We
are currently on a camper stop at Calpe – Mediterraneo Camper (N38.65126 E0.06942).
Not
a bad location, as it’s only about a 10 minute walk to the beach and town. Cost
€12 – for that you get electric, fresh water tap near your plot, usual
ablutions for Sonny (grey waste and chemical toilet disposal), lovely hot and
clean showers and loos, and a bar that does ‘happy hour’ 3 for 2 drinks that
are reasonably priced and does cocktails - result!
So,
this morning we decided to walk up the rock that we could see from our camper
stop.
Peñón
de Ifach looks like a ‘mini rock of Gibraltar’ –
although I am sure, for obvious reasons, the Spanish would never dream of using
that name!
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| Peñón de Ifach from the beach - it looks a long way up to the top! |
The
rock is a 332 metre high limestone outcrop rising from the Mediterranean sea and is linked to
the shoreline naturally by years of sediment that has fallen off the rock over
thousands of years. It is a designated national park, so has protected status
from development taking place. This amazing landmark is home to numerous rare
examples of plant life and is a yearly nest site for many colonies of sea
birds.The
path starts off quite easy and paved until it cuts through the rock.
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| Cutting through the rock to get to the top |
You come out the other side of the rock and
then you are faced with this sign!
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| Sign "this path is very dangerous" |
Not
a very apt sign to encourage people to continue walking! There were some tricky bits as the path
snaked up the side of the rock, with some sheer drops and admittedly I was tempted to turn back at one point but Mel kept me going. There are ropes and chains in places to help
pull you up and stop you slipping on the way down!
We made it to the top!
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| At the top |
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| Panoramic view from the top |
We even found this little climber up here!
Also, found this chunk of rock at the top engraved "Rock from Helvellyn, UK". Not sure why someone would carry a heavy piece of rock (supposedly from the 3rd highest fell in the Lake District) all the way up here. It took me all my time just to carry myself up!
Prior to coming to Calpe we did a spot of ‘wild camping’ on the beach at a little
place called La Isleta (N36.81670 w2.05146). A perfect view across the bay from our motorhome spot.
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| "Rock from Helvellyn, UK" |
Mel
had discovered this little gem whilst out on a scooter ride from the Aire at
Cabo de Gata. It's just 15kms from where we were staying. It has signs up saying no
motorhomes between sunset and sunrise, but at this time of year the local
police seem to turn a blind eye. There was a nice national mix of motorhomes by
evening time – a German, a French, an Italian, 3 Spanish, a Swiss one and us
representing GB!
We
climbed up to get a good view of the cove.
We then had a very lazy day on the beach. Mel was brave enough to take a dip.
We
decided to set an alarm for 6.45am so we could get up and watch this beautiful sunrise.
This also meant we could make an early start. We wanted to head quite a bit north
through Spain, as we want to be in Italy by late May, going over the Pyrenees
into Andorra and round the south of France first.
We ended up doing 222 miles to Calpe - mostly motorway (but avoiding the toll roads) and then took the coastal road from Alicante up to Calpe. Tomorrow,
we head to Valencia.
Sally
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