18 July – A beautiful clear hot day. We drove inland from Pamplona gently rising up a series of valleys. This is beautiful farming country (mainly wheat). The Pyrenees were looming getting closer and we could see snow on the higher peaks. We found a camp well up in the mountains. Fortunately it had a great swimming pool as it was a very hot day. We are positioned to cross back into France for the Tour de France.

19 July – Another great day. We drove up a great valley higher into the Pyrenees past stunning alpine villages and ski resorts. We crossed into France at the Col du Pourtalet and down the other side to the road up the Col d’Aubisque. As soon as we were on the road there were campervans parked at every available point to see the Tour de France. We drove to the top of the Col (1709m) where there were a large number of campervans parked in the hotel carpark and adjacent paddock. What a sight. We managed to find a park. Almost the last. This is 28 hours before the tour goes thru!!
There are beautiful views in every direction. There are cows with loud bells, donkeys and horses just wandering around.
We sat for about 3 hours just watching the activities. People were parking where they could on the side of the road, some in campervans and many pitching tents. The Tour comes back thru here in the reverse direction in two days time so many will stay.
There were many amateurs cycling over the Col in both directions. Some were just individuals, but there were also some large organized groups. Everyone co-operates very well. Nobody is organizing it, but people have parked in the minimum of space and left room to exit.
The temperature has dropped and it will be a cool night.

20 July – Lazy start to the day as the “Tour” is not due thru until 3:45pm. We went for a walk up a hill to try and get cell phone coverage. Walked back and realized that many groups were already staking their positions to watch. We sorted out a good spot and Val sat guard while I went back to “Lefty” for chairs, sun umbrella, books and water. We were in position at 10:45am for the “Tour” 5 hours later!!
We just sat and took in the atmosphere. People everywhere, writing on the road, cycling up and down the road, barbequing, and generally having a ball. We did not read our books at all. They were handing out free chalk so Val wrote: “Go Kiwi”, “NZ” and “Kaiapoi NZ” on the road. At one stage we saw two All Black flags riding up the road to the Col. They heard our call and returned later for a chat. A couple from Tauranga. Around 2:30 a large procession of the sponsor’s vehicles went up the road. (le caravanne). It was like a Christmas parade of floats. They were throwing stuff to the crowd – tee shirts, caps, sweets, water, etc. We both ended up with hats and some washing powder!
About and hour later we heard the helicopters and saw the first sign of the cyclists preceded by two motorcycle cops. There was a breakaway group of 5 including Lance Armstrong. We were at a steep part of the road about 150m from the summit. They went passed in a flash!
A chase group came thru about 8 minutes later and the main peloton passed, at a more leisurely pace, 10 minutes after that. It was all over! 10 minutes later the road was open again.
We went back to “Lefty” and had a cup of coffee as the mist arrived before joining the slow parade of campervans descending into the valley. Eventually we drove thru to Lourdes and finding the “Aires” full, ended up in a camping ground.

21 July – We woke to steady drizzle and decide not to pay the 20 odd euros to visit St Bernadette’s Grotto as neither of us needed a cure for anything at this stage. The 230kms drive to St Emilion, about 30kms from Bordeaux right in the heart of the vineyards was thru farm country, mainly corn fields. We had pre-booked this camp months ago as we thought all camps in this area would be full with the “Tour” and the French school holidays. Wrong! The camp is half empty and very expensive. Oh well, you can’t win them all!!
We shopped on our way and exchanged our gas bottle. This has lasted since we left France over 7 weeks ago. Not bad considering we have been away from camps and off power for almost half this time.

22 July – A late start to the day which was cool and cloudy. After some domestic duties we cycled thru the vineyards to St Emilion. This is a beautiful medieval town based on the wine trade from the area. There is a large church in the town which has only it’s spire above ground. The body of the church is underground. (do not know why!) We took a tour on a mini train around some of the Chateaux (vineyards)
Eventually we succumbed to temptation and had a glass of wine (turned into two) and a cheese board watching the end of an exciting stage of the “tour” on TV.
When we returned to our camp, fortified by the wine, we complained about the cost of our stay and we were immediately handed 20 euros.

