365 Days and we’re still talking

We’ve made it, one whole year of spending 24 hours a day, 7 days a week together, living in a small space.  No work, no fixed plans, just enjoying ourselves doing whatever we want to do, going wherever we want each day and for the things we don’t want to do - well there’s always manjana. There’s been a few small (occasionally  huge) arguments but mainly over travelling.
In the year we have only spent 5 nights not sleeping in the van, when we returned to England for Emma’s funeral and when we stayed with Iain’s dad (the road outside his house is too busy to risk wild camping) and  Iain another 10 nights when he went home to see Emma.  So that’s not bad.  When we started living in our van, most of our friends and family thought we were mad.  The questions went something like:-

Q: Would you like to come and stay over, we have a spare bed for you?
A: No thanks we have a very comfortable bed to sleep in.
Q: Would you like to come around and use our shower?
A: We have a perfectly good shower in the van.
Q: When you come back to England, will you rent a house?
A: We have a luxury motorhome to live in, we don’t need to rent a house.
Q: Won’t you get bored?
A: I very much doubt it.
Q: Would you like to come around for a meal?
A: We’re not living on road kill you know.
Q: Would you like to do some washing?
A: Now you’re talking.

And I would usually end it the conversation with “Don’t feel sorry for us, we have chosen this lifestyle, you’re the ones still working.”
So I thought I would think about the things I do and don’t like about our life-style.

Things I love

1.  We don’t have to work to pay for STUFF, our average cost per night is only £2 more than our council tax was and we spend most nights on campsites.
2.  We have the freedom and time to go anywhere we want.
3.  We have everything we NEED and a lot more.
4.  We are almost always in the warm weather all year round.
5.  We have met so many wonderful people from all walks of life, doing the same thing as we are, so we always have something in common to start with.
6.  We have seen many places that we would not otherwise if we just did normal “holidays”, Toledo, Avignon, Valadollid, Carcasonne, Albir, to name but a few, even in England, we visited Hadrian’s Wall, Scarborough, Lyme Regis, Seaford, Cheltenham  etc etc.
7.  Housework takes no more than an hour.

Things I don’t like.

1.  Sometimes it’s a pain having to go to the showers and toilet block if it’s a bit chilly.
2.  I can’t get my crafting stuff “toys” out and leave them out for when I next want to use them.
3.  I’m not a naturally tidy person and have to work very hard at it, everything has to be put away as it isn’t long before you have to clear a space just to sit down if you aren’t organised.
4.  Sometimes I miss our friends and family.
5.  I like to know where I need to go to buy things.
6.  I’d like transport sometimes so that I can “pop” off to somewhere. 
7.  You can’t always do your clothes washing just when you want to.

So to summarise, the things I don’t like are mainly “niggles” the things I love are fantastic. Weighing it up – I don’t regret a minute and I love the fact that we’re not working any more.

The weather here is still fantastic and in the words of Freddie - we’re having a good time!

It’s official – 19th November and 24C

A couple of days ago we decided to have lunch somewhere different and actually used one of the bars on the seafront (they are always more expensive).  However the view does make it worth it occasionally.

And just a reminder of the view from Albir across to Calpe

We’re still in shorts, sandals and t-shirts during the day, but the evenings are getting cooler and during the night the temperature is even sometimes dropping below 10C. We’re still managing to sit out some evenings until quite late, but you do need long trousers and jumpers now.  My Ugg boots have now made an appearance.

We’ve now been on this site for 7 weeks and I can’t believe how the time is flying.  Of course we’ve been here before so things are bound to be different but as we’ve been here longer than anywhere else in the last year, it’s getting to feel rather like home.
On another couple of trips out with Jo and James we went to a Spanish Fiesta somewhere up in the mountains by Alicante – I think it was Cocentaina.   The whole thing was a bit much for me, too many people, too many legs for the dog.  We didn’t really have any choice but to take her with us.  We would be out too long to leave her in the van and it was too hot to leave her in the car, so I’m afraid she just had to put up with it.  I did have to pick her up a few times when it got really crowded in the narrow streets. There were different sections to the fiesta; a medieval section, a Moroccan section, a food section, a children’s section.  There was so much to see, with street performers and market type stalls selling anything from magic stones to combine harvesters.  The problem was that there were so many people that no one could get near to the stalls to actually browse.  It was a great experience but I wouldn’t go there again.

