carolh Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Friday 7th November Here we are on our first campsite. Camping Acedo - in wait for it Acedo - Navarro. The Bay of Biscay crossing was fine, just a small swell, and a bit bumpy at times but from the horror stories we heard on board - we were fortunate indeed. The cabin was ok, we ended up in a 4 berth inside cabin, which means we had a lot more room that the 2 berth ones, we crossed over to Rotterdam in january in a 2 berth cabin and they are very claustrophobic! The journey down to Portsmouth was ok, not much traffic really, we saw more coming back from Caernarfon the other thursday. Stopped at Fleet services on the M3 for a cuppa, and were waiting in line at Portsmouth P&O ferryies by 3.30pm. We embarked!! at soon after 6pm, so got settled in and had a wander round. You have to pay for everything on these things, so we had taken rations!! and a small travel kettle and the makings. We didn't fancy sitting drinking all evening in one of the many bars so we tootled off to our cabin, with 2 litres of Brandy we had bought from the duty free earlier on. Charles was soon asleep and I read my book and settled down by 11.30. We got up soon after 9am, there was lashings of hot water, so I had a long shower. There was a talk at 11.30am by a man from the Biscay Dolphin Research programme, it was very interesting and we learnt a lot. We were on deck 11 early in the afternoon to 'dolphin/whale' watch. It was cold and windy!! believe me! Charles stuck it for 20 mins I stuck it for an hour and it had begun to rain a little. So I toddled down to the comfort of the observation lounge. Just as I got there, the dolphins appeared - running the bow wave of the ship - what a magical sight, I did try to take photographs, but you will have to take my word for it that the splashes were dolphins! honest, we saw hundreds during the course of 2 hours of daylight left, until it got too dark to see, we saw no whales, so that pleasure is yet to come. Didn't sleep too well, some considerate NOT person on the deck above decided to do a lot of banging/jumping up and down at some ungodly hour when the bars shut!! Up early this morning, the ship was due to unload at 7am ship time - and 8am local time in Bilbao. We as is our way when exiting a ferry port we don't know - followed the bloke in front!! it worked and we were soon in the rush hour traffic heading for Bilbao and beyond - and it was raining!! No problemo! Tom tom and E4.25 toll saw us on the A132 to Acedo. We arrived at 10.30 would you believe? so we parked up and I armed with cci card and spanish phrasebook headed for reception and senor behind the counter. Lovely little campsite, half statics, and a lot of caravans here for the year, and a few touring pitches. We have the place to ourselves!!!! there are no residents here either! The campsite bar/restaurant is open and used by all and sundry, when we got back from a walk this afternoon it was full of truckers and locals having lunch and a drink. There is a little shop too, I have not been in it yet, maybe in the morning, I sent charles earlier for some bread, he had euros and the word for bread - pan. and he came back with the right stuff, so we were sorted. We walked into town, but it was even smaller in reality that it looked on the internet. So it didn't take long LOL We are surrounded by hills - lots of low cloud though, but the sun did peek out earlier. Charles is reading - I put the laptop on just to see if there was a 'stray' wireless connection - there is an internet connection in reception - and up popped this unsecured wifi! it's only a 'low' signal, but enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolh Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 some pics taken yesterday and today splash of a dolphin old buildings in acedo old fogie in acedo caravan and awning - log cabin effect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Hi you two! Please you made it without having to resort to your water wings! Love the 'cabin', really tastefully done. I hope the weather improves for you, you deserve a good rest and a nice bit of weather after your busy summer. Take care Mel B PS ... how's the 'little fella' doing - are his batteries still working???? 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolh Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 Mel B - 2008-11-07 Mel B PS ... how's the 'little fella' doing - are his batteries still working???? 8-) he's looking after the house while we are away, and yes his batteries are just fine LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Great read Carol, enjoy yourselves Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omidknight Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 The hundreds of dolphins - did the viewings come before the brandy or after? What a sight they must have been! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hymer C 9. Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Carol, lovely to read your report must have been magic watching the Dolphins, keep enjoying yourselves. Carol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolh Posted November 8, 2008 Author Share Posted November 8, 2008 Saturday 8th Nov - 17.30hrs Hi folks Here we are again, we are in Zaragoza!! the sun is shining and we are sat outside - (with our coats on)! watching the sun set! 17.30 local time. With a bottle of rioja from the local supermercado. We left Acado this morning at 10.30 and we were in cloud! But as we descended the NA132 to Los Arcos, we got below the cloud level and the sun came out. Then across somemore high bits via NA129 to Lodosa. We decided to head to Zaragoza via the AP68 - toll road all the way, and considering we were on it for over 100k it was only just over 10 euros. Bargain! And it was empty, hardly anyone on it. We got in a bit of a pickle with the sat nav - the campsite here is fairly new, the gps co-ordinates were ok, but the road was newer and not on the sat nav! We took the route as 'told' by tomtom but it was shut!! so we had to find a way round, which we did!! albeit on an unmetaled lane. So scenic route later, we were on site. What a lovely site, not pretty or anything, but clean and big pitches, friendly staff and wash blocks to die for! It's the municipal site in Zaragoza, about 5k south of the centre. Talk about security to get booked in, needed to see both our passports and we both needed to sign in too. But only 15 euros for the night, I thought that was ok. Last night at Acedo we paid 18 euros and with the cci card got 10% discount. so manana will see us waiting at the bus stop for a trip into the centre of Zaragoza for the day. Thats all for today folks, another episode manana - but after that - well who knows?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolh Posted November 8, 2008 Author Share Posted November 8, 2008 omidknight - 2008-11-08 11:32 AM The hundreds of dolphins - did the viewings come before the brandy or after? What a sight they must have been! the dolphins were before the brandy - and they were in small groups (pods) of 4 or more, but it was all afternoon, one pod out enjoying themselves after another, the ship soon outran them - but there were always more! incredible. Spain is much cheaper than France food and fuel- we filled up with fuel this morning in Los Arcos - a small independent - and paid .999c a litre. I am sure it would have been cheaper at a supermarket outlet, but we have not found a super market yet!! LOL here you go, night sky just 5 mins ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Great read Carol and the pics are very good I love the sunset one :-D you both look very relaxed so I hope everything stays good for you. We also had a bit of fun with our Tom Tom in Holland which took us to a road that had been blocked off!! we ended up in the wilds we could see the motorway but couldnt find how to get on to it we enlisted the help of some bikers who peddled in front of us and waved us on :-D anyway it all is part of the fun isnt it. Hope the weather keeps fine for you have a lovely time Maggy.xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
york brewery Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Hi carol glad your enjoying yourselfs, well its gales up here,cold rain,got the coal blazing away. send us some sunshine :D :D :D Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly58 Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Hi CarolYou are making us feel very envious and giving us itchy feet , still not got regulator sorted yet !! but life is on hold because Jenny is still waiting to have ear op at Norwich although the 18 week waiting period has expired.Hope you both have a great time you have earned it and look forward to more of your reports KxJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howie Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Glad to see you are both enjoying yourselves Carol and good of you to share your enjoyment with us. Weathers lousey here and reading how you are getting on goes some way to brightning up our days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolh Posted November 9, 2008 Author Share Posted November 9, 2008 sunday 9th November 18.55 local time. This might be the last one for a while, travelling on tomorrow south east - to Alcaniz - to a campsite next to a lake. Probably won't have internet there, but you never know. then onto an 'aire' in Morello. Wifi here at this municipal site in Zaragoza is free! not like in France like 5 euros for an hour!! and exhorbitant site fees to boot. We were up early today, and I booked us in for another night, and we walked over to catch the bus, we hadn't a clue how much the fare would be, I had asked at reception and she thought it was about 8 euros!!! so we went prepared! I prepared my crib sheet - dos idas y vueltos por favor, and Hay descuento para pensionistas? Well weren't we just the lucky ones - the bus driver spoke english, he had worked in England for 7 years! No they didn't do returns - singles only, and no reductions either!!! cuanta es? 1.80 euros!! and that was for both of us, not bad for a journey of at least 5Km. He went on to