23 July – Off to Bordeaux. We parked in a school bus park, the locals said it would be OK, and caught the tram into town. Spent a couple of hours walking around the town and found most of the major attractions. Most of the buildings were badly discoloured stone but there were some beautiful churches and public buildings. We had a nice lunch at a café and found the finish line etc for the stage of the “Tour”. We walked to the 350m point and as the barriers were not full sat for a while. As the barriers filled we staked our spot at about 2.45. (Cyclists due at 5.15). The atmosphere and the entertainment were great so the time passed quickly. The whole peloton were basically together as they passed us. The sprinters were on our side of the road and flashed passed so quickly that you could not even identify anyone. They were within a foot of us. We later found out that Julian Dean (the only Kiwi) was leading the charge. The whole thing was over in 15 minutes and we caught the tram back to “Lefty” (which had not been towed or clamped!!)

24 July – We had planned to go back into Bordeaux for the individual time trial but as it was going to take 6 hours just to pass one point we reconsidered and stayed at our camp at St Emilion. We hopped on the bikes and cycled thru the vineyards, chateaux, and villages in this area for about 25kms. Stunningly beautiful!!!
Back to the camp for a leisurely afternoon around the pool.

7 July – Drove to the “Carrefour”, the big supermarket chain in Spain and France, and did a huge shop up including an electric fan and a light to use outside. It was very hot last night. When we tried to drive back out of the supermarket car park we found that all the exits were height restricted. Eventually the ‘police’ (really security) were called and the entry road was blocked so than we could exit. It was hard to imagine we were the first camper van to have this problem!
Our planned stop for the night was at an “Aires” at Boiro just over the road from a nice beach. When we arrived all the spaces were taken but a kind Spaniard shifted his camper so we had some space. After a swim we watched the second half of the Spain/Germany semi final. When Spain scored the crowd went wild (could be a good name of a TV sports programme). The celebrations went well into the night. One bloke insisted using the Spanish flag as a cloak to “bull fight” passing cars. The final should be a hoot!

8 July - We woke to a huge electrical storm followed by torrential rain. It all cleared very quickly but the temperatures dropped and it has been cooler all day.
We had a lunch break at Santiago and walked around the old town including the Cathedral where many Spaniards walk to as a pilgrimage for mass. The queues were huge to get in, so Val and I decided to leave it for the faithful.
We drove up to the coast on the northwest corner of Spain to A Coruna. We found the “Aires” and rode our bikes back to the city along 7kms of great cycle way. The city (236,000) has a great water frontage with a tramcar connecting the several beaches.

9 July – A sea fog came in overnight but soon dispersed. We drove thru some nice country and ended up at Viveiro, a fishing town with some nice beaches and a great esplanade. We had a swim in the afternoon and rode our bikes over the river and around to the fishing port. On the way we discovered the old town. We will stay another night and explore this tomorrow. There seems to be a fiesta up in hills on as somebody is letting off exploding rockets.

10 July – After our usual Saturday clear up and camper checks we walked back over the old bridge to the old town square. A fascinating area as it was not “touristy” at all. After lunch we went back to the beach for a swim and sunbathe with lots of local families enjoying the beach. We rode along the esplanade and have now explored the whole town. We have done some research and have decided that we will miss the running of the bulls in Pamplona but will try and see a mountain stage of the Tour de France in the Pyrenees.

11 July – A good drive out of Viveiro following the coast east to Luarca. Our camp was at the top of the cliffs about 2 kms out of the town. We walked around the town which had a beautiful fishing harbour with lots of cafes. We walked a further 2kms to several beaches where we had a swim.
We watched the football world cup final with a mixture of Spanish and Dutch people at the camp restaurant and bar. A great atmosphere!

12 July – We drove the E70 motorway 150kms between Luarca and Llanes. What a road!! 4 lanes all the way. There are viaducts over every valley and tunnels thru every hill. The result is a sweeping smooth road that hardly goes up or down.
The camp that we are in is again on the cliff tops with an interesting town in one direction and a great beach in the other.
The town is set around a great harbour but the entrance to the harbour is blocked at the moment by a temporary dam and they are completely rebuilding the whole harbour. Not sure why however!! We walked down to yet another great beach for a swim.

