Day 49 Tues 29.03.2011

Location:  Aire Odissea Camp Area, Denia 

Long / Lat N N 38º52.13’  W  000 º 00.54’

We said goodbye to Lyn and Ian at Kiko and wished them a safe journey back to the UK.

Thanks to both of you for a great night, so pleased that we met you but Paul is a bit upset that you drank his vintage wine.

We headed to the Odissea Aire to meet up with a group of people from the Motorhome Facts Internet Forum.

The drive to the Odissea Aire only took about 30 minutes.

The aire is quite busy but there is a sign informing visitors that the back half is reserved for the MHF meet from 4 April.

When we arrived we were pleased to see another Brit motorhome already parked up. Bryan and Rosemary are also here for the meet. (User name ‘Snail’)

We spent all afternoon with them sitting in the sun drinking far too much, tomorrow we are all planning to ride our bikes to the local Chinese restaurant. It will be ok because I think Rosemary’s cycling skills are on a par with mine.

Odissea Aire

Odissea Aire

Entrance Odissea Aire

Day 48 Monday 28.03.2001

Location: Day 6 at Kiko Park Campsite, Calle Del Assagador De Carro, Olivia  (ACSI Camping Card)

Long / Lat  N 38º55.954’ W 000º05.889

Last day at Kiko Park, we leave for Denia tomorrow.

Another hot sunny day but rather windy this morning, we cycled into town to stock up with food as we’re not sure how easy it will be to get to a shop while we’re at Denia and the supermarkets around here don’t seem to have carparks that we can easily access (we don’t want a repeat of the Lidl incident).

It was hard work peddling into town against the wind, Paul had to stop and wait for me a few times.

We are all packed up ready to move tomorrow. Kiko Park is a lovely site but we will be glad to move on, don’t think we could stay on one site all winter, we have itchy feet.

Day 47 Sun 27.03.2011

Location: Day 5 at Kiko Park Campsite, Calle Del Assagador De Carro, Olivia  (ACSI Camping Card)

Long / Lat  N 38º55.954’ W 000º05.889

We spent a very pleasant evening with Lyn and Ian the couple on the pitch next to us, we drank far too much cheap wine and beer, Paul tried his 0.55€ 1 ltr carton of white wine and enjoyed it so much he’s getting a couple more tomorrow.  

We woke up this morning feeling a little but under the weather. It’s another warm sunny day, Paul has been on the roof of the motorhome to clean it and has caught the sun.

The van is now clean and shiny inside and out, all ready for Deina on Tuesday.

This afternoon we have been for a walk along the beach in shorts and t shirts, it’s been a lovely day.

The sky has clouded over a bit and the wind is getting up so we have taken the carpet up before it blows away.

The bright pink tripe sausages that Paul bought by mistake yesterday have been consigned to the bin, neither of us could face eating them.

Day 46 Sat 26.03.2011

Location: Day 4 at Kiko Park Campsite, Calle Del Assagador De Carro, Olivia  (ACSI Camping Card)

Long / Lat  N 38º55.954’ W 000º05.889

We both woke early this morning, we managed to get to the laundry room before anyone else and washed and dried the bed linen by 8am. It gets a bit competitive in the laundry room.

Later we cycled along by the river into town, Paul pointed to the river and said “Oh look, there’s load of fish in the river” so I looked and rode my bike straight into the back of him. I didn’t realize that he had stopped to look at the fish.

I have a big bruise on my knee and a scrape on my leg and the basket on my bike got a bit dented but apart from that I’m ok. I don’t think he will distract me again while we’re on the bikes.

It’s hot again today but we’re getting a bit restless. We aren’t due to leave here until Tuesday.

Day 45 Fri 25.03.2011

Location: Day 3 at Kiko Park Campsite, Calle Del Assagador De Carro, Olivia  (ACSI Camping Card)

Long / Lat  N 38º55.954’ W 000º05.889

The weather is better today and the sunshine is back.

This morning we cycled to the supermarket, about 2km, cycle paths most of the way.

After lunch we did some washing in the site laundry and this afternoon we had our first BBQ.

Kiko Campsite

Kiko Campsite

Day 44 Thurs 24.03.2011

Location: Kiko Park Campsite, Calle Del Assagador De Carro, Olivia  (ACSI Camping Card)

Long / Lat  N 38º55.954’ W 000º05.889

Woke up today to more rain but we had both slept better as the wind has dropped.

