October in Spain , 2024

 This is the first time we've been in Guardamar  or Spain at large, in October. The temperatures are now dropping in England as autumn begins. We have just finished the "Castles and Coast, North" cycle ride and got it pretty rain free but the temperatures did drop before the end.

Unfortunately the weather did change abruptly with a major storm from the Atlantic hitting the UK on the day our ferry was to leave Plymouth  on 30 th September. They couldn't dock in Plymouth because of the waves and wind so they told us to go the Portsmouth. The trains to Portsmouth had also been cancelled but after some indecision, Brittany Ferries decided to be done with us all ( we had formed a little group in the same situation) and taxi us to Portsmouth, a four hour drive in atrocious weather. The crossing was very rough and took 31 hours and two nights on board. I am not very good in rough seas so spent most of the time in our cabin lying flat listening to Podcasts.

We landed in Santander at 8 am in time for a quick breakfast and then a short walk to the bus station to connect to Bilboa. The Alsa service was on time and we found our hotel, "Sercotel" with a short taxi ride (7 euros). After a break, we went on, passing the railway station, and on down to the river to get lunch at " Larruzz" (excellent and tasty food). The "Guggenheim Museo" is a short walk along the river with a cycle lane and tram passing alongside but not crowded. I've walked passed the museum before in 2004 when I started walking the Pyrenees on the GR11. Also we had planned to visit it in 2020 when Covid started and had to cancel everything. 

The museum is a collection of modern art and music but the 2nd floor was closed. The approach to the building is amazing, the sheer scale of the architecture. 

Puppy Floral in front of the museum.

Inside I was less impressed with some of the modern art and use of the large spaces. Also we were both jaded from the ferry crossing so that may have had something to do with it.

A room full of steel.

Part of the exhibition of Yoshitomo Nara.

It was interesting to sit by the river and watch Bilbao life, the tour groups, cyclists and the occasional passing of trams along a wide grass verge.

Tram leaving and behind our lunch spot in the square with fountains.

Sculptures by Dora Salazal, "Las Sirgueras" depicting the women who towed boats along the estuary as they were cheaper than oxen.

From  Bilboa we had an early start to catch the 7 am train to Madrid (4 1/2  hours) and  then changing to Alicante on the high speed train ( 2 1/2 hours reaching over 300 kmph). The station in Madrid, xxx, was very busy and overcrowded but we did get a  bocadilla de jamon before departing in a rush of people keen to get luggage space. Unlike some trains we've encountered elsewhere and in the UK, the overhead racks are deep enough for even quite big suitcase. 

Finally we were in Alicante, feeling at home as we knew our way around but not expecting a temperature of 30 C. The bus station is 15 minutes walk away so after a meal break, we caught the 6 pm bus directly to Guardamar. 

Guardamar was much as we left it in late May except the shop cabins on the forest road and fair had finished.

Guardamar's main beach ( October 4th) in the autumn sunshine that felt to us  like summer.

Did a short walk on the top of the dunes next to the apartment in the afternoon and noticed how many the pines were dying on the top ridge. Some of the larger ones seem to be green and largely OK but there was a definite ridge line on either side that are being affected as shown in the photo below. The trees get their water from groundwater sources and so I suspect the younger trees little more than 6 foot high, don't have deep enough roots to sustain them.

Along the dune ridge with some trees in a stressed state. See the white tower I'm the distance. 

This region of the coast has an interesting history and a series of man-made blunders that have severely affected the ecology and geography of the dunes and coastal erosion. I have touched on this previously in posts from here but just to recap, the trees were originally planted in the dunes because the natural forests had been felled by locals, including fishermen. The dunes then moved inland to envelope the town and then the solution was to plant a new forest. This took time and alot of hard work as the trees had to be watered at the start.