13 July – We drove to Santander (186,000) in light rain. The country side is very green. This coast is called the Costa Verda. This is because of the vegetation rather than the colour of the sea.
We parked in a stadium car park, off loaded the bikes, and followed a cycleway passed a series of crowed beaches to the city centre. (4 kms). After a walk around the shops, mostly closed for siesta, we rode back to “Lefty”. We walked to the closest beach for a swim and a cool off.
We are in an “Aires” tonight about 30kms out of Santander in the country. A heavy drizzle has set in.

14 July – We drove to Bilbao (350,000) a huge city where the only claim to fame is a Guggenheim Museum. We drove thru some spaghetti junctions and did not even find the centre of the city before we bailed out to our overnight planned stop at an “Aires” at Bermeo. This is another fishing port but has no beach and is wherefore not a tourist town at all. We walked down to the town (20,000) for tapas and a wine for lunch. It was still cloudy and cool so we went back to “Lefty” for a siesta. We are parked beside a small park and kids playground. At about 6pm all the grandparents brought their grandchildren to the park. Eventually the parents arrived to pick them up. Typically, everyone lives in apartments therefore time in the park is very welcome. The whole town would fit into a corner of Hagley Park. We wandered down to the town square at about 8.45pm to find it packed with children, parents and grandparents. Children and toddlers played, parents and grandparents drank at the many cafes (wine or coffee) or just wandered up and down talking. All very sociable. Nobody went home until at least 9.30pm. A real eye opener!! We are in the heart of the Basque country. They say that there are physical differences between these people and the rest of Spain. The only differences we could see were that they were all incredibility short. Perhaps I am related to Basque people? The men also wear the largest berets I have ever seen.

15 July – We followed the windy coastal road to San Sebastian. This is a real posh town (181,000) with great buildings, parks and beaches which we cycled around. Our planned overnight was at a camp in Hondarriba but the camp was on a cliff so we headed across the border back into France where we found a nice camp. We had a cooling dip in the camp swimming pool.

16 July – Overcast lazy day. Val did a wash and we walked down to the local beaches and town. The sea beach is a real surfies beach with many surfers and surf schools. The sea did not look inviting with a lot of sea weed.

17 July - It rained in the night and drizzled on our drive up to Pamplona thru 11 tunnels! (the longest being 3kms) We found a park on the outskirts of the town and rode our bikes into the centre. The running of the bulls finished three days ago but all the barriers are still up so we were able to trace the route that the bulls run thru the old city to the bull ring. An interesting sign on a lamppost was that: “if you fall over, wait until the entire herd of bulls has passed before you get up!”
We found the camp and had another great bike ride along a track following a beautiful river. Our internet is playing up again but we will use the camps computer to upload this.

30 June – Celebrated our half way point by giving “Lefty” a thorough clean outside. We used some toll roads to get over the “25th of April Bridge” across the Lisbon harbour and out of the city of Lisbon. The bridge was a spectacular 3km suspension bridge, the longest when it was built. We struck more sea fog when we got to the coast. Lunch was at the seaside resort of Nazare. This was like a Portugal version of Brighton (UK) complete with a cable car up the cliff. The waterfront that had little old grannies sitting under sun umbrellas, dressed in a strange aprons and a funny scarves on their heads, with signs advertising rental holiday apartments. We hope that’s what they were advertising anyway.
We stopped at a camp at San Pedro de Moel. This was a cliff top town with a beach. The architecture was very different. It had houses that had a slightly Swiss chalet look. The camp had a great swimming pool with a hydro slide.

1 July – We decide to bypass the coast up to Porto and go inland to the Rio Douro. This is a river that runs from Porto up east into the mountains to the Spanish border. The river is a series of dams and locks and is navigable over the entire length. Our camp was right on the river about 50kms inland. This is a beautiful spot which reminded us a bit of the Muskoka lakes in Canada. Several large passenger boats went up/down the river.

2 July – The road back to the coast took us into a motorway around Porto. Unfortunately we ran into a traffic jam on this motorway and we took 45 minutes to travel 3kms. Porto is the same size as ChCh but for some reason everyone was travelling down the same 4 laned motorway. Eventually we cleared Porto and drove up the coast to Rio Alto. The camp was right on the beach which was very rugged, a bit like Woodend. Between the camp and the beach was a golf course. To get to the beach from the camp there were 2 tunnels under the fairways. Very unusual!! The day was overcast and we had an electrical storm with rain in the evening.

