Fri 13th
Unlucky for some……………….but not us! A day of
driving to get across to coast again on our way towards France. We stopped at
San Clemente right in the middle of nowhere. Lots of agriculture and industrial
units but not a lot else. Free spot, 2 other vans overnight.
Sat 14th
Another 200 mile drive up past Valencia to
Peniscola (no jokes please.. ) , a bit of a culture shock to be on the
developed coastal strip again. We passed one site that looked full with the
vans crammed in close, yuk. We found Camping Vizmar had lots of space so we
parked up (we would find out why our section was so empty later………………) we walked down to the “famous” promenade for a
look. Not bad, but absolutely dead with 99% of the hotels closed and no cafes /
restaurants open at our end of the town. What do all the over winterers do
apart from walk along the seafront? Again just not for us, so we returned to
the van to plan where to go tomorrow.
Peniscola - Papa Luna castle view
Gaudi dragon!
Papa Luna
Sun 15th
What a noisy night! There appeared to be a whole pack of howling
dogs behind us partying all night long, they had also invited a braying donkey
with his 4 cockerel friends to add to the soundtrack. Why does Spain have so
many yappy dogs who never sleep at night – could it be that they are left alone
tied up for most of the day? We were definitely moving now.
The Delta de L’Ebre just north looked worth
a visit. This a huge wetland and rice paddy area of 320 sq. km. It looked just so different we had to go and
look. Driving across the raised, very narrow roads through the paddy fields felt very surreal.
We could see a huge wetland as we approached the free parking spot at La Casa
de Fusta the park information centre, hire centre and restaurant. A flat vista
for miles with the mountain behind us was very different from Peniscola.
Ebre delta wetlands
After lunch we donned our cycle kit and set
off for a ride around the Encanyissiad
lagoon to see if we could spot some flamingos. We most certainly did –
lots of them standing in the shallow water. Tina was thrilled, as she had been
determined to see some.
Flamingos
The 8 mile route around the lagoon has 4 viewing
platforms to allow you to see the wildlife, we of course stopped at every one
of them. The mud in the relatively dry paddy fields looked strangely alluring
as in I almost wanted to paddle in it – no idea why! It appears they dry them out then plough them
ready for the new growing season. Must be a very special tractor they use. A very strange, but enjoyable landscape to
cycle through.
viewing point
commercial fishing
hide
definitely different from the costas
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