Simple bunting made from strips of material just tied together, but very effective.

See the authentic “Medieval” Doner Kebab!!!

The Spanish love their fiestas and all the shops and businesses shut for the holidays.  Here in Alfaz del Pi they had a 5 day fiesta this month and we read about it in the local paper which told us that on one afternoon they throw fireworks into the crowd and said “Not for the faint hearted, wear old clothes and cover your head” – so we gave it a miss.  We could hear the fireworks from here so it must have been deafening in Alfaz about 3 miles away. 
Also this month they had the Benidorm Fiesta, we just didn’t get our a**es in gear to get there, but we saw lots of people in Albir dressed really weirdly as they met up to go to Benidorm for the fancy dress parade which is apparently the largest in Europe (but then they would say that!!!). Everyone seemed to have a fantastic time, well those that could remember anyway.
Another day we went up towards Javea again, but this time we went up to the peak at Cap de la Nau.  The view from up here was spectacular.  On a good day you can see across to Ibiza but as it was still warm and hazy we didn’t get the full experience of the view.

It’s not that far away, the hazy rock on the left is the Peñón de Ifach at Calpe

With all those mountains, you have to get around them somehow, or through.  This is the main coastal road between Altea and Calpe

On the way back we visited a very pretty village with a gorgeous cove called Plaja de la Granadella.  There was one very narrow and windy road in and it was the same road out.  We wouldn’t like to have taken our motorhome there and were amazed that there were a couple parked up near the beach.  These French will go anywhere in theirs.

Those rocks may have been there for thousands of years but I still wouldn’t live in that house on the top!

It’s not all new and exciting, we’re still eating out a lot because it’s so cheap, but we’ve changed things a bit, we’re drinking a bit more expensive wine these days, around 2E a bottle instead of 1.  I’m determined not to drink too much so I have a self-imposed curfew of generally no alcohol until 6pm at the earliest.  When I say generally, that’s not a hard and fast rule, if I fancy a beer with lunch then I’ll have one, occasionally, I just don’t want to get into drinking from lunchtime until fall-down time, it’s just so easy here if you are not careful.  The only real exception I make to this is on a Sunday, when we go to one of the local bars for a Sunday roast and have one or two, or even a few more drinks.  As I’ve said before, eating out is so cheap that it’s just not worth cooking with two courses at around 7 Euros (£5.60) including a drink.  The only problem with that is that if we are with friends then the walk home and the subsequent evening can become something like a scene out of “The Last of the Summer Wine”.
Jo has become a real bad influence on me!!!!!! I think not. But last Sunday we actually ate separately and then met up back at the campsite for a Soberano (Brandy).  Jo hurt her ankle some weeks ago (funnily enough on a Sunday afternoon) and James has now got her a “Madge” (mobility scooter named after the character in Benidorm who won’t get out of hers) to help her to get around. 

