A couple of weeks into Spain, and we are still making our way south down the Mediterranean coast.

After our first brief stop in Cambrils we carried on to Peniscola, another 100 km down the coast, where we stayed for a few days.  We had visited here many years ago, just for one day, and wanted to explore further.  The main feature of Peniscola is the ancient castle dominating the old town which juts out into the bay.  It was originally built by the Knights Templar in the 13^th and 14^th centuries as a natural fortress, and further extended by two of the popes who resided here in exile from Rome and Avignon in the 15^th century.  It has spectacular views from the battlements and is full of history – the castle and surrounds also featured prominently in the movie “El Cid’ starring Charleton Heston in the 1970s.

Just as well the castle was open, as the rest of the town was pretty much closed up, and we struggled to find anywhere to get a coffee or lunch during our wanderings.  There was also a bitingly cold wind blowing from the north while we were there, increasing to gale force one night, so d’Hobby was really rocking along with all the other campervans on site.  The campsite was full, which was surprising with little else open in the town.

After that we headed on to Benidorm on the Costa Blanca, our old stamping ground, which was warmer and very much ‘open’.  There were crowds of people on the promenade, strolling or sunning themselves in the cafes and bars, plus others sunbathing on the beach.  Lots of oldies of course, of all nationalities, but a surprising number of younger people too, taking a break from the cold weather in northern Europe and UK.

    Benidorm  hasn’t changed much in the 20 years since we were last here, apart from even more high-rise apartment blocks and hotels blocking out the skyline, and throngs of people round the shopping areas (mainly tat shops & souvenirs, and Chinese bazaars) and old town on the Saturday.

We are currently in a very large camping resort near Elche (Marjal Costa Blanca).  We called in to visit some Australian friends we met near Carcassonne who are wintering over here.  We originally planned to stop for just a couple of nights, but have been here over a week now.  The resort is only a year old and has immaculate facilities, plus a large bar, restaurant, spa, gym, indoor pool, mini-market, tennis courts, petanque pistes, children’s play areas, mini-putt, and a full programme of activities every day.  We have made the most of the gym, pool, and petanque, and it is very nice to have a mini-market on site and a nice bar.  It is also good biking around the area, and we have explored some of the local towns and villages with our Aussie and UK neighbours – stopping for coffee and lunch along the way, of course.

Marjal is a huge site with lots of long stay visitors from UK and northern Europe, plus a large number of Spanish caravaners who seem to have permanent pitches and arrive every weekend with all their families.  The last weekend has been a 4 day holiday weekend and quite lively all round.

We biked into the nearby town of Catral on Saturday, planning to visit the market there, but there was no market being a public holiday; we had a crap coffee in a Brit bar; then to cap off the morning our Euro debit card was swallowed by a cash machine, which then refused to give us any cash, or to return the card.  Mierda !!  Luckily we still had a Lloyds Stg card to use to get some cash from another bank, but we had to put a stop on the Euro card, then wait until today to visit the first bank and retrieve the card, after queuing for an hour along with 40+ other customers as their computers were down.  (Sorry – not impressed by Spanish banking).

So, we are off for another 280km further south to Almeria tomorrow (Tuesday) on the Costa del Sol, then another 260km to Marbella on Thursday or Friday.  We’re looking forward to parking up there for 6 to 8 weeks over Christmas and January, and we will decide during that time where we go next year – keeping our options open.

BTW – We didn’t get the house and pet sitting assignment we were after in the Algarve in January – but at least we made the last 7 shortlist.  We will certainly keep an eye open for something else for February/March timeframe.

Caio for now.

Mike & Jan