Well, she’s walking – through the clouds

Tuesday 23rd December 2014

 

The last few days have been blog-o-mania.

Jill & Martin have arrived but we have yet to see them, overnight was one of the coldest that we’ve experienced – here’s hoping that they’re still down here and didn’t decide to fly home first thing this morning.

If Salobrena or the weather doesn’t suit their wont they could do just that. The big question is, if they have skedaddled back to Coldland where will my Day-of-days dinner come from? We have yet to shop!

Bugger, this could mean that you just might see a pensioner wading around in the Med on the morning of the Day-of-days, not trying to capture pictures to p-off all his fellow countryman back home in Coldland, but there of necessity – trying to talk a fish out of the Med to play it’s part in his Day-of-days dinner.

There will hopefully be an update on this potential tragedy before this blog is completed and published!

Following my somewhat controversial last blog, Amanda is cowering on the floor between the 2 front lounge seats as she is half expecting a visit from the management of our neighbouring campsite – the subject of the last blog.

All I want to add is that I will tell it how it us for US and we’re finding that there are many folks out there with similar views.

My own sense of humour, ‘tongue-in-cheek’ comments, metaphors and hyperbolic analogies reign supreme here. I hope that you’re able to accept it for what it is whilst realising the underlying message contained therein – Comments received indicate that most readers also see it this way and for all others please accept my apologies but …………….

YOU’RE IN THE WRONG BLOG AND HERE’S WHERE YOU NEED TO BE::

FOR EVERYONE ELSE:

To family, old friends, new friends and friends that we haven’t yet met!

I didn’t get too far with this blog before Jill & Martin arrived and whisked us off to shopping, they then brought us back to our camping, ordered us to pack for the duration and then whisked us off to stay at their lavish villa for the next however many days!

The day and evening flew by in a haze of activity (and alcohol!).

We have our own suite, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a balcony with fantastic Med views and we have a heated pool right outside our door.

There are TV’s everywhere and a dedicated internet service that I have already used to upload all outstanding blog pictures – tasks taking hours on the camping internet have been completed in seconds. The bytes travelled faster than the speed of sound (just like they do with most internet services – except camping sites!).

To the weak-willed this villa will certainly have a lot of appeal but I’ve already noticed that it doesn’t have any wheels and tonight will be the first night that we didn’t spend in Twernt since we started our full-timing life.

I’m going to try and get over those two sadnesses and make the best of our time here!

Oh yes, this blog………..

As a prelude to these diary pictures I need to fess-up to what has become our daily routine over the last couple of weeks.

Good, bad or indifferent, with the lack of suitable secondary transport our daily routine has developed to being:

1. Dog walk

2. Coffee

3. Twernt chores – Hoovering/Thetford Walkies/Fresh/Grey Water attentions

4. Second coffee

5. Whatever – shopping, count Twernts wheels using 60% of my fingers/thumbs, etc.

6. Lunch

7. Long dog walk

8. Sunbathing/Lounging/Miscellaneous chores

9. Dinner

10. Dog walk

11. Solitaire/TV/Internet

On Friday last, after our first coffee of the day and completion of our base-line Twernt chores, I suggested to Amanda that we should just pop over the road to the shore-line in order to give Shakey & Tilley a ‘bonus’ walk before our second coffee.

The shore-line is 200-250 metres from our camping entrance.

We made it to the shoreline without any drama and would have been back at Twernt in good time for Coffee #2 had it not been suggested (by the now not so silent majority) that we venture a little further westwards along the beach.

That ‘venturing a little further’ resulted in a walk of somewhere between 10 and 12 miles – does this woman not realise that I am now a decrepiting aged speciman of a man and not the same person who, back in the 80’s, talked her into walking to the edge of a car park beneath Snowden before cajoling her into going ‘a little further’ (I remember some of that too!) before ending up at the summit of Snowden. Back then, my saving grace was a hotel in Colwyn Bay – The Hotel 70° – may even still be there.

I think that Amanda may be stealing a lead from Shazza now, and with a complete fail on trying to recall Eric’s diversionary tactics but also knowing that my comfort zone was being tested, I acquiesced and trailed on westwards playing ‘follow the leader’.

How this happened I do not know but here are the pictures from that walk.

The view across to the beach as we exit our camping

The sun was shining, the sky was blue, so we moseyed on out west

This little guy was enjoying the winter sun as well

He had a look in his eye that told me that I shouldn’t consider him as a suitable ingredient for a paella dish – “Leave me alone I’m sunbathing you numpty”

And then a French couple, probably socialists, asked if we would like for them to take a picture of our expedition team using our camera. After conducting a lecture on how to use the camera, I awarded the French couple a BSc in Clickhereology and they then produced this pathetically predictable picture for which we will be eternally grateful (not) – I’ve now written to them retracting their BSc

The French couple exited stage left as Amanda glanced across at them just after I’d checked the picture and told Amanda it was just the usual crap…….. “And they came across as being such a nice couple” replied AJ

Just because these views are there it doesn’t mean they should be passed by – they weren’t …. but then they were … or as Donovan said ‘First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain and then there is’

The sugar cane seen in the previous picture exists in abundance along this beach and is used here fronting a small beach villa – the owner clearly didn’t have any internet access to help with his design

Whereas this guy, a little further along the beach demonstrates that he spends too much time on the internet – it paid dividends though

Meanwhile the self proclaimed pack leader is seen here seeking (and finding) a stepping stone to a brighter future – ‘ang on – the suns shining – it’s already here!