3 July – The day dawned without a cloud in the sky. We drove up the coast to where we stopped and off loaded the bikes and rode into the centre of Viana do Costelo. We arrived just as a parade was starting. There were 4 or 5 bands. 1 drum, 2 accordion but the highlight for me was a pipe and drum band. All the players were dressed in beautifully made black uniforms with intricate gold embroidery. The band paraded up the town and played in the square. This was followed by folk dancing all in traditional costumes. We sat at a cafe and had lunch and enjoyed the entertainment.

We drove on to a camp at the mouth of the Rio Minho which is the Portugal/Spain border. There is a river beach and a sea beach within 100m of the camp.

4 July – After a huge washing we rode into the village of Caminha, about 5kms on a cycle away around the water front. The main square was great with some stalls selling handcrafts and many locals enjoying Sunday morning coffee and a read of the paper at several outdoor cafes. When it cooled down a bit we went back to the beach.

We shouted ourselves a meal at a local restaurante. I had sardines. Much bigger than the tinned version (200mm). They had to be eaten carefully as they were not even gutted!! Very tasty though.

5 July – We followed the Rio Minho to the bridge at the border into Spain.
Portugal has been great with really friendly people. It seems less sophisticated than Spain in a good sort of way.
The drive into Spain was thru lovely countryside and eventually around some huge heavily populated bays. We have camped at Aldan. There were two great beaches down the hill. The water is crystal clear and warm. We are back to the ladies beach dress code of Spain!! This place is so nice that we have decided to stay another day.

6 July – Back down the hill to the other beach. It was even nicer if possible. The routine is to go to the beach in the morning, return to “Lefty” by 1300, sit in the shade when it’s really hot (32 degrees), and return to the beach at around 1630.
The beaches are a bit like the Able Tasman but with more people.
We have run out of everything so we will have to have a big shop up tomorrow.

22 June – We crossed over the Rio Guadiana, which is the border between Spain and Portugal. It seems that all the borders in the EU have no checking at all.
We stopped at an “Aires” on the Algarve coast at Altura, right on another stunning beach with very warm water. This beach was very busy as the Portuguese school holidays have started. Still plenty of room as the beach seemed to go for ever.

23 June – Back down to the beach for a couple of hours before setting off down the coast to the Olhao McDonalds in an attempt to get our internet going at a known internet site. After 1.5 hours of frustration we still had no joy. Bugger! We asked a cleaner, as we left, if she knew of a place we could go to fix our computer. (We were convinced by now that with all the fiddling we had done we had stuffed something up.) Her response was “It’s not your computer, our internet has not been going all morning.”
We stopped at a camp which had internet and got straight on. We can only assume that the other sites we had tried were also not working!! Olhao turned out to be not a great choice as the camp seemed to be in an industrial area. The swimming pool was an extra charge. Before you entered the pool you walked thru automatic showers which reminded us of a sheep dip.

24 June – Our next camp was at Sagres on the extreme south western corner of Portugal. It is the western most point of mainland Europe.
On our way there we stopped at Lagos, a beautiful port town on a river. We went for a bike ride and decided to take a boat trip along the coast. The coast has been heavily eroded forming caves, pillars and rock archways. We transferred from our fishing boat into a small speed boat to explore these unusual features. Good value for 15 euro each.

25 June – We drove up to an historic fort right on the cliffs at Sagres. This was the sight where Prince Henry the Navigator ran the first navigation school around 1400. Very interesting with spectacular cliff top views. The place was so important to the Portuguese that the word sacred was derived from Sagres.
After lunch we headed into the hills along some rough roads and thru great scenery and lovely villages to an “Aires” about 50kms inland.

26 June – A stunning morning in a beautiful country hilly area. I gave Val another haircut. I am getting quite good and it may be my new vocation when I get home! We wound our back to the coast and spied a large group of campervans parked on the cliff tops at Porto Covo, our planned stop. There were 4 beaches just down from the park. We chose the largest for a sunbath and swims. The Atlantic was really pounding onto the beach. It made Piha look like a child’s paddling pool. I had a couple thrashes in the waves. When the tide turned it flattened slightly and Val had a dip. A beautiful cove however. I must at this stage comment on the beach dress code. Gone are the bare breasts, frowned upon in Portugal, but the ladies bikinis disappear up there bottoms. Very cheeky and makes reading on the beach difficult.