Well I decided that I’d put it away in their awning for them but then decided that I’d take it for a “Stability Test” first to make sure that it was safe for her to drive.  The men had both gone “for a snooze” by now so it was just the two of us and any unfortunate on-lookers who saw this despicable display of “Bad Brit” behaviour.  Luckily it is very quiet down our end of the campsite and so I had plenty of room as I don’t suppose for one minute that I kept to the 5mph site speed limit.  Well all I can say is that these things are so much fun.  Not much wonder that in Benidorm you have to prove that you are disabled or over 50 to be able to hire one.  Well I’m over 50 so that’s no real recommendation is it? I zoomed off at full throttle, leaving Jo giggling at the pitch.  After a few trial runs I found that you can turn full lock on full throttle and the thing still sticks to the ground.  After about 10 minutes fun I thought I would put it away for her as I had promised.  So at full speed ahead, I headed for their awning.  I managed to get through the door with no trouble and then cut the throttle.  What I had forgotten was that these things don’t have any brakes and they take a few feet to stop.  I suppose they can’t stop dead or you’d have all these old ladies catapulting out of them onto the pavement all the time.   So here I was already in the awning and still a few feet to go before coming to a stand-still.  Yes you can imagine, I had nowhere to go and it wasn’t going to stop until it wanted to.  I was screaming “It won’t stop” and then I managed to crash into the table and the step. Everything was starting to look horrible.  I then had to reverse back off the step to clear all the objects that I had sent scattering.  Of couse having been under the influence of copious amounts of Soberano (what an apt name for a brandy) I haven’t laughed so much in ages. I then scuttled off back to my own van in disgrace.  We also managed to get ourselves on the campsite facebook page (again) Cap Blanch facebook  but this time we were named!!!!  I’m still not sure whether the campsite owner is just putting up pictures of people enjoying themselves or if it is to gather evidence. It was a good job he wasn’t around when I was on the madge or I think we would have been evicted by now. At least being older, we don’t go on too late into the evening and have normally wrapped up our socialising by about 10pm – but maybe that’s because we start so early.

16th November, early evening, jumpers but still in shorts - Javier, James, Me, Jo and Iain

The Spanish gentleman on the left is one of the campsite workers.   He’s probably in his 50’s says he is a free-man, travelling with his push-bike and tent and going wherever there is a bit of work.  During the summer he also did some busking, but unusually with a dancing puppet and at the moment he spends 4 hours a day sweeping up leaves.  He laughs a lot and is always happy. You meet people from all walks of life when you live like this and everyone has a story to tell, perhaps one day I’ll find out what his is.
I’ve been keeping myself busy lately, I’ve nearly finished the three leather cushions for our settee, I say nearly finished, that’s because I’ve now got bored and moved onto Christmas decorations. I’ve decided that I’m going to make all my decorations this year and I want to go a bit OTT as last year we were on the road so I hardly had any at all.  I’ll put them up on 1st December and then post some pictures. I’ve joined the craft club which is another on-site activity so I’m going to see what new things I can learn. Most of the attendees are Dutch (only one other English woman), but I’ve already met a very nice Dutch lady called Didi who’s husband is Irish, so her English is very good. 
Pilates has gone by the wayside, I was really enjoying it but I exacerbated an old netballing injury during one session and had to stop.  So I’m going to wait until I am fully recovered before I return.  I can still ride my bike though, but I think it’s time I got a ladies bike instead of a men’s mountain bike as it’s getting a bit difficult to “get my leg over” so to speak.
James is so desperate to get a pet that he has now adopted a duck.  The duck just flew in about 5 days ago and comes back every day (so far).  James has found out that she (we can’t agree whether it’s a she or a he) loves tomatoes and yesterday she even came when Jo called her.  We keep joking about fattening her up for Christmas but now “she’s” got a name – Daphne, I don’t think that would happen.

One of the young Spanish campsite workers made a pile of leaves for the duck and she has become quite attached to her day bed.

Late afternoon – Jo firmly ensconced in her “Madge” – there’s really no need to salute me!

Connie has got over her op, the stitches have come out and her fur is growing back.  She’s an old lady now and we are surprised at how much she has acclimatised to the heat.  If the temperature goes below 15C she starts shivering. It’s really funny to hear her teeth chattering.  Now I’m not one of those who agrees with dressing up your dogs, but I’ve bought her a jumper – I just couldn’t resist. As soon as she gets up in the morning she runs outside to sit in the sunshine.  I bought her a really cool shower-proof coat in PINK as well.  That will no doubt deserve a picture soon.

I keep promising to give the van a good clean inside, but we’re saving that for a rainy day and we just don’t seem to be getting any.
I’m sure I’ve missed loads but I’ve got Xmas decorations to make so I’ll be back another time ……………………………………………………… One things for sure, we’re having a great time in the sun.

