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2018/01/11 Italy – East Coast

Thursday 11th January

We have now seen all on our bucket list for Italy so are now heading south towards Brindisi and then to Greece. We have previously spent many weeks in Venice and Rome on other trips so will not be revisiting this trip.

No tollways today and highways are pretty good though it is raining and quite miserable outside.

Our campsite chosen for tonight was in a great location on a Marina and the huge Lake Trasimero (Area Comunale, Castiglione del Lago) but all the spots here were so muddy after the rain, we dared not stay here for fear of getting stuck. Highly recommended if there was no rain.

Our campsite for tonight: Area Camper Trasimeno, Magione

There were several other campsites around the lake (all were closed as far as our APP was concerned). We found one where the barriers were open and based on the signs should have closed on 30th September. Seems they leave it open for use during the winter months at no cost. Good fortune for us as the electricity and other services were left open too. There was one other motorhome there.

Great campsite – edge of lake, level, bituminised, lights, security cameras, fresh water, grey and black emptying and electricity and free of charge

We happily locked up and went for a long walk around the lake and small town. This is mostly a fishing village with a seafood coop and a few small shops, a Marina with small fishing boats and a couple of small yachts, a couple of restaurants and a small number of homes.

Different fishing method to what we have seen at home

It was really cold so on went the electric heater (a luxury for us as we don’t need to connect to power for the batteries). Typically the restaurants here close early afternoon and reopen around 7pm, so dressed for the occasion and walked 50 metres to the Italian restaurant. We were the only ones there and felt guilty. No one could speak English but they had an English menu and again using sign language and Mr Google we had a fun night with a great Tuscany white and lots of seafood. Scrambled home in the rain to a warm Ziggy.

Friday 12th January

Rained again during the night and woke up to another overcast and drizzly day.

We headed towards the east coast and after giving the thumbs down to a few dodgy looking camp sites finally chose a safe but uninteresting place to stay.

Our campsite for tonight: Azienda Agrituristica Speca, Villa Rosa

This was a fruit farm just off the main road and tucked safely away behind large gates and the homestead next door. We were the only ones there. Really great new facilities and with a “once used tennis court” with lights looking very sad and neglected. Think it may be used in the summer months only.

Walked a km or so into the small town of Villa Rosa looking for Internet and phone reception as there was no reception at the campsite.

Found a bar open called “Lucky” (the owner a real Marilyn Monroe fan) with pictures of the star on every spare spot on the wall. Sat and watched the locals come in and play cards – regular Friday night thing here apparently.

A safe and quiet place to stay but nothing exciting to take photos of.

Saturday 13th January & Sunday 14th January

Back on the tollway for a long drive today. There are hundreds and hundreds of places to stay on the east coast but the ones we saw yesterday were really unkempt and in places that were less than desirable and with no one else staying there, opted to move on further down the boot of Italy.

We travelled about 250 kms on the tollway today and the drive was so spectacular with massive large bridges constructed over the lush green valleys below. No congestion in this part of the country and for the first time, we are seeing agriculture instead of bricks and mortar.

Our last few days on the tollway have been really worth it and not expensive at all – ranging from €3 to €15 for journeys of up to 100kms. At a tollway exit we took the cash only aisle instead of the credit card aisle and inserted our first €50 and waited for the change. We waited and waited and nothing happened and cars queued up behind us so we put on the hazard lights and pressed a “help” button on the machine. Drivers behind started blowing their horns – Italians are not known for being very patient drivers. The attendant came to assist and told us we needed more money. We fed in another €50 note and a little change came back out. This trip cost the Earth at €93.50 and we are still recovering from the shock. Thought it must have been a special part of the tollway so unhappily we moved on. Back to the highways tomorrow and give the tollways away.

Our campsite for tonight: Camping Lido Salpi, Manfredonia

This campsite is a little heaven compared to others we saw over the last few days. It is set on the beachfront with a magic view across the ocean to the township of Manfredonia around 10kms away and a backdrop of mountains framing the town in the foreground. A fabulous picture on dusk with the sun shining on the mountains.

Enjoyed the lolling about at the campsite for what was left of the day and decided to enjoy a meal in its restaurant (reports on our APP gave it a high rating). We arrived to find a large table of 10 German, Swiss and Austrians already there and Garcon (who was the gardener a couple of hours ago) was just taking their orders. Knew it was a long wait but enjoyed talking in German with the large table and sipping the good Italian beer. Was great to see the MasterCard and Visa signs up as we had exhausted most of our cash at the tollway gates. Dinner came about 2 hours later – think the gardener may have been the chef as well as the waiter.

Tried to pay by credit card but was told the lines were down and we had to pay cash. (Trick no 14B to avoid paying taxes, we think). Scrounged around and found enough to pay but after the tollway episode, not happy Jan). The dinner – you guessed it – was just awful. Lessons learned – ask about credit card before you order and never order from the gardener.

Woke up to a new day, better we hope than yesterday, with no rain today so opted to stay another day and recover. Took a long walk along a really pretty beach, sadly littered with so much rubbish that would have been washed in on the incoming tides, but it was just wonderful and relaxing.

Looked at the tollway receipt and with Google translation, worked out why the high price yesterday. Here you take a card on entry at a tollway and then on departure you put the card in and the machine works out how much you need to pay. On checking the receipt, it includes town of entry and town of departure. Our entry point stated: “invalid reading” – so obviously our ticket, received at the entry point, could not be read and it charged the maximum amount. Why did the attendant not see this ugh!

We tried to phone the tollway help line, but of course it is only in Italian, so no luck there. Spoke to an Italian man here who could speak German (no English) and together we agreed we should stop at the next tollway and show them the ticket and ask for a refund.

Ziggy washing and clothes washing and research on Greece took over the rest of the day and of course we did not eat out tonight and really enjoyed a home cooked meal.

Monday 15th January

Had just enough to pay for the campsite (only around €5 left now) so headed to Manfredonia and the nearest ATM.

With money now in hand headed to the next tollway. They were not authorised to pay refunds and didn’t speak English or German, so we took another ticket and moved on hoping to resolve at the departure point.

Here the attendant was also not authorised to pay refunds and directed us to the next tollway where there was an official tollway office who could help. Long story short – they don’t do cash or credit card refunds, only deposit into a bank account. Took 2 hours (no English spoken) in total to try to do a refund into our Australian bank account- €75+ refund was worth it. Still not sure if it worked, we will have to wait and see – we were told it would take 2 to 3 months. Lesson learned: if you have any issues regarding excessive tollway fees, put on your hazard lights and stay put at the gates until a service attendant arrives. He should be able to sort out the issue on the spot before you leave the gates – too late once you leave the gates as per the above – so don’t budge.

Our campsite for tonight: Area Comunale, Ostuni

Saw the town from miles away – a mass of white buildings sitting atop a hill and the spire of a magnificent cathedral at the summit. Arrived here with only half an hour until nightfall so did not venture into town today.

The campsite is right at the bottom of the hilltop town and we sat and watched the numerous lights go on throughout the town. No other motorhome here so we are alone again. Couldn’t understand the parking payment signage – very confusing, but think it is no cost after end of September.

Tuesday 16th January

Our boat from Brindisi to Greece does not leave until 9pm tonight and with only 40kms to go decided to venture into the town of Ostuni to explore.

All the homes and apartments are white or cream sandstone and all are box style, many with little patios and most still with greenery and coloured pots adorning them. As with many of these towns, the climb is all uphill on cobblestones and steep but really worth it in the end.

Amazing how many English words have been adapted – the sign under the white sail in the alley reads “cocktail bar”

In the middle of the town square is a church with the most beautiful and colourful stained glass windows and of course the regulatory statue in the middle of the square. We climbed higher to the summit which offered breathtaking views across the valleys below and right out to the Adriatic Sea. The cathedral of course sat at the top of the summit – unfortunately was not open to sightseers.

