Cabo de Gata

Yesterday evening, once again it was nice to be able to listen to the lull of the waves. Throughout the night, we were aware of the full moon, casting its light all around us.

At six o' clock this morning, we were both woken by the sound of rain, John quickly shut the open sun roof.

But it came to nothing, and by breakfast time the sky began to clear, and shafts of sunlight broke through the clouds.

Within an hour it was weather as normal, blue skies and sunshine. Before we left, there was a printing job to arrange and pay for. That's the joy of the internet, you can work from anywhere, as long as you have a connection.

We set off just after eleven, to drive just over a hundred miles to Almeria. The road good and fast, running between the coast and the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. As far as the eye could see, were greenhouses.

Their white sheet plastic roofs, looking like snow drifts in the folds of the lower slopes. From the higher levels, the large plastic areas looked like a Star Wars, futuristic town. As the road dropped down to the towns, you could see how poor the area was, for those living around the expanse of the fruit and vegetable industry. No doubt Mr Big who owned the greenhouses, had a very nice place, down on the coast.

Just before two o' clock, Marge was securely parked at Almeria port, with five French vans. Ooh la la, Marge would have said. The wind was blowing a gale, along the road to Almeria, the matrix signs above the road were warning of strong crosswinds. We think, we knew that, and agreed with Marge, the wind is always better behind you!

Our stop here was to see the cathedral, gypsy caves and Alcazaba. As we walked to the old town, we noticed the roads were lined by date palms, their bunches of heavily laden fruit straining above. On the ground, hundreds of dates had already fallen, crushed underfoot. What a waste. The Alcazaba, which dates from 995 AD, is the largest fortress built by the Moors in Spain. The building was closed, due to illuminating lighting being installed, but we walked around the outside and took a good look.

The structure seemed very neglected, and unstable under the main building. Everywhere there was rubbish. Normally, we have found Spain to be quite a clean country, but not here.

From the top we could see across the rooftops of the poorer end of town, and also the old cave dwellings of fishermen and gypsies at La Chanca. Some are still inhabited today.

Leaving Almeria, late afternoon, we went a little out of our way to stop at a supermarket. When we arrived, the height barrier for the car park was 2.5 metres, no good for Marge. The road to the parking had been one way. Marge is used to cars sounding their horns at her, and didn't mind the man waving his arms, as for the cars coming straight at her, the drivers looked a little worried. Yes, the road was now two way. We have now driven 4,000 miles, with this incident only occurring once. No harm done, except perhaps to some Spanish nerves, for Marge, well she's been in much tighter spots.

Tonight we should be parked right on the seafront at Cabo de Gata. But he wind has not relented all day, now blowing at around forty miles per hour, gusting to sixty, although it feels more.

Never the less, it is still very warm. Naturally, not being deterred by the wind, we walked out around seven thirty. The sea was boiling, it was hard to imagine this was the Mediterranean, more like the character of the Atlantic, which we have missed.

The sunset seemed earlier this evening, distorted by the salty spray that was cast through the air. What a difference a day makes.

Almunecar

We left Mijas early this morning, passing by the nudist beach at the far end of the town. Some sights can be a little early to see on a Sunday morning.

We diverted uphill, to see a castle in the area. The road once again unnerving, but the views fantastic. The castle was disappointing. It seemed a little fake, more like something Disney would have placed there. Travelling further along the coast we ventured into the Spain, we see on certain English television programmes. It was terrible, like Blackpool on steroids. Quick Marge. Turn left at Torremolinos, and get us out of here! From then on, we took the fast road, skirting around the conurbation of Malaga. Alongside the road land was being reformed into terraces. This area is known as the coast tropical, because the climate is ideal for fruit growing.

At lunchtime we stopped at a pretty coastal town, where we thought we might overnight. On the internet it was described as mosquito hell, so that went against it. Before leaving, we walked out down to the marina, where we passed the time of day with two Englishmen, who greeted us in Spanish, realising as we said "hello", we were English. "It's difficult to know, which language to speak in", one said. So we returned him a "bonjour", to which he said, "now you're confusing me". Our walk took us along the wall of the marina, where two woman sat, who we struck up conversation with. Turned out they were the wives of the Englishmen. After discussing the weather, travelling and where we were all from, it materialised they were from Whitehaven in Cumbria, and one of the women and their husband owned a place down the coast at Nerja. The downside for them, was the fact they couldn't fly from Carlisle to Spain, and had to either use Liverpool or Manchester airport. Small price to pay we thought, to be able to nip over to Spain when you wanted.

We had thought that if we stayed a little outside of Almunecar, we might cycle into the town, but the terrain was not so good, and at times even Marge struggled. So we drove into the town, moving from our first parking space, as we were not happy about seeing an African man fiddling with the door of a car, holding a screwdriver.

So instead we drove Marge to Laurie Lee's plaque on the seafront, luckily being able to park in a loading bay right beside it. We had already read on the internet, that it was not the most elegant of tributes. In fact, it looked like a chiminea, but all the same, we were glad we'd seen it.

After, we drove Marge up to the castle, then out of town a short distance, where she is now parked with two Spanish vans, across the road from the sea.

After dinner, feeling happier about our surroundings, we walked along the well lit footpath along the seafront to the outskirts of the town.

As we turned a corner, an absolutely stunning full moon sat in the sky, casting its light across the bay, lighting a large yacht as it rested in its light. Beautiful.

The time eight thirty, and most people wore shorts, T-shirts and sandals.

It is now nearly ten o' clock, and still as warm. Sorry people back in England, we know you don't want to hear this, but you'll get the last laugh, when you see us shivering upon our return.