Wandering with Wilf

  Expecting nothing but rain today and not disappointed! Woke to grey skies , more rain and lots of condensation from the wet clothes. No need to rush off as rain has set in til mid afternoon at least so breakfast at the van and a bit more mopping up.  Our overnight stop is on the edge of an industrial estate and not much about, but near to the motorway and a great transit stop with free water/waste that we would definitely use again.  In Cordoba we had intended to use a car park recommended to us that’s near the zoo, but having seen some worrying reviews about recent vandalism we plump for the pricy aire closer to town. The journey is relatively straightforward as we use the motorway..not something we’ve done often. It’s a bit more ‘bland’ and in the drizzle there’s a stretch that changes from almond trees to crops and we could almost be at home, aside from the occasional hoopoe flying by. A little dispute with google about exiting the motorway but when we get it right w...

 Quick up and out this morning as the forecast is not good and gets worse as the day goes on. We drive to the Torcal NP. Last time we stopped here was in 1998 on a hot sunny day when pregnancy stopped much hiking. Today the rain has done the same job! The road to the visitor centre is 4km long and by the time we’ve done half we are so deep in cloud that we can only just see the car in front despite it being at a just about safe stopping distance. We were glad it was early enough that oncoming traffic was unlikely as the combination of narrow road and poor visibility really didn’t need reversing backwards adding to it too! In honesty if there had been a way to turn back we probably would have but up was the only option so we plodded on. In the visitor centre car park the visibility hadnt improved and it was now raining and around 9 degrees. The information in the centre was all in Spanish only so after a short while testing our translation skills we realised the rain was not going t...

  Oh my, what a difference a day makes! A good nights sleep and now sunshine. Grabbing it whilst we can we take another walk along the beach front, this time heading west. Whilst it has an ‘out of season’ vibe it’s Good Friday and it seems a lot of locals are being good and running on the same paths.  When the paved path finishes we turn around. Part way back we pop into one of the open beach bars for coffee, which becomes coffee and the most delicious marmalade ‘mixta’ toast. Sat inside the tented area with the sun pouring in was just lovely! Back to the van via the beach to squeeze in a last paddle then it’s on the road again. For a random stop this has been lovely. It was only a car park but with toilets and cold showers on the beach, and much needed sunshine, it’s a real winner.  Todays drive starts by heading west along the coast road. As it’s Good Friday most shops are closed so I suspect the built up sections were quieter than usual but we were amazed by how freque...

  Woke with sunshine peaking through the curtains but the joy was tempered by the still present ridiculous winds.  Forecasts are looking ropey everywhere so we’ve decided to have an extended driving day and are going to head into the Alpujarras mountains.  Increasingly irritated by the Route 66 campsite where they don’t supply toilet tissue, or it seems empty the tissue bin , and this morning it was a cold shower, but the view from our pitch is lovely to wake to. We drove through a little of the desert again and stopped a couple of times to remind ourselves how strong the wind was!  It wasn’t long on the road before we started the mountain climb, heading straight into clouds… We’d chosen the smallest road option which was quite challenging at times with tight bends and narrow stretches. It was apparent that the views on a better day would be amazing, and we did catch glimpses between rain showers and driving through mist but really wasn’t hiking weather! Temperatures...

Early up and the sun is shining ( though it still really windy). Decide to make the most of the sunshine by moving to a more picturesque location for breakfast. Headed west and with a bit of a puzzle to get down to it we discover a tiny bay at ?? It’s apparent that the other cars here have overnighted but there’s space and we are able to park in front of the sea and get the coffee on.  The sea is really rough and even some way back you can taste the salt spray, but sheltering from the wind a little it is stunning,  We are heading inland today which always makes me a little sad bit so much to try and see before we return. On the way we stop for a ‘big shop’ as the upcoming bank holiday weekend may leave us short, with many shops closing for three or four days.  Then to Los Millares, a vast copper age settlement, the largest in Europe once home to over 1000 people ( free to enter but restored hours). We only have an hour or so until it closes, so drop the visitor centre and...

 Great stay but a small break in sleep at 3am when high winds meant that the roof came down as the sound of the canvas flapping became too much! Decided that as were we’re headed to the coast we’d pack up first and breakfast at the sea. Turns out this was the right decision as the drizzle cleared whilst we were driving and it had brightened up on our way up the road to the Cabo del Gata. No bakeries to pass on the way so stopped in a village Spar where they sold the most enormous croissants, so, with a full mug of coffee and sat out of the wind,  we could watch the sea crashing on the rocks.  The lighthouse and mirador were easy to reach by road in this direction, apparent when we saw a coach party arrive as we left!  Beautiful views even if the wind made it a bit choppy out at sea. The road that leads out to the headland runs between a beach and a salt pan and was pleasantly bleak… one of my favourite types of landscape! The salt pans had bird hides to view the resi...

Dreamy night- the wind dropped earlier than forecast and no sound but the sea. Unfortunately, the hope of watching the sunrise was killed off by the clouds but it wasn’t long before they cleared enough to enjoy a little warmth. Hung around for a while as the setting was so lovely, had a chat with an English guy, a full-timer trying his first Spanish winter who had based himself on this stretch for a few days. Tea and toast and on the road again…. A few metres  Along the road was an ex guardia civil headquarters that, although now boarded up, had a terrace that gave a great view back to our stop last night.  There is a large industrial site just along the road that isn’t very appealing to look at then the landscape opens up again with coveted crops and distant hills before heading back to the coastal strip. At Mojocar at we headed inland to the old village. A traditional ‘pueblo blanco’ high above the old town, it had a charm and great views of the surrounding area but mostly i...