Beautiful sunny day with blue skies today – the best we have had for weeks, so really enjoyed the travelling.

Overnight in Ostuni – always try to reverse right on to a post, pole or tree to try to minimise risks of bikes being stolen

Arrived in Brindisi with several hours to kill, so parked at the ferry terminal car park and relaxed with a good book until it was time to check in at 7pm.

The ferry was late and we finally left (with about 40 huge trucks and only a few cars) at around 10.30pm instead of 9pm. Settled into the sleeping lounge (takes about 50 people) and played scrabble and did crosswords until midnight. We were the only ones in here so enjoyed a quiet peaceful night. All the truckers slept in the truckers lounge- nice!

Italy Summary

So this is good-bye to Italy – we really enjoyed our stay here – the food was great, the wine was great and the scenery spectacular – thank you for having us.

When we left the French Riviera and crossed in to Italy the first thing we noticed was an increase in the traffic and particularly the motor scooters – plus an increase in the congestion in towns and the narrow streets.

The Italian drivers are skilful but impatient.

We also noticed how friendly, helpful, smiling and welcoming the Italians are, compared to the country we had just left.

2018/01/09 Italy – Pisa and Florence

Tuesday 9th January

Heavy rain for most of the night – probably was the bad weather expected yesterday and happening a few hours later than expected.

Back on the tollways now for around 100kms again missing the seafront villages and traffic congestion but still capturing the fabulous views (when not in tunnels).

Our campsite for tonight: Area Communale, Pisa

We have been very selective with our choices of campsites while in this part of Italy as we have heard some gruesome stories of breakins.

This campsite is in the heart of Pisa in a secure parking area dedicated to motorhomes with security cameras, lots of lights and a person at the entry until 7pm at night. We are more concerned with leaving Ziggy during the day which is when breakins seem to happen.

Had a pleasant 2km walk to Piazza del Duomo, the famous square that includes Torre Pendente (the leaning tower of Pisa), Cattedrale de Saint Maria and Battistero de Saint Giovanni. We have not been here in our previous travels and were in awe of these three stunning buildings.

Not one of the usual photos seen of Pisa

A real tourist atmosphere here even in the “off season”. Everybody taking selfies and professional photographers making sure the photo showed them holding up the leaning tower.

Had to pinch ourselves as we stood in front of another world icon.

Haven’t seen this one before – normally just the “Leaning Tower”

Strolled back through the middle of the walled old town until we reached the Arno River.

What a beautiful river with magnificent heritage buildings on both sides and with the sun setting, gave us some fabulous photos to bring back these memories when we get home.

Think we were a little like zombies for the last km of this 4 hour walk – think my driver took me the long way home (on foot). Strange how one can keep coming back for the pain each day when there is so much to see in this wonderful world and really not enough time to see a small part of it.

Leftovers is all the dinner he got tonight for taking me the long way home 😍

Wednesday 10th January

NAVIE did not take us via a tollway today so the roads were a little less comfortable (not tollway standard). Not a lot of fantastic scenery today as we travelled east and away from the coast.

We saw Florence looming in the distance and were a little apprehensive about heading into a big Italian city again but soon had gone through it and we in out campsite without a lot of stress.

Our campsite for tonight: Parcheggio Gilsomino SCAF, Firenze (Florence)

One of two campsites in Florence, this has the better and safer rating. Nothing here makes it a pretty place to stay (no beach or views etc) but its major tick in the box is that the No 11 bus stops right outside the gate and for €2 each and four stops you are right at a bridge on the Arno River with a view across to the next bridge – the Pont de Vecchio.

The views on the river are just amazing and soon we are on the Pont taking in the full atmosphere. We have been here before and this time, again it is wonderful. Surprisingly though, all the shops on the Pont are jewellery shops.

We headed into the heart of Florence and ventured through the many many stalls selling leather goods – an absolute treasure for shoe and handbag lovers.

A shopping Mecca with any labels you could wish for. My driver confiscated my credit cards (joke Joyce – he knows we can’t carry more shoes or handbags there is just not enough room in Ziggy). Just have to say the shoes and boots in both France and Italy have been a real temptation.

Interesting street art – the new in the old

Finally found the tourism office with the help of Google and dropped in to get a tourist city map. Took the required number from the machine and sat and waited for half an hour or more to see an officer. There were five or six ladies there all busily working on computers. No. 51 was the last number on a board when we arrived and we were no 52. Not sure what the problem was – we had had a shower that morning and were clean shaven with clean clothes on – then why did we not get to talk to anyone? Annoyed we walked out. Without a map and assistance from this tourist bureau we stumbled on.

The Duomo’s (Cattedrale di Santa Maria) red tiled dome was visible from so many places throughout the city. We passed through many Piazzas and stumbled upon Michaelangelo’s Statue of David as well as the Birth of Venus. This Piazza was the best and was full of amazing statues and so many tourists taking photos – including this tourist bureau unloved couple.

This is the “uncircumnavigated” side of the statue of David. Too embarrassed to show the other side

Had a magic day walking about before catching the No 11 bus (next street up from where it dropped us off) and getting home in 10 minutes – feeling all the better for catching the bus instead of walking the 2kms in and out of the city.

2018/01/05 Italy – Scooters, Scooters and more Scooters

ITALY

Friday 5th January

Not long after leaving town, we saw a police car blocking the road a little way down the mountain. Two Gendarmes carrying machine guns were stopping cars before us and also coming the other way. Not sure what the problem was, but they waved us through, thankfully. This was a very isolated part of the country, so we thought this was very strange. The border was not far away so could have something to do with it.

Another day, another set of challenges for my driver. Today we opted to head back towards the coast – a different way to yesterday. We had seen snow on some of the mountains and without snow tyres or chains, did not want to risk this. Certainly a good choice, though there were still many really tight bends and hairpin corners. The scenery again was spectacular but my driver had no time to see it.

Our first Italian town driving experience was just awful. The drivers here are crazy. They double park and stop anywhere, put on their hazard lights and take off, leaving everyone else to get around them. Pedestrians just walk or run across pedestrian crossings without stopping or looking and the skooters (millions of them) dart in and out of the traffic like maniacs. We seriously had forgotten how overpopulated this country is and are seriously wondering how long we want to be here.

Once out of the nightmare town of Ventimiglia (where there was a massive market in the middle of town), we followed the coast road which seemed a little easier, though my driver did not get a chance to see much of the scenery. The views across the Mediterranean Sea were amazing and a continuous stream of small towns fronted every spare inch of it.

Our campsite for tonight: Parcheggio Marina del Aregai, Santo Stefano al Mare

Just a beautiful campsite, exclusively for around 26 motorhomes. It is right on the sea shore with a boardwalk running in front of it.

We have magnificent views and watch the waves come crashing in. Today is one of the warmest days we have had for a while. The sun is shining and the skies are blue and we soon forget about the traffic and cars and people.

The walk along the boardwalk goes forever and can’t express how much we really enjoyed it.

At home in Oz we can have this magic, every day, and at times we forget to really appreciate what we have – Beautiful white sandy beaches, blue seas and a warm climate.

Saturday 6th January

Rained heavily during the night and woke up to a miserable morning, though the view was still spectacular. Have opted to take the easy way out and use the toll roads to get us to from A to B instead of going through the towns.

The A8 which also becomes the A10 avoids all the coastal towns but still provides magnificent views along the way of these towns and the sea. We travelled 80 kms on this tollway for just €11.60 – a real bargain – would have taken us at least three times longer and without the traffic hassle.

Still a wet drizzly day so opted for an interim campsite to stop and do some washing and forward planning.

Our campsite for tonight: Area Comunale, Celle Ligura

Just off the tollway and outside of the town of Cella Ligura, it is a mixed parking area near a sports field. Nothing much around here and was too wet to walk into town.