I know how to make my husband a very happy man!!!!

Well it’s probably not what you think…………….. but I’ve subscribed him to the Daily Telegraph digital pack.  I should have done this before but he’s such a technophobe and despite being an avid history book reader absolutely refused to have a kindle.  He does enjoy a newspaper and in the UK could quite happily while away a couple of hours a day reading his newspaper.  The offer was 30 days free trial, so I had nothing to lose.  English newspapers are quite expensive over here, 4.5 Euros a day and the digital Telegraph is just £10 a month (and you get a lot more content) – so it’s a bit of a no-brainer not to do it, it’s even cheaper than buying the paper in the UK.

The only downside is that the internet on the campsite is very slow and unreliable. It takes nearly an hour to download the paper and I have to go up to the toilet block to do it. But if we go to Wyndhams – which encourages a pint of slimline to be consumed, it can all be over in about 3 minutes – now where have I heard that before? Just a bit of techie stuff, this means that it can be downloaded and read off-line which is a great advantage to the web version. I did have to connect to the VPN (WatchUKTVanywhere) to kid it we were in the UK to be able to subscribe though.
So now I have at least two hours a day with Iain happily reading his newspaper while I can get on with anything else I want without interruption. Now he’s getting used to that, perhaps I’ll move stealthily onto some Kindle books and see how he copes, he does like the “feel” of a book though.  At the moment it’s still me who seems to have to download the paper – one day I’ll move him into the 21st Century!!

Our first week (and a bit) in Albir

We arrived on Thursday 2nd October and plan to stay until the end of March. Some of our fellow motorhomers would be appalled at the prospect of staying in one place for so long, but we are trying to balance the travelling with the staying put, and for a long stay it is only costing us 12 Euros a night (our council tax was over £8). Since full-timing, which is nearly a year now we have averaged just £10.45 a night even though we mostly use campsites and don’t  wild-camp or use aires very often – not bad eh? Also by staying put you don’t have any fuel costs – so it works out much cheaper than moving around. 

We thought we would pop into Wyndhams on Thursday evening to see what had been happening while we had been away.  It’s funny but we keep being tempted to say “last year” when we refer to the last time we were here, because when you return to a holiday destination it is usually a year later – but we had been away only 5 months.  Mike was in situ when we arrived and was pleased to see us and about 10 minutes later Liz came in with Tina the dog.  Big hugs all round and Liz later said that she almost cried when she saw us. Wyndham gave us a good welcome and we caught up with the news – nothing much had changed.

We had a few drinks with Jo and James on the evening and James offered to take us out for lunch on Friday – we actually declined.  I don’t want to get into the boozing all afternoon and then wasting the day.  We did however suggest that Sunday might be a good day to go out for lunch as I don’t mind writing off one day of the week. As I’ve said before, we tried very hard not to be “Brits abroad” last time, but Dave at Oasis does such a great Sunday lunch and all-day breakfast that it’s difficult to resist.  We also hadn’t had an English breakfast since we left at the beginning of May, so we thought we’d treat ourselves. We toddled off to Oasis on Friday for a big breakfast which consists of 2 bacon, 2 eggs, 2 sausages, beans or tomatoes, toast and hash brown.  All for the princely sum of 3.50 Euros (about £2.80) – it just can’t be beaten and having consumed that for lunch we don’t need any dinner.  Dave was genuinely pleased to see us again and it was good to be back.

Saturday was used to get some shopping and relaxing, then early evening we had a half-price burger in Wyndhams (last of the great spenders), so that was another 2.25 Euros each, plus of course a wapping 1 Euro for chips.  It’s just not worth cooking.  We popped into MeetPoint to see who was around and found to our dismay that MeetPoint had been sold and was closing the following day.  Such a disappointment as we had planned to have our 10th Wedding Anniversary party there in December.  So we’ve now got to find another venue. We did however get invited to the “supping up” of the stock on the Sunday afternoon – oh no – that would be after lunch!!!!!!!

