All is well BUT we may need a new clutch!

19th & 20th May
We were up and off to the beach early to get our paper with the answers to Saturday’s crossword. Next it was along to the supermarket on the bikes to stock up on a few bits and pieces. We do this early as it is pretty hot a bit later on. Then we just chilled out until it was time to take Liz & Mo out for dinner. They had surprised us by saying they wanted to go to an Indian restaurant which turned out to be Nepalese, still the food was excellent but not very hot, as in spicy. Then it was off home this time in a taxi arranged by Liz.

The next day as they had insisted we go to another restaurant for dinner on them, we decided to check out just how far it actually was to cycle. When Joan discovered that we had spent nearly £40 on four 2 mile journeys she announced firmly that we could cycle. Fortunately this time I had put the cycle torches in so we were all set. Having had yet another super sunny day off we went on our bikes and found it very easy. Everything was going far too well so I was not the least surprised when we returned to their flat after the meal for a liqueur to discover I had a flat tyre! Still I had everything with me so it was soon fixed and we said our goodbyes to them for this year.

We set off fairly early to travel the 128 miles to the camp site Joan had picked out as a halfway point to Granada as it was a fairly long drive to do in one go. I should have been warned what sort of a drive it would be when the sat-nav lady and Joan could not agree how we would get out of Javea. Fortunately I remembered so after stocking up with the heavy items like booze and water we hit the road. The journey was fairly boring until we left the motorway. I should point out at this point that we passed what appeared to be a perfectly pleasant campsite next to the motorway. Joan felt that it would be far too noisy but as we travelled up the mountain around the third hairpin bend she wondered out loud if it was perhaps a better idea to return to that site, if only! However we managed to get to the village easily enough and that was when the brown stuff hit the fan.

As we entered the village there was a sign diverting us to the right and of course straight up. Our van managed the first bit but just stalled completely on the 1 in 3 bit and as I could not go anywhere but up I had to slip the clutch a bit which resulted in a very nasty burning smell indeed. Hopefully I have not done too much damage but I had to do something to get up the hill. When we finally got to the site we found we had been directed all around the outside of the village and we think it was the villager’s idea. Their excuse being we would not fit. We have since found out we can easily fit through the streets when we leave. B*@*#**d’s. We had to do a quick reccy as I knew the small person was not going to get a seconds sleep thinking about how we would get out. So imagine how we felt as we saw a huge delivery van drive through.
On a lighter note if we thought Javea was hot we were in for a shock. I always thought it was cooler up in the mountains but most of today it has been really scorching and as I sign off for bed it is still 86°
Lots of love
Joan & Bryan xxxx