27 June – Woke to a dense sea fog which cleared quickly. We rode around the town and decided to stay another night. The day was lovely but the surf was even more violent. I did not even have a swim .We walked to the town for a meal. We both had pizzas. I had the traditional, cod, herbs, onions and cream. I would have to say it was the best pizza I have ever had.
28 June – Another sea fog. We drove up the coast to a seaside town near Lisbon (Lisboa) and will visit there tomorrow. We had some problems finding a camp for campervans. Several we tried did not provide any services. Eventually we found a great camp close to a nice beach.

29 June – We caught a local bus to the ferry terminal and sailed across the harbour to Lisbon. The local transport is really great with old men arguing, mothers with children etc. Again we paid the 15 euros and used the hop on hop off tourist bus to explore the city. At our first stop we to took a tram up the extremely steep winding hill for a view. The tram was full and a local guy informed me that a pick pocket was working on the tram. A verbal battle ensued between the pick pocket and the local guy. I kept my hand on my wallet which we transferred into Val’s bag as soon as possible.
The ride was worth it as the view was stunning. We sat in a little café and had lunch enjoying the view. This was the hottest day we have had so far, (38 degrees) and on top of an open air double decker tourist bus is not the coolest place especially as the driver stopped often when he was ahead of time. The commentary was very limited. All in all not the best tourist bus we have been on. Lisbon is a great mix of the modern and the slightly jaded old quarter. Lots of people around but we felt that it was less touristy than the other cities we had visited. Tomorrow marks the half way point of our trip. The time has really flown!

11 June – We skirted around Benidorm where there must have been at least 50 high rise hotels/apartment buildings along the water front. We drove along the rugged coast line. It reminded us of the coastline north of Kaikoura with the sea and bays on one side and barren hills on the other. Whenever we left the coast there were acres and acres of shade cloth covered vegetable gardens.
We stopped at a lovely little village/beach for lunch at a Tapas Bar. This area seemed to be full of old people. We felt quite good!!
The “Aires” we were planning on for the night was closed. (first time the book had let us down) so we stopped with about 7 other campers on a beach at Calnegre at the start of the Costa Almeria, where we had a nice quiet night.

12 June – We decide to follow the Costa Almeria and tried to book a camp site at Mojacar but the guy wanted a minimum of 2 nights even though his camp was virtually empty!! We parked at the beach and spent the rest of the day in the sun. The weather is slightly cooler and the water temperature was much colder. So much for being further south. The architecture in this area is very North African with lots of white cube shaped apartment blocks. Just around the corner we found a very nice cheap camp with a great swimming pool.

13 June – We have headed inland to Granada (made famous by the Howard Morrison Quartet or was it the other way around).
The roads in Spain are great. You often drive down a beautiful smooth 2 laned road with heaps of passing bays (better than most NZ roads) and out to the side is a 4 laned highway going to the same place.
The road inland was a typical 4 laned road winding into the Sierra Navada Mountains. Huge sweeping corners carved thru any obstacles. At one stage we flew passed a sign at 100km/hour that told us our altitude was 1380m!! (4500 odd feet)
The camp we had sorted out for Granada was closed but the friendly owner spent some time drawing maps to 2 other possibilities. We are at a camp close to the middle of Granada. After diner we hopped on the bikes for a ride and ended up in the centre of Granada. As the weather had improved, many people were out for a walk along the wide avenues. We got slightly lost coming home despite having a map. With help from some locals we arrived back to “Lefty” just after dark!! No lights on the bikes!

14 June – On the bikes again and we rode to the Alhambra. This is a fort, Palace, and Gardens all build by the Muslim rulers between 1100 and 1500. The whole complex is built on two hills over looking Granada and was well worth the 16 euros each. The Palace was particularly spectacular. The intricate plaster work was amazing.
Back down to the town for a beer and a sandwich, before back to “Lefty” and off into the hills and the olive groves for the night. Our first “Aires” did not feel safe (first time we have felt that) so we moved on to a great “Aires” in a small village overlooking the olive groves.

