Spain, a New Year - Troisième partie

 More than half way through the trip, Christmas past, without any psychological damage and the sun is still (generally) shining. Cool wind continued, but we were on the edge of humungous low pressure systems that were battering northern Europe so couldn't really complain too loudly. If you have a late breakfast, then book reading outside in a sheltered spot is more than pleasant.

From a bird watching tower, the tall grasses don't obscure the view of the lagoons.

Water either side, but the only a view is of the hills a few miles away while on the cycle path/road through the nature reserve.

Couple of seeds in the low sun - I'm definitely getting faster at taking these sorts of shots. No more than 6-7 minutes to get an OK picture. 'Faster' is relative term.

Wandering about Guardamar we managed to find a big market - bought nothing - a sculpture, and a Three Kings display ready for the 6th of January celebration - nice camels.

A cycle ride to Callosa de Segura yielded a very quiet town but with bars full of locals having a good time by the sounds. A large church with tall blank walls and a huge door was so hemmed in by the surrouding town that this was the most interesting shot. Probably very ornate inside.

In Nijar, Irene had to photograph this garden. This, I imagine is what typical veg gardens in Sens-de-Bretagne look like (could be wrong).

Up the hill fron Nijar was a tiny mountain village called Huebro. On the way a small mountain flower, and in the village, huge open cisterns used to capture water in the not so distant past. These were more or less empty - maybe they fill up in January/February.

A long legged beetle was nearly run over by the bikes - but no insects were actually hurt during the capture of this picture.

 Finally, the more touristy town of Alicante. A huge tree with aerial roots and white doves/pigeons picking at the fallen fruit. Large exotic flowers on the trees, steep steps climbing up towards the castle, reconstructed arches that made nice shapes but not much more, and, on the way down, a look backwards.

Sun, Sea, Spain - Part Deux

Always fun to mix countries and languages. In Spain when pressurised replying to a restaurant waiter, I often reply in French - amusing or bemusing everyone.

First day in Spain after the drive down and it's warm. Bit different from the stop-over north of Madrid when we woke up to -3°C. Mind you, warm to us is over 15°C. So off to check out the beach - crowded, it's not.

Further along the beach, in San Miguel de Cabo de Gata, it's very quiet. At the end of the village the fishing boats were high and dry on the sand in front of the Tower of San Miguel - an old defensive tower dating from the 17th century.

The coastal plain around the campsite and this area of Spain is mainly covered in plastic. Tomatoes seem to be the main crop. However, no photos of acres of huge cloches. Instead, just a little further along the coast is an volcanic area where the hills spill into the sea. Apart from the lava there were huge, blindingly white, tongues of some sort of limestone/chalk (I think). Plus a sea stack of harder rock.

A tattered Clouded Yellow (ID'd by my pal Mandy) soaks up the available sun - bit like we did.

After cycling back to civilisation I was forced to stop for a beer and to take it's eponymous 'Beer Photo'.

Then a quick run along the beach to get the windsurfer zipping past. Had to run in order to keep the surfer in the sun reflection while I turned the camera on and tweaked the settings.

 Next day another cycle to see the local lagoons which are normally hotching with hundreds of birds surrounded by twitchers with binoculars. Unfortunately I'd forgotten to pack the binoculars and the sides of the ponds were generally lined with 3-4 metre high reeds and grasses. The grass seed heads were nice though.

A bus to Almería to save us the stress of navigating and parking the camper in town. Not a lot of touristy things there, but we aren't very good tourists, so it didn't matter. A cheap tasty tapas lunch and a climb up to the Moorish castle was enough.

  

And inside the fort along one of the paths . . .

Another day and a little hillock of Agave cacti just inland from the beach. Once they flower, with huge woody flower stems, the plant dies. Baby agaves grow around the dying plant.

Finishing the day with a sunset.

Finally, playing with a long exposure at the beach (the camera, not me). This should flatten and smooth the waves - and it almost works.

Spain - Sun, Sea, Santander and alliteration.

January and the first wee blog of the year. Decided to return to Spain for Christmas and New Year and spend a bit more time looking around, cycling and 'taking the air'. Extended the time in the sun by taking the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander - removing three days of 'drive time' through France. Touristically France is kind of shut at this time of year, so not a lot lost, apart from a bit of the bank balance. Gained? A less stressful journey and time to take a few more snaps.

Among the first ones onboard, the corridor sucked us in towards our cabin.

Most ferry crossing we make across the channel are early morning so a relaxed mid-morning departure gave us time to see Portsmouth, The Spinnaker Tower and the boat itself. Portsmouth harbour is scheduled to lose most of it's boat building capability over the next couple of years so these cranes may disappear soon.

Checked out the lifeboats, but the forecast was good.

HMS Warrior was the first of her class of two armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy in 1859-61. She and her sister ship, HMS Black Prince were the first armour-plated, iron hulled warships.

The Spinnaker Tower seemed to be about to get it's windows washed as we sailed past. Not the right lens to get a good shot of the window cleaner.

Eventually a bit of sunshine made it stand out against the clouds.

Santander - warmer already.