Did the chores and settled down for the afternoon with a good book and listened to the rain beating on the roof – quite soothing.

Sunday 7th January and Monday 8th January

With over 65 million people in this small country (statistics as at 2014), we have elected to avoid travelling along the coast roads and take the tollway which gives us the views, and so much less tension trying to avoid these crazy drivers. The skooters are not permitted to travel along the tollway so takes one problem out of the driving equation.

Xmas school holidays officially end today, so hope the traffic and the number of people on the roads decrease substantially. Also the camping fees in the motorhome parks are exorbitant compared to other countries so hopefully these will decrease now that we are in the low season.

The tollways took us through 90kms of freeway, with the most of this going through tunnels. Once outside of these, the views across to the sea and the mountains were spectacular. This country is so overpopulated, there is no break in between towns with high rise apartment blocks and homes being built on every spare inch of mountains and hillside. Very mountainous countryside.

Our campsite for tonight: Area de Camping Fornaci Al Mare, Deiva Marina

The exit off the tollway took us down a steep and windy road with again quite a few tricky bends and under one 3.5m bridge then into this seaside town. Quite an easy drive down from the tollway compared to past few days.

The beachfront at Deiva Marina – is that a beach?

Another one of those really homely little places where everyone knew each other. Not much open now that the Xmas holidays are over but we took the time to walk around and find a place for dinner tonight. Stopped in at the local for a beer and, as is the custom here, enjoyed a plate of snacks complimentary to have with our drink. We found this in Spain and Portugal as well and is a fabulous idea.

The campsite is a bit disjointed with cabins, motorhomes and caravans scattered everywhere, but we have a whole area to ourselves which is just great. Mario greeted us at the gate and has been a great host. Price here yesterday was €32 but today we have it to ourselves for €15 including electricity.

Selected this place because the railway here has a regular train service that takes you directly to Cinque Terre in around 16 minutes and the security is really good with Mario and family living on site, a full security gate and a boom gate – also excellent security lighting.

Set the alarm for a really early start and did the short 5 minute walk from the campsite to the train platform where we purchased a one way ticket to the first village in the Cinque Terre National Park – Monterosso – only around 4 stops. At the information counter, we tried to buy the hiking ticket and maps to do the full national park walk to all five villages, but were told the hiking trails were closed because of a dangerous weather alert. Only option available was to visit each of the five by train and then explore the villages before catching the train to the next village.

Can’t say enough about how spectacular each one of these villages was. Each village was truly amazing and each had their own Monasteries, Fortresses, cathedrals, statues and views to die for.

Riomaggoire – more boats than cars in the main street

We walked up and down hills, climbed a thousand steps at each one and walked through quaint fishing villages. Where in other towns you would have cars, here you see small fishing boats tied up everywhere along the main streets. Terraced houses many more than 5 storeys high were built on the hillsides and just so colourful.

Manarola – our favourite of the 5 villages

Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggoire are the other four villages and if we had to choose which we loved the most (and it is a difficult decision) Manarola was our favourite with Vernazza coming a close second. We probably spent around two hours exploring each village.

The bad weather did not actually happen with just a couple of showers during the day. A little disappointed that we were not allowed do the hiking trails but wonder now if we would have been fit enough.

Vernazza – the only way to access the beach is through that cave

This was the toughest day for us physically by far and by day’s end we struggled toward the platform to catch the train back to Deiva Marina, staggered the long five minute walk home to Ziggy and collapsed – only having enough energy to open a well deserved bottle of wine and talk about this amazing day.

Got to really encourage people to stay here where it appears to be safer and so close to a train that takes you right to Cinque Terre in four stops. The town has quite a lot of restaurants and bars and is right beside the sea.

2018/01/01 France – from the Med to the Mountains

Monday 1st January, 2018

We had waited in eager anticipation to end the 2017 year and the start of 2018. Ten minutes before midnight, the rain came bucketing down which seemed to end the activities planned for the city. Fireworks start was delayed by five minutes and only a small number were let loose before more rain saw the end of the celebrations and guaranteed a very quiet New Years Eve.

The morning brought with it perfect cloudless skies, so packed down and headed off for Marseille.

Beautiful scenery along the way as we headed further into the hills and then back down the other side to Marseille. Saw the Port looming as we came down the mountain and cargo ships way out to sea waiting for their time to come into Port. The Port was full of ships being loaded and unloaded and cruise ships so tall, they looked like they were top heavy with cabins.

Our NAVIE took us through the Port area where people were everywhere enjoying the waterfront cafes and being a public holiday, was extremely busy. We ventured through some scary narrow streets and under some really low bridges – the signage not being very clear about where the low bridges were so my driver was really tested and had heart in mouth for several kilometres.

Ziggy is 3.3 metres tall and most of the signage had height warnings of 3.2 metres -we gambled on the fact that there was a fudge factor involved and got through – it was either that or try to reverse up with a lot of frustrated drivers behind us.

Happily we arrived at the campsite (the only one in Marseille) and drove into the driveway with a sigh of relief. We were stopped from entering by three policemen and behind them some very angry looking motorhomers. We were not permitted entry and have no idea what was happening but probably some sort of result from New Years Eve. That was the end of our planned trip to Marseille.

We needed fuel desperately (the low warning light had been on for a while) as we had not planned on using so fuel much getting through Marseille. Our credit cards do not work in French Express fuel stations and as we had no choice, we pulled into one and waited for someone else to arrive before asking them to use their credit cards in exchange for cash (with a bonus of course for helping out). Spotted a young couple in a German registered car so opted to approach them. Turns out they were French with a German registered company car and they spoke German but they were super and helped us out big time and refused to accept a cash reward.

Headed out to the hills asap just to get away from the big city congestion, narrow lumpy roads and people everywhere.

Our campsite for tonight: Aire de Camping-Car Le Jardin, de la Ville, Cuges Les Pins

Hurtling down the highway now leaving all that big city congestion behind, we soon drove through some magic natural countryside. This camp spot is part of a Natural Parc or to us seemed like our national parks. Surrounded by hills, woodland and very few houses, it was just bliss. We were greeted at the entry gate by three very fat goats who followed us right until we parked and then stuck around for a long time waiting for a feed. Didn’t think they needed one so sadly they missed out. Total serenity and beautiful natural woodland walks is what we needed and we certainly took advantage of this. Only shared this spot with about six other motorhomes.

Our type of camping – not another person around – in a pine forest

The town itself is nothing more than an old country town but just outside of town, a new estate was being built.

The sun hid behind the mountainside fairly early in the afternoon and soon it was quite cold. Thought back to being home and the camping we really love and this fit the bill, except we couldn’t have a camp fire – ugh!!

Tuesday 2nd January, 2018

Slept in this morning and had a leisurely breakfast before heading off through the countryside again and then back to the seaside.

Our campsite for tonight: Aire de Camping-Car, Saint Maxine

The campsite is just outside of town, about a 2km hike to the seafront and town. Because it is close to the beach the campsite was packed with motorhomes.

A really great walk but very windy and cold. People were everywhere enjoying all the outdoor restaurants and of course because of Xmas, the harbourfront became a theme park for rides and shows to keep the little and big ones happy. Xmas lights and decorations everywhere were fabulous. A very touristy town with no old town that we could find but hundreds and hundreds of very expensive looking yachts and cruisers were packed into the Marina in the harbour.

When we arrived back, the campsite was filled to capacity, with even a centre lane started where there was no space for a centre line – could be interesting in the morning.

Wednesday 4th January, 2018

Having been to the French Riviera before, we agreed to stay clear this time around so back to the hills for now. Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo etc. are places we really enjoyed on a previous trip, but in Ziggy would not be easy.

