Where's Bertie? He's sitting on a wasteland sort of a parking area two throws of a stone away from the sea, at Azohia (37.56341, -1.17421). Yesterday he spent a second night at the petrol station just north of Mazarrón.
Weather: A few whispy bits of cloud around, but sunny and warm (back into the low twenties).
Who in their right mind would choose to spend two whole days sitting at a petrol station adjacent to a motorway? Us, that's who!
You may be thinking that we clearly weren't in our right minds, but it became apparent yesterday morning that Mick needed another 24 hours of electricity for his laptop. I looked at options for campsites, as they would provide nicer surroundings for me to wander whilst Mick worked, but on further analysis we decided that it just wasn't worth driving out of our way to spend €32 for two nights at a campsite when we could just put up with another 24 hours where we were for €5.35. Moreover, I was still trying hard to rest my poorly leg, and the limited exploration or walking options at the petrol station were good for that purpose (even if I was climbing the walls by late afternoon!).
It turned out that the surroundings weren't so bad. I strolled out a couple of miles yesterday morning and once I'd got past the petrol stations and off the service road, I found myself in pleasant (surprisingly green) wild-meadow-ish land with hills ahead:
Looking at the map later, I discovered there was a Via Verde (green route cycle way - usually ex-railway lines) a mile away in the other direction. That's where I headed for a circuit this morning* whilst Mick pored over his laptop some more. The good news is that today I could walk without pain in my leg and a few test steps at a jog were promising too.
By the time Mick had declared he'd had enough at staring at his document, and I'd reviewed what he'd done, it was past time for lunch. Once we'd lunched it had reached that hour when we start thinking we may as well stay put, and in most locations that's what we would have done. However, three consecutive nights at a petrol station seemed excessive, so off we pootled a few kilometres up the road to Camposol.
When we set out on this trip, Camposol was the only place that was firmly on the agenda to visit. Everything else was to be made up as we went along, but our declared objective/turning-back-north-point**, was Camposol. The reason for this was because Mick has long been on the mailing list of a local estate agency, and has for the last couple of years regularly shown me properties we could buy. In reality, we're pretty convinced that if we were to want to spend a few months each winter at a fixed location in Spain, it would make more sense to rent than to buy, but even so, given his interest in the place we decided we would visit, spend a week in the area and see how we liked it.
We spent less than an hour there and probably decided in the first five minutes that it was a resounding 'no' even from a rental point of view. There are many reasons we like Spain and not a single one of them was exhibited in Camposol.
Where to go next? We've had two separate recommendations for Azohia in the last week, so it seemed as good a place to come as any. As we set off coast-wards, I pondered to Mick that it would be funny if we got there to find we'd been before, as we are now (temporarily!) on a bit of coast we travelled in 2016. As we drove through Isla Plana, just 3.5km from our destination, I clearly remembered having been there before (on 24 January 2016 - click here for the relevant blog post), but it turns out that on that occasion we passed within a kilometre or so of Azohia, but didn't visit.
The view from in front of Bertie's bumper. Taken at an angle because straight ahead it's just sea.
Having nestled Bertie into a space in the front row of this large patch of wasteland that's been comprehensively taken over by motorhomes, we set out at once for a stroll along the seafront and had not gone far when a ringing of bicycle bells behind us was augmented by shouts in English. It was Steve and Steve, who we first met in Simat three weeks ago, then in Archena last week. Once again, of all the places and directions we could have gone in the meantime, it's some coincidence to see each other again.
We didn't make it all the way to the end of the bay today. Time had run away with us, so we returned to Bertie to squeeze in a crossword (a stinker today) before Mick donned the pinny to cook tea for me.
Conrad: there may have only been PRs around Ricote, but there's a GR runs through Azohia!
(*After a poor night's sleep. Having successfully played 'hunt and kill the mosquito' before lights-out, we hoped it was a lone intruder. Alas, no. At around 1.30am, after multiple disturbances of Mick turning the light on to look for the little bastard (they always seem to prefer Mick to me; he's sporting five bites at the moment), I got up and deployed the makeshift mosquito net. Really must make a proper one large enough to do its duty properly without draping over either of us. The net may be back in use tonight as we're pretty sure (unless it left whilst the door was open today) that we have at least one more.
