Week 6 – 13th January 2024 – 19th January 2024 – Balerma to San Jose (186 miles)
Saturday 13th January 2024 – Balerma Day 3
Our last day here today. It’s a warmish start so after a bowl of bran flakes and fruit we sit outside, chatting and reading before finally setting off for a local walk, nothing too strenuous. It’s a lovely day.
We don’t plan to have dinner tonight. Instead, Hayley puts together a very typical Spanish spread of tortilla, tomato bread, Jamon Serrano, chorizo, salad and the biggest prawns ever dipped in alioli for a very late lunch while the sun is still out.
Fabulous. Needless to say, it didn’t stay on the table for very long.
It’s a quiet afternoon. As usual, it gets quite cool from about 4:30 onwards so we wrap up and just relax.
Tomorrow we are going a little more west towards Nerja. Still in Andalucia, this will be as far as we go west before turning round and heading back towards home. We still have just under 4 weeks to go to do it.
We played our last EXIT game tonight…
Sunday 14th January 2024 – Balerma to Nerja (70 miles)
We are moving on today and heading west to a nice little place that we visited two years ago, Camping Cortijo San Miguel which is just outside the town of Nerja, famous for its caves.
A nice drive today, short, just over an hour.
It’s a busy place but luckily we booked ahead for our two-night stay.
We are given a nice patch surrounded by lemon trees, avocado trees and bird of paradise plants. Very nice, very peaceful – perfect.
Once set up we are off to find lunch. There used to be a very nice beach restaurant here. It was a bit on the rough and ‘rustic’ side but the food was very good and very cheap with good simple service. We found that the old place has now closed down and the owner has built a rather flashy ‘block’ on the beach.
It’s an excellent location and looks trendy. Of course this means that it’s full. We are asked for our name and asked to just have a drink and wait for our table.
We get one of the best tables in the place, outside, in front of the building with a full open, unobstructed view of the sea and beach. Smashing.
There’s a small accident as we are getting settled when Del manages to knock his beer over all over Hayley. She stinks like a brewery for the rest of the afternoon.
We eat half the seabed. Calamaris, sardines, fried bouqueroes and paella. Quite a feed. The place is rather hectic, probably slightly understaffed, but all good.
The bill finally arrives with bits missing, so after letting him know what he’s missed we settle the bill and leave with an ice cream to finish off.
We have a peaceful afternoon back at the camp in the sun with a coffee. We do have a couple of visitors – a black cat and a tabby cat, who think it might be a good idea to inspect the van. There are a few cats here wandering about who are very friendly.
They all look well fed, which is thanks to the campers feeding them. They aren’t daft. They are very nice, just wandering around letting people fuss them and feed them.
It’s movie night tonight. We watch the first two episodes about the postmasters/Post Office caper. Bad that, very bad.
Monday 15th January 2024 – Nerja, Day 2
The weather this morning is not what was advertised. We were supposed to get warm sunny skies, low 20s. Instead, it’s cloudy, with a slight breeze and mid-teens. Oh well, no matter. We have a morning on Jess before going for a walk to the town of Nerja.
The wind has built up, the sea is totally different from yesterday, it’s really chopping up. Not what was expected.
The sky is dark and threatening, but soon we are in the town square of Nerja and the sun comes out. Del buys a new pair of sunglasses for 12 euros! Bargain.
We find a bar with outside seating and enjoy two small beers while discussing next year’s adventure. Where shall we go? What shall we do?
A very pleasant afternoon in the town of Nerja. The walk back feels long as we battle the strong wind, face-on, back to Jess. A nice evening at the van and a lovely dinner.
Movie night again tonight. Ricky Gervais – Armageddon. Very entertaining. We also watched the last two episodes about the Post Office scandal. Mr what’s his name etc.
Tuesday 16th January 2024 – Nerja to Cabo de Gata (112 miles)
Well, today is the day that we now start to turn back, keeping the sea on our right. We have just under 3 and a half weeks remaining before our ferry on the 9th of February towards home.
It’s a very pleasant uneventful drive, which you always want… We are retracing our steps for the first part and staying at the Cabo de Gata campsite. There’s not much to do around there but the campsite is excellent, lots of facilities with an excellent restaurant. Once we get checked in, it is indeed time for lunch, so we take advantage of the menu of the day, 13 euros each for a full three-courses, drink and a coffee.
It’s that time of the week when Jess gets a full clean inside. Doors and windows are all opened up and the whole van gets a full wipe-down and the floors are washed. We also get a pile of laundry done. The weather is a bit unpredictable today; wind and rain with bits of sunshine. It’s still warm though so it’s not all bad.
No dinner tonight after the big lunch. Early night!
Wednesday 17th January 2024 – Cabo de Gata Day 2
Another day of unpredictable weather today. Indeed just after breakfast, we get an hour of heavy rain.
The Spanish won’t be complaining, they have been short on rain down here for a while. In the summer they saw temperatures of high 40s to low 50s celcius, so a few heavy showers will be welcome. We don’t mind, we stay in Jess, pottering, reading and planning trips for the future. Do it while you can!