explain that if we lived here we could by a pass which would allow us to travel for 25c a trip. We had a good wander round - took loads of pics, treated ourselves to a coffee. Watched a rta happen in front of us as we sat in the sun, no-one hurt. Front nearside of bus glancing hit to rear off side of car, he was moving though - shattered the bus windscreen! We were back on the campsite by 3pm, ready for a sit down and a cup of tea with the cakes we had just bought from the paneteria. We are ready to move on tomorrow and hope the weather stays fine. hasta la vista! couple of pics for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Carol ... you are soooooooooooooooo mean! Tempting us poor souls with all of this ... I'm really, really, jeolous! :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatterdog Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Carol you wont find the big supermarket with petrol station complexes in Spain. Most supermarkets are in the towns on the high street. One called Sumo springs to mind and Mercadona, also Supamercado in some areas there is a Carrefore if the town is big enough to have an area de commercial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Carol, please stop using up all the nice weather in Spain! We are coming down there in January and if we don't get any sun we know who's to blame! 59 sleeps! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 Carol sent me the below email yesterday so I could put it on here for you all as she can't get a good connection: I can't get a proper internet connection here in peniscola, but have set up a free webmail - don't ask I don't understand it either. We are moving further south tomorrow, so it might be different again!! Monday 10th & Tuesday 11th November We left Zaragoza in thick cloud - and drove towards Alcaniz on the N232 and our next campsite, we were in the cloud most of the way which was unfortunate as I am sure the views would have been spectacular. As we dropped lower towards Alcaniz, the sun was out, and it was lovely. We arrived on the campsite at 13.30pm and decided to stay there for 2 nights, it was nothing wonderful, but in a lovely position right next to a lake, about 6km outside Alcaniz on the Zaragoza road. the campsite was a tad expensive!! but never mind. the following day we drove into Alcaniz and parked up by the Plaza de Torros, we had a good day wandering round and seeing the sights, what a lovely city, if you are ever in the area you must visit. Wednesday 12th November We were up early and away - the aire at Morella is our destination for today, only 50 or so miles and we had a good journey via the 'scenic route' many bends and though stunning countryside. We arrived mid afternoon and set up, views to die for - but it was cold! In fact very cold. But we were nice and snug. we had company later on, another mh arrived from guernsey. the wind got up in the night and the temperature plummeted! Thursday 13th November The following morning, we drove over to Morella town and parked up in the large carpark outside the city gates, it's a medieval walled town with a castle on the hill. pic to follow. Another fantastic place, we were all wrapped up with scarves and gloves - as it was bitterly cold, we explored the town and went up to the top of the castle. We left here just after lunch and took the main road to Peniscola. The N232 yet again, you should have seen the hairpin bends!! and all downhill too. No wonder we were cold in Morella, it is over 1000m above sea level. When we arrived in Peniscola it was positively tropical!!! At Las Moreras - 8 euros a night including electricity and water and only 150m to the beach. www.areaslasmoreras.com Friday 14th & Saturday 15th November We walked into Peniscola yesterday and into Benicarlo today, so we have had our exercise! the weather has been glorious, temperature in the mid 20s it is lovely. Even though we are in a 'proper' place for mhs, we have found other tolerated places as we have walked around, if anyone is interested get in touch when we get back I am making notes of where they are for future reference. tomorrow we are heading south! and we will end up where we end up! there you go mel, we are enjoying it, to eat and drink over here is so cheap, even in the supermarkets, it is much cheaper than France. I have attached 3 pics parade figures - with little Charles! in Alcaniz view from the castle at Morella on the beach view towards Benicarlo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 Carol - bienvenido a espana! Are you guys coming down to the Costa Blanca region? If so, come and say hello to the Sparkle (Kathy) and I, as Tony and Liz had the misfortune to do not so long ago. Just remember that the password is a 1 litre bottle of Baileys!!! Seriously though ......if you get stuck with anything whilst you are in Spain and you're anywhere near, give us a shout, we'll help out if we can. Cheers m'dear, Bruce & Kathy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooty10 Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 Also if you make it as far as the Costa Del