Yes we know. It’s been a while since our last posting but to be honest, not a huge amount has been heppening.

Thursday (Day 12) was a general clear-up day. Land grab for multiple washing machines first thing and then a freebie Andalucian lunch at the restaurant. Not impressed – far too many beans! Had a nice BBQ in the evening to make up for it and then watched the line dancing.

Later that night the caravan heating packed in just half an hour after commenting on its reliability. Hmm. Did finally get it working again though.

DIY shopping at Leroy Merlin on Friday and from lunchtime the storms arrived. Thunder lightning, rain and yet more rain. Saturday was similiar but only rain. Watched England
play Rugby in the evening in a very packed bar…

Sunday was Andalucian day, so lots of activity in the town with street artists and musicians.

Yes we know. It’s been a while since our last posting but to be honest, not a lot has been happening. The weather has been poor for a few days but today was glorious – enough for a 20 odd mile bike ride.

Now, I need to know who’s been paying attention to my Ramblings so a little question – post a comment with your answer – I’ve left comments open this time.

www.caravanramblings.co.uk.

First correct reply gets to buy me a proper beer… like an Abbott…

Why is this bit of sea famous?

Internet access appears to have returned again so here’s a dual posting for yesterday and today.

Yesterday was a failed trip to the market at Chiclana de la Frontera. It would have paid for us to carry out a little research first as Chiclana turned out to be a much larger town than expected and we didn’t actually find the market! Still, next time and we will be better prepared.

The afternoon was hot and sunny and another BBQ in the early evening.

 

Today we walked to Puerto de Conil.

We were a little late departing so took the slightly more direct route via the minor roads.

 

 

The return journey was via the coastal paths. Far more pleasant but nearly an hour longer to walk.

 

 

 

 

Lunch was at the restaurant at the port. Fantastic grilled Tuna and we’ll definitely visit this one again. The views across the little Harbour and along the coast to Conil  make this a lovely settting.

 

Another nice day was forecast for Monday but the morning remained a little hazy and quite chilly outside of the sun. The intention was to set off cycling in the direction of Cabo Trafalgar. Apparently a historic event took place there some time ago.

We weren’t really sure how long the ride would be nor how difficult – still, taking the wrong road out of Conil ensured we made little progress whatsoever. Lunch was taken sat on the bridge over the motorway!

We should have gone straight on from Conil, not headed for the Autovia…

Finally arrived back at the Campsite in the late afternoon and the weather is beautiful again.

Entertainment in the evening was at the bar where an excellent buffet was provided.

Internet is working again so no excuses for not posting yesterday’s entry!

 

 

A late start to the morning and then a six mile walk called the Sendero de Roche.

 

 

 

 

 

Some nice scenery on the final 1km on the way back from Roche to the Port of Conil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A beautiful afternoon and everything was all in place for the first BBQ of the season.

 

Nothing particularly exciting to report since our arrival at Camping La Rosaleda near to Conil de La Frontera.

Weather has been at times quite wet and the wind has changed direction from the prevailing west to a more northerly track and out of the sun, things can cool down quite quickly.

Our pitch is nicely setup, the caravan and car have been cleaned and everything is in its place. We thought we had brought just about everything until we spotted this American RV.

Look closely at the centre of the picture… It’s got American licence plates too so presumably the owners had it shipped across the pond.

Still, today saw the transition from jeans to a pair of shorts and a nice six mile walk along the coast before lunch.

 

During todays walk, we passed a nice hotel, called the Gran Conil with spectacular views and pristine looking facilities. So, any friends out there wishing to spend some time over here, there’s at least one decent-looking hotel option.

Yesterday evening was a set 3-course meal at the site restaurant (9.5 Euros per person excluding drinks) along with Flamenco dancing and the usual restaurant quiz.

Just how old is Joe?

Clearly one of the younger “residents” at Rosaleda but the smart money was between 42 and 45. LSB is clearly not rigged…

This was always going to be the easier of the two days travel through Spain. We had covered nearly 400 miles on the first day and had around 250 miles prior to our arrival in Conil de la Frontera.

The weather was again mis-behaving as the night time temperatures at Caceres were significantly below zero and there was a thick layer of ice on the car in the morning.

 

Despite not having to hitch up (we had left the car and van connected the previous evening), were ever so grateful to be able to warm ourselves up in reception whilst paying.

 

 

 

 

We arrived at Conil de la Frontera around 3:00pm. We would have landed earlier apart from Mo’s attempt to navigate us around Sevilla. To be honest, we’d done very well until the final junction when Mo proceeded to override the satnav and to take us to the A4 Direction Cordoba and not the A4 Direction Cadiz. Note for next time – don’t listen to the wife, the computer knows better.

Weather at Camping Rosaleda sunny and pleasantly warm. The campsite a near sell-out – much to our surprise – and we had very little choice for a nice pitch. Better remember to book a place early for next season…

The journey to Spain was on the Cap Finistere, route being Portsmouth to Bilbao with a stopover for a crew change in Roscoff (subsequently changed to Brest due to inclement weather).

The previous evening we had enjoyed a very nice la carte dinner onboard.

 

Mo particularly liked the desert (but then, she would!). Joe just had an empty placemat and a spare spoon!

As we had reserved an earlier sitting, we retired to our bunks at a pleasantly early hour.

This was a good thing as we had an prompt start (5:30 British time) and a long days towing ahead.

The arrival day didn’t start out particularly well and problems began before we had left the boat.

We were all poised to disembark when alas, a flat battery and the embarrassment of watching the vehicles behind trying to reverse and manoeuvre around us. You could just sense the frustration of the other drivers cursing our caravan! (Which of course wasn’t the issue).

Brittany Ferries were very good and it wasn’t long before one of the engineers appeared with a battery booster and then we were on our way to Caceres, in the Extremadura region of Spain.

What we encountered next was even less expected.

Already close to 1000 miles south of Blighty, this was the weather greeting us on our travels from Bilbao to Caceres…

We finally arrived at the campsite around 17:00, having left Bilbao some 400 miles earlier at around 09:15 in the morning. A note for the return journey – it’s around a 4 hour drive from our preferred campsite, El Astral, Tordesillas.

The weather is cold here in Caceres (just a few degrees) but the skies are clear and we are all ready for another early depart tomorrow. We haven’t even un-hitched the van!

Our evening stroll around the campsite turned into a 1 hours hike into Caceres in near freezing temperatures. Dinner was a set menu at the campsite restaurant – no shortage of meat!

 

It’s been a long week. Our ferry crossing to Santander was originally schedule for Wednesday, some 4 days ago and we should now already be basking in the Spanish sunshine. Storm Imogen put paid to that and the ferry services to Northern Spain have been in chaos ever since. We finally rebooked on the 23:30 two night crossing to Bilbao which should arrive early Tuesday morning.

Presently the seas are relatively calm but we are at the moment heading to Brest for a crew change, a departure from the original scheduled stop at Roscoff due to more bad weather. Then it’s sixteen hours over the Bay of Biscay…

A tip for fellow travellers. We signed up to Brittany Ferries “Club Voyage” which despite the up front cost of £220 has already saved us money on the crossing.

Here’s the rig just before departure from Hampshire on Sunday, 17:15.

Mo is sporting the latest fashion accessory prior to stopping the local traffic…

Latest update. 17:00 British time and the Bay isn’t too choppy. At the moment…