We did a bit of shopping in the site shop, it’s very well stocked but a bit expensive but they have barrels of wine, 1.30€ a ltr, take your own bottle.

We are hoping for better weather tomorrow.

Kiko Campsite

Pool at Campsite

Campsite Pitches

Day  43 Weds 23.03.2011

Location: Kiko Park Campsite, Calle Del Assagador De Carro, Olivia  (ACSI Camping Card)

Long / Lat  N 38º55.954’ W 000º05.889

The weather is horrible today, rain and high winds. Wish we hadn’t put the awning out. We were both relieved to see that it was still attached to the van when we woke up.

 We spent most of the day huddled up in the van as it’s so cold and windy. The rain and wind didn’t stop until late afternoon.

Beach at Olivia

Beach at Olivia

Restaurant at Kiko Campsite 

Beach at Olivia

Day 42 Tues 22.03.2011

Location: Kiko Park Campsite, Calle Del Assagador De Carro, Olivia  (ACSI Camping Card)

Long / Lat  N 38º55.954’ W 000º05.889

Before we left this morning we walked into to Benidorm and had a full English Breakfast, as we’d spent so much on the campsite we thought we would take full advantage of the cheap cigs and spirts, we paid 42€ for 200 cigs, 11€ for a ltr of grants whisky and 6.50€ for a ltr of vodka.

We headed to Olivia to a campsite in the ACSI book 15€ that had very good review on the ICampSites  iPhone application.

We headed up the N332 costal route, nice drive but I couldn’t put my cup down for about 40km due to the bendy road.

We had a bit of trouble finding the campsite and apparently we are not the only ones. We took our GPS reading on the road just before the site entrance.

The site is lovely, the pitches are level and separated by hedges and trees but not in such a way that it makes it difficult to get onto the pitches.

The showers and toilets look very clean, the site has a well stocked shop, a pool and a restaurant.

The sea is a short walk over the sand dunes, I can hear the waves breaking as I’m typing this. We are parked on a very nice pitch next to an English couple who were unfortunately  robbed on route to this site while they were driving through Barcelona. They lost their passports money and all their credit cards. Their replacement Caxton card was couriered to them within two days. We’re glad we decided to get one.

We have our awning, carpet , table and chairs out as we have decided to stay here for a week. It gets a bit tiring moving every few days.

Adrian, I got toffee vodka 6.50€.

Entrance Kiko Park

Our Pitch / Camp

Day 41 Mon 21.03.2011

Location: Camping La Torreta, Benidorm

Long / Lat N 38º32.656’ W 000º/6.2/8

Well that was an interesting day! We left the aire at 8.00 we planned to do a bit of shopping and then head for a campsite nearby.

There was a Lidl supermarket a short drive from the aire with a car park that we could get into. We arrived there at about 8.30, parked up facing the right way to get out and waited for it to open. What a mistake.

Just before the store opened a member of staff closed and padlocked the exit we were planning to use (the other exit involved a sharp turn that would necessitate driving over a rather high curb) and we were facing the wrong way, it got worse.....by the time the store opened there were cars parked everywhere, a van parked so close Paul couldn’t get out of the cab door.

By the time I came out with the shopping we were totally boxed in. We waited for the van next to us to pull out and somehow Paul managed to maneuver out of the car park and we set of for the camp site thinking what a lucky escape we’d had.

We headed for the campsite but couldn’t find it, we got a bit lost and managed to take a slip road of the N332 on to the A7 (toll road) we came off after 1 junction 0.70€, this time we had a ticket and paid the toll.

We ended up driving into the centre of Benidorm, the sat nav was telling us to turn the wrong way into a one way system so we found somewhere to pull over.

Paul got out of the van to check out which way we should go, he was gone for so long that I started to worry that he wouldn’t come back. He managed to find another campsite (in the middle of Benidorm) so we headed for that. 27.50€ per night but it’s within walking distance of the resort.

This wasn’t what we had planned but we decided to make the best of it, we walked down the hill to the beach past all of the shops selling tourist stuff. Paul treated me to lunch in a Geordie bar, he had pie chips and gravy and I had lasagna chips and salad. Don’t think we heard anyone speaking any language other than English.

We have decided to embrace the local culture, tomorrow we’re going to walk down the road and have a full English breakfast, Paul’s having chips with his but I’m not.