The scenery today was one of the most beautiful and picturesque we have travelled through. We travelled through the vast Grand Canyon du Verdon. Just amazingly beautiful mountains and rock formations towering over a stunning icy blue lake and river. The roads weaved in and out of the mountainside and after every corner another magic view appeared. Little hillside towns appeared out of nowhere all built into and forming part of the landscape.

Our campsite for tonight: Parking de la Gare, Entrevaux

The campsite is situated in a mixed parking area right beside a train line, but with only one train every hour, and only during the day, was not a problem at all. This is one of the most interesting medieval towns we have ever seen.

The town is split into two with the train line, a road and a waterway separating the two sides. The new side is not very interesting but on the other side, you access the medieval town by crossing the waterway via a drawbridge. Once in the town, the narrow cobbled stone streets showcase a maze of beautiful old buildings. It is so hard to believe people still work and live here – but they do.

Set high on the hill above the old town, is the citadel. How these are ever built, we cannot imagine as they are built on sheer rock faces. We started up the steep hill but were blown apart by the massive winds sweeping through the valley. Got halfway up and retreated when the winds were too strong – we were actually blown off our feet not fun on a sharp incline.

The Citadel – the access via a zig zag cobblestoned street is a real challenge

Enjoyed a few ales with the locals in the newer part of town before handing back to Ziggy. We were the only ones there – not surprised but this was a very safe spot but unfortunately open to the windy conditions.

Access to the medieval city via the drawbridge

The Citadel was fully lit up high on the mountainside and was spectacular as were the lights and the Xmas tree in the medieval town.

Today was a truly special and wonderful day from start to finish.

Thursday 5th January

The winds were very gusty throughout the night so we were not unhappy to leave the campsite to escape this the next morning.

We were still in the Grand Canyon so really enjoyed the scenery again. Would highly recommend the trip to Entrevaux, though it is a tough drive.

This seaside part of France is extremely congested and the roads in and around the major cities were a nightmare. We opted to avoid these roads after a couple of horrific hours. No wonder all the cars here have bashes and gashes and busted side mirrors. We soon gave these roads a miss and took to the A8 tollway for a breather. When we left the A8 and headed inland to our next destination, we only had 22kms to get there – a breeze, one would think. Wrong – zig zag up the steep hill all the way through hairpin after hairpin bend. Got halfway up and really wanted to give up. There were no places to stop so had to move on. Fortunately the road got better (a little) and eventually we reached our destination.

Our campsite for tonight: Aire de Camping Car, Sospel

Another quiet spot set just on the edge of town. Room for only 6 motorhomes and fortunately we were no 4.

There were two parts to the town separated by a river bed but this time with an old town on both sides. We visited the tourist office who were really helpful and armed with maps, explored both sides.

A drawbridge over the moat to the medieval city

Very similar to Entrevaux where one part was over a drawbridge with a stone archway and tower leading into the town. The entrance was so narrow, only very, very small cars or bikes could get across to this part of town.

There were several Roman baths like these scattered around the City

On the other side, the small square’s cathedral is the focal point. Not what we would call a spectacular exterior, however, on the inside, it is really beautiful. These places are what interests us the most and we just adore exploring and being part of their heritage.

Shared a drink with the locals in the pub before heading back for a well deserved rest.

12/27/2017 France from Roman Empire to 2017

FRANCE

Wednesday 27th December

Back to France again today with no one at the border to check passports. Shops on both sides of the border were extremely busy as this was the first shopping day after the Xmas holiday.

We could see the Pyrenees in the distance with a heavy layer of snow on top of the mountains. Had absolutely no thoughts of heading in that direction – not ready to ski yet – will leave that till next winter.

As we travelled further into France, the mountain tops on one side hosted dark green thunderous clouds – looked seriously like hail – and in the far distance, heavy rain or snow and through the middle of this, a rainbow. Looked like all seasons in one ahead.

Soon light sleet began to fall and the wind howled and was seriously pushing Ziggy around. My driver had both hands on the wheel to steady the Ziggy bus and keep her on the road. We decided to find a campsite ASAP.

Our campsite for tonight: Aire de Camping Car L’Anse des Tamarins, Port Vendres

A great little harbour front campsite, tucked in behind a hill so thought we were protected here. The rain had stopped for a short while so took the opportunity to take a walk to the town which by all reports was really great. Only got 50 paces away and looked across the harbour to see those green black clouds rolling in from the sea straight for us. Took a couple of snaps and back home to ride out the storm.

Several hours later after being buffeted around with wind and rain, it cleared long enough to go for a short walk. This is a working Port and is quite busy. The view across the harbour to town is very picturesque with lovely homes and apartment blocks scattered over the hill facing the harbour. Didn’t make it all the way round as the rain came back so unfortunately cannot report on the town.

The wake up call next morning was a treat, with two young gendarmerie collecting the camping money. I was ready with money in hand at 8am, my driver was still recovering from the drive the day before. Got to say the gendarmerie were lovely and very easy on the eyes!!

Thursday 28th December

Must have had a huge snowfall on the Pyrenees overnight, as the mountains were covered in snow this morning. Still an overcast windy day today so the view was not as special as it could have been. The hillsides and valleys are full of vineyards. None have any green on them and all look ready and waiting for spring.

Our campsite for tonight: Aire de Campingcar de la Narbonne, Narbonne

The campsite is just on the outskirts of town with just a short 30 minute walk to the beautiful historic old town. Markets were set up leading into the old town. Xmas goodies being the main items. Once into Old Town, it was party time with stalls and restaurants selling fast food and drinks on one side of the canal and just over the bridge, a fairyland of rides including a huge Ferris wheel delighted young and old.

Canal boats moored in the middle of town – they can navigate from northern Europe through the Midi Canal into the Mediterranean Sea

A short walk from there took us into the main square. The building was wrapped in a huge red bow and fairy lights dangled down each huge fascia. In the centre of the Plaza, an ice skating rink delighted young and old.

Open air ice skating rink in the middle of town

Xmas themes donned every nook and cranny along the cobbled stone streets. The first area was themed and sponsored by the French Canadians and had tepees and squaws, a mountain man cooking up toffee on a camp stove and delighting the children with toffee on sticks, a two piece Canadian band, farm animals and of course a nativity scene.

The Canadian Mountain Man giving the kids some toffee

One that delighted the children (including the navigator) was a very minor version of Disney’s “It’s a small world” – just wonderful watching the faces of the little ones.

Finished the day with a glass of Vin Chaud (hot wine with cinnamon- I think) which certainly warmed up the cockles before heading home.

The payment system at the Aire was another piece of French engineering ingenuity aimed at favouring the French and sticking it up everyone else. One of the main reasons to stay in an Aire is to gain access to the service facilities such as emptying the grey water tank, emptying the toilet cassette and filling up with drinking water, sometimes at additional fees.

The entry gate had a barrier and a machine for payment to enter the Aire – this machine accepted international credit cards and so we paid 12 Euros on our credit card to enter the site – all well and good.

However, when we went to access the service facilities the payment machine would not accept international credit cards – it accepted French cards only and payment in Euros was not available either – French trick No 23B!!!!!

Our Australian Mastercards are not accepted as “smart cards” in France – when we go to supermarkets and other retailers we need to sign the sales voucher – when we go to automatic service stations to get diesel they will not accept our cards at all – we have nearly run out of fuel a couple of times because the only service stations that were open were the automatic type ie no staff at all.

On one accession we had to pay a young couple Euros in cash so they could use their credit card for us to get fuel – we were so grateful.

Friday 29th December

Woke up to a miserable cold wet day. We had such perfect weather for nearly the whole month in Spain and Portugal and have had the opposite since arriving in France.

Our campsite for tonight: Aire de Camping Car, Carcassonne

Had read lots about this place and just couldn’t wait to explore it. Our campsite is about 20 minutes walk to La Cite but it is wet and miserable so on with the wet weather gear, neck warmers, gloves, beanies and three layers – feel like Mrs Michellin!

