More Moraira

We decided to stay here for a third night. Partly because it's a pretty site situated in pine woods above the bay so you get glimpses of the sea through the trees as you wander about from shower block to washing-up place. It's very peaceful too, with only two other vans parked up. One of those is permanent, a big twin wheeled Hymer occupied by a lone Englishman. I suppose he must of driven here a couple of years ago and just stopped. I could see how that might happen.

There's a bit of wildlife too, with red squirrels living in the trees. They look slightly different to the Squirrel Nutkin variety you get in Northern Europe; they're not quite so fluffy, or so reddish, and have longer bodies and pointier snouts. They are quite noisy too, I can't recall British squirrels chattering on - stiff upper whiskers perhaps.

The other reason why we've stopped is we need a domestic moment - bedding washed and the interior of the van to clean and tidy. I wandered off to try to de-grease Cadac using the free hot water at the sanitary block, returning to find Gill outside the van enthusiastically thwacking the upholstery. Every slap raised a small puff of dust. It's astonishing just how grubby the van can get, but I suppose with two people living in just 18 square metres, constantly traipsing in and out of dusty campsites, then it's understandable.

By mid-morning the chores had been done and we headed down the the nearby Cala de l'Andragó. This end of Moraira is a bit of a Germanic enclave which meant even though it was Sunday morning we managed to buy a loaf of bread at the Austrian bakery, as well as a yummy looking nutty pastry to have with coffee after lunch.

view from the table

I'd packed a towel and swimming shorts in my rucksack with the intention of jumping in the sea for my 'November'  swim. In the event I chickened out of jumping into Cala de l'Andragó, partly because people were casting from the rocks and I did not want to get entangled in fishing lines. Mainly though, the cove was overlooked directly from the Ibiza style bar where we'd just had a really nice coffee. I did not feel like providing the morning cabaret featuring  an overweight Englishman thrashing about in the water like a harpooned beluga. So we walked a couple of hundred yards around the headland to a small sandy beach. After a bit of prevarication in the end I did jump in; it was not too cold, a bit choppy with a slightly alarming undertow, but great, I splashed about for ten minutes or so then dried off in the warm sun. How often can you say that in the northern hemisphere on 16th November?

Lunch!

There followed a lazy lunch of Greek salad, a gentle stroll through the town, and by the time we walked back the beachside cafés were filling with people waiting to watch the sunset, Ibiza chill-out was wafting out of a couple of the more stylish bars. We returned, had our own cut-price DIY Cafe del Mar moment beside the van with a glass of Picpoul de Pinet and a bowl of crisps....

It's almost 7 o'clock now, Gill has rustled up a paella which is bubbling away nicely, another day slips by. Tomorrow we're heading a bit further south, maybe stopping off at Altea for a night or two, then further on again, beyond Cartegna to the Costa Calida. It's all new territory, and that's what we said at the outset, 'let's go to places we've never been to before' - it's all getting a bit Star Trek, "To Boldly Go Where No Split Infinitive Has Been Before..." Beam me up Scotty, it's time for a glass of red!'