Where's Bertie? He's in a Municipal Aire on the edge of Murcia. Exact location: 38.02936, -1.14766.
Weather: Wall-to-wall sunshine. Low twenties.
Another busy day of doing absolutely nothing touristy!
I'd thought, as I headed down the hill onto Benidorm seafront at 8.30 this morning, that I would be ahead of the crowds. But no, at times I had to run along the roadway (restricted use, so not busy) to save dodging around people on the promenade.
Two things went awry with my run. A failure of basic arithmetic had me turn around too soon on my out-and-back route and by the time I noticed, the only way I could sensibly make up the missing mileage was to reach the top of the hill to Bertie, run back down, then up again. The second issue was getting lost (really should have made a mental note of my surroundings when I emerged from a side street onto the promenade!); thank goodness for electronic mapping!
Back at Bertie (I seem to type that phrase so often that I'm thinking it should become the blog title), the car park was filling up and whilst there were plenty of spare spaces up the top end, in order to park nearer to town, the cars had started parking in a line between rows. When that line of cars extended so far up the car park (and this really is a *massive* car park) that two more would have meant we wouldn't have room to manoeuvre out of our space, we made haste and left.
Our first stop was to do something we've never done on a trip before: we visited a jet-wash to give Bertie a once-over. He was filthy! As it turns out, a jet-wash (something I've not used in around 25 years) isn't very effective at removing such a built-up layer of salt and grime, so as Mick went around with the spray wand, I followed him with a very small sponge (perhaps we should carry a 'car wash' sized one). I possibly looked a bit daft using such a small implement on such a large vehicle, but it did the job and Bertie now looks just as shiny as all the other motorhomes (other people seem to wash theirs a lot more often than we do!).
After a quick top-up with LPG (22 litres used in 19 days, so above average, but we have used the heating more than normal - including this morning - it was a bit of a chilly start), we only made it a few more kilometres before stopping for groceries. Then came what is, for us, a big drive: an hour and a half, to Murcia. Why so far? Because if we continue to cover the ground at our usual speed, stopping for a few nights every few kilometres, we'll never make it to Mazarron, which was our objective for this trip (more about which when we get there).
Our journey was quicker than it would have been last year, as the AP7 (toll motorway) was de-tolled at the beginning of this year. Except, as we found out to our cost, for its last few kilometres to the SW of Alicante, which came in at €3.50. Annoying as, had I known, we would have taken the nearby free motorway for little (or no?) distance penalty, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not a matter to get het up about.
Onwards to this new Aire on the north side of Murcia, where we arrived to find barely a space available. That wasn't entirely a surprise as a recent review had said that one night last week there were 100 vans in the Aire and another 40 in the car park next door. It's a popular place, which is a bit bizarre when you consider that it's just a car park at a big retail park, adjacent to the motorway, that has been given over to motorhomes, with a service point installed. The usual rules of such places apply and are displayed: no camping behaviour (no chairs and tables outside, no open windows, no levelling ramps, that sort of thing) and a max stay of 72 hours, so in theory people would stay for a couple of days whilst visiting the city. By appearances, some people have settled in here for longer than the permitted period and even more were half-dressed and lounging in deckchairs, on verges and on the tarmac, this afternoon. Not only do I fail to understand the appeal of sun-bathing in a car park in a retail park, but do these people not realise that it's the sort of behaviour (abuse!) that will lead to the closure of Aires and hinder the opening of more? If you want to camp, go to a campsite! Rant over.
By the time we'd had a late lunch, it was too late to be thinking about going into the city today, so instead we walked over to Decathlon and searched at length for an item I forgot to get in Gandia the other day (no luck; out of stock), then we installed ourselves in the restaurant at Ikea where, over bottomless decaff coffee (for just 80 cents), we finally managed to download three weeks' worth of newspapers, before buying Mick a new pillow on the way out. Eeeh, we know how to live!
And now it's past teatime, so I'd best go and put my pinny on and sort us out with some food.
Weather: Wall-to-wall sunshine. Low twenties.
Another busy day of doing absolutely nothing touristy!
I'd thought, as I headed down the hill onto Benidorm seafront at 8.30 this morning, that I would be ahead of the crowds. But no, at times I had to run along the roadway (restricted use, so not busy) to save dodging around people on the promenade.
Two things went awry with my run. A failure of basic arithmetic had me turn around too soon on my out-and-back route and by the time I noticed, the only way I could sensibly make up the missing mileage was to reach the top of the hill to Bertie, run back down, then up again. The second issue was getting lost (really should have made a mental note of my surroundings when I emerged from a side street onto the promenade!); thank goodness for electronic mapping!
