Week 4. 4th – 10th of January 2025. Cabo de Gata to Nerja – 116 miles
Saturday 4th of January 2025 (Cabo de Gata day 3)
It’s still the Christmas season here in Spain. Yes, it’s not over yet. We have had Christmas, and New Year, this week it’s King’s Day which is on the 6th of January. This is the day when the three kings turn up if you believe in that kind of thing. (Thought it was the 25th?)
It’s our last day today here at the Cabo. We like it here, it’s very peaceful and quiet. There is not a great deal to do here, you can walk and bike ride, but that’s about it. There isn’t much to see as the campsite is set in a national park which is very flat and arid. It’s not stopped this place from being a very popular campsite with many Europeans and we are sure that we will come again in the future.
A bit cool this morning, so it’s breakfast inside. The weather does improve though and we have a lovely sunny wind-free afternoon outside reading and just taking it easy. A very nice day.
Dinner is at the campsite restaurant, a very simple dinner… Pizza!!
Back at the van, we watch the last episode of Squid Game 2, we think it’s not as good as the first series… Very slow, and very laboured.
Sunday 5th of January 2025 (Cabo de Gata to Adra – 54 miles.)
The drives for the next week or so are quite short. We leave the Cabo de Gata campsite having spent a very nice few days there. Today we are going to a campsite that is buried deep amongst the plastic-covered greenhouses that cover most of Almeria. Called Camping Las Vegas, it’s supposed to be a very popular campsite, but unusual for its setting and location. We are staying two nights, tonight and tomorrow, King’s Day or Epiphany.
But first a breakfast of tortilla and Hayley’s tomato bread. According to Del, this is the best van breakfast he has ever had! A warm chunk of potato and onion tortilla. Hayley’s tomato mix; a traditional Spanish dish of grated tomatoes mixed with olive oil and salt and warm toast.
Put a generous dollop of the tomato mix on your toast, leave it to soak through a bit and eat with some tortilla and fresh coffee… Whoo… heeee!!! The best…
It’s just over a 1-hour drive during which we will stop at an Aldi and do a small shop. The drive is thankfully uneventful but the scenery is changing to a plastic city.
We find the campsite after driving through the greenhouses on not very well-kept roads, and are greeted by a lovely Spanish lady who just tells us to park wherever we like and make ourselves comfortable, pay when we leave. She even gives us a one-day out-of-date stick of bread… It’s the thought that counts.
We get settled in and yes it is very charming, like a little oasis, we can see the attraction.
There are plenty of campers here and we can imagine that in the height of summer, it will be packed.
We sit outside in the afternoon sun with a tea and some King’s Day cake, a roscon.
It’s a short walk to the beach which is mainly gravel and rock.
It’s a cool day today with a slight wind, but very nice all the same.
Better than the snow that is, according to the news, that’s bringing armageddon to the UK.
Monday 6th of January 2025 (Happy King’s Day!) (Camping Las Vegas day 2)
We had some very heavy rain last night from about 3 am until daybreak. It’s very noisy on the roof of the van in rainstorms.
We are up late today, the latest ever… We have a good, hearty breakfast while we are waiting for the weather to clear, which is expected later this afternoon. We stay in the van and read, Del gets on with some homework. It is very grey outside. We celebrate King’s Day with a tea and the remainder of the roscon from yesterday.
Inside the cake is a figure, of course, you are supposed to collect all three kings. We have two. Clearly, we have not eaten enough cake!
By 2 pm the clouds have gone and we get our bikes off the back of Jess and set off. It’s warm enough but the wind is building as we cycle through a lot of localised flooding. Our bike ride is nothing spectacular as the campsite is set among the largest collection of greenhouses in Europe, but we are glad for the exercise and the fresh air all the same.
We don’t go very far, but we have been out for over an hour and done a good few miles. Once back at Jess, despite the strong wind, the sun is out and it’s nice outside so we take advantage of it and sit and have a beer until the wind gets too much.
We pack away and cover the bikes ready for leaving tomorrow, and take a quick walk to the beach to see how rough the sea is. Compared to yesterday it’s rough!
Dinner is on board tonight after which we tackle one of our escape room games.
Tomorrow we are moving on to Nerja which is about an hour’s drive. Nice and easy.
Tuesday 7th of January 2025 (Adra to Nerja – 64 miles)
Today we are halfway through our trip. So far we have come through France, trundled down the east coast of Spain, around the corner and headed west along the south coast. The remainder of the trip is not set in stone, but the plan is to carry on along the south coast of Spain up into Portugal, head north then pop back into Spain heading for Salamanca and Valladollid before running north to Santander for the ferry back to Portsmouth on the 1st of February.
