Hasta la Vista Espagne

In Abla, in the Alpujarra area

Where were we ????
Ah, yes, Cabo de Gata. The wild west cape of Southern Spain provided us with some lovely warm sunshine and views of the blue Mediterranean until it was time to make the trek back up to colder climes before flying home.
On our last day on the coast we had plans to visit the flamingos wading in wetlands near the saline lagoons, then to check out an old gold mining town (more shades of the wild west).
All packed up, the truck was idling, then another motorhome owner gesticulated.

A very flat rear tyre, no one gets punctures these days and Fiat only pro

vided a kit to get you to the nearest repair centre. Out came the kit and instructions, and with a Frenchman breathing over our shoulders the silicone sealant refused to be injected into the tyre. The compressor worked but it wasn’t making headway against the damage caused by a large nail. A helpful Welshman came to the rescue with a can of squirty tyre gunk that he and Stuart managed to force into the tyre. We abandoned our plans and set off carefully to find a repair-man. Luck was on our side and the first place we stopped at made repairs for a very paultry amount. So relieved we were that Stuart gave him some extra for his trouble.

Abla

We decided to make a start on our trek and visit Abla in the Alpujarra mountains. The houses were cosied up to one another on this hilltop town, huddled together against the bitter wind that swept down from the snow covered mountains behind it. In the other direction, multitudes of wind turbines were taking advantage of the conditions to produce energy. It was an immaculate little village on the Camino de Santiago trail. We stayed the night in one of the special motorhome aires that the town council had installed and before dinner we walked around some chalet developments that had been abandoned before completion, the rooms inside were tiled and really very close to being able to be inhabited. A sad sight.

In the morning Stuart set the cruise control and we took a dual carriageway for 600 km, there was very little traffic on the excellent Spanish roads that cut through vast areas of olive trees. Sometimes the highway went straight through the middle of a hamlet, under footbridges that connected the two sides of the town, no need to slow down.

Lighting little hot air balloons

One of the remaining ‘to dos’ on my spreadsheet was Avila. We had actually driven past it previously and re-traced our steps to find the town’s aire. It was dark when we walked the short distance into town. The whole central area is encircled by very well preserved walls illuminated in a golden glow in the cold evening air. The town exuded prosperity with ancient buildings converted into luxury hotels. The town was decked with Christmas lights; carols and iceskaters under the clear starry sky completed a perfect picture of Northern Hemisphere Christmas. It was the night before Epiphany, the Three Kings Day, where children receive presents.
We did a little shopping, buying new shoes for Stuart and a pastry for me and returned to find our truck along with 6 others in the midst of preparations for an ‘event’. We asked if it was ok to stay and shared a mushroom risotto and bottle of chardonnay. With Stuart on dishes I popped my head out the door and was greeted by the sky dotted with masses of little hot air balloons taking flight into the crisp night air. We grabbed our cameras and down jackets and joined the crowds. I bought a little balloon (fire and light – it can’t get any better!) and a helpful volunteer showed me how to light and launch it properly. Stuart’s camera got a flat battery at the crucial time so only one photo of my launch.

Major Tom and Coldplays Paradise were the music of the night as the stars were joined by these airborne fires. The crenelated city walls and turrets were the perfect illuminated backdrop.

Launching little hot air balloons

Much excitement before lift off

Medieval walls of Avila - they stretch off into the distance

The next morning was a hard frost, about -4, as we set off to explore the town proper and walk around the walls and up and down the many towers and city gates. Avila is a world heritage site, the highest provincial capital in Spain, built on a flat summit of a rocky hill that rises steeply in the middle of a brown, arid, treeless wilderness strewn with huge grey boulders and surrounded by lofty mountains.

Stuart on the ramparts

On this trip to the northern coast we had another couple of stopovers, one night in Palencia where we woke to a frost of minus seven. We put towels in the front to absorb the condensation – they froze to the windscreen, but we had been cozy with the Webasto diesel heater ticking over slowly during the night. It runs on some magical mystery heat-exchange system and fine tuning the thermostat took a little mastering. More shoe shopping and on the road again back to Cabaceno where we had taken a trip over the wildlife park in cable cars. 

The aire is next to the elephants and I watched them in the late afternoon sun. Just like cows at milking time, 5.30pm in this case, all 15 of them quietly stopped what they were doing and sedately trundled to the elephant house, waiting to be let into the warm. The youngsters were pushing each other while their mothers were probably thinking of the awaiting dinner.

We are on the ferry on a 28 hr trip to Portsmouth, it is nice but not luxury, still much better than the Cook Strait ferries, many trucks were loaded before our turn came. I reveled in the space in our cabin – I could twirl around if I chose. After living in such small quarters it is a wondrous feeling. Along the corridor I can see Chausson's bum through the window in the door leading to the cardeck. Just a stone's throw away.

We have ‘stuff’ to do in England, stuff that makes the last few days unable to be planned, but there is a plane to catch and home to a brand new 2017. We have lots to look forward to, Alex has just bought a house near Katherine in Beach Haven and Katherine and Jason announced their engagement at Christmas. The newly engaged are expecting a baby boy in late May so we will be grandparents. We have a household to unpack and restore and then renovations to undertake as it has been 20 years since we built and things are needing a freshen up to reflect our new status as ‘not in paid employment’ people.

Until next time  . . .