The City of Carcassonne is the largest medieval fortress in Europe and is a masterpiece of military architecture. Its grandiose appearance, the complexity of its defence system with its double walls, castle and Basilica, all make the Cite de Carcassonne one of the most unique sites we have experienced.

Walking around the ramparts was an indescribable experience. The inner city is full of restaurants and souvenir shops. There were so many, it was hard to choose one for lunch.

This is such a must do and unfortunately we could only see it in miserable weather and can only imagine how wonderful it would be in fine weather.

Not very cold at all – the Navigator has all the cold weather gear on

Came back to a couple of shots of vodka to warm up and dried our clothes in our heated drying cupboard.

Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st December

Watched in amusement as everyone leaving here was having difficulties in getting out. We had watched someone leaving the night before so had a heads up start.

Every Aire has a different type of payment machine and system – some Aires are run by the Local Council and some are commercial operations.

Certainly makes it more of a challenge when the instructions are in French only.

Got through with no problems at all but as it was so early, we stopped outside the gate and had breakfast there and sat and watched in amusement as others were tearing their hair out – even the French motorhomes were having problems.

Our first choice of campsite was at an Oyster Farm and is a French Passion site. We were the only ones there and because it was so windy and there was nothing to do, we decided to travel on.

A very long drive today and too many roundabouts left my driver exhausted. “Don’t care if I never see another roundabout” were his words, though I might have left out a few descriptive adjectives here.

Our camp for two nights: Aire de Camping Car, Quai Kalymnos, Arles

This motorhome campsite is set right on the River Rhone, directly across from the Old Town. Too late in the day to venture out so sat and watched the view across the river to the Old Town until the light disappeared.

Had a really quiet night with around 30 other motorhomers here. Think most are staying around for tomorrow night (New Years Eve).

Ventured off soon after breakfast (and a little sleep in). Had some early sunshine so have learned that you make hay while the sun shines!

A short ten minute walk across the bridge and we were in the centre of Old Town.

Arles dates back to the second century B.C. and has lots of Roman ruins etc.

It has an Amphitheatre that is fairly intact and still hosts bull fights and a theatre, in ruins, which still hosts alfresco performances.

Part of the renovation work that has been completed costing around 107 million Euro

A section of the theatre that is 2000 years old

12/23/2017 Spain – looking for Manuel and Mr Fawlty in Barcelona

Saturday 23rd December

Our campsite for tonight: Campo de Fotbal, La Colonia Guell (20 mins to centre of Barcelona)

Wanted to stay in the centre of Barcelona for Xmas but were scared off by comments in our camping APP warning of break ins and vandalism to motorhomes day and night so opted to stay out of town and travel to the centre by train instead.

Good decision, as the campsite is only 5 minutes walk to the train station and from there only 20 minutes into the centre of town. Secured Ziggy and took most of our electronic and computer gear with us in our backpacks. Ziggy has security alarms and extra door locks but from what we have heard, not much puts off these thieves.

First obstacle was working out how to buy tickets and where to get off but with the help of a local, we purchased a single ticket each, one trip, two zones at a cost of €3 each and 20 minutes later arrived at Pl. Espanya right in the heart. Once out of the Metro station, we stood with mouths open and took in the absolutely fabulous surroundings. First step was to find a tourist office with maps and brochures and from there hit the tourist trail.

Pl. Espanya outside the Underground Station

The Complex de Arenas was on one side of Pl. Espanya and on the other the magnificent Museu National d’Art de Catalunya. Loud music attracted us toward the museum which is at the top of the third level overlooking the entire centre square. Several steps took us to the second level which is a square on its own and here stilt walkers and floats themed as “Arabian Nights” floated” around the square led by costumed musicians.

Armed with maps now, we walked all day taking in some of Barcelona’s best attractions including Casa Mil or better known as La Pedrera (the Quarry) – A masterpiece building designed by Gaudi between 1906 and 1912 for a wealthy businessman and his wife. It has breathtaking wavy facade of stone and iron balconies. The most outstanding spaces of this building are the rooftop, and interior courtyards. A huge attraction.

Next another half hour’s walk took us to Sagrada Familia, first built in 1883. Gaudi was commissioned to continue building this temple and today, it continues to be constantly added to. Tall cranes appear high above the temple where construction is continuing with no fixed completion date. This has to be the most gob smacking building we have seen in our travels and we have seen some absolutely amazing ones. Rates as one of the top 10 cathedrals in the world. We stood in awe of this building for so long and took photos from every angle.

Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia – a photo does not do it justice

Finally totally exhausted, think we must have walked 20kms today, we opted to catch a taxi back to Pl. Espanya where we ducked into a very busy restaurant and bar and sampled some more tapas and were entertained by a local group having an early Xmas party. Getting dark now, we headed back to the Metro and took the train home.

Sunday 24th and Monday 25th December

Felt a little uneasy about staying around Barcelona for Xmas though we could have spent another week sightseeing here. Wanted to find a place in a medium size town to camp and enjoy the local festivities for Xmas but the first place we selected was fully booked out when we arrived. Our next choice was Gerona. The campsite was closed on Sundays and public holidays so we headed back to the coast to a small seaside town.

Our campsite for two nights: Autocaravanning Palamos, Palamos

A really great campsite set on three plateaus, the top one having views across to the sea. The office was closed for midday siesta but the sign said to park and to check in when the office reopened at 5pm.

All three plateaus were booked from Xmas day onwards, so no luck there. Found a spot which was not marked with a number but was in a great sunny location away from the others so we happily moved in and spent the next two days relaxing, drinking and eating some of those great prawns we found and froze a few days before. Decorated Ziggy with tinsel, put on our Santa hats and set the twinkling lights ablaze. The cava (Spanish bubbly) was excellent. Sent away all our Xmas emails, skyped and spoke to our girls and grandkids and celebrated a truly wonderful Xmas with my driver, my best friend and the love of my life.

(PS – we found out later that all the emails we sent to addresses that ended in bigpond.com or bigpond.net did not get through for some reason??? – don ‘t know why – one of the many vagaries of comms we have found in Europe).

(The Photographer somehow managed to lose or delete all the photos taken at Palamos including the Xmas day shots)

Tuesday 26th December

Left Palamos on Boxing Day and headed back to Gerona. Still a public holiday here so no supermarkets or major shops are open today.

Our campsite for tonight: Parking Vayreda La Devesa, Girona (or sometimes known as Gerona)

An inner city motorhome park which was a little difficult to get into because of the narrow one way streets and with cars parked on both sides left Ziggy and my driver with only one or two cms to get through.

It was seriously cold and windy so rugged up and headed into town using the Spanish map given to us by reception. Garcon tried really hard to interpret it for us but he had no English and we had no Spanish so we thanked him, smiled and set off.

Saw a massive market on the way in so firstly headed toward this. Nearly every person selling and buying were Muslims and we found out later it was a special Muslim Market only. Went for miles and miles selling fresh fruit and veges and clothes etc.

Wasn’t difficult to follow the map and soon we saw the steeple of Basilica De Sant Feliu in the distance. We came by the Riu Onya which is a waterway splitting the commercial area we were in from the Old Town. Wow – the buildings on both sides were three to five storey apartment blocks, all painted in different subtle colours and looked just stunning and picturesque – reminded us a little of the area near the Ponte Vechio in Italy. We stood in the middle of the first pedestrian bridge and saw several other bridges criss crossing over the river – all different and most with fairy lights strung across them. Beyond the last bridge we could see the town’s massive Xmas tree.

The Historic Old Town, a medieval city, showcased buildings dating from the 10th to the 13th century. So many wonderful old buildings including the Basilica, la Catedral, the Archeological Museum just to mention a few were just so interesting. The Xmas spirit was certainly here with buildings and shops all decorated with Xmas lights.