Today we have coastal erosion as a major threat especially to the beaches and houses on the sea front. A scientific paper by Oliva, Olcina and Ollero from the Universities of Alicante and Zaragoza, recently examined historical data from 1930's to date, and concluded that the erosion is being caused by several factors. These include the reducing flows from the Segura river catchment, reductions in suspended sediment loads delivered to Guardamar estuary because of numerous dams in the catchment, the influence of climate change on sea levels and also frequency of major storms in the Mediterranean, the incorrect building of an inverted sea defence that restricts sediment movement in the coastal area where there is naturally a North to South flow. The barrage has restricted sediments moving south to compensate for wave erosion. Other developments have also influenced the redistribution of sediments and the authors cite the building of houses on the sea front that interfere with the natural movements of the shoreline. Since the 1930's, the beach to the north of the town has been reduced by almost 100 m and is set to continue. There is no doubt that the situation will worsen unless some remedial action is taken although halting long term climate change seems to be beyond all of us.

Having now settled into life here, we've restarted our local cycling going to local towns and beaches including Rojales, La Mata, La Marina and inland to Doleres amounting to about 90 miles in the last 10 days. The cycling conditions have been ideal with temperatures over 25 C and with only a little wind. Today it was an afternoon ride to Rojales and back by different routes. Our favourite return way is besides the river on a wide gravel track. We spotted some late flowering Jacaranda trees on the opposite bank and unusually passed a goat herd with the goat-herder and his dog. The herder was sat under a bridge in the shade and was shouting instructions to his dog to turn the flock around as they were moving away from him down the river. There has been a little rain overnight but not enough to impact the river although we've heard on the news they've had a lot of rain to the south and other parts of Spain. I also noticed the white egrets among the goats having a mobile feast.

Goat herd grazing on the Rio Segura river bed. Can you spot the Egrets?

At the La Marina reserve, there was some activity on the salt-flats that we haven't seen in the winter months. One man was checking the salt using a really old vehicle to get between the pans and another was levelling the salt with a tractor and large bucket.

Las Salinas from the bird watching tower in the La Marina reserve. Two of the plans were dry. The salt is generally harvested in September and October.

We later visited the "Museo de la Sal y Centro de Interpretación  del Parque Salinas de Santa Pola" in Santa Pola. This is situated about 15 minutes walk from the bus station and makes an interesting visit describing the history of salt production in this area and more generally in Spain and elsewhere in the world. I found it useful as it also described the methods that are used from taking in seawater in the lagoons, to it's concentration by 8 times to produce salt crystals that are then harvested by a cutter controlled by a laser to get the right depth without removing bottom sediments. The cut salt is than conveyed by trucks and conveyor belts to be washed in brine and than piled in large conical heaps that you can see from the road. The final stage is to bag the salt for transporting. The salt is mainly exported to Northern Europe for use on roads in the winter. Some is used for cooking but is generally made manually to keep better control of the salt's composition.

On another cycle ride to Rojales, we had a Scottish breakfast at the "Stagger Inn" and found another mural to add to the previous visits collection.

Another mural in Rojales.

The river at the bridge was very low reflecting the poor rainfall this autumn.

Segura water levels at the bridge in Rojales ( October 19th, 2024).

Well this is likely to change with a large storm this morning, 23 rd October but sunny again after 1 pm. We'd had a weather warning so yesterday we did a longer cycle ride to the urbanisation (steep hill up!) and then to the most southern beach at La Marina for a laze, Helen had a swim and I did a loop from the beach and then a lunch of paella.  Just as well as a weather system they call Dana hit on Monday and gave us thunder and lightening overnight but only wind on Tuesday. Since then we have had further rain and thunder but nothing on the scale of the storms further north around and in Valencia where over 200 people have died in the sudden floods that swept through the region.

Segura river crossing at Guardamar after the Dana of the last few days especially the night of 28 th October.

We are now in our last week after a visit from Bex, Sam (10 years) and Esmee (7 years). They had more variable weather but good enough for several days at the beach and enjoying the warmish sea without wetsuits. They also had the Halloween night collecting sweets from some of the shops and having a late meal in the centre. The cycles rented from "Forest Bikes" in La  Mata, helped them to get around the forest and town as both Sam and Esmee are confident cyclists now.

With the recent storms, the Segura did rise by about a metre but not causing any flooding. Today we cycled along the side of the river from Rojales and saw lots of white egrets and water where I'd previously took a photo of the goat herd (see above photo).