**Yes, we are now further south...)
Weather: A few whispy bits of cloud around, but sunny and warm (back into the low twenties).
Who in their right mind would choose to spend two whole days sitting at a petrol station adjacent to a motorway? Us, that's who!
You may be thinking that we clearly weren't in our right minds, but it became apparent yesterday morning that Mick needed another 24 hours of electricity for his laptop. I looked at options for campsites, as they would provide nicer surroundings for me to wander whilst Mick worked, but on further analysis we decided that it just wasn't worth driving out of our way to spend €32 for two nights at a campsite when we could just put up with another 24 hours where we were for €5.35. Moreover, I was still trying hard to rest my poorly leg, and the limited exploration or walking options at the petrol station were good for that purpose (even if I was climbing the walls by late afternoon!).
It turned out that the surroundings weren't so bad. I strolled out a couple of miles yesterday morning and once I'd got past the petrol stations and off the service road, I found myself in pleasant (surprisingly green) wild-meadow-ish land with hills ahead:
By the time Mick had declared he'd had enough at staring at his document, and I'd reviewed what he'd done, it was past time for lunch. Once we'd lunched it had reached that hour when we start thinking we may as well stay put, and in most locations that's what we would have done. However, three consecutive nights at a petrol station seemed excessive, so off we pootled a few kilometres up the road to Camposol.
When we set out on this trip, Camposol was the only place that was firmly on the agenda to visit. Everything else was to be made up as we went along, but our declared objective/turning-back-north-point**, was Camposol. The reason for this was because Mick has long been on the mailing list of a local estate agency, and has for the last couple of years regularly shown me properties we could buy. In reality, we're pretty convinced that if we were to want to spend a few months each winter at a fixed location in Spain, it would make more sense to rent than to buy, but even so, given his interest in the place we decided we would visit, spend a week in the area and see how we liked it.
We spent less than an hour there and probably decided in the first five minutes that it was a resounding 'no' even from a rental point of view. There are many reasons we like Spain and not a single one of them was exhibited in Camposol.
Where to go next? We've had two separate recommendations for Azohia in the last week, so it seemed as good a place to come as any. As we set off coast-wards, I pondered to Mick that it would be funny if we got there to find we'd been before, as we are now (temporarily!) on a bit of coast we travelled in 2016. As we drove through Isla Plana, just 3.5km from our destination, I clearly remembered having been there before (on 24 January 2016 - click here for the relevant blog post), but it turns out that on that occasion we passed within a kilometre or so of Azohia, but didn't visit.
Having nestled Bertie into a space in the front row of this large patch of wasteland that's been comprehensively taken over by motorhomes, we set out at once for a stroll along the seafront and had not gone far when a ringing of bicycle bells behind us was augmented by shouts in English. It was Steve and Steve, who we first met in Simat three weeks ago, then in Archena last week. Once again, of all the places and directions we could have gone in the meantime, it's some coincidence to see each other again.
Looking back towards Bertie
We didn't make it all the way to the end of the bay today. Time had run away with us, so we returned to Bertie to squeeze in a crossword (a stinker today) before Mick donned the pinny to cook tea for me.
(*After a poor night's sleep. Having successfully played 'hunt and kill the mosquito' before lights-out, we hoped it was a lone intruder. Alas, no. At around 1.30am, after multiple disturbances of Mick turning the light on to look for the little bastard (they always seem to prefer Mick to me; he's sporting five bites at the moment), I got up and deployed the makeshift mosquito net. Really must make a proper one large enough to do its duty properly without draping over either of us. The net may be back in use tonight as we're pretty sure (unless it left whilst the door was open today) that we have at least one more.
**Yes, we are now further south...)
The GR 92 looks like a good, relatively easy GR following the coast.
ReplyDeleteHow long did it take you to proof-read Mick's opus? Not long I bet?
We've got a cloudless blue sky this morning but it's only about 4 degrees. Our weatherman told us last night that on the same day last year in Blackpool it was 18 degrees.
February would be a nice time of year for a coastal walk in these parts, I reckon, although accommodation could be a problem with so many places closed down for winter.
DeleteIt's a reasonably hefty document, so took a bit of time and effort, but only a small fraction of the time that Mick has spent working on it.
I remember that spell of warm weather in the UK last February. It coincided with a cooler spell in Portugal, such that we barely had it any warmer than my sister was reporting at home.