Alhama de Granada, Spain - the end our European tour

6th-12th November

The end of the road - our van gets a well needed rest

This is the van's resting place for the winter whilst we head for hotter climes and a different continent. Thanks to my Dad and Kate for putting us up in Spain. 


What's next?
We fly to Australia on 1st December from Heathrow via Singapore to Melbourne. Planning to visit SE Australia in a hired camper from Melbourne to Brisbane, then up to Cairns across to Darwin and down through the Red Center back to Melbourne with backpacks for 8th Feb 2010. We finish off with a campervan tour around New Zealand before flying back to the UK in mid-March ready for Paul's 30th Birthday.

The Lake of Bermajales, Spain

5th November

Wild camping at the (low) Lake - 

5years ago and we would have been underwater on this spot

We headed inland from Calahonda up over the Sierra Nevada foothills and to the lake not far from our final destination. It was deserted, a lot cooler than the coast and the air was a lot cleaner but thinner given our altitude. The lake was very tranquil - the way the light reflected meant that the colours changed constantly. It was so quiet you could hear the birds wading!

The lake at night - 

our final destination is just beyond those hills in the background

Paul went out to take some night shots and we settled in for the night - we slept so well as it was so quiet. However at 6.450am we were woken by small earthquake. The van shook and the earth made a noise like the whoosh of a bus going past you at high speed. It didn't last very long, 2-3seconds - but was a little eerie given how it was the first night we had parked anywhere so quiet and so deserted in a whole trip!

Lake overflow - not used for many years

We spent the day in the nearby town of Alhama de Granada and went for a 6km walk (not far really) along the gorge. The minute the sun started to go it got colder, so we headed to spend our last nights in the van at Paul's Dads house nearby.

Walking near Alhama De Granada

Canada de Calnegre, Spain

3rd November


From La Marina we headed further south to Canada de Gallego, nestled on the coast in amongst large tomato plantations. We were low on supplies and needed to press on in to our flights for the 12th November, so we only stayed one night. This was a lovely spot for wild camping with water available from the nearest petrol station and a small Spar shop in the town. A short walk along the sea front was a beach suitable for swimming and a very popular mountain bike track. We also saw a German guy with an aussie accent selling tin can sculptures.

Another night shot

the Moon sets as the Sun rises

The best mountain bike track so far!

Drink beer, make art from can, sell art, buy & drink more beer. Simples.

La Marina, Spain

26th October - 2nd November

We  had a slight delay in setting off from St Carles when we ran out of gas and tried to change bottles only to discover that that valve was faulty - after discussion with some adjacent Dutch van owners they helped us to seal the bottle using a skeleton gun and some silicon in return for Paul scaling their roof to check their solar panel was charging properly.

We got on the road about midday and our destination was a town called Denia - when we arrived there were no vans but we had been driving for ages - we were gutted as the site was beautiful but no longer an accepted stopping place for campervans.

We headed back through the orange groves to the motorway and drove on another 150km heading for La Marina. We arrived just as the sun was setting. We were off the motorway, driving on precarious roads with drops off either side of the carriageway into the salt lakes.The sun turned bright red and purple and we saw this reflected in the water - it was gorgeous.

We parked in a lay by on the edge of the town with several other vans. When we woke in the morning we were on a part built housing estate that was adjacent to the slat marshes and a nature reserve - which would have looked stunning if it had been finished and wasn't plagued by mosquitoes.

...and they wonder why no one buys them?

As it was early we thought we would carry on driving. As luck would have it we came across a small industrial estate about 3 miles down the road. We saw lots of motorhome owners doing their weekly massive shop so asked them where we could stay nearby. Fortunately, we were in a town where many vans congregated and there was a beautiful spot right next to the sandy beaches.

It was so convenient that we stayed for a whole week, soaking up the winter sun and befriending our new neighbours.