Lovely shaded spot opposite "The Stagger Inn" in Rojales. All the Pink Trumpet Vine flowers (top of photo) are in bloom here and on the side of the river (4th November).

 

Coast and Castles North Cycle ride from Aberdeen to Edinburgh.

 This cycle ride, which is part of the NCR 1 going along the east side of UK, is  about 171 miles in length but we lengthened it to include the coast south of St Andrews staying at Anstruther before returning to the NCR 1 at Ceres making the whole trip of about 220 miles. This is the first time we've both had e-bikes or power assisted cycles to help us with the hills and wind!

 We started the trip on 3rd September travelling to Aberdeen by train, spending a day in Aberdeen and then going onto Stonehaven for the night. The route then goes onto Montrose where we stayed and then Dundee. We had a day in Dundee and then crossed the Tay to Tayport (where Helen lived as a child). From there we continued to St Andrews for lunch and diverting off course to a bed and breakfast in Anstruther. The following day we went on to re-join the NCR 1 at Ceres and onto Markinch (again slightly off route but a convenient stop). After that we re-joined the route to Kinross where we had a free day to explore Lock Leven. The final cycle day was into Edinburgh over the Forth road bridge to Leith. Here we met some of Helen's family and saw some of the sights of the city before returning to Dartington on 16 th September by train. 

Aberdeen.

The journey was long (starting at 9.53h Totnes arriving in Aberdeen at 21.13h, changing at Edinburgh). Originally the journey was on one train but unfortunately this became two as we had to change in Edinburgh. We were nervous about taking our cycles on the trains because we suspected "Cross Country" had hangers so you have to hang your bike from the ceiling of the carriage in a very limited space. Anyway we did it OK and Edinburgh station had good directions and lifts that were big enough to wheel our cycles into. 

We stayed at Jewel Guest House which is on the NCR 1 route and convenient for the city centre by foot. Our bikes stayed in the locked garden at the rear and the next day we found breakfast in nearby Union Square, After that we looked around Aberdeen city centre going to the Maritime Museum, shopping centre, harbour and beach area to the north of the centre.

 Gordon Highlanders War Memorial on Castle Street at the top of Union Street.

Aberdeen's sandy beach looking over to the cliffs and our route out in the morning.

Mural near the harbour.

Try and find this mural, shush

Another find and always a surprise.

The Maritime Museum (free entry) was modern and gave a comprehensive history of the whaling, naval and oil industry centred on the city. There was a lot of information about the lives of the people in different ages but too much to take in on one visit. I'd read there was a beach, so after a stroll up Union Street (there is a large "Evans Cycles" store on Union Street) we walked down to the sea front to find a café and view of the long sandy beach towards the harbour area. The harbour area and docks are near the centre and it makes a good walk to follow the shoreline to the docks and back into the main shopping area, crossing what looked like the original cobbled side streets. 

Stonehaven.

No rain so far but cloudy with little wind and a relatively short ride of 26 miles to Stonehaven on the coast to the south. To start with we went through an industrial area on roads dominated by vehicles connected with work in the docks. However, the road soon rose to a cycle path along the cliffs to a lighthouse and a cooler wind from the west. This route joined a larger carriageway and then smaller  roads to Portleven where we anticipated a coffee stop, After asking, we found one,  "Sally's Cafe", about 10 minutes ride off-route near the intersection with the A90. After this we followed a stony track and then minor roads wending their way up, down and around to the B979 downhill into Stonehaven. This made a pleasant ride that was mostly traffic, free apart from the busy road into the town.

Stonehaven beach looking towards the harbour and the cliffs that we ascend in the morning. 

Our first stop was to get a late lunch at  "Pinky Promise" near the square and find our apartment, "Bay View", near the beach front. Here we stored and charged our cycles and later, made our way to the "Toll Booth" restaurant to celebrate our 54 years wedding anniversary, a great meal overlooking the harbour.

One of the "Stonehaven Banksy" scrap-metal sculptures set along the beach path from the harbour seen on our evening stroll.