15 June – Down to the coast today at Malaga and the Costa de Sol. Back to the concrete jungles populated by poms. After a shop up we found a quiet camp out of Malaga with a nice beach and a good pool. A lazy day on the beach. The water is still chilly here. Walking passed the pub (full of poms) we realised the NZ v Slovakia world cup game was on. We debated if we would stop and watch it but the beach won. Called in on the way back to discover that NZ had snatched a draw. We watched the goal on the internet.

16 June – We decide to spend an extra night here as the beach is good and we need to catch up on the washing. We had decided to replace the front tyres on “Lefty” at the first opportunity. Coincidentally a lady was walking thru the camp selling tyres which they fit on site. After some haggling we have purchased 2 tyres and they will be fitted in Seville on Saturday morning. A young German couple (both over 6ft) on their honeymoon have been camping beside us. They had an immaculate red Fiat 500 and had driven all the way from Germany and were returning over the next 5 days. Watching them squeeze chairs, a table, tent, and everything else into the Fiat was interesting. They could only drive at night as the wee air cool motor overheated during the day!!

17 June – Left the camp and drove down the Costa del Sol to Gibraltar. We parked on the Spanish side of the border and biked across the border with passports in our hands into Gibraltar. We decide to take a guided tour up the windy narrow roads of the rock. The tour included a visit to the St Michael’s cave, the top of the rock, and the tunnels.
St Michael’s caves were fascinating. A walk thru limestone formations with huge stalactites and stalagmites and then into a huge cavern where an auditorium was set up for concerts. The caves had been used as a hospital during the war.
The top of the rock had great views and plenty of cheeky monkeys.
The tunnels thru the rock were great. First built in 1729 during the Spanish siege of the British garrison, the tunnels have many cannons. They have been expanded over time and there are now 52 km of tunnels in the rock. There are more tunnels than roads on Gibraltar!
Lunch in the town and onto our bikes and back to “Lefty”. The peninsular is so small that the main (only) road bisects the airport runway.
We drove west past Tarifa where we had a great view of the African continent, being the mountains of Morocco. We stopped at a beach camp and had our first swim in the Atlantic Ocean.

18 June – A great drive thru Cadiz and up to Seville. Lovely farm land with crops of sunflowers, wheat and corn. We arrived at our proposed camping site at about 1430 which was closed. Bugger! We spent the next 2 hours driving around Seville trying to find a camp and eventually found one. When we checked in the guy said “and your tyres will be fitted tomorrow at 1030”. What a surprise. How they knew that we would end up in this camp is anyone’s guess!!! We cooled off in another great camp swimming pool.

19 June – Carlos arrived with tyres on time and had them fitted and balanced in an hour. An efficient service. A young couple from NZ camped next to us. They were the first people we had seen on our trip. We caught the bus into Seville and wandered around the city. Many beautiful buildings again with a North African influence. We went to the cathedral which is the largest in the world. We climbed the 35 levels to the bell tower for a great view of the city. The population of Seville is 720,000 but, because everyone lives in apartments, you could easily see countryside all around. No sprawling suburbs in European cities like NZ.
We also visited the oldest Bull Ring in Spain. We don’t think we have the stomach to go to a Bull Fight. They kill 6 bulls a night! There have only been 3 Matadors killed in the 20th Century. Bulls don’t get much of a chance!
When we arrived back at camp we meet another couple from NZ. Never rains but it pours.

20 June – A leisurely drive back down to the coast where we are in a huge camp with another great beach. On our way back from the beach we watched the last half hour of the Italy v NZ game in the bar. The locals must have thought Val and I were mad.
The camps in Spain are a bit different then NZ. There no kitchens. Only an area to do dishes. Every camp has a restaurant and bar. Most people seem to eat all there meals there. The toilet and shower areas are great. Usually beautifully tiled but no paper in the toilets.

21 June -We have decided to spend two nights here relaxing. Our internet is a problem. We have not been able to connect for the last couple of camps. It may be something we have done. We will try and upload this blog tomorrow before we cross into Portugal.

6 June – After saying in the last blog that the weather was perfect, that night the skies opened and we had a beaut electrical storm with lots of lightning and rain. In the morning it was still raining lightly so we head down the coast to an “Aires” at Peniscola. We were 100m from a great beach between two busier beaches. Thought we would do a shop on the way, only to find that virtually everything is closed on Sunday.