Back at Bertie (I seem to type that phrase so often that I'm thinking it should become the blog title), the car park was filling up and whilst there were plenty of spare spaces up the top end, in order to park nearer to town, the cars had started parking in a line between rows. When that line of cars extended so far up the car park (and this really is a *massive* car park) that two more would have meant we wouldn't have room to manoeuvre out of our space, we made haste and left.
Our first stop was to do something we've never done on a trip before: we visited a jet-wash to give Bertie a once-over. He was filthy! As it turns out, a jet-wash (something I've not used in around 25 years) isn't very effective at removing such a built-up layer of salt and grime, so as Mick went around with the spray wand, I followed him with a very small sponge (perhaps we should carry a 'car wash' sized one). I possibly looked a bit daft using such a small implement on such a large vehicle, but it did the job and Bertie now looks just as shiny as all the other motorhomes (other people seem to wash theirs a lot more often than we do!).
After a quick top-up with LPG (22 litres used in 19 days, so above average, but we have used the heating more than normal - including this morning - it was a bit of a chilly start), we only made it a few more kilometres before stopping for groceries. Then came what is, for us, a big drive: an hour and a half, to Murcia. Why so far? Because if we continue to cover the ground at our usual speed, stopping for a few nights every few kilometres, we'll never make it to Mazarron, which was our objective for this trip (more about which when we get there).
Our journey was quicker than it would have been last year, as the AP7 (toll motorway) was de-tolled at the beginning of this year. Except, as we found out to our cost, for its last few kilometres to the SW of Alicante, which came in at €3.50. Annoying as, had I known, we would have taken the nearby free motorway for little (or no?) distance penalty, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not a matter to get het up about.
Onwards to this new Aire on the north side of Murcia, where we arrived to find barely a space available. That wasn't entirely a surprise as a recent review had said that one night last week there were 100 vans in the Aire and another 40 in the car park next door. It's a popular place, which is a bit bizarre when you consider that it's just a car park at a big retail park, adjacent to the motorway, that has been given over to motorhomes, with a service point installed. The usual rules of such places apply and are displayed: no camping behaviour (no chairs and tables outside, no open windows, no levelling ramps, that sort of thing) and a max stay of 72 hours, so in theory people would stay for a couple of days whilst visiting the city. By appearances, some people have settled in here for longer than the permitted period and even more were half-dressed and lounging in deckchairs, on verges and on the tarmac, this afternoon. Not only do I fail to understand the appeal of sun-bathing in a car park in a retail park, but do these people not realise that it's the sort of behaviour (abuse!) that will lead to the closure of Aires and hinder the opening of more? If you want to camp, go to a campsite! Rant over.
By the time we'd had a late lunch, it was too late to be thinking about going into the city today, so instead we walked over to Decathlon and searched at length for an item I forgot to get in Gandia the other day (no luck; out of stock), then we installed ourselves in the restaurant at Ikea where, over bottomless decaff coffee (for just 80 cents), we finally managed to download three weeks' worth of newspapers, before buying Mick a new pillow on the way out. Eeeh, we know how to live!
And now it's past teatime, so I'd best go and put my pinny on and sort us out with some food.
We stayed there a few days ago. It's a handy aire but like you say, I don't know why you would want to sunbathe in a retail centre car park - you wouldn't do it at home!
ReplyDeleteFor visiting Murcia and for all the adjacent retail opportunities, it's an excellent location, but you'd never find it in a brochure as a holiday destination would you?!
DeleteIf you were here a few days ago, are we on a collision course? Do say hello if you see us!
We're down in Malaga now so I suspect we're heading in different directions. Maybe one day...!
DeleteI'm always amused about your meal times: "second breakfast," "late lunch" and the like. Also decaff coffee - each to their own but I drink coffee partly because I like it but also for that little boost it gives around 10:00 am after I have only had tea with my breakfast. I read or heard somewhere recently that there is more caffeine in tea than coffee and whether that is true or not it doesn't seem to have the same effect.
ReplyDeleteMy original footnote about decaff coffee a few days ago harked back to an earlier comment (that I think was actually on Strava, rather than on the blog) that I seldom consume caffeine, so when I do it's very effective.
DeleteI've read that the amount of caffeine in tea is similar to in most instant coffees, but the amount in 'proper' coffee varies and is usually significantly higher. I know that if I have two cups of well-brewed tea in a short space of time then I get the caffeine jitters, and that a strong cup of proper coffee will leave me feeling quite poorly for a few hours. I do sometimes resort to half a cup of full-caff instant before a long run, trying to time it so that the jitters don't kick in before I'm out the door.