We have had a good trip so far. The weather hasn’t been exactly stable, but it’s been pleasant and we have enjoyed the trip so far.
This morning, we wake up to a beautiful, fresh day, with the bluest of blue skies and sunshine. We are not going far today, 50 to 60 miles to Nerja and a regular campsite that we like. First, we need to do a spot of shopping.
Despite being short, the drive today seems to take ages to get to Nerja. The scenery is fabulous though, very mountainous and surprisingly green, it just feels long. Eventually we arrive to do a shop, fill up with diesel and even give Jess a wash. We are all set for a 4 day stay in Nerja.
The campsite have been expecting us so we are checked in quicky and given pitch. It’s nice here, lots of cacti, exotic flowers and avocado trees. We are parked right under one, tucked in out of the way.
It’s time for Jess’s internal cleaning. We get to work and air the van sweep her out wash her down and freshen everything up. She is now shiny and sparkling inside and out.
If you ever see an old fire engine, ambulance, military truck or just a truck that is being used as a campervan, the odds are that it will be German.
They love it! They buy and convert old utility vehicles into campervans. Some are basic looking and some are very slick and well done. We happen to have an ambulance on the opposite side of us. Brilliant.
We set off for a walk to the beach which is just 10-minutes away. We say ‘hello’ to a friend of ours who has been here for a while, a green parrot who is at the entrance of the site.
She’s very cute and likes a head scratch. It’s a lovely day. The sky has stayed clear, no clouds light wind, perfect. There is a small beach bar/restaurant where we take a table and have a cold glass of cava and some calamares fritos. Very very nice. We just sit and take it all in. A Tuesday afternoon in January.
After the lovely afternoon we walk back, and as usual at this time, late afternoon it starts to cool over so we get back and warm up Jess and have a fab tapas dinner of Spanish Jamon, potato salad, prawns and ali oli… Whew! It was fantastic. After a clean up we get stuck into one of our escape room games. We tried an old game that we did at the start of the trip three weeks ago. We still got a bad score!
Wednesday 8th of January 2025 (Nerja day 2)
Bit of a grey start today, but still pleasant. Today we are off for a walk along the beach towards the town of Nerja and stopping for lunch at a restaurant called Torrecilla. We have had lunch here before and it has always been very pleasant.
We start with a traditional red vermouth, aubergine rolls and a salad. Hayley goes for the Secreto Iberico and Del a Wagyu burger. All very good and all helped along with a glass of wine each. The view, like the food is tremendous.
Our German ambulance is leaving today…
Thoughts of going for a longer walk are put to one side, so we decide to take a slow walk home as the weather has changed to a cooler, fresher feel. Back at Jess we just take it easy and settle in for the night. Another good day.
Thursday 9th of January 2025 (Nerja day 3)
It started grey, but it soon clears up to be a lovely warm but breezy day. We had planned to walk today into the town of Nerja, but it’s so nice on the site with the van that we decide to just stay where we are for a couple of hours, sit in the sun, read, and chat.
It’s early afternoon, and we decide that maybe we should go for a walk now, so we get ourselves sorted out and take a long walk into the town.
Nerja is a lovely town, clean and very vibrant. It’s a busy place, very popular with the Britsh. There is a large contingent of them that live here.
On the walk back we stop at our favourite beach side bar/restaurant and have a cocktail in the sun with some patatas brava. The walk back is fabulous, bright and sunny with a very nice breeze.
Dinner tonight is Hayley’s Paella with some Spanish music to add to the ambiance.
A lovely day today. Tomorrow is the last day before Del flies off to Lisbon for a week and Hayley carries on along the coast towards Manilva just past Marbella.
Friday 10th of January 2025 (Nerja day 4)
Our last day here today. We have liked our stay, we have had some good weather, good food and a little exercise, not as much as we would have liked but what do you do?
We have a relaxed morning outside today. It’s so warm that we manage a light breakfast outside. The rest of the morning, into the early afternoon is just spent reading, Hayley starts to plan our next section of the trip.
At 2pm we set of for a short walk and to find something to eat. We end up at a beach bar restaurant where we have a shared salad and Secreto Iberico. It’s the best day yet, clear blue sky, no wind… Perfect!
Back to Jess, it’s late, we had no idea.
Del packs a few things as he is flying off to Lisbon tomorrow for a week to work while Hayley will set off for Manilva, about an hour from where we are now.
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