January Update

January 28th 2008

MC & Briar Update

Hoy Todo El Mondo ( in other words - hey everyone)
Thought it twas about time to check in again with a update, alas our woes with access to internet with me flash lappie which appears to be the problemo is f…... me off , but life goes on and I will move forward……and Briar will read or contemplate …or daydream…
Anyways since the last update which I think was Madrid and lotsa snow we headed down to Granada with a overnight stop on the way at Saint Elena in the Desperannos national parque (park for the intelligent kiwis) a quaint little Spanish mountain town, had a good stroll around in the arvo sun , bout 15 degrees but clear blue skies yeaahh , back to Hugo for tha daily vino tinto intake with tapas of course.

After a stout nites sleep we headed south into Granada to visit the Alhambra Castle and Generalife, a definite tick if you are in Spain. We travelled 120kms from Saint Elena to Granada and all we saw for miles and miles were Olive trees (have the photos), in some areas, they were even picking in the middle of winter, who knows why, but then that’s Spain for ya. ( Briar will not be convinced into picking olives now…)

While Granada is a relatively modern city built around one of the oldest castle complexes in Spain, after a frustrating two and half hours lookin for a camping ground half decent, it will not be a city well remembered. Had a couple of minties moments, stopped for a bite to eat, regathered our momentum, with an Arataki challenge from one of Briars teacher colleagues. (After opening the challenge from Hayley, we had to toss a coin and one of us had to wear the Kiwiana apron naked while cookin the other dinner – romantic you say, hav ya seen me in an apron only, alas we have photos ta prove it, by the way we didn’t toss the coin, of course I volunteered, Briar wasn’t gonna do it naked, hay but I’m in for getting me clothes off at any chance, yeah baby yeah.
Finally - we did find one of the better camping grounds and probably the closest to the Alhambra castle, which we had prebooked tickets for while in Madrid. The camp ground was very close to the Sierras Nevada mountains where of course there is snow and skiing etc.etc , we who said yeah baby where jus gonna follow the sun around Europe. It was a great camping ground (warm shower rooms etc) and the following day Granada turned on a beautiful day for our visit to Alhambra castle, it was an amazing place and of course our first castle visit, so of course it was bloody amazing. Did I say this place was amazing, spent four amazing hours wandering around this amazing 12th century complex, with some amazing recent 15th century additions. Got some amazing photos. Briar has amazing garden ideas which is also amazing for someone who doesn’t garden…

Then amazingly we left Granada and headed south to the Costa Del Sol and stopped for Quattro (four) nights at Torro Del Mar at a campground right on the playa (beach for the intelligent kiwis). It was full of campervans and caravans of which the majority were permanents, as they call them here too. Unfortunately the majority were bloody krauts or Scandinavian with the odd Pom thrown in for good measure. Everyone said gooten morgen so we replied with kia ora and Morena, that all threw them. It was great to get back to some decent temps. – 16-18 degrees and thaw out a bit from our sojourn into middle earth, I mean middle Spain. Briar and I both managed to get our hair done with out to much problemo with the lingo. Scary thought – Briar nearly ended up with a perm…whew! and me with a clipper cut.
We purchased some 12 speed mountain bikes from a local department store Eroski
which are all over Spain, so we a biking mobile at last. We did a bike tour around Torro del Mar of course along the Esplanada and then through some of the old town.
The beach was a bit like the west coast of NZ , lotsa stones and pebbles. The weather packed it in on our last day, so it was very much a DVD and book reading day.
Had a wee accidento slippin on the slippery electric steps of Hugo (The campervan ya halfwits) on the last nite at Torro Del Mar, so when we headed into inland to Sevilla to catch up with Kathy and Chel (couple of Briar’s former teacher colleagues) I couldn’t drive with a rather tender big toe, which 8 days later is only just comin right.
Still f…in hurts but.
Pulled into our chosen Sevilla campground for our first nite. Thank god we only booked in for one night, quickly learnt that look first before driving in for the night. We are learning many things as novice wohnmobil (german for motorhome) owners. I wasn’t game ta have a shower, so ya can imagine Briar wasn’t eva. Enough said and it was cheap – daa… wonder why. We then headed out towards Dos Hermanas an outer suburb of Sevilla and found another catergory 1A campground, muy buen- si and booked in for a couple nights. After a grocery stop at the local Carrefours supermercado for preparatory vino and antipasto supplies in anticipation of the girls arriving, we rustled up some chena and about nuevo hora we headed out to Sevilla aeropuerto ta pick up Kathy who flew in at 9.30pm. after the initial welcomings and double parking in the bus bay pick-up, as ya do ( no comprenday) . A couple glasses of wine some chit chat, catch up, school talk and of ta bed . after a leisurely rise the preceeding morning we headed into Sevilla for the day, Twas fine wiv some cloud about, and a warming 18 degrees and one stage. We caught the M132 autobous into the centro cuidad. It dropped us right outside the Plaza de Espana, have I used the word amazing much so far, well this was bloody amazing too.

