Lovely people, nice surprise.

One of the few available pitches was next to a big grey bus with Swedish plates. It belonged to Svempa and Maria - the 'Buzz' had been Svempa's 'retirement project', taking four years in total to convert into a true house on wheels. A lovely couple, it was great to meet them and their Border Collie who was still at the mad but friendly stage. I admire Svemps's pluck in driving the Buzz - 12.5 tonnes and the length of a railway carriage - all the way from Sweden. After one year when they drove it back, they leave it now on the site permanently and drive down by car. They were very helpful with advice and ideas about our planned trip to Scandinavia next spring. "Call in and see us." they said, and we probably will 

Some of the fittings are from IKEA - which is unsurprising!

It has been a day of nice surprises. I was looking on Google  for something I wrote years ago which mentioned RAC patrolmen. I thought it might amuse my cyberpal Susan Sharman who had been rescued by the venerable organisation after Hetty - their much loved moho - had conked out in the outer Hebrides. I failed to find the piece but discovered by chance that back in March something I had written in 2002 had been featured on BBC Radio 4's poetry request show, 'Poetry Please'. The programme is built around poems requested by listeners based around a particular theme - in this case 'In between days'. I was surprised to learn that this niche programme can attract an audience of a million - so it was my one minute of fame, it only takes a minute or so to read a sonnet. More gratifying than that however is the thought that someone took the time to request it, that it meant that much to them. I felt very touched.

Marias said, "Why are you going so soon?" It was tempting to stay, it's a rare thing to come across people who you connect with when you travel. Isla Christina is a lovely place too. However, our mission is to visit new places. That means saying goodbye to favourite spots to find new ones. Tomorrow it's find the LPG place in Ayemonte then head to the Algarve. Goodbye Spain - for three weeks - and hello Portugal.