Tucked in behind the Rambla de la Libertat (the colourful row of up to five storey apartments mentioned before) were outdoor restaurants eager to capture the tourist dollar. We spent our tourist dollars with a meal (paella of course, but nowhere as good as the one we had a few days earlier) and a large beer to wash it down with.

It was now too cold to stay longer so we very quickly headed home. Though this campsite is in the middle of the commercial city, it was very safe and quiet and would highly recommend it.

Girona was our last stopover in Spain and we have so many wonderful memories to take home with us from this country. We found the people eager to assist and super friendly. We had absolutely no issues with feeling unsafe at any time.

Thank you Spain and Portugal – we had a great time.

12/17/2017 – Spain – Incorrect Coordinates led us to the best Paella

Sunday 17th December

Can’t believe how lucky we have been with the weather. Just another beautiful sunny day as we set off now heading north on the eastern side of Spain.

Beginning to sound like a cracked gramma phone – probably am already as everything in Spain and Portugal has been fantastic – beautiful people, beautiful country, great food, fabulous weather and so many wonderful campsites with many being with the compliments of the local area – though at all times we give back by shopping, eating and drinking where possible.

Our campsite for tonight: Platja Altet, Alicante

Again we are right on the beachfront where fishermen are lined up and down the beach. Sat in our deck chairs in the beautiful sunshine reading for some hours before setting off along the boardwalk.

Alicante beachfront – hope they don’t get any high tides??

No town close by here but this strip contains around 50+ high rise apartment blocks and of course restaurants and bars to service them. Wind sprang up and once the sun began to hide behind the apartment blocks, it was time to step up the pace and head home.

We sat in the front seat until the remaining sun disappeared and watched the keen fishermen braving the cold. Not once did we see anything being caught.

Monday 18th December

Woke up to a chilly 8 degrees inside – hate to think what it was outside. The sun was up and the fishermen were again trying their luck but have to admit they were clad in super warm gear with beanies and gloves and boy did they look cold.

Lots of agriculture everywhere with citrus trees dominating the landscape. Might pick a fresh orange from a tree before we leave this area, they look so inviting and I am sure they wouldn’t miss just one!

NAVIE was taking us through the mountains and mountain passes and we are now a long way from the sea. We thought that as we were avoiding toll ways this was the only way around. Didn’t even think the co ordinates were wrong but they were seriously wrong. Checked our maps and found that we were further away than when we started. Not happy “Jan”. Everything had been travelling so smoothly until now so unhappily we headed back towards the coast and arrived at our destination very late in the afternoon.

Campsite for tonight: Camping Estrella Polar, Calpe (correct co ordinates 38.658566 0.077668)

Arrived at the seaside town of Calpe where houses and apartment blocks were literally steeped all the way down the mountainside (very spectacular) and then down into the valley to the touristy town. This campsite is on the other side and a few kms outside of Calpe.

Nothing spectacular (view wise) this time. A small but well laid out motorhome park not very far from beach or town but given our extra long day driving, we decided to sit and enjoy what was left of the day. There was a small on site bar and restaurant so the Ziggy chef got the night off and we ordered a seafood paella for 7pm.

The seafood Paella to die for – Olga we think you need to give Chef a pay rise

The campsite was run by a beautiful young Russian girl, Olga Ivanova, her partner and a chef who has lived in just about every country on earth. They deserve to do well – they have a great setup with the bar and restaurant on-site. We had the best paella we have had by a long shot with the chef and the owners joining us for a truly wonderful night.

Olga, partner and the Chef from the Stars

Tuesday & Wednesday 19 & 20 December

Said our goodbyes and left without visiting the town or beach – very rare for us not to explore each place we have stayed. Told the owners about the incorrect co ordinates and hope they rectify this as I am sure they would be missing out on business because of it.

Had another bad co ordinates day today with the first place we chose incorrect and when we finally found it – no way were we going to stay there. Next choice again was too isolated with no other motorhomes there so decided it was a security risk so moved on.

Campsite for two nights: El Grao de Castellon, Castellon de la Plana

Really tired now after two long days of frustrating co ordinate mistakes in the NKC APP. Insisted we stop here for a couple of nights and my driver did not argue.

This campsite is a credit to the community here. It is right next to a beach and Port with the town centre a short 15 minute walk away. The larger town of Castellon is just 4 kms away with a bus running every half hour.

Internet was provided here so spent a couple of restful days soaking up the sunshine, reading, relaxing and of course making use of the Internet. The Port area and harbour was fascinating with many large cargo vessels in and the marina housing a vast number of very large sailing and pleasure craft. The harbour boardwalk again lined with restaurants and bars – though only a couple were open.

We befriended a German couple Walter and Christa who parked next door to us and we spent many hours talking about our combined travels. They have a purpose built 4WD motorhome and have taken this across the high seas to every imaginable country around the world – some places we would never even attempt to visit, let alone go by motorhome. They invited us to stay with them when we revisit Germany in the summer of 2018.

Thursday 21st December

Today, we decided to stay well away from large cities as it was Election Day in Catalonia. Heard there may be some strife regardless of the outcome as Catalonia is voting on whether to break away from Spain or staying within – if they vote to break away could have some interesting implications in the Schengen Zone.

Our campsite for tonight: Casa de Fusta, Amposta

A very interesting place set amidst rice fields at the mouth of the L’Ebre Delta. Rice had been harvested so all that was remaining was muddy looking water – not very pretty and we began to think we had selected another dud.

The campsite was an oasis in a desert of rice fields. It is a nature park with bird watching one of the many activities provided here. A purpose built tree house provided an excellent viewing platform and even though there was no rice growing, very picturesque. All sorts of varieties of birds flying about and wading in the water.

View from the bird hide over the L’Ebre Delta

They also have an aviary here including a pheasant and turkeys and ducks as well as an assortment of animals.

The restaurant and cafe was well utilised with lots of patrons eating some very strange types of food (Spanish delicacies, I think). This place would be booming in summertime as they have so many hire bikes, trikes, tandems, row boats and horse drawn carriages to keep you occupied.

Not sure what this tractor was doing in the rice fields – all the workers ended up in the restaurant at day’s end

A really worthwhile spot that was so interesting.

Friday 22nd December

We are back into the wine districts again and vineyards are now replacing citrus trees . Wine producers here mostly making cava (not to be confused with the awful muddy drink of the same name from Fiji). We are yet to taste this wine but believe it is predominately made into a sparkling white or rose and a Spanish version of champagne (don’t mention that word to the French).

Our Campsite for tonight: Vilafranca del Penedes

A mixed parking area with 10 spots available for motorhomes at the bottom of a hill just outside of the town centre. We are being very cautious about places we are parking in as we get closer to Barcelona. We have heard some horrific stories of break ins and vandalism to motorhomes in the Barcelona city area.

Only a small town centre with again a very large cathedral in the centre. It is quite strange that with Xmas only a couple of days away, there does not seem to be a lot of the Xmas spirit here. In the centre of town they had erected a temporary ice skating rink under a large tent. The local kids were having a ball with parents looking on and taking happy snaps. Strangely the music they used was 60’s English spoken rock music. Was a lot of fun to watch.

This area is famous for building “people towers” as the statue depicts

Felt very safe and comfortable here as we were joined by a half dozen other motorhomes.

12/14/2017 – Frogs in Spain

Thursday 14th December

Woke up to another gorgeous day so were eager to head off as soon as we filled with water and emptied the “unmentionables”. Others were waiting so we quickly moved off the service area while we entered our GPS co ordinates for our next stop for the night.

Tap, tap at the window – opened the driver’s window and heard the words “shut down your engine”. No hello, good morning or please, just this arrogant male person with a French accent insisting we turn off the engine. We had only been there for about 30 seconds.

My driver did not take kindly to this unwarranted and rude request and casually turned around to the person at the window and said “No I won’t”. His French jaw dropped considerably. He then said “You are gassing us with your engine fumes” His motorhome was at least 40-60 metres from us. My driver just ignored him.