The entire building is in a semi circular shape and around 50m in width the entire way around – the diameter of the building would be approx. 600-650m across with two 6-7 storey high towers at each end, it has a huge plaza in the middle with a fountain in the centre and a moat which also followed the semi circle. Here in typical andalucian style every region had its own special bay depicting its region done in ceramic tiles, all with their own story and map also done in tiles – amazing. Beware of the ladies selling ya rosemary as Cathy will vouch for – a few ka mate ka mates got her out of a spot. We then wandered through the Parque Maria Luisa a beautifully constructed symmetrical in every sense of the word park., complete with naranja (orange) trees, ponds and fountains of course. We then wandered past the University of Sevilla down a cobbled street known as San Fernando Avenida once again resplendent with naranja trees on both sides of the avenue and with modern technology – electric trams running down the centre, vechile access limited here which was great, lotsa horse and carriages and Spanish hombres willing ya to depart with a few euros for a quick tour around the streets with commentary no doubt in Espana.
A very clean vibrant and young city centre , which I really got good vibes about
and certainly one I have most enjoyed and felt very safe so far. After ambling our way through some more pedestrian/ horse and carriage cobbled streets , we came to the La Giralda / Seville cathedral. We didn’t enter on this occasion but wandered around the entire complex snapping the odd shot and ended up at the exit to the cathedral tour and spotted an Irish pub (flahertys) an one recommended in the Europe Lonely planet guide, had the norm – café con leche ( in an irish pub ya might say – hey we were on a very tight budget that day it seemed. We then headed off in the general direction of the river triana to check out one of the oldest bullrings in Espana. the infamous Plaza Del Toros, once again the budget prevented us from entering but got some excellent snaps with some matador statues, certainly Cathy did. Stat-ue stat-ue cus. Cathy also took a snap of a snap in the tourist shop of the inside of the bullring, so what more can one say - touring kiwiana style – chear bro. We then proceeded strolling next to the river along the promenade back to our bus stop for the M132 back to Dos Hermanas.
A quick stop at Carrefours to stock up on some carne for chena. A good feed of marinated pork spare ribs with of course a couple botteliers of vino tinto and we headed back out to Aeropuerto Sevilla to pick up Chel who was also flyin in at 9.30pm. does this sound like a cliché -. after the initial welcomings and double parking in the bus bay pick-up, as ya do ( no comprenday) . A couple glasses of wine some chit chat, catch up, school talk and of ta bed. The usual late rising routine – finally left camp Villsom about 11.00am and headed south for Cadiz.

