Spain Winter of 2017

We arrived in mid-January to an untypical cold spell influencing the whole of the Costa Blanca and inland. In Guardamar del Segura we missed the worst with only rain and some hailstones with temperatures falling below 10 C, pretty unusual for this time of year. However, this only lasted a few days before it became milder and the sun appeared.  We have heard that the bad weather here, including rain in December, has affected the supply of salads and vegetables in the UK as most of the winter supplies come from this area and Murcia province.

Snow in Alicante area on January 20 th, the day after we arrived here in Guardamar.

The winter storms have done immense damage to areas of the coast line including the old cottages on the Playa Babilonia in Guardamar. These were built in 1927 and were about 100 m from the sea but now they are currently at the shoreline. The local paper attributed this to the change in sand deposition caused after the harbour at the north end of the dunes was built. After the photo below was taken, further high-water and winds eroded the pavement and road so they have asked for the cottages to be evacuated and a police cordon has been constructed to prevent access to this area of the town. However, today we walked right along the front as the police tapes had been cut, presumably by the public to gain access.

 Storm damage on Playa Babilonia in January 2017.

The tides have been high and deposited lots of tree branches and other debris as well as uprooting the shoreline boundary fence.

Looking north along the beach towards the town.

There are many pleasant walks along tracks and roads (no vehicles) in the main park, Alfonso X111. This was planted to stabilise the dune-field that threatened the town. It is about 800 hectares in extent stretching from the town to the harbour with mainly Alepo Pines and Eucalyptus trees.

Made a day trip north of Alicante to Javia (or Xabia) which took almost 2 hours from here. We had camped here before but didn't get to see the seafront and harbour area. It was much larger urbanisation than we recall with lots of British voices.

In spite of the rain the Rio Segura (taken north of Benijofar) is still quite low.

There are some pleasant walks in the area as in many places the Rio Segura has tracks along both banks. The above photo was taken on a walk from Benijofar to Rojales and then back along the river past the orchards fed by the river with groves of orange and lemon trees. We regularly walk through the Park Alfonso in Guardamar to the beach and then back through the town or to the port at the estuary of the river. This is about 2 to 3 miles depending on the route.

An interesting statue as in all the time we've been visiting here we've never noticed it in a corner of the park. It is in commemoration of the man who saved Guardamar from the sea and dunes, Francisco Mira  Botella, a mountain engineer who instigated the planting of trees and stabilising the dunes fields that threatened to bury Guardamar at the beginning of the 20 th century. In many ways, this shaped the future of the town and stopped further development along the sea front.

We've now hired two cycles from Costa Blanca Cycles in San Pedro for the rest of our stay here. David delivered the cycles and all the equipment we needed yesterday and so today we tried our first ride along the Rio Segura to Rojales for coffee and then onto Formentera del Segura and Benijofar before returning via the track on the north side of the river to the coast near the Camping Mahjal campsite where we stayed on our first camping trip with Brian and Sue. In all only about 17 miles but on tracks away from traffic apart from the section going through Rojales. We started in light rain but it soon cleared to a light cloud and quite warm, about 17 C. Apparently, the tracks along side the Segura go all the way to Orihuela, one of the larger cities inland from here.

Can you spot the lone surfer on the beach on the north side of the harbour at Guardamar? The sea was rough and this is the first time we've seen surfers around Guardamar.

Today we didn't get time for a longer ride but just found the cycleway from Guardamar towards La Mata which starts at the roundabout near the river off the Carretera Orihuela-Guardamar. We followed this stopping at the beach at Moncayo. Apart from the hotel nearby, this is not a developed beach. We returned by the town route and Avenue de Cervantes to the park for a drink and arrived back before the rain started in earnest (about 8 miles in total).

Playa Moncayo looking towards towards Torrevieja.

Today, St Valentines, was a brilliant summers day so we cycled to the beach at La Marina in the El Pineta and had lunch at the restaurant overlooking the beach and then a leisurely afternoon. The route mainly avoids main roads but does involve some gravel and bumpy tracks, about 14 miles in total.

The good weather continues so we cycled on the cycleway to La Mata beach and then walked along the beach from the north side to the reserve. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants along the front and a few people were strolling or sunbathing. On the way back we noticed some Asphodels that had just started flowering on a hillside amongst some scrubland. We came back through town and the dunes to the port and then along the river. A very pleasant day amounting to about 18 miles. A variant of this is to go near La Mata and then across the road to the Laguna Salada de la Mata; there is a cycle ride along the south shore, most of it on a rough track. Another ride of about 20 miles is from here to Dolores via San Fulgencio (with café stop!) with about half on a cycleway besides an irrigation channel. Dolores has a pleasant square with restaurants such as the Casa Casino which has a tasty tapas menu. In the same direction there is a circular ride from here to Las Marinas (urbanisation) and then back to La Marine beach, in all less than 20 miles.

A group of White Asphodels beginning to flower. I've seen these in full bloom in the Pyrenees in late May.

Another cycle ride from here is to Santa Pola (about 23 miles) crossing the Parque Natural Salines de Santa Pola and entering the town on the western side to find a cycleway along the sea front in the direction of the harbour.

View from the road across the Salines near Santa Pola towards Elche. Some gulls, flamingos and egrets nearby.

Our last two weeks was in brilliant weather when Bex, Tony and family stayed with us in Guardamar. We did lots of beach trips, cycling and "wave running" with Sam, and Bex did some practice swimming in the sea and strolls through the park to town or the harbour. We made another visit to Santa Pola and a stony beach at the north end of the main beach.

View inland from the beach at Santa Pola towards the Sierra de Santa Pola.

Finally during the cold Spanish winter nights I have done some more wood carving and Pyrography. This time I tried Beech wood again from the local forest and some Rhododendron from the garden.

The centre spoon is Rhododendron and the other two are Beech.

They have been finished with Walnut oil and this seems to bring out a nice colour with both woods. Also, these are my first attempts at Pyrography or wood burning making table mats:

Lion, Ostrich, Kudu, Warthog, Elephant, Giraffe, Leopard and Zebra.