of town, when I reached the apartments access was restricted half way along the front as they were demolishing part of the sea wall. With this in mind I suspected that it may be where they were now depositing the sand. I rode up following the tractor and sure enough they're removing massive amounts of sand from the sea front near the harbour and transporting it to the other end of the bay to bolster up the sea defences.

Just as we were getting ready to go to the beach the sky took a turn for the worse so we decided to stay put, sure enough at lunch time the heavens opened for an hour with intermittent showers for the rest of the afternoon. There are warnings of gales force winds for our area tomorrow, so to be on the safe side I've removed the satellite dish from the roof and checked all the guy ropes for the awning; all around me awnings are being retracted, extra guy ropes put out, and all lose items being taken indoors, looks like tomorrow will be interesting!

01/06/11 Sunny but very windy 20oC am overcast and windy pm

What a night that was. I was so glad I sorted everything out yesterday evening and packed all the loose items away; the gales started around 23:00 last night and were some of the worst I've experienced, there wasn't a winks sleep to be had, there were all sorts of things flying about in the night, fortunately though none of it was ours.

We decided to take a stroll along the sea front this morning as there's little else to do other than stay in a read or take a trip out. At our end of the beach it was a no go area as the sand was being whipped up and ferociously blasting everything in its path, once passed it we had an enjoyable walk but came back through the town having already been completely exfoliated previously!

02/06/11 Overcast with constant bouts of extreme winds 20oC am

No chance of my morning bike ride so a welcome lay in, the sky's a steely blue /grey so it's a quick trip to the market for more supplies and a dash back before it throws it down.

The TV last night indicated that for today & tomorrow we're on the edge of the storm which is slowly travelling from West to East so anything could happen weather wise. Despite all the signs of an impending downpour very little materialised, although we were pretty much confined to the van / awning by the extreme winds.

Paul and Thea came over for aperitifs making for a pleasant end to an otherwise mundane day

03/06/11 Overcast with Sunny spells 20oC

The forecast for today is that the storm will pass over us tomorrow before moving out across the Mediterranean. Hopefully the weather will then return to normal.

An improvement in the weather today so time to catch up with routine tasks, and even manage the odd hour to relax in the sunshine.

Everyone's out putting their chairs, loungers, tables, and cookers, back as well as putting their satellite dishes back out or up as the case may be, it should be easier this time round but I'm not holding my breath; I don't think I could manage watching multiple people trying to realign their dishes so resolved to stick my head in a good book and not look up!

Paul and Thea are slowly making their way back home tomorrow so we're going over to theirs tonight for aperitifs' before going into town with them for a meal in a local restaurant

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