Thursday 12th January
Today we signed on the dotted line for an apartment for January and
February 2018! We have managed to get
the very one we wanted though it is booked from March 1st but that’s fine with
us. It is in Oasis de Mar II and has a
sea view, lots of outside space and TWO bathrooms! I am really excited about it :-)
We then went caravan site exploring!
Friends and neighbours, Ingrid and Bob, are in their motorhome near
Cadiz and are planning to come and visit us on their way back home. There is a site in Mojacar but it doesn’t
look brilliant and doesn’t take pets which rules it out straight away. We looked at two south of Mojacar and at one
came across a crowd of Brits who go there every year to get away from the
British winters. They were all sitting
drinking wine under a fluorescent light which read BAR – this was attached to
the back of a motorhome!
It was then north of Mojacar to look at three more. The first one at Vera is split into two –
textile and nudist! We took the scenic
route to the third one. I was using
Google Maps to direct us and I kept changing the route making it longer and
longer – it is quite a clever system if you want to go the long way round. However, one road petered out on us so we had
to turn back! The site at Los Gallardos
was OK but it does appear at all these sites that everyone is very much on top
of each other. The last site was just
out Mojacar Pueblo and the best of the five.
I have made my report so will now have to wait and see what Ingrid and
Bob decide to do.
We passed through a huge vegetable/fruit growing area and were amazed
at how the volcanic area has been cultivated.
This is a very big orange and lemon growing area and I had a real
yearning to pick an orange off a bush but Richard wouldn’t let me – said he
didn’t fancy visiting me in a Spanish jail!!
With leaves |
……. without leaves |
We saw a large hill with a white building on top
On investigation, I found out that it was a volcano, the Cabezo Maria
which emitted several lava flows through the Vera basin. It would appear that this happened during the
late Miocine period – in other words 23.03 to 5.333 million years ago. Richard reckons we don’t have to worry about
it erupting again! The little building
on the top is a shrine and local legend says that there’s been a shrine up
there since the early 15th century, when the conquering Christians went about
putting up crosses and churches on any high point. An ancient shrine was
certainly there in the 19th century, and was partially rebuilt by locals in the
1930’s, but it then fell into disrepair.
Apparently, there is an audioguide which you can listen to on your phone
as you walk up the hill and this says that Manuel, a local shepherd married to
one Maria Toribia, used to graze his sheep up there, until on the 12th of
August 1427 he saw a vision of the Virgin Mary. This started the tradition of
the annual pilgrimage from the village to the hill and lead to the building of
the first shrine in 1507.
We returned to Mojacar and then walked up to La Cabana to meet Sue,
Andy, Wendie and Barry for tapas. It was
really quite hot and I felt overdressed in a blouse. There were even people sunbathing on the
beach.
Friday is market day in Turre.
We took ourselves off and wandered up through the market and then I did
my shopping on the way back. Mainly
fruit but also some paella seasoning and shoes for Richard.
We met up with the rest of the gang at an Indian Tapas bar. Anyone who knows me will know that I don’t
eat Indian food as it doesn’t agree with me.
I tried to ask for a rice tapas but the guy didn’t understand me. However, he suggested that I have chicken
masala which I did and enjoyed. I did
have a slightly odd tummy but that’s all – I will try again next week. The gang is getting bigger especially as Paul
has his brother and niece staying at present.
(Thank you Andy for the loan of your photo).
We returned to the apartment for the siesta before taking Muffin for
his daily ball throwing expedition on the beach. It was really lovely and I had a paddle - the
water was rather cold at first but after a while it was quite warm.
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