"A Year in Spain" My "last gasp" attempt at posting (informative info).

🤣🤣🤣🤣 Spanish music guitar lesson going on in our apartment right now, taught by our Dutch neighbour.

In exchange we're taking him out on the bikes tomorrow, and even lending him a bike! Martin's "old" one, no less.
 
It's strange, the people you meet. We have some great Dutch, Scandi and Spanish friends and neighbours.

We even have some Funsters (ex in some cases) living here, that contacted us before we arrived ourselves. One of them is a pretty good guitarist, allegedly. In four years, living within a few kilometres, I've still not met him in the flesh (Martin has when he was selling some bike gear) , but still correspond online 🙄. We're hoping to correct that over the next few months.
 
Today we went riding, taking with us, riding Martin's " old" YT bike, the Dutch neighbour, Willem. He's obviously used to riding bikes, being Dutch, but not so used to offroad stuff. We kept it simple, a shorter variation of my route from a few days ago, and he did it well. I think (hope) he'll come out more often with us.

After lunch, we were just relaxing when the intercom went. Martin went to see who was there and it was the delivery of a new guitar. The first attempt was returned and the next one was due for the 25th. But .... it arrived today.

Willem is a great guitarist, so Martin invited him to the unpacking, and he's been here playing for the last hour. He's brilliant at playing Spanish style music. He got first play at the new guitar.

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I made a short video, but it won't play ☹️
 
daveinspain said:
That´s an unusual looking guitar, what is it?
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Apparently it's a LAVA Mi 2 carbon fibre acoustic.

Please don't ask me for more details 🤣🤣

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Peavy said:
Interesting. Never heard about that guitar.
I'm a guitar player too 🙂
Looks nice, it's kind of an electroacoustic guitar (y)
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Yes it's got in- built effects too....quite a nice sound for carbon fibre....with fairly tough travel case it's going with us on the next trip..
 
jumar said:
Yes it's got in- built effects too....quite a nice sound for carbon fibre....with fairly tough travel case it's going with us on the next trip..
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Oh Gawd! Your not going to get it out on an evening to play thinking everyone loves your music 😳😂😂

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Today we decided to go to check out the new Camping Playa Parazuelos. It does exist, and it has about a dozen motorhomes, two caravans and two tiny tents on it.

We rode part of the official long distance route along the coast, which, unfortunately, takes you through the "unofficial" mainly German encampment. Lots of loose dogs and, strangely, naked men wandering around. The women were all dressed normally for the time of year 🤔

One German caravanner arrives every year, for his winter stay. He's there now.

Now we like to wild park, and do so for a night, two at most, but these come for the whole winter season.

Mazarron ayuntamiento are, allegedly, on top of the problem, but it's so far been five years and all is still the same.

They stopped the parking at the Erosions, where my photos begin, but nothing else has happened, despite numerous pleas from locals, and the passing of local, and then regional, laws.

We'll now keep away, it's better for our blood pressures 🤣🤣🤣

We'll go into the mountains instead.

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The new camping
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Then backtracking. Playa Percheles. Now an unofficial motorhome area, was fuller than we expected in October.


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The fence is new since our last visit in the Spring.

The freeloaders ... here for six months at least.
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And the nice bit back to Bolnuevo (kept nice at that end now, due to a gate being installed some years ago).
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We live in a reasonable part of Spain (for winters especially).
 
It the same for us, but different also, as we live near Lockerbie.
We love our summers in the U.K but need the extra light and dry weather that a winter in the south gives you.
As with you we like being out, more walking than biking, but that can change as our van now will carry our full size E bikes.
So lower temperatures are o.k.
 
Today was supposed to be a riding day, but rain during the night, and the forecast of gales, made us change our minds.

As it turned out, we could have had a, gale free, ride, but too late, instead we drove to Murcia, to get a part for our broken patio window blind, and then to shop at the Murcian Jysk.

We were, fairly successful in all our shopping ventures.

Tomorrow, I'm going to see Colin "Coco" Brown at his rescue centre that's not too far from here. His "alter ego" is Coco Chanel, drag queen, often seen in Benidorm.

Now, I'll be happier with the poo picking, animal lover (Colin), than the other side (Coco), but I've offered to help with the next part of his project, to turn some nearby wasteland, that they've managed to purchase, into another area for their animals.

So tomorrow, I have to tap him on his shoulder and introduce myself.

I'll post some piccies of his rescue centre, so far.
 
Have you seen his show?
 
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Jays2 said:
Have you seen his show?
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No, have you? Apparently he does two shows a night, a few nights a week in Benidorm.