Our pitch Camping La Torreta, Benidorm

Entrance to Camping La Torreta, Benidorm

Benidorm Beach

Day 40 Sun 20.03.2011

Location: 2^nd day Aire L’Alfas de Pi (Camper Park Costa Brava) Nr. Benidorm

Long / Lat  N 38º 35.02’ W 000º04.53’

We arrived in Benidorm on a festival day, Dia de San Jose, this is a bonfire festival, lighting bonfires, burning caricatures made of papier-mâché and setting off fireworks.

The aire is not that near to the town so we didn’t see the festival but we did hear the fireworks and the dogs barking at the fireworks!

This morning a bakers van called arrived at the aire just before nine, Paul got some bread so we don’t have to go shopping today.

We have finally found a rubbish bin, there are signs on the fence forbidding buckets of water and bins of rubbish which confussed us a bit. We are the only Brit van parked here, lots of French Belgium and Dutch.

The aire is very well run by the Belguim owner and the toilets are the cleanest I have see on a campsite, they should get an award.  We are surrounded by orange groves and there are oranges on the trees. (I want to pick one).

We are having a bit of a lazy day today, tomorrow we are going to try to find a supermarket and then move to another site.


                                          Our Route So Far

Pitches

Orange Groves Aound The Aire

Orange Groves Aound The Aire

Day 39 Sat 19.03.2011

Location: Aire L’Alfas de Pi (Camper Park Costa Brava) Nr. Benidorm

Long / Lat  N 38º 35.02’ W 000º04.53’

We left at 8.00am, when we reversed off the gravel pitch the road behind was so steep our front wheels spun rather a lot but we finally made it onto the tarmac.

We filled with diesel on the A92 1.53€ per ltr for super, 1.31€ for regular. Our biggest expense so far has been fuel but we feel this has been offset by the number of nights we have camped for free.

It took us about 5 hours to drive to Benidorm and another 30 minutes to find the aire. Please see the route directions below, you really do need to do a U turn on the L’Alfas de Pi once you have passed under the small fly over/bridge and come back on yourself then take the small slip road just before the bridge. Once you are on the bridge go straight on until you see the campsite sign telling you to turn left, the aire is just along this road.

The aire is very busy, there must be more than 40 vans here it’s almost full to capacity. Marked pitches, all hard standing, 12€ per night with free Wi-Fi.

Malc, thanks for your comment (and to everyone else who has left a comment or read our posts)  – we stayed on the aire next to the marina at Praia d Roche for 2 nights, it cost 1€ to park and 2€ for a tank full of water, we have not heard anything about it being closed but we were told that the free parking at Castro Marim was closed to motorhomes following complaints then reopened by the town mayor as the local shops had lost so much business.

Route Map

Parking at Aire

Road to the Aire

Entrance to the Aire

Parking at the Aire

Day 38 Fri 18.03.2011

Location: 2^nd day at Alto de Vinuelas , Beas de Granada,
Andalucia,Spain 
(ACSI campsite page 637 site number 1758)

Long / Lat : N 37º13.29’ W 003º29.19’

It’s so hot here during the day when the sun is out but it gets very cold at night.

The views from the camp site are spectacular and we are surrounded by olive groves.

The young girl at reception is lovely, friendly and very helpful, her mum is from Halifax and her dad is Spanish, she speaks English with a charming accent.

To be honest I don’t think we would stay on this site again, it’s very handy as a stopover if you are travelling on the A92 but the pitches are not big enough for a motorhome of our size and when we arrived at the site it was a bit tricky pulling in as the locals use the camp restaurant and there were lots of parked cars.

The showers and loos were fairly new and very clean but the water for the showers was heated by solar panels and was not very hot.

We paid 8€ for two days Wi-Fi but the connection was very slow for the few hours that it actually worked, complete waste of money.

The laundry was interesting, 3€ to use the washing machine which was in a store room (I had to step over a bed frame to get to it) the staff use the same machine so I’m not sure that you could use it when the site is busy. I did enjoy hanging my washing out on a line strung between the olive trees.

We are planning a long drive tomorrow to an Aire near Benidorm (I’ve never been to Benidorm).

FYI we filled up with gas in Portugal just before we left and have noticed that the Spain & Portugal Aires book stated that the service stations with LPG on the A22 are between junctions 15 and 16, they are actually between junctions 11 and 12 the other side of Faro. But the co-ordinates in the book are correct.

