Week 27: Mountains, the marigold and a mad mother-in-law!
- Mar 7, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 8, 2022
Our stops this week:
-3 nights Camping La Quintabella (near Aquilas)
-1 night El Quinto (near Mojacar)
-3 nights Camping Los Escullos (near Presillas Bajas)
I’m back! My final assignment is in and the first MA module completed. Although, it has been interesting, the module was about Research Methods. This is definitely not a subject I know (knew) much about. However, filled with worry about this I became the most studious of students and read all the ‘core’, ‘suggested’ and my own identified reading list (I should admit Mum, that this did not happen when at University the first time!!)—so lets hope this has been of use! Due to some previous study being recognised under prior learning, I don’t need to complete the next module and have a 2 month study break-I’m liking the 2 month on 2 month off approach!
So back to travelling and being in Spain. Steve asks a lot of questions, often random questions and today’s was ‘If you could have anything from England right now, what would it be?’. ‘Mmm maybe some ready made M&S food and creme fraiche..I have black beans now.’ Steve mentioned black beans in last week’s blog but didn’t provide the context. I like food and cooking but as a veggie, who doesn’t eat fish and who is quite specific about cheese-I prefer cheddar- it can be trickier sometimes to eat in different countries, especially when you don’t speak the language. We eat quite a lot of Mexican food and black beans are a staple ingredient-however we couldn’t find ANY in Spain. However, Sonja and Bob had not crossed into Europe when we discovered this and after sending out a SOS, they travelled all the way though France and Spain with a stash of black beans (thank you). Today’s response was in part due to wanting to make Smoky Chipotle Mac and Cheese but not being able to find creme fraiche! The point of this I suppose… is it made me realise that we have settled into our Spanish adventure (we have now been here a month) and we have some routines and are familiar with food we can get and cook, travelling on the right hand side of the road, recognising more words, knowing that many campsites don’t have bins, knowing that often the way to empty your grey water on Spanish campsites-is by filling a bucket and taking it to the drain, being able to get water in the van-there are often different attachments for the hose here and that when getting petrol you have to pay first!
We travelled to Camping La Quintabelle on the Tuesday. We stopped in the town of Aquilas first and found a great parking spot, overlooking the sea to have some lunch. We then headed into the town. As is the case, with all locations we have visited by the sea in Spain, there is always an excellent path/promenade for walking along. Also very surprising-Bear walked really well on the lead and walked past people sitting outside eating, without trying to say ‘hello’ or trying to put his paws up on their table to see what they were eating! We had hoped to get an ice cream and sit on the wall to the side of the path overlooking the sea to eat this, but when Steve asked about an ice cream, the shop owner pretty much laughed, said no and turned around, indicating it was Winter. We are also getting used to some of the Spanish characteristics.
Lunchtime stop near Aguilas
Aguilas sea front
Quintabella was the quietist campsite we have stayed at so far and we had empty pitches all around us, it was really nice to have much of the campsite to ourselves. From this location we cycled up some really steep hills! Steve went out on a bike ride one afternoon, whilst I studied, and found a tortoise on the side of the road-alive. Steve thinks they live wild in Spain, I think it escaped from a motorhome. We tried to eat in the local restaurant but when Steve asked did they have a vegetarian option, the waiter put the palm of his hand up to Steve’s face and walked away…we didn’t stay to eat!
Bear's blankets being aired! Bear admiring the view and the mountains early evening
Around the campsite-one house had their own skate park, in this area there are lots of 'Plasticos'-they grow fruit and vegetables under these, it doesn't look like great work and must be sooo hot in the Summer!
El Quinto was another good campsite and from here we could walk into the town of Mojacar…up a big hill. We are definitely now in a mountainous area and although very rural and pretty you are either going up a hill or down a hill. Mojacar was a really pretty town, it is obviously really old with narrow allys and completely different to the other towns we have seen so far.
On the Saturday we travelled to Los Escullos in the Cabo De Gata national park, we have both been looking forward to visiting this area for a while. It is very rural and mountainous. We had really heavy rain on the way here and this combined with steep and wiggly roads, where the rain had caused some rock fall required excellent passenger driving skills!! Sonja and Bob (Steve’s parents) were at this campsite and as neither of us has set plans, it just happened that we crossed over again on our journeys. Sonja and Bob did an excellent job of entertaining Steve, whilst I went into hiding in the van, to finish my MA task. Although we arrived on the Saturday morning I didn’t emerge again until the Sunday evening. Steve and Bob had a few long walks with the dogs and a bike ride to explore the local area. On the Sunday evening we all went out for dinner. Ohh and the bit I should say is that Sonja told us before arriving that Cabo is the driest place in Europe and that the campsite is really quiet! You can see the pictures of the rain and on the Saturday, when we arrived, the campsite had a private function in the bar, a party that started at lunch time and finished at midnight. When Sonja came out to meet us at the front, we had to shout to hear each other…so random, this was in the middle of a national park with most people there to walk or cycle…and it seems some to party for 12 hours!
The national park
The old gold mine Steve and Bob cycled to.
Our pitch and drying some socks!
With my new found freedom, on the Monday I actually got to see some of the park. We took the dogs for a walk in the morning and then Sonja and Bob headed off. Steve and I went for a long walk in the afternoon and planned to get to the top of some of the hills. I still have no idea why or how this came about, but Steve said to Sonja that we would take the marigold with us and plant it. So this is what we did-we carried a marigold up a hill…I hope this isn’t illegal in a national park. Hence the marigold, mountain and mad mother-in-law title…I hope you don’t think I’m going back to water it though!!
The marigold!
Stevie is right tortoises live in Spain. My friends lived in Mojacar and one used to wonder in and out of the garden. it’s a lovely area. xx