He was the same person we saw just after we had checked in and were heading out on a beach walk, not knowing we could see him, walk over to Ziggy and do a “number plate check” – a game that is “played” at all sites in Europe so he knew for sure that we had GB plates.

We finished entering the coordinates and took off leaving this rude person just standing there. Cannot say the words in writing uttered by my best friend and driver !!…??…

We think the only people who like the French are the French people. We have heard so many comments from fellow international travellers from every country, and I am sorry to say none have anything nice to say about these people. Enough said and moving on – again!!!

We headed high up into the mountains where the countryside had very few trees, mostly shale and low scrubby bushes. Reminded us very much of the countryside whilst going through the Mohave Desert towards the Grand Canyon in the USA where absolutely nothing could grow successfully and if you ventured through it on foot, am sure you would find nothing but rattle snakes.

There are miles and miles of hothouses called “polly tunnels” (because they look like huge plastic tunnels joined together for acre after acre) and are for growing a multitude of crops in these dry arid conditions. Mostly tomatoes and orange trees but have even seen grape vines under these as well as many other crops. There are so many thousands of these that they actually spoil the scenery and many towns are actually scattered amongst the polly tunnels where every spare inch is used for agriculture.

Miles and miles of the “poly tunnels” right down to the waters edge

Our campsite for tonight: Parking Cabo de Gato, Almeria

Another absolute beachfront campsite with just a short boardwalk separating us and the magnificent turquoise coloured Mediterranean Sea.

The walk down the boardwalk took us past several seafront restaurants with very few still open at this time of year. The small town consisted of really beautiful two to three storey homes and no apartments. So unspoilt by tourists compared to many towns we have seen. The homes were well maintained and it was obvious the home owners here were houseproud. Strangely we noticed that most women here were Muslims.

To the left of the campsite, small and medium sized fishing boats lazed on the beachfront and small fishing shacks were scattered amongst the boats. At the very end was a huge tower, now in ruins and adjacent to this and nestled among the fishing boats was an old seafood restaurant and bar.

Seafood restaurant built on the sand between the fishing boats

The only sign of “real life” in this town was here with mostly locals in the bar. We sat and watched people come and go and after a couple of drinks asked for the menu. They do not have a menu as such and the barman took us to a window filled with fresh seafood and all we had to do was point to what we wanted and they cooked it. Just magnificent sitting here with the waves crashing only a couple of metres away.

Fishing boats left on the beach with no security

The restaurant stayed open until sunset and then closed its doors for the day. They are open every day but closed at night.

Friday 15th December

Again we travelled along the coast and through mountains with more and more polly tunnels absolutely everywhere. They obviously work here but would hate to think of the impact of the plastic waste at the end of the day.

Chiselled mountains and desert like plains were everywhere with towns scattered in between – very interesting landscapes – rugged but picturesque.

Our campsite for tonight: Playa de los Cocedores, Aguilas

Another magic find set high above and overlooking several coves and secluded beaches. This remote and craggy site was beautiful and quiet where unique outcrops of limestone hills bordered the sea and beaches. Several caves were sculptured into the limestone rock face and some of these were more than one room each.

Obviously very popular in the summertime as there were two bars here but neither had been opened for some time. There are nature walks starting here which take you for a 2 – 3 hour round trip walk through the hills and coves and beaches and through quaint villages.

Experienced the most spectacular sunset here with shades of pink and orange and gold and purple over the deep blue sea.

Saturday 16th December

Another magic day but a little windy.

Passed by a spectacular golf resort – an oasis in the desert. Massive clubhouses and several towers of apartments in the middle of nowhere.

Avoided the motorway today and headed further inland for a short while. Added 50kms to our trip but the scenery was really worth it.

Fruit and vegetable pickers were out in full force. Felt so sorry for them as they were bending over picking what looked like cabbages. They had huge buckets strapped to their backs and these were filled to capacity and then deposited into large containers.

Campsite for tonight: Cabo de Palos

Another magic spot just below the lighthouse with views across Costa Blanca.

A 10 minute walk around the seafront took us past some majestic homes with seafront swimming pools (all with shutters and iron bars on lower windows and doors). This led to a secluded harbour full of sailing and pleasure craft. Restaurants and bars perched on the boardwalks bordering the harbour were all open and busy.

Great waterfront with every building being a Spanish Restaurant

Spent a wonderful sun drenched afternoon sitting at one of these and enjoying this magic spot.

The driver couldn’t resist the temptation

12/11/2017 – Across the runway to Gibraltar

Monday 11th December 2017

Puerto Santa Maria

Woke up before midnight by the sounds of heavy rain on the roof and wind gusts that sent Ziggy seriously rocking. Did not wake up my driver who happily snored through all the noise and rocking. Needless to say the navigator did not get any further sleep.

Heard on the news in the morning that the storm caused lots of damage in this town and surrounding areas. Many trees were uprooted and roofs blown off. I remember looking out in the wee hours of the morning and seeing waves coming down the river – very scary.

Did not attempt to go to Cadiz this morning as the weather was still foul and the wind gusts too heavy to think about a trip to Cadiz by boat.

Our next stop and planned camp for the night was the town of Tarifa. The campsite was just a short walk from the town centre and beach but the campsite was not much more than mud because of the overnight storm and the surrounding area was to us, a little suspect. A few undesirable people lurking around when we stopped to have lunch so decided to give this a miss and move on.

The hills around Tarifa offered views across to Morocco but because of the bad weather could not get a clear view across the ocean.

We have decided not to go to Morocco as our phone plan does not cover us there and were concerned about being stuck somewhere without phone or Internet. We currently have an unlimited Telstra phone plan that covers us for most of Europe but does not include Morocco.

The next part of our journey takes directly along the coast roads through southern Spain.

Soon we see the Rock of Gibraltar in the distance. A massive rock with towering apartment blocks and buildings everywhere.

Our camp for tonight: Parking, La Linea de la Concepcion

We arrived here at around 3.30 pm and the weather had now cleared to just an overcast sky.

The campsite is situated at a marina on the Spanish/Gibraltar border with magic views of high end sailing boats just a few metres away. Wow just beautiful – brings back great memories from our sailing days.

Left the marina soon after arriving and headed through customs into Gibraltar only 15 minutes walk away across the airport run way – glad no landings and take-offs whilst we were crossing???. We did not do more than show our passports to customs before entering this new country.

Soon found out that they only take British Pounds here and as we only had euros, that was going to be a problem unless we used credit cards – our Com Bank Travel Cash Card was rejected by 2 different bank ATMs so gave up.

Didn’t take long to get to the centre of town and were very disappointed to find that Gibraltar was a just like a Little Britain in Spain. There was pretty much only one long Main Street which was predominately made up of jewellery shops, tobacco and alcohol outlets and of course British fish and chip shops.

Don’t know why the Brits would travel all the way to Spain and then congregate with other Brits and sit around and eat British style food and drink British beer – they could have done that at home.

There was even a Marks and Spencer to make them feel at home.

Found nothing of interest here for us so headed back to Spain at nightfall so we could get some Spanish food and talk to some locals.

Tuesday 12th December

A truly beautiful sunny morning greeted us and the views across the marina were nothing more than spectacular.

Our campsite for tonight: Cala de Mijas, Mijas

This is a very touristy town again full of Brits. Everyone speaks English here including all the staff in shops and restaurants.

The beach is just beautiful with a boardwalk running along the oceanfront for miles. Apartment block after apartment block with ocean views hanging over the boardwalk and bars and restaurants cater for everyone mostly with English type menus.

The campsite provided by the local council is on the edge of a massive car park with a huge area in the middle where a huge market is held on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Ziggy is there somewhere – the markets were held the next day where the picture is taken from

There was a wall of motorhomes here when we arrived and we were very lucky to get a spot. Spent the rest of the day walking through town and along the beachfront boardwalk.

