Sunday, June 1, 2014

Mad Max Land


  

 Only a short drive today to the other side of Almeria town.

As we were driving through Almeria the heavens opened for about 10 mins.  It made very interesting driving as the tyres were spinning on the greasy road.  I know the roads are slippery when it hasn't rained for a while but this was ridiculous - even in fourth gear if you accelerated the tyres lost grip!  The tyres are special motorhome tyres, I know this because it has ‘camping’ on the side of the tyres.  I don't know what compound they are, but in rain they are close to being dangerous.  It’s a good job I am such a good driver :-)  (Yes, Paul you do have tickets !  El x)

We only stopped in Almeria town to get some cash out of a ATM then it was straight to the campsite at Cabo De Gata, which was only a 40 minute drive.

The campsite is a bit of a ghost town with only five motorhomes moored up.  There seems to be a few permanent people living here in caravans also.  So, we had plenty of choices to pick a spot …

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We decided to go and find the beach, so we left the animals in the van and set off!  Just outside the campground its a scene straight out of a Mad Max … 
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It is very desolate countryside …
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We passed this very desirable renovation project on our way.  The door frame has been cemented up and it has a brand new door on it … very odd!
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Just a bit of polyfilla and she would be as good as new … (the house that is, not Elaine!)
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Nice views across the wasteland ...
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I’m bloody sure it was further than a kilometre to the beach. Elaine noticed vultures circling overhead!
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Which way?
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Playa or Pueblo….we headed to the Playa (Beach) …
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Yay, we made it.  We had the beach to ourselves, not a soul around ...
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It was quite windy and our hats blew off into the water.  I had to go in after them, the water was bloody freezing - I really thought it was going to be warm!  The water on the Atlantic coast of Portugal was a lovely temperature.
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We trekked off back to a nice relaxing dip in the (cold) pool – well, I did, El wouldn’t get in!!  We spent the rest of the day lazing around outside of the van on the u-beaut recliners.
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It is a nice campsite but there is nothing else in walking distance.  We liked the site at Torre Del Mar the best so far, which was about 200 meters from the beach and very close to the town and all it amenities.
We also think that Nerja is going to be really hard to beat for an all round magical place.

We will move on tomorrow up the coast heading toward Mojacar.

Where we Stayed:
Cabo De Gata Camping
Co-Ordinates:  N36o.48’  29”       W2o 13’  55”
Nice tidy site, all facilities here.   In the ACSI Camping Card book so cost us 16 Euros for the night with free wifi at the bar and 3.50 Euros if you want to log onto it from your pitch.

2 comments:

  1. Very unlucky you had rain there - it is the only designated desert in Europe! If you call in at the visitor centre within the Park Natural you can find information about the movie location trail. This is the area where many blockbuster Hollywood movies have been filmed on location including Lawrence of Arabia and all those Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns. The tracks up to the location sites are a little rough and corrugated, so may not suit the motorhome. The visitor centre will tell the story in pictures though.

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  2. The rain didnt last long, we will cruise up the coast tomorrow and check out the little villages.

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