The wind is blowing hard but the rain has finally stopped with some sunshine trying to get through. We take our chances with the lull in the weather, and get a jacket on and take a walk to the sea which is a good 2km round trip.
We get to the sea edge and it’s blowing hard, straight from the southwest, force 8 and building! It’s good though, quite invigorating. After a while we get fed up with the wind and the noise and make our way back for a cup of tea. We have another cat visitor.
This time a small black kitten, who is just terrified of any movement or sound. We managed to calm the poor thing down for a while with cat treats and some milk. Poor thing,
We get a nice sunny break later in the afternoon, but we still have the howling wind. You can get fed up with it… Del is currently reading books from the British Library Crime Classics series, so escapes to the bar to read a couple of chapters while sampling a ‘Cafe Cabo‘, which is a local version of the Canary Islands Cafe Barraquito.
A very quiet day today.
Thursday 18th January 2024 – Cabo de Gata to San Jose (12 miles)
We only have a short drive today, probably 30 minutes. We are going across the Cabo de Gata, the small sticky-out bit at the bottom right-hand side of Spain, to a place near San Jose called Camping Escullos. A short service for Jess today – grey water empty and a fresh toilet and we are off.
The countryside changes quite quickly. Soon we are away from the acres and acres of plastic sheeted greenhouses, and soon we are at the heart of a national park which is quite spectacular, with its high hills and roads carved into them going for miles. Very nice. A short but rather nice drive.
We arrive at the camp, which we have pre-paid, but although they can find our reservation, they can’t find the deposit paid. Of course, Hayley has all this info at her fingertips. No problem, we are not to worry and just pop in on our departure day and hopefully, the banking system will have sorted itself out.
We are given a small but nice pitch, really tucked in with just enough space. It’s nice and private.
The wind is still blowing hard but it’s a lovely warm sunny day. Without too much of a do, we shut the van up and set off for a walk to the beach. It’s a good mile or so of a walk but worth it when we get there. It has a lovely sandy beach, which because of its distance from anything and the coolish weather, we are the only ones there. It’s a small bay or cove so the wind is not too bad.
We have a good look around and get a good walk in, discovering a fort built right on the edge of the rocks. It’s all rather pleasant and we have to remind ourselves that it’s the middle of January as we stand under the sunny blue skies, looking out to a dark blue sea.
By the time we get back to Jess, we have done a good 3.5 mile walk and feel rather good for it. We have a small snack and a beer in the afternoon sun behind Jess.
Tonight there is a band on at the camp restaurant with fish and chips for a staggering 7 euros! We’ll give that a miss but probably go and see the band.
A relaxing afternoon takes us up to 7:30 pm when we go to check out the band. They have already started. It’s a little odd.
It’s an Irish band, a 5 piece band which without a doubt, might be the worst we have every seen (and heard). None of them can crack a smile, their singing is mumbled and it’s hard to hear who is playing and what they’re playing. The funny thing is that the audience, who are now full of cheap fish and chips and cheap wine, seem to like it.
We sit at the bar and it turns out to be not too bad a night after all. We have some locally made Pacharan, a nice drink over ice – homemade by the campsite though. Tomorrow might be interesting,
Friday 19th January 2024 – San Jose Day 2
Poor quality sleep last night. Hayley complains of a bit of a headache and our mouths feel a bit ‘furry’ from the moonshine last night. A short simple breakfast today. It’s a bit miserable here today. It’s cold, cloudy and rainy. It’s far better than our home country which is experiencing a real cold snap, but it is winter…
We stay indoors until lunchtime and have a rather splendid lunch at the local restaurant. Very pleasant. It’s not rained for a while and seems to be holding steady, so we decided to set off for a walk, similar to yesterday, just to get some exercise. Because of the threatening rain, we take caution and put a good waterproof coat on, just in case.
It’s good to be out in the fresh air. We set off and the surrounding hills are quite spectacular. But what’s this? As we progress through our walk, which isn’t very far, the skies grow dark and dramatic.
But very dark. At the first feel of the first drop of rain, we decide to turn back. Just as well…
Within minutes the heavens open up and dump a heavy shower of heavy rain on us. The wind has also built up and we are walking right into it.
The wind is so strong and the rain so heavy it stings your face. Hayley has to put her glasses on to give her self some “eyeball protection”.
We laugh and curse all the way back to Jess, get the wet clothes off and have a cup of tea. Guess what…? It’s stopped raining… Typical. Suddenly it feels like Filey on a Tuesday afternoon…!
We will be staying in for the rest of the day and night. Tomorrow is another day.
Nice to see the native cats love Jess too. Hope you made sure there were no stowaways before moving on! We look forward to reading your adventures each week. Weather here is grim……..roll on summer!
Yes, we have seen the news. It seems that there is just one storm after another. Not good.
Great read and pics to………. all looks fab……… snow and ice here in Blighty, and all goes this weekend to leaves wind rain and mud….. we love Mudland!!!
So where will this years adventure before dementia take you guys….. you never said.
Enjoy the time…..
lov n stuff.
j&v xx
Oh… er… other trips? Can’t remember… Big change in the weather. Rain, wind and mud…love it…