After an hour and a quarter cruising down the AP5 we got to the Atlantic ocean and Cadiz about 12.30pm – cruised through the main drag as ya do – found a parking spot right on the beach. Blokes out surfin – shades of the mount – yaayy . Temp about 16 degrees but cloudy unfortunately. Strolled down the esplanade – wiv the customary snaps along the way. Called in for a – u guessed it – café con leche at a beachfront café/restaurante. The usual girly chit chat – with school talk of course. Then back to to Hugo of ta a carrefours for some fresh pan and some stocks mainly the bottled red type , a quick bite ta eat (bocadillas homemade) - maraviyosa in the carpark and once again on the road again for Tarifa, the closest land point to the African continent and a quaint little fishing come best windsurfing beach in Europe, the trees on the 45 degree angle verify its reputation and of course when we arrived guess what it was bloody windy. It was a nice beachside camp with views out of Hugo,s kitchen window of the meeting of the two seas- the Mediteranno sea with the Atlantic. After five days with out washing sum fine, windy weather and sum laundry facilities were a welcome site, so some catch up laundry time and yes – don’t ya just love it- its vino tinto- tapas time- god I love Espano. Settled in for a cosy nite with all the washing done a good feed in our bellies, and plenty of liquid tipple as the girls would say.- off ta bed for the big day out at Gibraltar tomorrow.

The next morning didn’t start of to well for me as me Levi jeans were the only missing item of washing not to be seen hanging on the line, lesson well learnt, don’t
hang ya expensive pair of Levi jeans out ta dry overnite. Enough said onto the shitty
windy rainy f…en visit to Gibraltar, we couldn’t have picked a worse day ta visit the Rock. The cloud was so dense ya couldn’t even see the African coastline about 15 miles in the distance. After parking Hugo in a muddy disused parking lot with all the other Hugos, we trekked laboriously toward the border and customs entry. Caught a double decker bus, yes jus like they have in London, well where in a goddam british colony now aren’t we guv. Of course the wind prevented us from taking the cable car up to the top of the rock and also visiting the infamous Gibraltar rock monkies. So of course we had to dampen our sorrows in a quaint little English bar , a couple of ales later and we decided to head out into a torrential downpour to watch how rain cascades down pathways, alleyways and cobbled streets of Centro Gibraltar, much the same way as anywhere I gathered – the quickest way downhill. The girls seemed to enjoy getting soaked. After a bit more wandering we decided to catch a bus back to the border again, as the rain and cloud were not giving up and made it rather diifcult to see anything, a double decker bus ride back to customs control, where the rain and cloud stopped momentarily to give us a couple snaps of the rock, jus ta prove we had been there. A quick pee stop at Mcdonalds and we heade back to Triaf with our wet tails between our legs. The drive from Gibraltar to Tarifa no doubt would be spectacular on a warm , bright sunny day and would offer amazing views of the African coastline. We arrived back at Tarifa in search of some traditional Spanish grub, twas about 4pm and we hadn’t had comida as yet, we found a subdued little restaurante near the waterfront. Traditional Spanish tapas – calamares/ pepinos/ pescadares/ patatas arun/ tortilla de camerones(yumm-my favourite) and of course the traditional local bottelier del la casa of vino tinto, ta wash it down – right.
After waddling out of their with bellies expanded to maximus, back to campground Rio Jara and settled in for a windy,rainy nite of stories, you guessed it more school talk, and of course more drinking the vino tinto. The following morning started rather slowly but got on the road about 11am – a quick stop and a factory outlet so MC could buy some Levi’s to replace the missing(stolen) pair- and we headed on a different path back to Sevilla. We took an internal route through the mountainous region of Tornocales. I had decided earlier to stop for lunch at a typical mountainous village called Medina Sidonia and am very glad I did. We managed to drive thru some one way bloody narrow hilly streets to find a park. We spotted a church at the top which is typical in Spain – build ya Church at the highest point in the region and build the town/village around it. The church called – Insigne Iglesia Parroquial Matriz Santa Maria La Mayor La Coronada ( Bloody mouthful in it) was rather you guessed it Amazing, built in the 15th century and for such a quaint village it was very grande.
This and wandering through the narrow streets and paths of Medina Sidonia quelled the Cathy and Chels quest for something traditionally Spanish. The day was very sunny and about 17 degrees, we bought some pan from the local supermercado and found a carpark with spectacular views of the coastline – Atlantic ocean. With bellies once again replenished hit the trail again fast tracking down the AP-5 autovia back to Sevilla and our favourite campground Villsom In Dos Hermanas.

