Camping Javea

We soon settled into our 42 days here, we put the big awning up and made ourselves comfortable. The pitches here are much better for chairs and tables etc., The sun shone on us, not as warm as it had been but very pleasant. We took the bikes off the van so we could cycle to the beach for our 99cents breakfast, and coffee and brandy (double!) for €1.45. we also cycled to the port for our €5 chinese, 3 course meal with wine. After we had been here 10 days we had our first rain for 38 days. The first since we left Holland. We decided to buy a Spanish kitchen tent so we could use it on sites with smaller pitches, nothing worse than the smell of fish lingering in the van for days, we took Thelma and Stewart with us and drove to Denia. The camping shop is on the outskirts so we went there first and then back on the coast road to look at another possible site, cheap but too far from the shops and town. We parked in Denia and walked to a restaurant for lunch, we were sat in the sun but as soon as it went behind a building we were cold so headed back to the van for a white knuckle ride home via the lighthouse overlooking Javea. Very narrow road with a few twists and turns! Nice views from the top. Saturday 12th was the day the Christmas tree and the Nativity scene were illuminated in the town. There were fireworks and a fire-eater for entertainment along with the local singers parading around the town. All along the street there were candles, hundreds of them in plastic cups, the local children thought they were great fun! It didn’t look like any one got burnt! Great fun was had by all. The fireworks were extremely loud,they laid a string of firecrackers along the street with no barriers or anything to keep people away, they nearly burst our eardrums and blew us all up. Not much Health and safety here.At 10pm we were sat outside a bar drinking beer and tapas.

The rain started that night! It didn’t stop for 48 hours. The big river close to the campsite that was dry all last year and had nothing in it when we arrived suddenly turned into a brown raging torrent with the result the police advised the site owners to evacuate us immediately, It was 1pm on Monday. The site owners said they couldn’t be responsible for our safety but they didn’t think the river would flood the site. We took our passport and money and left, in the pouring rain and strong winds. We headed for the sanctuary of the nearest restaurant, chinese of course.! We settled in for the next 5 hours, Thelma eating with chopsticks to slow us all down.We rang the site at 6pm to see if we were allowed back,we walked back to the van to find the awning torn off the side of the van, but still intact. We decided to collapse the awning before it was damaged anymore. We prepared the van to drive off quickly if we had to. At 9pm the river was no longer rising and we were told that an emergency signal would be given in the night if the river rose anymore.After a restless night we woke to find trees down, collapsed awnings everywhere but bright warm sunshine, we spent the day clearing up.It looked like Dingles Yard our belongings scattered everywhere.

Mixed weather after that, much better than home so we tried not to complain, snow and ice, yuk! Everyone on the campsite was given a bottle of wine and we went to an afternoon party, sangria and karaoke…provided by the site. Very nice of them and enjoyed by all. Andy Westlake and Jill arrived which was a nice surprise.It was good to catch up with them again.Christmas Eve was spent with Graham and Val in their awning, lovely evening. Christmas Day was bright and sunny and we were able to continue our tradition of having a picnic on the beach with Stewart and Thelma. Andy joined us in the evening for a special Christmas meal in the chinese restaurant. Not a turkey or sprout in sight! Brilliant. Sunday 27th was warm and sunny, we packed everything up ready to leave on Tuesday,we will overnight in Granada and hopefully arrive in Conil de la Frontera on 30th.