Life after Marjal, Almeria, Altea Denia and Calpe.

We finally admitted defeat on the 2nd of April and waved good bye to the last few remaining die hard Funsters at Marjal.

With a toss of a coin and a little well meant advice we headed south to the region of Almeria. Pat had spent some time on Google and had  come up with a "Quiet Adults Only" site in the small town of Los Gallardos near Vera. She spoke to the site owner " Geoff " who confirmed that it sounded like the perfect tranquil location we needed after Marjal.

We drove up and down the main road in Los Gallardos several times and couldn't locate the site. I was convinced that it had to be on the north side of the road as they were building a motorway on the south side. You guessed it, the site was in fact adjacent to the building site of the motorway and as we pulled on we couldn't hear ourselves think above the sound of the diggers and lorries which were about 10 meters away.

Anyway, Geoff comes out to great us, which was a bit awkward as we had already decided to "Get the F*** out of Dodge" Geoff was  a strange character with thick glasses. He instantly reminded me of "Louis Dega" who was the character played by Dustin Hoffman in the 1973 film Pappilon . To add to this Geoff had loads of bright red blood like hand prints on his T shirt and I knew that he has probably been torturing small animals for the fun of it. Pat politely asked if the noise from the lorries and diggers ever stopped. The reply was "Never, all day and all night "  Bye Bye Geoff.........

As luck would have it it we stumbled into a a Crap site near Villaricos and had a great couple of weeks . Although the site was sad and neglected, the location was fantastic . It was right on the coast and the cycle tracks were superb. We had not been to this area before but were quietly impressed with it's great beaches and rugged coastline. Right outside the site gate you could pick up a cycle route and go for miles ( on the flat, obviously ) A brand new track along a river bed became a daily ride for us and Pat got up to about 12 km on her new Knee. We went fishing in the sea and caught nothing, participated in the local speciality dish called "Chinese" that appears to be the national meal of Spain now.  Pat learnt how to cook Mussells and they were superb.

The wild life was brilliant and  we saw  Hoopoe ,  Serins,  Black Winged Stilts, and Woodchat Shrike . We even heard that if you go onto the beach at night you might get a glimpse of the Common Poof  that frequents the wooded areas looking for a mate.


On the 13th of April we headed back north to the bay of Altea , which is situated on the east coast of Spain just north of Benidorm. Despite its proximity to the mother ship of mobility scooters , Altea was beautiful and we stayed at " Camping cap Blanch" which was right on the sea front.


We only stayed a few days then joined a Motorhome Facts / Roamers Rally further up the coast at Denia ( 12 km North of Denia to be precise )  The site was an Aire and was packed to the door with Rally goers. We met some great people and had several great trips out on our Scooter to nearby towns and villages. 


A week later the whole Rally moved lock stock and barrel to another small Aire ( Camper ground ) in Calpe. This was a much better location for us and we were only about 1km  from the promenade and the famous rock of Calpe. This area proved to be a great place for the Rally and it was great to meet old friends ( I mean old ) and knew friends. A big thanks to Ken and Jenny who made it happen.

I mentioned the rock at Calpe. Well its a bit bigger than the average rock you would find on the beach, being 332 mtrs tall. It is it's own National park and is home to loads of sea birds.

 you can actually climb up to the top and myself and a younger rally member did just that. It only took 2 hours to the top.  I was able to speak to pat on the site with the Walkie Talkies. I have got to say that this climb is not for the faint hearted and was a bit treacherous and  hard under foot. Luckily, when traversing the narrow paths with shear drop at the side the Spanish had kindly put a bit of rope on place top  try and grab as you plummeted into the sea.

For the full slideshow experience click here  Almeria  Denia and Calpe


Well the rally has now finished and tomorrow we head for Barcelona.........

Life at Marjal

We are led to believe that Spain is on the edge of economic crisis.  Well someone found 22 million euros stuffed down the back of their couch and decided to build “ Marjal Costa Blanca , Eco Resort” camp site.
This site is brand new and probably one of the biggest I have seen, with approximately 2000 pitches. Luckily for us it was only running at about 20 % when we arrived. Its facilities were second to none with plush  toilet blocks with acres of marble and under floor heating. It even had an separate marbled area for washing your dog . ( that's not a euphemism )  The brand knew Spa and Gym were fantastic and included in the price. Pat went to the gym every day ( chasing young Spaniards around ) The Spa had water jets that blasted places that should be blasted . ( I didn’t like the one I named the sac slapper )
The pitches were spacious, but unfortunately had been constructed entirely from apple crumble. Although they looked solid and crunchy on the surface, when it rained it all turned liquid and a few vans had to be towed to new plots. I think constructing camping areas from classical puddings was a grave mistake on the part of the “Marjal “ group.
Although the site is currently quite un attractive ( because its barren and new ) it will eventually develop into something quite special when all the trees and shrubs have matured. It’s location is quite remote and not an an area that I would call “Pretty Spain” but it was only 20 mins from the coast and had a mountain backdrop that was impressive.
Anyway, we didn’t go there for its prettiness, we went to join the Motorhome Fun rally that was taking place . About 27 vans were in attendance and it was great fun meeting up with old friends and making new acquaintances.
The rally went well and included several gatherings that appeared to revolve around food.
Every Saturday saw a mass exodus to the local market for our veg and coffee in the square. We also discovered a local restaurant called Harry’s and became regulars
Several of us attended Spanish lessons with the beautiful Anita but it soon became clear that she had her class favourites
The rally itself seemed to fly by and the 3 weeks went in a flash. It was all too soon that people were leaving and all of a sudden only the die hards with nowhere else better to go were left.
Right from the outset the staff at Marjal told us that they were expecting a large ( 1000 units ) Spanish Rally on the 30th March that would last for about 10 days. No problem we thought as they were going to occupy the far end of the site.
Well about a week before they started the forward party arrived and constructed a marquee which was a similar size to Alaska. I have never seen a tent so big.  Our friends Gerald and Annie ,who had sunk when the crust on their apple crumble gave way, decided to move to a new plot that was even closer to the mothership. Bless them I think they intended to make the most of soaking up the Spanish festivities and culture that we believed would take place.
Well the Spanish rally kicked off and we soon discovered that the newly constructed mothership was in fact a cloaking device for the biggest speaker in the world and  the bass dial was turned to full. Every night ( until the small hours ) our vans shook and nobody slept. I lay in bed listening to the booming bass wandering what it would have been the Aztec King Montezuma who also had a bit of a Spaniard problem.   Poor Gerald and Annie lasted less than 24 hours before they had lost all their mental abilities and had to leave. We followed a few hours later.
On reflection though, the whole stay at Marjal was fantastic, We met some great people and Pat celebrated her 25th Birthday for the second time.

We have now headed south. Updates will follow soon I am sure …………………………………