The Farm is also featured in Bargain Loving Brits in Spain (or something like that) I've not seen that either. It's not my cuppa, and I've told him that, but I think it'll be good advertising for his cause.

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Yesterday, Martin went down to the local Jysk, to try to spend the rest of the money loaded on the card due to the later delivery of our sofas.

I took our Dutch neighbour out for a local ride on his, borrowed from Martin bike.

I think he enjoyed it, even though he had a bit of a wobble on one uphill slope.

He then asked if we could stop for coffee at the, very small, nondescript, village of La Pinilla.

(I quite like these small, nondescript, out of the way places. Definitely more than the tourist places!. Even though there's less to show to others 😂

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The yellow and white church, with its small statue.

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You really need to accept the smell of pigs around these small villages. That's how they continue to exist.
 
Today, we Martin and me, put the bikes on the car and went to ride an easy route from the other side of Alhama de Murcia.

Market day, today, made it a bit more difficult to drive through the town (a 30 second delay, perhaps) but we soon managed to park at our chosen spot. One of three vehicles parked there, with one leaving before we began our ride.

We know this area so well, so I didn't take too many photos.

It's quite nice to be back amongst familiar scenery, especially when it is so nice.
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The bare patch on the hill is an archaeological site. Since we've been visiting here (25 years) its been oob, and it still seems to be. I'm sort of getting to the stage of ignoring the signs and going for a visit.

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The canal, that transports water from the Tajo River, and then joining the Segura River, to bring irrigation water from the north to the south.
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And then, the smaller, irrigation channels, taking water through the terraces.

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A few, random photos, cos I can't see what I've already posted. In the "Badlands" by the look of them.

Martin
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And .... me?
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I think Willem will love this route.

Unfortunately, one of us will have to stand down. Our car can only carry two bikes 🙄🤣.

(I have some curtains to shorten 😂😂)
 
Martin bought us some new duvets and covers yesterday (on our free card). So I've just contacted a local woman who works for a charity. She's been and taken everything we had before, whilst Martin has been out at the motorhome. I hope he wanted it all to go.

Tooooo late, anyway.
 
Twenty five years ago this coming December, this part of Murcia was the first place we explored. Totally by chance, we'd found a two day orienteering event in the adverts in the monthly magazine. We sent an entry by post to the Federation in Madrid. They sent it on and Paco, the first Spanish friend we made, hand delivered our numbers and race info to Totana Campsite.

All those years ago, and we're still so happy to be walking and riding in these mountains. Paco is still a good friend, but we made many more also.

We parked at a large parking area next to the Ermita de Santa Leocadia, and below Finca Caruana, with even more large parking areas. The old laundry building was renovated some years ago, but recently a link route between two Via Verdes has been signed. We rode part of it today, then headed up high into the mountains of Sierra Espuña.

The test was for Martin's new bike. It passed with ease. It still had 30 percent in the battery when we finished. We rode about 46km with 1,100 m of ascent. The longest we've done for a few years.

The Ermita and the laundry.
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And grapes. Ready for picking.
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On the route.
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At our highest point, and heading back down.

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And a few of Pedro Lopez and the highest point with the military installations.

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The bikes were quickly loaded onto the car, and lunch was eaten in a local bar.

Home now, and relaxing.

Siesta for one 🤣

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Peavy said:
You guys are fully integrated :LOL:
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I wouldn't say "fully" our language skills leave much to the imagination of those listening to us 😂.

We can do more than "una cerveza pfv" but ... our time in Spain was made so easy for us by so many of our Spanish friends wanting to learn English, or wanting their kids to learn.

Add that to the normal Brit ability to (not) learn a foreign language and we're sort of half way on the scale.
 
Another riding day today. We went to do our own "Corvera Cracker" route, from the village of Corvera, and our nearest airport. All was well, but it has got slightly more difficult since we last rode it. Dave's gulley (a friend that rode with us last time and ended up in it) has now been infilled, but with soft soil and stones. A few of the other bits were more difficult. One of Martin's previous doggy friends came to "bark" hello. Its tail was waving but it's teeth were showing! I kept well away.

The bar in the lovely, tiny village, of La Murta was open (for only the second time riding here), and offering food, but it was too early for us to stop and take advantage (and ride on again, afterwards)! Another time maybe (there is a P4N parking right across the road, for the ones who know what I'm talking about 🙂 and as I've copied this from my Facebook where I have some none motorhoming friends, I know you'll all know what I'm saying 👍).

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