Sol and need any help, we are here for another 4 weeks. Hope your weather is as good as it is here. Have fun Sooty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooty10 Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 Also if you make it as far as the Costa Del Sol and need any help, we are here for another 4 weeks. Hope your weather is as good as it is here. Have fun Sooty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolh Posted November 19, 2008 Author Share Posted November 19, 2008 wednesday 19 November Here we are again, decent wifi connection too and free so even better. We are really close to Sparkle and Bruce now I think? We are at the Camper Park at Alfaz del Pi. Since my last email to Mel which she kindly posted on the forum for me, we didn't travel south as planned the next day, we moved about 2 km and parked up on the beach in Benicarlo. Well the weather was glorious - so we just sat in the sun all day and watched the world go by and listened to the waves crashing onto the shingle. We moved south on monday 17th - to a Camping Malverossa de Corinto, it's a few kms north of Sagunto. Nice little site, nothing fancy, and cheap! but again right on the beach, it's shingle here too. We stayed here 2 nights and again did a lot of walking - but nothing to see, lots of new apartments going up. this area is being developed with a vengeance! the weather stayed fine and warm until this morning when we awoke to some cloud. But we were off again today, down to our present location just north of Benidorm. The weather has certainly changed, we stopped for lunch and a cuppa in Oliva and the heavens opened, bit of thunder and lightening but only a bit. then down to here, the traffic was fairly heavy on the N332 - saw a bit of drama unfolding at Bellaguard just south of Gandia - police pulled a car over and ordered the occupants out at gun point - we were in traffic queue at the time, bit scary!!! Heavy big black clouds all around us, but big patch of clear sky above - and a red sky - well you know the old saying - 'red sky at night - shepherds huts alight!' and it's a bit windy. The plan for tomorrow is to walk down into town, have a wander and get the bus into Benidorm. Lets hope it stays dry. Couple of pics for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolh Posted November 22, 2008 Author Share Posted November 22, 2008 Saturday 22nd november Make you jealous today, walking back up from the beach at l'Albir this afternoon, the temperature was 27deg at 15.23! And I have the red nose to prove it!! we have decided to stay here at the camper park for a while, well the weather is good and we are getting around abit with public transport. We got the train into Benidorm yesterday and had a good mooch round there, neither of us have ever been there before and it was an eye opener. Lots of 'tat' shops and bars and bars and bars, all really cheap too. Then got the bus back. It rained quite a bit last Thursday, we waited for it to stop, but it didn't so we got dressed up and went down into town. Had a chinese meal for lunch, 3 courses, plus a bottle of wine and coffee and free digestif drinks afterwards - all for 5.95 each! Bargain. I think we might just eat there again before we leave. Hasta luego by the way guys thanks for the offers of help if we need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 Carol - thanks for your PM m'dear. Am gigging this evening at the "So What" bar over in the harbour at Calpe....but the Sparkle and I might pop in on you guys tomorrow or Monday on the motorbike.....just to make you get the kettle on:-D (If you look up the valley from where you are in Alfaz, our little Spanish village of Polop de la Marina is at the top of it a little to the right, about 5 kms from you, nestled under the mountain (called "Leon Dormido"....sleeping lion). Hint: Keep hubby on a short lead of an evening, 'cos along the N332 main road just near to you on the stretch north from the MacDonalds junction at Albir, there are a lot of (ahem) professional young ladies standing around under lamp-posts wearing very few clothes later on every night. I am so concerned for their welfare in this state of undress that I am obliged to require the Sparkle to drive us that way home after many of my gigs, so I can check as we pass that all is well. (I can report that all is visually DAMN well ;-) with many of 'em!). (Incidentally "Professional" ladies are a total non-issue here in Spain, no-one worries, the Police don't bother them at all so long as they aren't in a residential area....and apparently Spanish men spend more per capita on such services than men in any other EU country ..... though how they discovered that fact I've no idea!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolh Posted November 22, 2008 Author Share Posted November 22, 2008 Hey Bruce that will be great, just make sure you come before 11am or after 4pm ok, or ring me first just to make sure we are around. We are on pitch no 13 - lucky for some LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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