7 June – We hopped on the bikes and rode 5 km to the castle (1450 ish) at Peniscola on the headland. Great views and a fascinating place. We have followed the local custom and have been having a siesta after lunch in the heat of the day, back down to our beach for more sun and swims. The water is really warm now. We are back to our perfect weather.

8 June – We had a big shop before bypassing Valencia and stopping at a camp at El Saler, 10km down the road from Valenica. After washing virtually everything we own we walked to another beach in sight of Port Valencia. We walked into the village of El Saler for a birthday dinner. Great paella!!

9 June – Off on the bikes for a huge ride (25km) on great cycleways back to Valencia and the America’s Cup harbour. It all seems a bit deserted now! They were setting up the streets for the European F1 Grand Prix in about a fortnight.

Cycling in France and Spain has been great. There are cycleways everywhere both in the cities and even the small towns. NZ has along way to go if they think they are cycle friendly!!

We drove, after lunch, up into the orange groves and are in an “Aires” with orange trees all around us.

Very peaceful. We were the only people in over night.

10 June – We headed down some smaller roads thru the mountains back to coast. This was a magnificent drive passing some lovely mountain villages. Some of the mountain scenery reminded us of Yosemite National Park in California. We had lunch at a little village before dropping down to the coast. We are now on the Costa Blanca near Benidorm. We biked to the local beach for a swim and got completely lost coming back!!

31 May – Off to Spain today! After posting the blog at McDonalds and picking up propane (gas will be a problem in Spain but with two 13kg bottles we will be fine) we drove down the coast road thru the last of France and into Spain. We found a camp site in Lloret de Mar. This is a largish town with two beaches. We cycled to the first for a look. There seems to be lost of English and Spanish on holiday here. Unlike France, they locals seem to have bowelled over all the old traditional buildings about 50 years ago and erected 5 story hotels and apartments. At the street level the shops sell either, beach gear (including blow up lilos and animals), hats, shoes, fake tattoos or takeaway food. All a bit cheap and nasty.

1 June – We cycled thru the town to the main beach which was steep and had a dumping surf. A bit like Napier with Kaiteriteri sand. Back to the smaller beach near our camp for sun and a swim.
After lunch we moved on to another camp about 20km down the coast. Here the campervans were right on the beach. Before I turned off the motor I had a pommie guy telling me how bad the Dutch and the Germans were and having a general moan!!
The beach at this camp was much nicer.

2 June – We drove the 50kms to Barcelona. We are in an “Aires” here called park and ride. The area is just a parking area in between motorways with security 24 hours a day but the tram leaves from outside the gate. We purchased a 10 ride ticket which is good for all transport and headed of to explore. After some transfers we arrived in the centre of the city. We decided to buy a 2 day pass on the hop on hop off open air tourist bus. This is a great way to see the sights and you don’t miss anything important.
Barcelona was modernised for the 1992 Olympics. It is a beautiful city with wide tree lined avenues and a mix of old and new buildings.

3 June – Back into the city for the other hop on hop off route. A really great trip and we hopped off several times. Antoni Gardi has had a big influence on some of the buildings in Barcelona. He designed in the art nouveau style. The buildings are very weird with bits everywhere. His most famous work is the Sagrada Familia which is a huge church which is still not finished. I think he was having everyone on just to see how outrageous he could be!!
Back to “Lefty” in our park. We could easily lean out and touch the campers either side of us, but it is a great place to stay so close to the centre of the city.

4 June – Off down the coast south again. We stopped off not far from Barcelona at a nice beach camp.(Vendrell Platja) The beach was great and just over the road. Low rise apartments on the beachfront which would have been at least 10kms long. In the evening we road about half its length. Put the duvet away and hope it will not be out until we are Scotland. Even bought a sun umbrella for the beach!!

5 June – Off south again following the coast. Camped again right on the beach at Els Prats. Another different beach. More like an NZ beach with trees along the beach without a high rise building in site. Several swims and sun bathing again. Our site is next to the camp beach restaurant where, as I write this, the band is pounding out Frank Sinatra songs.
We will stop for another couple of nights before hitting Valencia.
I have not mentioned the weather. That’s because there is nothing to say. It’s the same every day. We wake up with sun and about 20 degrees. It is sunny all day topping at 28 degrees.