We walked back along the walkway on the beach front and saw the various sculptures that started to appear in 2016 that fascinated locals and tourists to the town. It was a pleasant evening with a radiant sunset over the bay.

Montrose.

Our next day was a ride to Montrose (27 miles) via Inverbervia which is about half-way. The sun was out and a milder day so I didn't miss the chance of shorts for the ride. We knew we had a steep climb out of Stonehaven to the cliffs but this was made easy on a graded cycle/footway to the road that passed Dunnottar Castle.

Dunnottar Castle on the coast just after leaving Stonehaven. Spectacular location a few minutes walk from the coastal road with a secure spot for cycles.

We stopped here and walked down to this scenic spot joining many tourist on the way. I can't imagine how difficult this was to build given its remote and challenging location near steep cliffs. The next part of the ride to Inverbervie was mostly on minor roads through farmland with the sweet smell of manure and corn harvesting in progress. There wasn't much traffic and the NCR 1 was clearly marked at the various junctions and turns. Nearing Inverbervie the road joined the A92 into town where we found a great coffee stop called "Phoenix" on the main street. After this we had a section on the busier A92 that I expect one day will have a cycle path alongside. The road was wide, undulating but not busy for us and so we were soon near St Cyrus and a National Nature Reserve on the coast. This involved a steep drop on a narrow winding road from the A92 but it was worthwhile as we sat on the beach eating our sausage rolls.

Lunch on St Cyrus beach in the sunshine.

St Cyrus beach looking towards Montrose our destination for the day.

Luckily, the route onwards went south parallel to the beach and avoided the steep incline. It joined an ash track and old aerodrome runways to reach cycle paths into Montrose. Our bed and breakfast accommodation ("The Lime Guest House") was before the bridge over South Esk river. The lady at the guest house recommended "The George" for our evening meal, about a 10 minute walk into the town and let us charge our batteries in their garden shed (this only took a couple of hours with the relatively low daily mileage).

Dundee.

The next day turned out to be a change in the weather with a cooler wind and mist and took us about 3 hours and 20 minutes to cover the 34 miles. We started by finding the bridge through to Ferryden which was quite industrial then proceeded to some hills and changes in direction with only a few glimpses of the coast. This was on narrow roads with few cars and a tractor or two but some climbs and well marked. This led us into Abroath and a coffee stop at "Cafe Seven" in the town centre. We cycled along the harbour and diverted into the centre but found many closed shops and many that seemed to be struggling. 

A proper cycle path from Abroath.

The next stage was on cycle paths all the way to Dundee centre passing through Carnoustie and lunch stop at the sports centre, and then Broughty Ferry and an ice cream stop on the quay. Broughty Ferry was lively in the afternoon sunshine as we watched some boats come in and people walking on the promenade aside the Tay estuary. 

The misty view near Broughty Ferry over the Tay towards Tayport.

The cycle path led us into Dundee and the harbour where NCR 1 goes over the Tay bridge. We continued around the V&A museum to the Premier Inn where they stored our bikes for a couple of days whilst we visited the city.

On an after dinner stroll we found the centre full of life with the University Freshers week in progress and I couldn't resist a photo of the "Desperate Dan" statue in the High Street.

Desperate Dan, Dawg, Minnie and Minx.

We also visited the V&A and Discovery museums near the harbour front.  We have seen the Discovery before many years ago and now with the ongoing restoration, the ship didn't look at it's best. I have to say I didn't understand many of the exhibits in the V&A and what was going on, but that's me. 

Scott's Discovery ship in restoration.

On of the exhibitions showing the craftsmen at work on the hull.

We also took some time to find the route onto the Tay bridge for walkers and cyclists as we were both apprehensive about the crossing. This proved simple as there was a large walk-through lift from the harbour-front cycle path up to the cycleway on the bridge, and although the temperatures had suddenly dropped to a few degrees, the wind was still moderate and shouldn't be a concern when we cross.

Tayport, St Andrews to Anstruther.

