Days 95 - 97 - Ice cream & swimming (tough days)
Wednesday 17th - Friday 19th October 2018Staying at a lovely small campsite just a few metres from the sea in Altea. The San Antonio Camper Park is run by the son of the man who started it all in 1963. He is a retired doctor and spends much of his time making sure that everyone is happy. Great place to stay. There are some splendid old photos from the first year (1963). The site hasn't changed much but, gone are the tents and tiny caravans to cater for the juggernaut of retirement motorhomes (which in themselves are juggernauts but you can't use the same word - juggernaut, juggernaut, juggernaut - twice in a sentence now can you?).
Planned rest day on Wednesday, did a bit of blogging and went for a wander round Altea...
...including a long overdue ice cream...
...and swim in the sea. No sharks in the Mediterranean I hope. Mr P has not been a fan of sharks ever since the shark tank scene in the James Bond movie Thunderball. Jaws did not help.
Thursday and Friday we climbed. Back at Toix. Climbing pictures can get a bit samey but here are a few just because I like them.
There is a lovely set of 30+ easy grade climbs in the sector Sierra de Toix far Oeste. Predominantly 4s and 4+. Great for us getting back into sports climbing with a few harder routes to test your mettle. Mr P even managed a 6a without bursting into tears.
Thursday evening Mrs P cooked. Spaghetti bolognese. Lovely. After dinner and a nice glass of red wine we sat out as the sun slowly descended in the west subtly changing the colours of the the sea as it sank slowly behind the mountains. At least that's what I assume happened. All we could see was the back of the large Motorhome parked not so majestically between us and the sea.
Friday evening and we are back in the large tourist factory Motorhome site on the industrial estate just in Calpe. Where the people stay so long they start to create boundaries around their pitches.
Both Mrs P and I have noticed a distinctly frosty atmosphere here at the Sol de Calpe Austral camping and caravan institution Resort . The staff are lovely, the inmates on the other hand are... 'sinister' is the word we finally came up with. When you arrive people openly come to watch you set up. A bit like car boot sale vultures who want to see what is coming out of the car. It's not friendly voyeurism either. 'Disdain' is another word that would fit well here. Also, odd, kinda rude and, as I said, somewhat sinister.
Maybe we would have had a better reception had we been driving a 12 tonne beast, were we not rather young by comparison to the local demographic and had we unloaded electric bikes, garden gnomes, white picket fences, erected a garden shed, unpacked the cat and signed up for that evening's karaoke session.Our Belgian neighbours (we normally like the Belgians) communicate via a series of scowls and forced smiles with some light pointing when they think we are not looking.Anyway, we are here for a very specific reason. The Moors & Christians festival in Calpe. A four day event that started today. The main events are tomorrow (Saturday) evening and Sunday.Watch this space for photos, stories and tales of daring view (no it's not a typo. It's a play on words. Look if I have to explain it it's just no longer amusing).