The girls last nite , so of course we had ta hav a biggie and we did, 5 or 6 botteliers of vino tinto , chena around 10.00pm yes messy would be an appropriate word. We did manage to have conversation with a Kiwi family who were also camping at the campground. A Reporoa Ma/Pa and two kiddies who have been travelling for the past 12 months and were on their way down the coast and across into Morrocco. A couple of sahred glasses of vino and some welcome enlightment on travels through some destinations and tips of course through Europe. They even said Eastern Europe was well worth the experience. With alarm clocks set as Cathy was away at 5.00am ta catch her flight inda morning we called it a nite around 12pm, The usual hugs / sayonaras adioses Cathy left and th rest of us caught some more zzzzzz’ss.

The girls were rather seedy , hehe heh heh but once again we caught the M132 into Seville , this time determined to pay the entrada fee to the Seville Cathedral which is regarded as being on five churches worth visiting in Europe. We weren’t disappointed it was triple bloody amazing, the place reeked of history dating abck from the 12th century when it was first built. It had of course over the centuries been added to extensively. One of the things I really notice when visiting these old places is the smell or aroma as they say here, the smell is even centuries old. The grandest cathedral so far and the most impressive, they even had a treasury room with lavish crosses and crowns dripping in gold and various gemstones including lotsa diamonds.
The detail in some parts of the cathedral is just astounding and ya gaze in awe at the handiwork. The tools and methods to build something as grand blows ya away. After a good hour we headed up the tower which was about 12-13 storeys high and the highest vieing point in Sevilla. We got some glorious shots of Sevilla. Their were no steps all the way, except the last 20 metres there was one flight of steps, which made it very easy, even Ames would have enjoyed that hike.
Back down again throught the Naranja Jardine and out the exit we went. Wandered along San Fernando Avenida but this time stopped for a Hamburguesa/fritas and a Cervesa , the girls were needing sumthin greasy ta quell their previous nites efforts.
After a leisurely comida a stroll once again around the Plaza De Espana for Chel, we jumped back on the M132 for Dos Hermanas with a stop at Carrefours for some supplies, none of the liquid variety this time. We had a little nibble before once again packing up Chel and headin out to Sevilla aeropuerto ta catch her 9.30pm flight. Back to the campground a very good nites sleep
Wed 26th Jan, We showered and fed and then packed up Hugo, a quick catch up with the Reporoa family for some more useful tips and chit chat said goodbyes, exchanged email addresses, just in case and we headed east towards Huelva, where we stopped for lunch near the river. Bocadillas , a cuppa and we set of for Isla Christina a fishing village about 15km’s from the Portuguese border. We have stopped here for 4 nites ta catch our breath, do some washing, prepare Hugo for freecamping, catch up with some emails, writings downloading photos etc.etc We have a 200m walk to the beach and a 5 minute cycle into the township, which we did yesterday -Ayer in Spanish. We visited the local centro mercados , where I will have to buy some fresco seafoor for chena one night before we leave here. Bein a fishing village and all, rode past the port.
We also drove into Cartaya to replenish some supplies and purchase another lappie(baby one for briar) and just in case I encounter more problemos with my Wifi connections. Camp day today, washing – writing travels – beach walk a bit later and then onto the internet later this arvo and try to download this onto our blog site. We are heading to Portugal on the 1st February and will cruise along the Algarve and then head north following the coastline to Lisbon. Till next time Huesta Luego.