The next day we planned to cross the Tay and spend some time in Tayport where Helen lived as a child. The morning was cold, so shorts away, but the sun did shine through to give us a blue sky and a brilliant day to cycle and visit the area around Tayport, The cycleway over the bridge was fine, a little narrow but did produce a peculiar sound with our tyres on the metal grid. 

Crossing the Tay.

There was a nice cycleway into Tayport going alongside the estuary. We stopped several times as Helen recalled her childhood rolling down the brae slopes (now trees and shrubs) and picking berries (the berries are still there). The path goes besides the discontinued Tayport High Lighthouse with panoramic views over the Tay to Broughty Ferry on the other side. From here we cycled into Tayport harbour and a coffee at the "Harbour Cafe", a nicely situated community cafe overlooking the harbour. 

Tayport Braes

One of Tayports lighthouses

The harbour at Tayport near the cafe.

Tayport looking north-west towards the town and harbour.

Looking east to Tentsmuir and in the distance Tentsmuir point, our next destination through the forest. The antitank boulders are still in place.

We then did a cycle tour of the town as Helen showed me where her family had lived whilst in Tayport and also where her father had a bakers shop. Great to see it all with a blue sky and such calm conditions.

The next ride was on gravel/forest tracks through moorland and forest (Tentsmuir) to reach Tentsmuir point where we heard and saw some curlew but we didn't see any seals. This is one location where the dunes and mudflats grow seaward, one of the fastest developments in Scotland partly caused by deposition of sediment from the Tay as it reaches the sea.

Looking out to Tentsmuir point in the Tentsmuir National Reserve.

Turning south, we continued on forest tracks to meet a minor road leading to Leuchars, a well known RAF base (in the past) and now army base. Unfortunately we met high winds on the route and a fair number of cars making to the reserve. We found the NCR 1 directions in the town confusing or absent but managed to navigate with the GPS Ride App. to get s to Guardbridge and a cycleway along side the main road into St Andrews.

St Andrews was very busy with tour buses and many American voices around. We had some difficulty finding bike stands at first but then they appeared out of the blue, so no complaints. We had a quick lunch and then decided to leave the bustle, and cycle past the harbour to find the A917 out of the town and then after a mile, a "B" road leading directly south-east to Anstruther on the coast. The NCR 1 heads inland from St Andrews to the south-west to Ceres which we intended to meet the following day. We felt a brief diversion,  to what we recall as a small fishing village that we'd visited before in our camper, would make a change to following the National Cycle Route. The "B" road was busier than I'd imagined and also we had a head-wind all of the way so although it was only about 9 miles, we were glad to get to our Bed and Breakfast accommodation , "Spindrift", on the edge of town. We walked around the harbour and reserved dinner at the "Waterfront" restaurant adjacent to the harbour. We were advised that the restaurants get full and sure enough during our meal they were turning people away; the meal and service was very good and recommended. 

Anstruther harbour on a chilly night.

Markinch.

We awoke to gale warnings with winds from the north-west gusting at 45-50 mph, just the direction we were travelling.  We started by going through Pittenweem but didn't stop as we thought the day would be long and challenging enough. I had mapped a route on GPS Ride to get to Ceres and rejoin the national cycleway. This was mainly on minor roads to Arncroach and then we did meet a minor road signed "Private" at Lathallan farm  that was a short-cut avoiding the main A915  but we decided to take the longer route meeting up with my original route at the entrance to Gilston House. This proved a good idea as the gravel/dirt track went through a long coppice that sheltered us from the wind and then joined a minor road to New Gilston. This is one of the few times I had to used my Ordance Survey map to check the route as the GPS RideA pp. isn't brilliant at names such as Gilston House.

Typical of the undulating countryside to Markinch with some wheat still to be harvested.

A view of Markinch from our evening walk.

The cycle into Ceres was very picturesque along the narrow lanes. Here we diverted to "The Village Cafe", another community café for refreshments, lunch and a break from the wind blasting. After this we were on the NCR 1 for a while but again diverted south towards Glenrothers and our accommodation at Markinch. This was a self-catering flat "Wellpark Corner" and very pleasant and not far from "Laurel Bank Hotel" for our evening meal,

Kinross.

