Club Motorhome Bloggers

We got the early night that we wanted but there was little sleep to be had - howling gales all night. It was like trying to sleep in a boat that was being rocked by waves. It was possible to hear the gusts coming before they hit the van, then bam! I got up during the night to check the security of the roof-lights as they were being torn at by the gusts. Even the folding shower doors has to be clipped back into place as they were swinging and clattering with the motion of the van.

I'm writing this over morning coffee and the wind is still howling. It's going to make interesting driving on today's mountain roads!

So today the roads have actually been quite good, not like the wind which has been atrocious! I had to literally fight the steering wheel to keep a straight line for a lot of the day. Before long we had persistent rain to accompany the wind. Anyway we found a couple of Aires that we wanted to review. One being quite nice, in a big wine growing area. We stopped there for some lunch before setting off for the other which was an odd sort of affair.

Our satnav wanted to take us in via a very narrow route so we chose to ignore it. We then found a motorhome parking sign indicating 100 metres, then about a kilometre on another saying 100 metres, then another arrowing to turn left down a riverside track and then another indicating an impossible turn left into some big trees. We manoeuvred in but then gave up as there was no sign of services so reversed the entry procedure and carried on to our night-stop at Teruel.

To coincide with MOT time for this van we need to be in the UK for March/April so we left our relatively warm and certainly sunny Spanish base with a view to meandering up through France to get a Tunnel crossing on the 11th of February. In order to enjoy what might be the last of our good weather for a while we made a small detour and spent the first 3 nights of our trip at Calpe with some of our friends that had been there since before Christmas.

They're good planners these friends, so on arrival we were immediately whisked off to attend their alfresco Australia Day group lunch. Wow what a treat they laid on! Lots of barbecuing going on obviously and a fair amount of alcohol too.....

The next day another lunch was hosted by other friends (and Club Motorhome members) Starters, mains and desserts from all directions and lots more alcohol..... Not quite sure how we would cope if we stayed here very long .

Our last full day was a little more laid back but somehow still, very nicely, included afternoon teas and more alcohol!

News No 7

So …. we have now been here on site for a week – the longest we have ever stayed in one place in our seven years of motoroming. And what do we think of 'rallying' so far? Well, a bit like the curate's egg – good in parts!

It is interesting that it was only last night when we first had a conversation with anyone about where they, and we had been in our motorhomes. Of course a lot of the people here are caravanners … our view has always been that caravanners like to go somewhere, pitch up and stay put. Here some have found their ultimate expression of good caravanning, where the typical rallyer stays 3 months, with a good many staying longer – anything up to six months; and they will have rallied in the winter in Spain anything from 4 to as many as 15 times before – often at this same campsite every year. And there are a good few motorhomers who follow this pattern too, it seems.

This news update should have preceded 'Landed'.  This covers a week wandering along a short part of the southern coast of Spain

News No 5

When we left Avila we decided that we would give Madrid a miss this time and make haste to the coast and the sunshine. We chose not to use the toll motorways and, as we thought, there really would be no benefit to us at the speeds we travel at. Spain has an amazing road system – we travelled all the way on motorway-standard dual carriageways. They were very lightly trafficed except when passing through Madrid (yes through – including a very long tunnel right under the centre, with several turn-offs which we somehow managed to get right) where the traffic was a lot heavier, but we still didn't experience any hold-ups. Here's a couple of views seen from the road as we travelled through.

News No 6

We followed the coast west for a few miles, and when we had been about 20 miles in the whole day we stopped beside the sea again at a 'freecamp', along with about 15-20 other motorhomes, well spread out on the sand. As you can see, this is not the best of sand, and it packs down quite hard, so is fine to drive on.

We had a walk into the small town (St Juan de los Terreros) along a beautifully paved promenade which ran for about 2 miles from just beyond where we were parked to the centre (such as it was!). For a country which is short of money they do spend well on their pavements and promenades – and you don't find many trips in the pavements. The whole place was all but deserted out of season, existing only for the sake of the sun and the beach (which was nice white sand, unlike the grey stuff where we were parked).

News No 4

We have visited two old Castillian cities, Segovia and Avila. Getting there from Valladolid was easy – this is a typical via of the Autovia on our way there.

Doesn't fall often, even in winter - but when it does it falls wherever it likes - like going up the mountains on the longest hill we have ever driven up, in the pouring rain.

News No 3

We travelled on to Biarritz, on the way staying at an Aire by the river Lot at another recovering medieval village, Casseneuil.