January

A few cloudy days .. temp on average around 14 - 16 degrees. not to bad not sunbaking weather
a couple of easy days, frequented a couple of local bars and restaurants in Coveta Fuma , food pretty good.
Visits to Elche( couple churches and cemetary) and Alicante (the Three Kings Xmas parade at night.. lotsa people , Denia and more with family did a couple of touristy things. Spent a wonderful xmas traditional day lotsa paella and vino tinto with Danny and Marta distant cousins of Briar's. ...Left Coveta Fuma Villa, El Campello on the 10th Jan - drove to ALbacete then on to camp ground at Los Batanes. Snow around about and snowed during the night as well.
11th Jan drove on to Madrid - pretty cold and heaps of snow all the way up in the huge ploughed fields. Even the bucket of window wash water was frozen solid with the hose stuck in it!
Found a camp ground on the outskirts in Villaviciosa which we will travel into Madrid from on the bus.
We are camped just west of Madrid with access to the city via the bus service. Today we are having a camp day to get the blog site up and running and catch up on business stuff for Mark also.
We have travelled through some high country climbing steadily to Madrid. Snow has been in vast fields of ploughed land – as far as the eye could see. It snowed during the night we stayed at Los Batanes, Albacete – a lake area where driving around to the camp ground was a little like driving around Lake Rotoiti – very picturesque. We have the occasional extra thrown in – I am calling them TomTom tours – where we misunderstand ‘Ma Cherie’ and she misunderstands me mostly – sadly we named her before she gave us the assorted tours we weren’t expecting…
‘Hugo’ is trucking along really well – had him serviced in El Campello so we know all should be great. An easy drive with enough power to cope with all we ask on the motorways etc. Only a couple of doors swung open as we drove off and I have learnt to open overhead lockers slowly after travelling – or risk a dumping of the contents after the movement of travel. Getting pretty good at packing anti-rattle by now whew…so the trip is relatively quiet. Great heater on board so we keep very cosy and can work in the kitchen easily as well. Got all we need!

Travels in December

Its finally here ... 4/5 years planning we are going....
Departed NZ and arrived in London 31st Nov to a chilly 6 degrees. Amy & Chaz met us at the airport and tubed us via the underground home to chaz's place, a bit of R & R a few zzzz'ss and then of to a Hangi at the Redback - a long day. Spent 10 days of frantically finding and purchasing "Hugo" the home we will share for a year. Found 'Hugo' in Kent and bought her from a fab NZ family returning from 6 months in EU. How cool to have the money return to NZ!
Did the touristy double decker tour thru the streets of central London (recommended) took about 4 hrs. ended with a ferry trip up the Thames back to Westminster Abbey. The London Eye is impressive.
Headed of on the trail towards El Campello in Hugo on the 10th Dec. a cold but sunny ferry trip across the channel from Dover to Calais. Then a fast drive throught France to get to the Villa for the 13th Dec. First nite stop in Rheims/ second nite stop in Narbonne ( after a chilly snowy drive through Lyon)/ third nite stop by the sea just south of Valencia and then onto El Campello and our villa for the month. Had a peaceful week to ourselves before the party began with family, friends and some new aquaintances. The first lot arrived on the 20th and then a steady stream
rolled on to New Years eve when we had 23 stop for the nite. A quiet xmas with mostly immediate family. New Years eve however was a different story. Dress up was the theme for the night - come as you would want to be for 2009, some strange people around. !!!! The nite started sedately as you would expect and grew louder into the wee hours of the mornin. last to bed at 8.00am - impressive considering the amount of alcohol consumed. Several countries were represented for the nite - 2 x Aussies/ 3 x Irish/ 1 x French Canadian/ 5 x would be Pommie-Kiwis(those with British passports) and of course 12 x Kiwis. All the above had to perform their own national anthem. The nite started sedately and grew louder during the course of the evening as one would expect. Of course the haka was performed several times during the evening , however I only remember the first - funny that. Twas a good nite had by all and although I didn't spend much of the following day vertical it sounded rather quiet throughout the villa on New Years day. Sadly several of our guests left on New Years day.