2019 Spain

This being our last day here we thought we would take a look at the promenade and try and give the boys a run. Whilst we are out we would try and get some items we didn’t get yesterday at Lidl so we stopped at AlCampo (sister company of Auchan in France). We had a little look around and bought items that included a flaky pastry full of cream slice that was around 15in long. We had half for tea and the other half will be for tomorrow.
We made our way to the promenade only to find that the parking was all needing a ticket. Tina had used all of the loose change when she bought bread etc at the shop so we didn’t have any coins for the machine. Decided to drive through the back streets but everywhere was the same. We gave up in the end and walked the boys around the site when we returned.
As we are moving off tomorrow I started to pack away a few things. After our meal I disconnected the gas bottle and fitted the towing cover. I also ensured we had enough water in the internal tank for the remaining time here so this allowed me to pack away the Aqua roll and flat water hose.
I downloaded a couple of new games onto Tina\’s iPad which included Spider. It get her quiet for the rest of the afternoon and evening!!
We watched some m ore episodes of ‘Dirty John’ on Netflix and once agin Tina is getting into this series. More tomorrow for sure.
In conclusion I think the site here has so much for everyone and I am sure it is crammed in the summer but for us it is tooooo big. We are glad to be moving on tomorrow.

We started the day by going shopping at the Lidl we spotted on our trip out yesterday. We did our weekly shop but couldn’t get everything we hoped for so it might be a visit to the campsite shop this evening or maybe find another supermarket tomorrow.
We made our way back to the site and decided we would have a tour around to see what other facilities there are here. We found the ‘Wellness’ centre and play park. There are literally hundreds of other pitches here including many lodges and static vans. We absolutely needed the map to stop us from getting lost.
In the afternoon we took the dogs for a longer walk up around the open air swimming pool which was shut at the moment. We could image that this area would be heaving with screaming kids in the summer.
Late afternoon and evening we did more relaxing and watched a new series we have found on Netflix called “Dirty John”. I can see Tina getting in to this. Our data is now running low and we need to ration it …Tina really doesn’t understand the concept of rationing.
We didn’t get back to the supermarket so that is a task for tomorrow…

What a huge place…as you can see there are several areas and we are in G area where the Camping & Caravanning Rally starts on Saturday…we will be long gone back to Calais.
When we arrived yesterday we were on empty in the vehicle so we needed to get some fuel and whilst we were out we needed some shopping. I looked up that there was a Carrefour down in the town with a forecourt. Sorted !!
Set the sat nav on the phone and off we went. The town is only around 5 miles away so we were there in no time. Spotted the fuel station but no large Carrefour instead it was a supermarket attached to the fuel station. None of the other supermarkets were open because it is Sunday. Did spot an alternative fuel station that offered cheaper fuel at €1.13 per litre which works out at just over £1. I will need to0 remind myself to fill up before we cross the border back into France on Wednesday….the fuel in France is more expensive. Paying for the fuel initially was a challenge but a local guy helped me with my machine which we gave up and used the other.
Back to the camp site and relaxed. We did watch someone arrive and set up on the adjacent pitch. He had some interesting ideas and it soon became apparent that he had been here before. He laid out and pegged down his groundsheet. Next came the awning which was an oversized porch awning but did not fully cover the groundsheet. He used an electric drill with a masonry bit to drill through the groundsheet to make a pilot hole in which he hammered in his rock pegs. Eventually all was erect including his storm guides.
In the evening we finally finished watching the remaining available episodes of our series… we will have to watch the remaining episodes weekly over the coming weeks when we get home. Must remember to set the recording schedule.
As we have no English TV signal and I am rationing the remaining data it was soon bed time …

Today we said good bye to our site in Benicarló and made our way up the coast 100 miles to Vilanova Park. This site is huge with 1400 pitches organised into areas….we are in G which is where the Club rally starts on Saturday. There are already some here in readiness for the start. We are surrounded by Brits.
We followed an electric golf kart around the site roads and showed us to our pitch. We decided to go in A-frame first so that we would enjoy the sun coming in our door. However, when I parked the vehicle this cut off the sun. Will maybe need to find an alternative for parking the vehicle.
We had a wander around the park and later in the afternoon we found the shop and bought one or two essentials. The shops are not open usually on Sundays in the town so thought we would have to wait until Monday before we do a ‘big’ shop.
I decided that we wouldn’t buy any internet access as up to now the reception has always been poor. Instead we would rely on our own internet from Three and EE.
After watching some episodes on the iPad Tina took herself off to bed.

After the trauma of the last couple of days we both felt that we needed a day of chilling and doing nothing of any consequence.
Tina decided to have a sweep through and lifted the carpets outside for a shake whilst I did some work on our depleting finances. I found a review on line of some expanding waste pipes that also fit together. After discussing with Tina I went ahead and did a pre-order ready for delivery in March. Check out the review on youtube of this Colapz product
After some lunch Tina took the dogs down to the beach for a run. Woody found a ball and Tina was throwing into the shallows. Woody was trying to retrieve it without getting his feet wet … most of the time.

I did suggest that we try the Fish & Chip supper at the restaurant as it was Friday. Tina decided that she would cook rather than risk getting cold in the restaurant.

I spent sometime packing away the scooter and taking a closer look at the bust headlight. It needs some major putting back together which I don’t think will last long so when back in the ‘van I searched the web and found a replacement which I can order when home for £32.99.
The evening saw us streaming some episodes….need to keep an eye on how much data we have left for the remaining 8 days. We leave tomorrow for a new site to us which is 10x bigger than this site. I hope Tina doesn’t get over awed by it.