This was a relatively short cycle ride of 24 miles but with hills totalling 1224 ft in ascent but the last bit near Loch Leven pretty flat. The route skirts the Lomond Hills National Park going along the northern side to the west of the hills to Kinross and Loch Leven.

Approaching Falkland with views of the Lomond Hills National Park, East Lomond hill (424 m)

Falkland centre with the 

We stopped at the "Campbell's Cafe" and had a walk around. Falkland is known for its Palace but we had already been in when we lived in Galashiels. 

The route continued to the west of the hills but on tracks and small minor roads above the A91.

Undulating road travelling south-west on higher ground but bordering the National Park.

First view of Loch Leven from the above road.

The route took us onto a gravel path around Loch Leven (3 to 4 ft wide) to reach a café/restaurant "Loch Leven's Larder" perfectly situated for a late lunch break. From there it was a short ride on tracks around the loch to "Kirkland Hotel" for our stop for two nights. They allowed us to charge our cycles in their garage and was situated in a good position to explore the loch and go over to the island that gained fame from the visits and incarceration of Mary, Queen of the Scots. 

We awoke to a cold wind and temperatures near 3 C so much in contrast to the start of our trip, The castle is reached by a short boat ride from the quay and makes an interesting visit although most of the castle has been demolished but you do get a sense of the history from the situation and the stories of the boatmen as you cross.  We had lunch in yet another community cafe and a walk alongside the loch.

Loch Leven Castle

Edinburgh.

This was to be our last day cycling (about 34 miles, 1994 ft ascent) and neither of us had looked forward to it because it involved a lot of urban cycling through Dunfermline and Edinburgh. However, once we cycled over the M90 near Kinross, the minor roads were not busy and well signed for NCR 1. The first part was over hills up to about 300 m to the "Heights of  Craigencrew" but on good winded roads giving great views in all directions. The power assist cycles helped a lot on what must be the steepest gradient of the whole trip. On descending, we saw signs for Townhill and I'd noted a cafe and sports complex nearby on the small "Town Loch".  We found this (it is close to the cycle path but not signed because of vandals destroying the signs) and enjoyed a morning break before moving onto the urbanisation of  Dunfermline and Inverkeithing. There are designated cycle paths but sometimes difficult to follow with the road intersections and changing sides of the road. This is where the GPS Ride App came in useful. In Inverkeithing we gave up on the cycle lanes and went onto the road to reach the Forth Road Bridge with its designated cycle lane. There are three bridges, the railway, the Forth Road Bridge and Queensferry Bridge with the M90. The Queensferry and Forth Road Bridges split at the last moment and so we stopped and asked someone if we were in the correct place as it looked like we were about to take the motorway along side the cycle path. The wind had dropped and the cycleway, of about 2 km, was fine and took us towards Cramond.

View of the Rail Bridge from the Forth Road Bridge cycleway.

We then followed NCR 1  to Cramond bridge and then our own route through Edinburgh by minor roads and cycleways stopping at Cramond for refreshments.

Our refreshment stop looking over the Forth at Cramond.

The route through Edinburgh to Leith, where we were staying, was easy and straight forward on what looked like old rail tracks and was well signed. We stayed at the Premier Inn and although they did store our cycles, we couldn't recommend their food or service. We met up with Helen's family and enjoyed chatting and catching up on our lives. We did visit the Botanical Gardens and Holyrood Palace so it was a good break from cycling. 

Edinburgh was very busy so cycling to Waverley Station to catch the train back to Totnes was quite daunting but in the event quite easy as the cycleways get close to St Andrew Square (coffee stop!) and within walking distance of the station. We had the usual hassle getting our cycles on the train and hanging them from near impossible spaces but we arrived early and the station person kindly allowed us to get our cycles in place before the passengers were allowed on the train. This made a big difference as wrestling with cycles in places were passengers are passing, is impossible. I guess the rail companies don't want cycles on trains but if you do get them on, watch they are not damaged by the poor support and clanging. I used bungie cords but saw one wheel in a different carriage broken because of the mounting.

