Christmas 2009

Our Christmas started on Thursday 17th when Stuart and Jake arrived in Spain. We hired a car for 2 weeks and went to Malaga Airport to meet them. The plane arrived on time but unfortunately someone mistakenly took their suitcase and left their own behind! Stuart had to report it and leave his phone number and address in Spain. So, it took us quite a while to get free of the airport!

Friday morning at 10 the suitcase arrived at the campsite - well done to Malaga Airport. Whoever had taken it had returned it and they promptly brought it to us!
We went out shopping to Bahia Sur in San Fernando in the afternoon.

Saturday we were invited to Elaine and Trevor's van for brunch - 16 of us in an awning! They made a super lunch - don't know how they managed it! Then we spent the afternoon sitting outside in the sun drinking Cava etc!!

Sunday we went to Medina Sidonia - a white village on a hill - very pretty but we couldn't find anywhere for a snack! So off we went to Conil De La Frontera for lunch and a walk down the beach!

Tuesday 22nd Dec we went off to see the Roman ruins at Bolonia - only trouble was - they were closed! So, off we went for a drive further along the road into the hills. Lovely views and we stopped at a viewpoint to take photos of the bay. Great huge sweep of a bay - then we truned around and saw about a dozen vultures were nesting in the rocks - WOW what a sight they were! We stayed there for quite a while watching them and taking photos.

The following day the weather was really bad - in fact it had been bad on and off ever since the boys arrived! We had torrential rain at times and lots of thunder storms - in the afternoon we drove out to Sancti Petri but it was very grey and damp - got some good photos though!

Christmas Eve the weather perked up and we went to Trafalgar for a walk along the beach - a few kite surfers out and even a guy swimming in the sea - not warm enough for that!!!

Christmas Day we had a mammoth Christmas Dinner - well it started with nibbles and Cava at John and Tina's bungalow then we all went to Trevor and Elaine's awning - they were in Scotland for Christmas but very kindly let us borrow their van and awning for dinner - they have a huge awning and there were 18 of us for dinner. The campsite loaned us some tables and chairs and at 2pm we all sat down for a great meal - everyone had cooked something and with military precision we all turned up at the awning with the hot food at 2pm! It was great fun apart from the weather!
The rain lashed down, the lightning flashed and the thunder roared - overhead quite a few times - the rain came in the awning and we all sat with our feet in water!
The boys went back to our van after dinner and found that our tv wouldn't work - we have cable tv here and presumed that the system was down. Wi-fi wouldn't work either!
It wasn't until later that night that we realised out tv was not working at all - wouldn't even switch on!
The storm had apparently hit something nearby and we have since realised that there was an electrical surge down the tv arial into the tv which "fried" it! 2 other vans were also affected - one had it's fridge / freezer fried and the other it's sat reciever and tv tuning system! Expensive storm! We were totally unaware sitting there eating our dinners - so glad we weren't in the van at the time!

Over the next few days we had some bright spots in the weather - one day we dropped Stu and Jake off at the vulture nests while we drove a little further to Tarifa - quaint little town - great views of Morocco.

The boys had to fly back to UK on 30th but the day before we had a trip up tot the hill behind the campsite - it's in the Brena National Park - lots of pine trees! Great views of Trafalgar and the beaches from the top!

30th Dec we took the boys to Malaga for their flight back to Manchester and the snow! It was lovely having them here even though the weather let us down!

New Years Eve we were back in Trevor and Elaine's awning - this time they were with us! They returned from a snowy Scotland that day. 20 of us had a party and welcomed the New Year in twice - 1st time at Spanish midnight and then at UK midnight!

Baelo Claudia, Bolonia

We had an afternoon out today with Ray and Joan. Went to the roman ruins ( Baelo Claudia) at Bolonia on the way to Tarifa.

Here's a link to the ruins:- http://www.andalucia.com/province/cadiz/bolonia/baelo-claudia.htm

It's an amazing place - was quite a big town with a fish salting factory. Was a link over to Tangier in Morocco - all between the 1st and 6th centuries!!! It was abandoned in the 6th century!!!

The excavation is on-going and unlike in the UK (where it would all be hidden by hoardings) you can see the current work - looking forward to visiting it over the next few years so see the progress being made!

Bolonia village is very nice - tranquil in December but I bet it's busy with surfers in the summer!

Pinar San Jose - Dec 09

Well we arrived in rain - got stuck in the wet sand - dug out and settled down for the winter!
We haven't done a lot since we've been here - we've actually been quite tired! Looking back over the year we've been on the go ever since we left here in March! The longest we've stayed anywhere is 4 weeks and most of the time it's been a week or even less - SO - we needed a rest! We've festered for the last couple of weeks!

It's lovely to be back on this campsite - the family who own it are so friendly and helpful - there's a nice bar and restaurant - a super supermarket run by the lovely Mila - one of the family. We had such a lovely welcome off everyone when we arrived - after spending 2 months here earlier this year we were made to feel like old friends when we got here! It's a lovely tranquil place - only about 9 vans on here at the moment with plenty of space between us!

We've been down to the beach a few of times and went out in the van one day last week into Conil De La Frontera. The council has put up no parking signs for motorhomes on the big car park on the prom so we can't do what we like to do which is drive the van into Conil - park up - do the shops - go for a walk - have lunch etc! We'll have to investigate how we can still do it!
Stuart and Jake are arriving on Thursday for 2 weeks hols - can't wait to see them!
We're hiring a car for the 2 weeks so will get out and about a bit more - I'll need another long rest once they've gone home!

Christmas Day is promising to be fun - we're having a huge lunch party on site - 18 of us! All in an awning for lunch! Thanks to Elaine and Trevor who are going back to UK for Christmas and loaning us their HUGE awning!! We're all doing our bit towards the lunch - I'm making some roast spuds, braised leeks and whisky trifle! Watch out for the photos!!!!