(yet another) night shot at La Marina

Paul, Nora, Suzy, Berol & Ron...
...we spent many a day putting wrongs to right

St Carles de la Rapita, Spain

22^nd - 25^th October 

Nearly washed away by the barrage of rain overnight we got up early and got on the road finding a quaint tourist town called St Carles de la Rapita.

We drove through lots of rice fields, on our way off the main road, housed on a former river estuary and at the foot of some pretty large mountains capped with very stormy clouds.

There was a small collection of motor homes parked up right near the sea front adjacent to a storm drain and a family of at least ten cats.

parking at St Carles de la Rapita

We embarked on a meander towards the beach - which was flooded and we could see that the storm surge had come right up to where the vans were parked.

a flooded beach after the heavier storms 

We slept so well that we decided to stay for the weekend, going for some long walks along the coast and exploring the tourist town. The sea had washed up lots of sea urchins and molluscs on to the beach to we went for a bit of a scavenge.

Looking back from the end of the harbour

Paul got up very early to take pictures of the sunrise, but got distracted by the local fishermen; vaguely recalling something about what they were catching and how busy the port was at weekends.

before sunrise on the docks

Fisherman at sun rise

Sitges, Spain

21^st October

We had intended to head for a town along the coast near to Barcelona but discovered no other motor homes or any where suitable to stay without paying a 25 Euro premium. Paul drove for the most part of the day looking for somewhere and narrowly missed hitting a black cat that shot out across a very busy highway.

We were exhausted and it was starting to get dark so we got on the motorway to skirt under Barcelona headed for a town we knew of beyond Barcelona – Sitges.
We drove around the town and eventually parked on a side street. We ate tapas at ten o-clock at night – living the Spanish way! Washed down with a few glassed of vino tinto.

Leucate, France

20^th October

We travelled from Toulouse to Leucate back towards the southern coast.

On the way we stopped for lunch (cup-a-soup) at Carcassonne, a walled fairy tale city, listed as a World Heritage Site - it was lovely but rammed full of coach-loads of tourists. I think we would go again but stay for several nights so we could could see the city lit up at night.

By the time we got back on the road the rain had started again so we didn't get a chance to go out to see the sunset or take many more pictures of the stars!

We paid 6 euros for night as we needed to use the service point and take on some water.

Paul went for a quick walk whilst I got tea on. It was very windy, and Paul returned to say that there was nothing open, and even the local police were bored - deciding to send him on a wild goose chase looking for a shop that was shut for the winter!

Carcassonne

Toulouse, France

We travelled from our very cold spot next to the Canal to visit Paul's friend in Toulouse who had invited us to stay and meet his family for a few nights.

 The Bergeret family - our very kind hosts

Dominique

We were welcomed like family and invited to Sunday lunch - an outdoor BBQ ( in October!) The kids played rugby around the pool and everyone spoke in very good English, which put our ability to speak French to shame.

At night the temperature dropped to zero degrees - but we were armed with a heater supplied by our hosts.
( thank you!) It was very much appreciated.

Blue skies, sunshine and a BBQ - in October! 

The next day we visited Toulouse. We caught the train into the centre and then the metro to the Capitole. It was very cold but the sky stayed blue and the sun shone all day. We had a coffee next to the old bridge, then walked all the way around town stopping for a panini for lunch and warming up in some of the shops.

I can't fathom how the minute-hand works?

By about 3pm we were shattered so headed back to Pibrac for a walk through the village to buy a baguette.

Pibrac - a lovely small town near Toulouse

Le Canal du Midi, France

We headed in land to get away from the non-stop barrage of cold wind and wound our way along side the canal. Many of the camperstops had been closed (namely Trebes, and Prezens) so we were a little disappointed when our 80km journey doubled trying to find some place to park for the night.

Eventually, we stumbled upon a site that was a car park attached to a restaurant adjacent to the canal basin near Sauzens where we met an English couple and there dog. After a walk along the canal and supper we retired to their van and put the world to rights, the red wine helped keep out the cold!