Sunday came around and it was very hot and humid. We popped up to the market for a look around – we didn’t really have anything in mind to buy but just to see what was around.  Lunchtime arrived and we had booked at Oasis for 1.30pm. We collected Jo and James from next door and left at 1.15pm giving us plenty of time to get there, but we didn’t arrive until after 2.15.  Too many bars on the way you might think, but no actually.  Just as we were leaving there were a few drops of rain.  We had the joke that we didn’t need an umbrella because we were British and used to the rain, but we decided to take one “just in case”. We had only got as far as the toilet block and the heavens opened so much that we had to shelter there, the umbrellas weren’t enough.  The dog was terrified of the thunder and lightening and hid under the sinks, we kept saying that it would ease soon, but it didn’t, the campsite was getting flooded and we were there about half an hour.  Once it eased we made for it, the quickest route possible, passing Wyndhams, but we were already late so stopping there was not an option. Again the heavens opened and we had to take shelter under a building overhang.

Eventually we were able to make the rest of the journey – paddling across the roads.  The “dry” river bed was fast filling with rainwater and we’d never seen water in it before.  We eventually arrived at Oasis and Dave looked really relieved, at least he’d had some customers make it – late maybe but at least we arrived. The rain started again and we sat under the awning with our umbrellas to the side stopping the splashing of the rain coming up at us.  I felt very sorry for the dog who had to lie on the wet floor.  27mm of rain fell in just 90 minutes.

There were two missed photo opportunities, I just wish I had my camera with me.  One was a woman on the campsite coming out of the washing up area with a casserole dish on her head – it looked just like one of those old-fashioned German helmets. The second was just the amount of rain so I’ve pinched one from the internet which was taken in Benidorm, just 4 miles away.

As I said earlier, 90 minutes later it was all over, but we had soggy feet for the rest of the day.  Having had an excellent Sunday lunch (we hadn’t had one since July in the UK so we felt it was justified) it was now time to go to MeetPoint where regrettably we imbibed a little too much. On the way back to the campsite it was getting dark and Jo spotted a lone bench table for us to acquire.  So in true “Last of the Summer Wine” fashion we picked it up in the four corners and strutted off down the lane to the pitches.  The only problem was that we had all picked it up at different heights, so we had to put it down and get organised.  I bet the Dutch were thinking “Disgraceful English”. 
Monday and Jo and I had decided to go to Pilates – which is provided twice a week free on the campsite.  But we had to cancel that because we were feeling a “little jaded”.  Monday was then, like Sunday a wash-out and we sat around all day recovering. I’m definitely not getting into that habit. Monday evening we went to eat at one of our favourite places Brisa del Mar and booked our Christmas lunch. They said they had just taken a booking enquiry for 30 and didn’t know if they could accommodate us.  Oh no, first MeetPoint, now Brisa del Mar.  But it turned out that the booking for 30 just wanted one main course for 10 euros and then they would leave.  Now Christmas lunch is a whopping 42.50 Euros each – but then you would expect that on Christmas day, so they turned down the booking and we were in – that’s a relief, we had really wanted to go there for Christmas day.

Tuesday and things were back to normal, feeling much better.  Wednesday Jo and myself went to Pilates – wow I ached in places I didn’t know I had.  I even struggled to get up from the sunbed - I'll bet you're feeling really sorry for me now - not!  We’re determined to keep it up though. 

Wednesday night saw the return of the quiz.  So we planned to walk the dog late afternoon, go for a chinese – less than 5 Euros each including a bottle of wine and then go to the quiz.  However we were much later than planned.  Upon returning from the dog walk, disaster struck.  Well that’s a gross exaggeration, more of a severe annoyance.  We came back to the van and put the key in the habitation door lock.  Unbolted both locks and pulled the handle – nothing happened.  Had the locks stuck? We didn’t know, after some repeated locking and unlocking, nothing changed. Luckily we were not in a caravan or we would have been sleeping in Jo and James’ awning.  But of course with a motorhome we have 3 doors.  So we had to get into the van using the passenger door. 

