Tuesday 28th March
There was one thing that I wanted to do before we left Mojacar and that was to go and see the lighthouse. We didn’t know there was a lighthouse until I saw someone on Facebook had walked passed it. I found it on Google and we set off, climbing up and up. Eventually at the top of the hill we found the lighthouse, parked the car then walked to it, only to find that entry was only for official purposes (or something similar). How disappointing. I wanted to get a photo and had to walk a long way down the hill to be able to take one, but found this lovely view first.
When we got home, I did some research on the lighthouse – if only I had done it before we went ☹ The Mojácar Lighthouse, officially entered into service on the evening of 22nd September 2021, when the Garrucha Lighthouse lantern was simultaneously turned off after 140 years of service. The Mojácar Lighthouse stands on the highest point of the municipality, 50 metre above sea level, on the northern side of the Cerro del Moro Manco. As well as the structure housing the beacons, the lighthouse project includes an operations hut, the remodelling of the access road and a viewing point and garden area, from where you can see a good part of the Levante region of Almería coast. The Mayor trusts it will be yet another attraction for attracting new tourists and visitors to the area. So why did the sign say that we couldn’t go up???
A quick trip into Mercadona then back to the villa.
I had planned for another freezer meal, spaghetti bolognaise. I put the spaghetti on and went to put the bolognaise into a pan and discovered that it was Camp Fire Stew. This was something that I had cooked in the slow cooker and had been a disaster. At home I use a piece of gammon from the supermarket but out here I had got a piece from Farmer Sarah. The recipe says to soak the gammon for 24 hours, but I’ve never needed to do that, but I should have done. Sadly we haven’t been able to eat any of the stew as it was so salty and unpleasant. I was convinced that what was left in the freezer was bolognaise but it wasn’t! So, what to do? We had planned on going to our favourite steak restaurant, La Cabaña, on Wednesday so we swapped it and trundled off down the hill. We had lovely started of prawns and avocado and then amazing steaks, and we couldn’t even manage to have a desert, not like us!
Talking of restaurants. I have found a couple of funny translations on menus which I thought I would share with you. The first is from Cartagena when Marinera, Marinero o Bicicleta is translated as Sailor, Sailor or bicycle!
I think Sailor, Sailor, Bicycle wins though!
Wednesday 29th March
Last minute shopping today. I needed to go to the gift shop in the Parque to get a couple of dishes and some other bits. Fortunately, they had the dishes I wanted. Then into Consum to stock up on gin and red wine. I think we almost there with the wine for my birthday now. The trouble is that we buy bottles of white which go in a crate but then Richard takes one out and I lose count!
On our way back to the villa we both realised that we really don’t want to go home! Usually we are ready, but I think there are two reasons why it is different this year. Firstly we really don’t want to leave this lovely sunshine and go home to rain and grey skies. Secondly, we have both been saying that this is our last time in Mojacar as there are so many other places to go, but we still both love it here. I do think it is the last of our long stays, but maybe a two week trip by plane is the way forward.
We went to Gelateria Alberto for a final ice cream. As usual it was fantastic.
After a large ice cream we needed to walk it off so took Muffin onto the beach. Muffin and I had a paddle, but it was a bit rough. We saw two girls thinking about swimming and one of them was knocked over as she went in deeper.
An early start as Muffin had to go to the vet for his exit check and worming tablet. Ellen, the vet, always does a very thorough job, unlike the two vets we have seen in France in the past.
At the vet’s I got talking to a man who volunteers for the local animal shelter, Paws Patas Stray cats and dogs are a problem in the area but also people just up and leave their property and leave their animals too. When an animal is caught, it is taken to the vet for castration and then comes the long process of finding its forever home. The chap I was talking to had taken a dog, Howie, in for castration. He was a lovely old boy – the dog that is – and I just hope that someone will adopt him. The chap, I wish I had asked him his name, was telling me that he is one of two people who transport dogs and cats from Paws to their forever homes in the UK or the Netherlands. Last week he had been to the UK with 12 dogs and 6 cats. They drive straight through only stopping for fuel, it take 24 hours to get to Calais. Its then through the Tunnel and off to wherever in the UK. The animals aren’t fed – they can go for 36 hours without food – and they have to pee in their crates on towels which are changed. They have water of course. It sounds awful but it just would not be safe to try and exercise so many dogs. At least it is all worth it for the animals when they reach their forever homes. I could have taken Howie home there and then!!
Back at the villa the pool man was here. We realised yesterday that the water wasn’t as clear as it should be and that there was some green appearing on the tiles. We also realised that we have only seen the pool man twice since we have been here. That isn’t to say that he hadn’t been while we were out. I messaged Dee, the property manager, last night and she got the pool man round today. He was here for ages. An awful lot of water went in and then he appeared to be netting stuff out and I hope he has sorted the chlorine out. However, the pool man was a very happy chappy and was singing away as he netted, it was very good classical stuff!!
My favourite cactus has got even more flowers on it now.
We started on the packing up, but then got stopped in our tracks by Liz and Phil who had come to say goodbye. It was a nice break to sit and chat for a while, but sad to say goodbye. After they had gone, we continued with the packing. Richard wanted to get the car more or less packed up. It was very hot and we had been rushing around so when we had finished what needed to be done we had one last swim.
I took this photo to show off one of the small flower beds and how pretty it is only I have just noticed that the water feature looks a bit like a toilet!
Going back to Cartagena. From our balcony I had this view. We wondered if it was a satellite of some sorts but there are so many wires running from it.
Also, we have noticed that wires running between houses are just a jumble, I’m sure they wouldn’t get away with this in the UK.
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