We met an English couple a few days ago who has a French guide to parking places for campingcars in Portugal It included maps and gps co-ordinates. It had loads more places than the vicarious books guide as it included unofficial parking places not just the designated aires. It is written in French and was published in 2009, we have ordered a copy from Amazon but won’t get our hands on it until we get back to the UK.

                                          Alto de Vinuelas

 

Alto de Vinuelas View From Campsite

Alto de Vinuelas Pitches

 

Day 37 Thurs 17.03.2011

Location: Alto de Vinuelas , Beas de Granada, Andalucia, Spain  (ACSI campsite page 637 site number 1758)

Long / Lat : N 37º13.29’ W 003º29.19’

This morning we left as the sun was rising, we have a long journey so I had made some rolls (bread buns in Geordie talk) last night and I cut them up so Paul can just stuff them in his mouth while he is driving.

We were both a bit sad to be leaving Portugal, the people are lovely, we can’t understand a word they say but many Portuguese also speak French.

We had our best times in Portugal at the Bgem Pego do Alta with Steve ,Lorna ,Ray and Dot (special thanks to Dot for the food and haircuts )and Lorna you are a light weight lol, hope to meet you all again and the drinks will be on us next time.

It was a short drive from the aire to the A22, we both laughed at the pictorial sign banning horse drawn carts from the motorway.

It was motorway all the way to Sevilla, the ring road around Servile was very busy, you had to have your wits about you as it was six lanes of fast moving traffic at times .

As we got nearer to Granada a car towing a trailer loaded with trees over turned  about 500 yards  in front of us blocking both lanes. The people in front of us got out of their cars and cleared the carriageway and then we were  on our way again.

We are now parked up in a lovely site with amazing views of the Sierra Nevada (the highest mountain range in Spain) from our pitch we can see snow capped mountains while we have been sitting outside in the sunshine.

To be honest we would not come here in peak season as the pitches are difficult to get onto due the terraces.

There is a lovely girl in reception who speaks excellent English,I have chatted to her and she told me we are 1200 meters above sea level and it was snowing here two weeks ago.

Our Pitch Alto de Vinuelas

Alto de Vinuelas

Main Gate Alto de Vinuelas

 Mountains At Alto de Vinuelas

View From Our Pitch At Alto de Vinuelas

Day 36 Weds 16.03.2011

Location: Castro Marim Aire 

Long / Lat N 37º 13.199’ W 007º26.666’

It rained all night but woke again to blue sky and sunshine.

We were planning on staying at Manta Rota for a bit longer but we wanted to call into the Lidl about 10km along the N125 today so that we could get an early start when we head into Spain.

After breakfast we decided to do the shopping today. Before we left we had our photo taken with Doopee the shoe lace undoing Dutch dog (he wanted a picture of us for his travel blog) and we said goodbye to his lovely owners (again).

As we approached the supermarket in Vila Real de S Antonio we spotted the Aire at Castro Marim, we had thought that we wouldn’t be able to stop here as the Spain and Portugal Aires books says that it’s unsuitable for large motorhomes (this usually means anything longer than 7 meters).

We checked out the Aire on the way back from our shopping trip and decided that we could just squeeze in.

The official aire is next to a road which at 6.30 in the evening is still quite busy, there is a fence at the back of aire to stop you from reversing into a tidal concrete culvert (someone called it a river and there are fish in it!)

The aire is free, the service point is a French style Euro Relais but you don’t have to pay for water. There is also a toilet dump point.

If you drive to the end of the aire and turn right there are also motorhomes parked on the hard standing behind the car park under the fort. This is not an official parking area but if the aire is full or if you a very large motorhome you could probably park there. By 3.30 there were about 20 vans parked there.

There’s a nice supermarket just across road from the car park, when it reopened at 3pm we got some delicious rolls just out of the oven.

We were sitting outside and a motorhome pulled in that we recognised,  it was Mike and his wife (sorry Mike we told we were dreadful with names) we met up with them at our first stop in Spain.

The town is not very pretty and we were too lazy to walk up the hill to the fort but it’s very close to the border with Spain and is an ideal stop over before you cros

Castro Marim Aire  

 

 Castro Marim Parking  

Castro Marim Castle

Tomorrow we are heading to a campsite in Spain near Granada (about a 6 hour drive) we’ll probably stay there for 2 nights and catch up with our washing.