Nature Reserve at Saint-Pierres La Mer, France

We travelled on to a nature reserve after a supplies stop at a large supermarket. The service point was token operated so after spending about ten minutes in the very cold wind we sorted ourselves out and found a parking space right at the front of the reserve car park looking out across the mud flats and in full exposure to the northerly winds.

We taped up all our vents to retain heat in the van and went for a walk around the reserve and through the town, heading back before the sun went down so we could get the heat on and stay cosy. Paul popped outside to get some night shots as the sky was perfectly clear.

Clear skies at night

After a very rocky night, the wind had got stronger - the sun was shining thought so off we went again looking for Nature in the reserve - all we found was an empty bird hide, some sea gulls and driftwood. Although Paul spotted some kite boarders.

The breezy beach at St Pierres Sur Mer

Cassis to the Camargue, France

From Le Lavandu we headed for the cliff hanging town of Cassis. In our usual style we got lost and drove around the steepest village in France revving the van in first gear fearing we were travelling backwards.


We saw the cliffs from the van, gave up trying to find a parking space as the town was very motorhome unfriendly and drove to the Camargue instead.

Lunch in the Camargue

Saintes Maries de la Mer

We ate our lunch surrounded by flamingoes - although you cannot see them in the picture! There was a camper stop on the sea front so we parked up and walked along the promenade in the gale force winds to the main town, Saintes Maries de la Mer.

the real Flamingo Land

colourful sunset

We spent the very cold windy night by the sea, and Paul woke me up at 6.30am to watch the sun rise over the Camargue - it was beautiful.

Le Lavandu beyond St Tropez, France

We set off from La Napoule heading towards Frejus and lunched on the way by the sea.

We thought that heading to St Tropez was a good idea but we couldn't find the camperstop when we got there.
Taking a sudden left turn to avoid a height restriction we got stuck in a very tiny street and decided the best thing was to drive on leaving St Tropez behind us.

Unfortunately, we went from one bad decision to the next - choosing to ignore TOM. The road should have taken a non-toll but fairly major road but it evolved into a twisty winding single track right of way that was very steep in places. It was worth it - the views were spectacular.

Miraculously, and with expert driving from Paul we got back on the coastal road and found the town of Le Lavandu - a very quaint town with sandy beach and local stores which suited us to the ground. Being the money savers that we are we located ourselves on a free car park rather than paying ten euros for the camperstop car park and settled in for the cold night ahead.

Montaroux, France

Monday 5th October

Suzy's Mum and Dad just so happened to be in the area and met with us, offering us a place to stay that was in the mountains (for a few days) - we couldn't say no!

They were house sitting and looking after two very ill dogs but had full use of the swimming pool and even offered to cook for us - don't you just love parents!

We stayed from Monday - Friday and we had a few events in a very short space of time. Firstly, the tap water went brown, the a man turned up and stormed into the kitchen - eventually we worked out that he had come to fix the oven. The gardners didn't cut down the trees as I had translated but merely cut down some branches. And after a few nights both dogs settled and warmed to us all although we couldn't stop one of the dogs from chasing the cleaner and the hoover around the house. We had a wonderful break from the van and had a very peaceful time in the mountains.

We visited the Lac St Cassien although it had been emptied for repair works to the dam - but it looked quite horrific. We returned to La Napoule for the weekend and to pack up the van making the most of the final burst of heat in the South of France.

Antibes, France

Friday 2nd October

We met with an old friend in la Napoule for coffee and croissants in the town and she kindly offered to drop us in Antibes.

We visited the market and spent some time wandering the streets, after some window shopping we retired to the beach for an hour or two.

When it got too hot and our stomachs were growling we treated ourselves to a snack from the boulangerie for lunch which was delicious and then we spent an hour trying to understand the game of petanque - we will never get it!

Mandelieu, La Napoule, France

La Napoule - Rested our van for 3 weeks (after 100days on the road), whilst we stayed in an apartment nearby courtesy of some very kind people.


Bike ride to Cannes

La Plage


I wish we could've afforded to go here








VW rally in Cannes


Outside the Hotel Negresco, Cannes