Wednesday 13th December

Considering there were around 80 motorhomes here overnight, we had a beautiful quiet restful night. Did not hear a sound until around 8.30 am when the vendors drove in to set up for the market just across from us.

Didn’t really need anything but decided to visit the market. This is one of the best markets we have seen so far. Shoes and clothes in particular were really high quality and at a very reasonable cost. Very tempted to buy lots but held back and only got distracted by some items we purchased for the grandkids. Just as well we will be able to offload these to our girls to take home when they visit us next year.

Met some really great motorhomers here including a couple Brian and Wendy from Bribie Island. This is their second trip here – the first being two years.

Left a lot later than we expected after my driver also known to me affectionally as “Mr Have A Chat” couldn’t tear himself away from having a chat with anyone walking by – didn’t matter what nationality, if English or German didn’t work then sign language did 😊. I remember watching him speaking to a Spanish gentlemen the day before – the Spanish gentlemen couldn’t speak English – Rob couldn’t speak Spanish – both could speak German – sign language did the rest – just so beautiful to watch – poetry in motion!

Our journey today took us along the coast road where the views were spectacular. So many towns and villages along the way with thousands upon thousands of apartment blocks on the beachfront or in the hills overlooking the ocean.

The landscape was really interesting as we passed through the mountains. It was now getting quite late in the afternoon and the sun setting over the hills provided some spectacular photo opportunities.

The hills for kilometre after kilometre were terraced with hothouses taking up every available space on the hillsides and in the valleys. Not sure what they are growing here but think oranges and tomatoes – will check tomorrow. The hothouses really spoiled some of the magic views along the coastline.

Our campsite for tonight: Tropic Autocaravanas, Castelle de Ferro

We descended quickly from the hills to the ocean front where this campsite dedicated for motorhomes sits right on a white stony beach. Not many here compared to our last stop and most motorhomers are European not English, mainly French, as the campsite is managed by a young French couple.

Beautiful view from beachfront looking back towards the mountains

It was almost sunset when we headed down to the beachfront and walked to town. Just magic views as the mountains were awash with part sun and part shade providing an artists palette of different shades of brown and green – the white clouds hanging over these finishing off a wonderful picture to try to capture.

We planned on going to the beachfront disco but decided against it

Sadly many of the apartment blocks under construction look like they have not been worked on for many years.

The little town was alive with locals enjoying the sunset.

Such a beautiful little unspoilt place with still lots of tradition.

12/08/2017 Spain – Beach to Bull Ring – No Bull

SPAIN

Friday 8th December

Back to Spain today after some glorious days in Portugal where we had superb weather – every day was an almost picture perfect day.

Again no challenges or hold ups going across the border though we did notice the lanes going into Portugal were being stopped and inspected.

Certainly this is the land of oranges and vineyards as these take up almost all of the landscape along the way. Even the towns we have been driving through have avenues of oranges growing in the streets of town and these are full of fruit (though lower branches have been stripped bare and only those up high surviving).

Our camp for tonight: Plage Matalascanas, Matalascanas

Back to a sea change today as we head for the southern tip of Spain.

The entry into this town has a fantastic National Park on both sides of the road but soon it was quite obvious that this town is a prime holiday resort destination.

We pass by hundreds upon hundreds of magnificent holiday homes and seaside apartment blocks. Our camp site is at the far end of a long wide sandy beach and along this beach front is a wide and long pedestrian walk and bikeway. Restaurants and more apartment blocks take up every inch along this 6km block.

Beachfront bikeway – our bikes chained to post – notice lack of people and this was a 3 day holiday long weekend

Off came the bikes (long time since weather and biking conditions were so good) so happily rode along taking in the sun, sea and great views. Stopped at the end where the feature rock in the sea” was the focal point for people to take pictures and stop at one of the great open air restaurants. We did the same and sampled some great cuisine and beers (served in a glass that was so cold, the beer formed icicles on top) and stayed until almost sunset. Hurried back just as the sun was going down.

The Navigator enjoying a beer and Tapas after a long ride along the beach front – That is “The Rock” in the water near the 2 boys

The beachfront Boardwalk and restaurants were alive with people and we learned it was a public holiday so people were down here to take advantage of a long weekend. Sadly there are so many signs of the effect of the GFC here with so many buildings not completed and just left. There was a massive resort directly behind our campsite which had just finished before the GFC and never got to open its doors.

One of many Hotels effected by the GFC – this one never actually opened

The pay station was closed when we arrived and again in the morning there was no sign of anyone wanting to take our money.

Saturday 9th December

Had such a wonderful day but really looking forward to visiting Seville today.

Our campsite for tonight: Parking Seville Puerto, Seville

This is a massive mixed parking area that was only supposed to take around 10 motorhomes but when we arrived there were double that number and places that would normally be taken by cars were used for motorhomes – most were Spanish – probably because of the long weekend and the warmer sunny conditions.

The campsite is right on the river and only a short walk across a bridge took us right into the heart of this huge town. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people were everywhere and every restaurant and bar was packed to capacity. The queues to see their most spectacular Gothic Cathedral and other historical sites was so long, it would have taken hours to see them inside. We walked around gob smacked – what an unbelievable town this was.

Horse and carriages were everywhere taking tourists around the many cobbled streets. Entertainers were on every street corner – even had Mickey and Donald Duck ready to pose for photos with the kids – at a cost of course. Flamingo dancers performed in one of the squares.

We found “The Barber of Seville” but couldn’t find Rossini anywhere

We walked and walked for hours, taking in Seville’s bull ring, the Gold Tower and the beautiful gardens and so many other beautiful buildings and town squares all ready with lights perched on Xmas trees and buildings and walls of fairy lights looking like waterfalls – just waiting for nightfall to showcase this fairytale atmosphere.

Statue of Matador in front of the famous Seville Bull Ring – but no bulls

Couldn’t find anywhere in the main central area to eat as it was so packed, so had to resort to finding something in one of the many side streets until nightfall. Didn’t take long before the lights came on, so left our restaurant and joined the crowds which now had tripled since we left them an hour ago. Only moved at a snails pace and were dragged along with the crowd. So many strollers and children now here to see the Xmas lights. Hard to describe the feeling as we walked around – just so amazingly beautiful and so special seeing the looks on the little ones faces.

Seville street scene with Christmas lights

Totally exhausted but just so so happy, we headed back along the river where restaurants and bars were also open – a magic city.

Sunday 10th December

Woke up to a very foggy morning – so thick we could barely see the motorhome next door. Left at about 11am and the fog was still thick with no sign of lifting for another couple of hours.

Didn’t see much of the countryside today and even after the fog lifted, it was a cloudy and dull day – just for a change.

Our Campsite for tonight: Parking Pasarela, El Puerto de Santa Maria

Had our sights set on going to Cadiz today so selected this campsite as it was only a short 20 minute catamaran ride from here to Cadiz. Again a large mixed riverfront park with the catamaran and the centre of town just across a small footbridge.

Headed off to get the timetable for the boat departures and found that on Sundays there are only a few – many more on work days the sign said!). We had missed 2pm boat and as the next was not leaving till 5pm decided to explore this small village. Strangely they have an old castle right in the centre of town (normally they are on top of a hill but this one was closed on Sundays). Orange trees again a feature of the castle square.

Walked the streets to find the ultimate degustation site and finally found the one where all the locals hung out. Tasted several tapas that were absolutely delicious and spent an enjoyable afternoon with the locals and the waiter who was excellent before leaving to catch our boat.

Yum – one of the great Tapas we had – toast with salami, avocado, anchovy and a few other items

Wouldn’t you know it – just as we were arrived at the terminal, the rain came down, the wind began to howl and the dark clouds loomed overhead. Maybe today was not a good day to visit Cadiz after all!