Castro Marim Aire 

Day 35 Tues 15.03.2011

Location: Praia da Manta Rota 

We woke this morning to blue sky and sunshine.

We walked to the supermarket for bread milk and bottled water, only a five minute walk.

After lunch we walked along the boardwalk over the sand dunes to the beach, there is a second motorhome parking place just along from this one but after yesterdays rain part of it was flooded.

We have been told that a while ago all of the motorhomes parked here were asked by the police to leave and no camping signs were erected. Apparently the local shop keepers and restaurant owners protested and the signs were covered up by the town mayor and the motorhomes returned.

The Dutch couple that we keep bumping into pulled in today and their dog was very pleased to see Paul.

We have been sitting outside in shorts and t shirts drinking cold beer, Paul has been plodging (that’s paddling to us southerners) in the sea but it was a bit cold for me.

Villa just behind our parking spot

Boardwalk to the beach

Beach behind parking area

Beach behind parking area

2nd parking area

2nd parking area

The Dutch Dog

Behind the beach

Day 34 Mon 14.03.2011

Location: Praia da Manta Rota

Long / Lat N 37º09.982 W 07º31.029

We set off in torrential rain for Praia da Manta Rota, on the way out of Faro we called into a supermarket for bread and milk.

It poured with rain the whole way here, at one point it was raining so hard the road was like a fast flowing river.

We are parked in a free car park next to the beach, with free water and a toilet dump point. There are lots of motorhomes parked here but not many Brits. The town is a two minute walk, there’s a small supermarket with a very good meat counter, lots of bars and restaurants.

It has rained all day, Paul is driving me mad because he can’t play outside, I’ve been trying to read but he’s been singing songs that he’s made up himself.

I hope the sun comes out soon so Paul can play  outside


                                         Praia da Manta Rota

Praia da Manta Rota

Praia da Manta Rota

 

Day 33 Sun 13.03.2011

Location: Faro, car park just outside the town wall

No charge for parking here.

Long / Lat N 37º00.683 W 007º55.941

We left Praia da Rocha, Portimao just after  9.00, the Aire attendant doesn’t come on duty until then and we wanted to fill with water before we left.

It was pouring with rain when we set off but it’s Sunday and the roads were quiet. We travelled most of the way on the A22 which at the time of writing was still a toll free motorway.

The end of the journey was a bit tricky, we left the A22 at junction 13 and ended up driving down a couple of very narrow streets in the middle of town. It may have been easier to exit at junction 14 as the car park seems to be on the eastern side of the town.

When we arrived there were only a couple of motorhomes parked here, it’s 6.30 now and there are 11 vans parked up for the night. The car park is quiet now but during the day there were planes from Faro airport passing overhead and a train passing by about once an hour. Nothing major and a bit of a novelty.

We wouldn’t want to stay for more than one night but Faro is well worth a visit. The car park is next to the old town wall and a short walk from the marina and the main shopping area.

There are plenty of shops and restaurants, free wifi in the town square and a McDonalds with fast free wifi access.

There are no motorhome facilities here so if you visit make sure you have water.

The sun came out this afternoon, we sat outside with a glass of wine and watched the French motorhomers leveling their vans, a pastime we have come to enjoy and look forward to.

We were pleasantly surprised when the Dutch couple with the dog that unties shoelaces pulled in. Such a nice couple and Paul and the dog get on so well.

We will be leaving Portugal soon as we have arranged to meet up with some friends in Denia in Spain in early April. We will be sorry to leave Portugal as we would both have loved to spend more time exploring this beautiful country. We have missed so much due to time limits and I’m sure we will be back one day.

Sorry we don’t have time to reply to those of you who have left comments on out blog, our internet access is limited but we really love reading them.

Not sure who asked but we filled with super diesel on the A22, 1.51€ per ltr (shocking) it’s gone up since we arrived in Portugal and it’s cheaper off the motorways.

5 ltrs of red wine 7€

1ltr bottle of larger 0.75€

1ltr of Grants Whiskey 13€

Fresh pork and chicken are also very cheap so we feel this kind of offsets the high cost of fuel.

                             Big Birds Of Faro

 Faro

Our Location

Route So Far

Faro Parking Area 

Faro Marina

Faro Town Centre

Faro Parking Area