Today started much better …
Whilst Tina was still sleeping I thought I would take the front of the caravan apart to look for our passports. I was hoping that they had gone down behind the cushions or the draw pack. After removing the cushions I then released the draw pack containing the top two draws and lifted it out of the way. Did find a small pack of wet wipes but no passports. Next I thought that I would take a look at the remaining 2 drawers. The bottom draw was released by taking the 2 screws out from the runner. Pulled the draw away and hooray …. Found the passports which were under the bottom draw. What a relief!!
We both did try and look for the Hydraulic levelling remote control but still haven’t had any success. I made enquiries about a replacement …. £200 plus delivery sir. We will continue looking and order one if it is not found before we get home.

So glad we parked the van so the door was receiving the sun streaming in. It certainly made it warmer. We took a stroll down the lane at the rear of the site and found the beach. Woody nearly got his feet wet but not quite. I had got the scooter out and assembled it again and rode this down the lane. I broke the light on the scooter again so need to take another look at this.

Quiet evening streaming episodes of Madam Secretary trying to use the purchased internet access from the site. However, the internet keeps dropping out and was not suitable for streaming so back to using a hotspot from my phone on EE 4G. That solved the issue.
So relieved that we did not have to go through the trauma of getting emergency travel documents. The site staff here were so helpful and we must give them full marks for trying to help us…. What will tomorrow bring?

Horrenda Diem (latin for Horrendous day) best describes our day…
We packed up this morning with no issues and pulled down to reception where we paid our electricity bill.. €7.20 for the 4 weeks we have been at Alicante Imperium. Our heating was on LPG and we had 4KW of electric included in the price. I thought how well we had done.
We made good time travelling on the toll motorway and just over half way we stopped for a break and give the ‘boys’ an opportunity to relieve themselves. I remembered that we should look out our paperwork and in particular the voucher for the next site. On closer inspection ….where are our passports!!! We looked all around the vehicle and searched in the caravan and could not find them. Conclusion is we must have left them in reception at the last site. We decided that we should press on and give the site a call when we arrive at our destination. 
In Benicarló the reception were able to call the Villajoyosa site and ask them to search and call us back. We arranged to go back this evening and get the verdict from the phone call. We asked to be closer to the beach which means it is closer for the dog walk. They placed us on one of the premier pitches…not sure if there is a price difference!
We drove around to the pitch and disconnected and used the motor mover to place the ‘van on the pitch. Next we needed to level it…where is the remote control! No sign of it in its usual place. Once again we searched and couldn’t find it so we went to plan B. There is a wired solution we could use.
We are now set up but worried insanely about our passports. The remote can be replaced but without the passports how can we get home? We gave he friends we had made a call back at the site to go and ask at reception and see if I had left the remote behind. They reported back that they had no luck. After some research it seems we can organise emergency travel documents which take about 2 working days and would need to be picked up in Barcelona. The cost £100 each. OUCH.
We went up to reception and that had heard from Villajoyosa and they did not have our passports. Tina persuaded me that we should eat in the on-site restaurant. It was pie night. I had the Chicken & Mushroom whereas Tina had a steak. It was good to relax even though we are still worried. We will have to take the caravan and vehicle apart tomorrow and if not successful will have to apply on-line for the emergency documents.
Back to the van and soon we had settled for the night. We will report tomorrow if we are successful in our search.

Today was preparation day for moving sites tomorrow. We have been on this site for 4 weeks and tomorrow we will be leaving so we needed to do as much of the work we could.
First job was to pack up the water supply so I disconnected the Aqua roll from the tap by winding up the water hose. Then took out the Aqua roll cut off valve and emptied the water. We will continue the rest of our time today and tomorrow morning using the water in the under bed tank.

Next I took down the Washing line and packed that away. I then packed away the dismantled mobility scooter into the back of the vehicle. The last job was to take up the awning carpet and fold it prior to stowing it away in the vehicle.

We had decided to do some last minute shopping and whilst out we would get some fuel and refill the LPG gas bottle. The bottle took 10 litres since we last filled it. The diesel was €1.13 per litre which is approximately £1 a litre. We really do get ripped off in the UK by the amount of tax collected on fuel.
After visiting the Expats store for the last time we returned home and had a quiet afternoon / evening. Clare & Phil dropped around to have a cuppa with us and say goodbye …. We do hope to look them up later in the year.

This morning we went up to the Norwegian Church which was mentioned on Saturday at Coffee morning by the stewards. Most people had bikes, either electric or normal, and rode these along the little lanes whereas we drove mainly because we didn’t bring the bikes with us.

The church was high up on the hill and had glorious views over the surrounding area. The church itself was lovely … Tina lit a candle in remembrance for our grandson Freddie. Each Monday they serve Coffee and Waffles for €3.50 each which of course we partook off. 

The group then made there way up to the reservoir where we had been some days ago so we decided to drop the ‘boys’ back and go and do some shopping in town. Whilst we were in Mercadonna we bought yet more bottles of our favourite tipple together with a weeks shopping. We are due to move on Wednesday back up the coast on our first leg of the journey home.
More episodes of our series….not many left now then we watched a film from Netflix called ‘Close’.

Quiet day today…
As it was Sunday we had bacon & egg baguettes for lunch followed by the last of the rugby matches featuring England. Great result and it looks like the next round where England play Wales could be a cruncher.
At 2pm the stewards hosted a ‘Calle BBQ’ where they supply he heat and you bring your own meal. Not too many attended this week. For the last 2 weeks the winds were to strong to stage it.
The evening saw us streaming our series from Virgin Media….we are running out of episodes so we are likely to finish all five series by the time we get home. Tina went off to bed whilst I watch some television.