Now this is a great inconvenience, 1, it’s difficult, 2, there is no fly screen to keep out the mozzies and 3, it’s too bloody hot to have the door shut.  Iain spent the next hour trying to get the lock off from the inside but to no avail.  He said that was more important than going out but I said I’d rather he left it until the following day as I’d rather have a door that didn’t open, than a door that didn’t lock.  So we went out anyway – more about the lock to follow.

Chinese rushed, we arrived at the quiz just as it was starting. Drew was still the quiz master and we had a warm welcome from many of the regulars.  Unfortunately we joined another team of two so couldn’t use our name of “The Campbells have arrived”  but we did come joint first and then lost on the tie break which really annoyed me.  The question was what is the gift for the 10th Wedding Anniversary.  The reason I was annoyed was because it is our 10th this year and I had meant to look that up the other day – never mind I’m not a bad loser and it’s only a game.

Thursday morning we got up, rather late due to the time the quiz ends (and a couple of swifters by me and Jo before bed) and our plan was to stock up on some shopping, visit the locksmith, top up the phone and a couple of other things.  We left the dog in the motorhome and took her buggy so that we could carry plenty.  Now this is Spain and no-one had remembered that this was Valencia day (any excuse for a day off) and all the shops, including the supermarkets, were shut.  So we came back, having only achieved the phone top-up.  Another day before we could get the locksmith out as we weren’t about to pay him holiday rates when we could get into and out of the van, albeit at great inconvenience.

Friday we planned to go out and do what we should have done Thursday, but James had hired a car so he and Jo took me to Carrefour to do a big shop – beer deal 0.71 Euros (56p) per litre so that should keep Iain going for a while.  Iain went up to the locksmith and was told that he couldn’t do caravans, only houses and safes, so Iain was left to have yet another look at the lock and having taken the lock apart as much as possible from inside found that he still couldn’t shift it – this was going to be a real pain – it was evident that the only way to get the lock out was to get the door open, but we couldn’t do that because the lock was jammed. 

A quiet evening in, watching some TV brought Saturday – and another go at the lock.  Iain phoned Motorhome Medics who suggested trying to get the door off from the outside but Iain wasn't happy with that. So from inside off came the door frame, the bolts were pushed back with a screw driver and some hefty kicks to the door and ……………  nothing.  It just wouldn’t shift. Finally we discovered that the main lock had not retracted quite far enough and a bit more persuasion with the screwdriver (not a hammer) and another kick and the door flew open. This had taken a total of 4 hours and from the inside and was a brilliant advert for the security of the locks.  Great – we’d got the door open and hadn’t damaged the door itself. One problem now of course is that the door was open and we had no way of locking it. Quickly Iain took the lock apart and we found the problem.  The bolt on the main lock had sheared off, the spring had become dislodged and the handle could no longer pull the bolt back.

I have now written to the lock manufacturer asking for advice on whether or not they can get us the part of if we need to purchase a new lock.  I’m waiting for a reply.  The good news is that the deadlock part still works, so having replaced it in the door, we can actually secure the van again – phew!

Yesterday (Saturday) must have been a good day as we also had some good news.  Our tenant has told us that he would like to renew the lease at the end of November (although nothing is actually signed yet) so that’s a headache removed and one I can stop worrying about.  Well it was good until Iain fell ill.  I think he must have eaten something that disagreed with him because for the first time ever in the 13 years I have known him he was actually sick.  Not a nice subject I know but he really was very poorly, shaking and shivering.  I know it wasn’t too much alcohol because he would never waste it.  So today we’ve had a very quiet day to give him a chance to recover and for me to catch up with my blog.

So I suppose to summarise:-

We’ve settled very well back into life at Albir and I’m sure we will be very happy for the next few months.  I don’t think I will have much to say without boring my readers senseless but if anything exciting does happen you can be sure that I’ll tell you about it.

We are of course hoping that the weather stays good for the next few weeks.

Be back sometime soon.