Looking out of the window as I write this with the rain pouring down in Totnes, made me think how lucky we were to do the whole journey without rain and with blue skies most of the time. I won't mention the wind again, but if you are going to do this route, check the wind direction!

Spain in January and February, 2024.

 

Our local cafe in Guardamar with Christmas decorations.

We arrived in Guardamar del Segura just after Christmas and was able to see the street and café decorations before they were taken down and marking the start of 2024.

Ayuntamiento Guardamar (town hall) taken from the top of the adjacent museum.

A view of the Ayuntamiento with the Christmas decoration in early January.

Everything seemed so familiar,  even though it was eight months since our last visit. This time we were staying for only two months and planning to return for a month in May and probably October. Our cycles had been stored and after inflating the tyres, we were ready to check out the surroundings areas starting with the local park extending to the beach and marina.

A popular walk and also cycle ride through the dune forest to the long beach and marina. We don't see many birds but mostly house sparrows, blackbirds, hoopoes and black redstarts.

One of our first cycle trips was to La Marina village and beach (about 21 km in total) to see the shoreline and look at the Las Salinos (Santa Pola). Here I got some nice shots of flamingo and other waders from an adjacent bird hide.

Capturing a moment with a flamingo's head out of the water.

..and an avocet.

Another bird that we also see on the tidal Segura river, is the black backed stilt.

We did an organised tour of the castle above Guardamar and also the Phoenician and Roman sites in the dune forest that have been excavated over the 10 or so years since we have visited the area. The medieval Islamic Caliphate "Rabita" is situated next the the Phoenician city of  La Fonteta and this makes a very educational morning visit with excellent guides.

View from the castle wall overlooking Guardamar with the sea and Sant Pola in the distance. The original town of Guardamar was situated in the castle walls but was mostly destroyed in an earth quake in 1829.

The remains of the Islamic "Rabita" built over a earlier Phoenician settlement.

We also visited a Roman villa and fish factory near the beach just south of Guardamar. We had walked past this area many times, especially during the Covid lock-down and hadn't been aware of the roman remains. 

Part of El Moncayo or El Montcaio, another Roman site in the dunes.

On this visit we had also planned to take a few days in Valencia which is just a two hour rail trip to the north on route to Barcelona. We got the local bus to Alicante and then walked to the rail station and then we were in Valencia by mid-afternoon. The accommodation was near the centre so we had a 20 min walk as the station is in the northern area of the city. In the evening we walked around the area to see the lights and fountains and then found a convenient restaurant nearby.

Night lights in the centre.

The following day we had a more extensive walk to explore the city, mainly to the north and to the Jardins del Turia. This is a large area made from the old bed of the river Turia that once passed through the centre of the city but was diverted after some major flooding and loss of life.

A view of the gardens in the winter sunshine.

 We found the older part of the city and a relaxing lunch in the sunshine. The following day, we took the hop-on and hop-off bus to tour the city and see some of the changes since our last visit (February, 2012) and recognised some the places we'd seen before, in particular the Playa Levante that we cycled to from the campsite.

On our return to Guardamar, we did a day trip to Elche. This is a short bus ride from Guardamar with regular buses to the modern station in Elche that is conveniently placed near the Palm Groves for which Elche is famous. We had been to Elche before in 2012 when we were camping at Marjal complex but coming by bus was more relaxing without the problems of finding parking. We again visited the Basillica de Snt Maria and climbed the narrow steps to get a view of the city. The museum next door was closed for renovation work so we had a pleasant walk around the centre and relaxing lunch, again in the sunshine.

The river walk alongside the palms and through the extensive gardens. There is the remains of a stream in the river bottom

We returned to the station by the riverside walk and through the Palm Groves and also passing the landmark mill above the river.

A view of the mill from a bridge.

Back in Guardamar, we continued cycling to local towns and beaches and also visited the craft caves in Rojales again. We basically had two months without rain during the day and avoided the wettest February in the south-west of England on record.

Some displays above the caves in Rojales.

Also during this visit we joined a local walking group and did a morning picking litter near Rojales in the area adjacent to the river. In all, we look forward to returning in May and also going to Cordoba for a few days to see the "patios of flowers".