Well, you just have to take pictures of these guys as they pass you by. Could have Neil Young on board looking for a mermaid

The Pack leader ploughed on towards Salobrena – ‘twernt in the plan, ’twas supposed to be 2nd coffee time about now

Sugar cane, from the once thriving industry in this area, fronts Lower Salobrena, beneath the Salobrena Moorish Castle and the mountains beyond

A pair of Cormorants fly overhead….

and land on the jetty that divides Salobrena from the eastern beach to Playa Granada

Bloggerlugs moves in for the best possible picture he is able to get – better luck next time!

The two jetty walls have yet to be bridged by the promenade project – no activity exists at the Salobrena end – maybe this rich neighbour isn’t too keen to get the project completed

“Yeh, Hi Neil, Gazza here, Five Bellies has just seen a mermaid, how do you want it – Paella? no problemo”

There are a lot of people who can’t take crisp, clear pictures of birds – I am therefore but one of many – what do you mean the others are all aged under 5!

The fact that this road led inland should have set the alarm bells ringing

….and after walking in a straight line inland (that can’t be right, our camping home is next to the beach) we found a road above the one we were on that looked to be heading in the right direction.

Next we found a neat looking roundabout…….

adorned with palm trees……and seating – a walk break for our legs and a cigarette break for those that smoke

That must be Motril in the distance, let’s head that way! It would help if all towns had a tethered sign-written balloon with their town-name emblazoned on it, then it would be “Look, there IS Motril”. Bugger this guesswork, people’s legs are at stake here.

So we headed that way – odd that the road continued to take us inland, didn’t figure on that

Oh look, pretty yellow flower thinga-me-jigs. The more knowledgeable probably know that these only grow inland – could have done with you around on this walk

“Oi, cameraboy, shake a leg, we haven’t got all day you know” I could have offered many, very witty, replies but I just told her to ‘F%^$ O%$’

We’ve had personal visits from the parents this guy 4 times so i saw this as my chance to gain revenge – “Look here you little deformed cockatiel, I’m a human, the one your parents told you about – I brought you into this world so bloody well stay still while I improve my bird picture taking skills’

Country folk in this area do seem to be very keen on protecting their properties – must be a reason

We walked past many fields including this one where the irrigation system had just kicked in

A long and winding road ……..

…… trodden by a wizening coffee deprived pensioner … and his dog

And then, with no ET in sight, this weirdly shaped cloud appeared behind us over Salobrena, very discus-like, hey, it could be God, rehearsing for The Intergalactic Olympic Games. Hope it reaches Coldland before it bursts

The road to second coffee heaven shows no sign of even going in the right direction to our camping

And it goes on and on

The discus is moving towards Africa – I can understand that and Bob will be pleased – any snow in it God?

And then a sign that we had reached civilisation – on the outskirts of Playa Granada resort

Robinson’s Club Playa Granada – do you own this resort Sally?

Another view at Club Play Granada – the golf course exists in green ‘pockets’ interwoven within the resort – there is access directly on to the beach – Hey, I could become a resort property salesman – wanna buy an apartment or villa mister? – just send me €250K and an apartment is yours as soon as I’ve paid €150K of your money to the resort

Somewhat jiggered menagerie of the unintended expedition team rest before heading out in search of water and coffee – note to self: never leave Twernt without a suitably laden backpack ….. and your wallet!

Tilley is going to require some serious attention to remove hundreds of sticky-spikey-doofah-whatsits from her coat

Luckily we found a source of water for the dogs but the humans were suffering

A familiar sight at a beach bar just a few hundred metres from our camping – I wonder if they will be open on the Day-of-days – we’ll check that out and if they are we’ll sit here and toast ‘Coldland’ many miles away

We ended our 15-20 minute ‘Bonus Dog Walk’ after some 4.5 hours, it wasn’t the time penalty of 4+ hours that upset me, but the surprised look an AJ’s face when I flopped onto the couch whilst she made Coffee #2 was neither necessary or warranted.

AJ had initiated upset to our daily schedule – we’d missed dinner – the dogs didn’t get their 2nd walk of the day and our routine was in in serious disarray – all of it was AJ’s fault – so I responded to her look of surprise with “After you’ve made the coffee, can you start on dinner, I’m staying here”.

I didn’t get any dinner on Friday. Stamp Out Cruelty to Pensioners Society please take note.

I just about have time to include a few library pictures of where we are having to slum it over Christmas/New year:

The Villa

 

Terrace/Pool outside of our ‘suite’

 

Upper floor dining area

 

Lounge in our ‘suite’

 

…and again

 

…another picture of the pool terrace

Almost finally, I should mention that much of the above was produced in haste, in Salobrena and in-ebriated (to some extent) so all that remains is to wish everyone a sincere………………..