Turds and Naked birds

San Jose

San Jose was our next place to visit. It is a small little village on the east coast. This area on the east is the driest in the whole of Europe. It is very barren and hot with a stiff breeze blowing in off the coast most of the day, which is a relief as it is so hot. And so very beautiful! The colours of the landscape are so vivid – reddish-brown of the earth, yellow of the grass, light blue of the sky and deep blue of the sea. Just glorious!

We parked in a campervan spot that was just on the edge of town, where we could bike to the sea – only about two minutes away. The sea had breakers crashing onto the shore which made it a little bit wet getting out in the kayak much to the girls dismay! The first day we drove a little further round the coast to another beach which we found packed with sun worshipers braving the strong wind, so we walked up the dunes and over the cliffs to another little beach which had a bit more shelter and a lovely reef for snorkeling.

Noa in her new bikini

Here we spent most of the day luxuriating in the sun and because it was so hot even I got in the water! Funny though – all the Spanish people must have thought it still too cold for swimming as we were the only people in the water. Unfortunately we were not very sun-smart – thinking that we wouldn’t get as burnt out here as we do in NZ. There were people walking around totally naked all day after all and they didn’t seem to concerned about sunburn! But it was later that day that we saw how wrong we were. We all got burnt to a crisp – the girls and Josh going straight to a golden brown colour, but me? I am as red as a lobster- especially in my midriff where the skin there hasn’t seen the light of day for many years! (I decided to be brave and wear a bikini! It’s about time I accepted my muffin tops and stretch marks – after all, I was being rather modest with my bikini on.)

Most campers here we have noticed have at least one dog, if not two or three! And they are not always small dogs which is surprising considering the tiny space they and their owners have to share in a campervan. France and Spain have been so great about dogs – they are allowed in town, free ranging, and on any beach. We’ve only noticed one sign (in San Jose) where it says you’ll get a fine if you don’t pick up the poo but it doesn’t look like anyone pays attention as the poo is absolutely everywhere. And because of the sun and dry heat it doesn’t ever seem to degrade, so you’re left with baking dog poo on almost every step and car park, becoming a perpetual background smell. But it doesn’t seem to bother anyone – just step around it – and the dogs, we’ve noticed here in Spain seem to be the happiest in the world! They are always smiling and friendly, coming up to anyone for a pat. So carefree! And their owners always seem to take them with them where ever they go. It’s really great to see. It is quite the contrast to Holland, sad to say. There were many dogs there – just as much poo (you can’t really step on the grass there, always use the pavement – has anyone thought of doggy doo bags there?) But the dogs are always on a leash and the owners often take a wide route around pedestrians. A few times we approached dogs to say hello in Holland they would more often than not growl, or bark. The owner would warn us that they weren’t friendly. Dogs weren’t allowed off their leash except in a little fenced in pen, of which there were quite a few in most playgrounds in suburban areas.

Today we are on the move again. We’re heading right up to Barcelona so it’ll be quite a drive. I’ve decided to try and write my blog as often as I can while we are on the move so that I can keep on top of our stories otherwise they build up a bit before I can post them when I’m at an internet site. So that’s what I’m doing today, though you’ll get a couple of posts all in one go. Hope you don’t mind!

View of the bay we visited out of San Jose

So amazingly brown and dry out here. But so beautiful too. These are the hills surrounding the small town.

Fern, Phoebe and Esmae

Las Negras. We stayed here after San Jose - its just around the coast. Josh and I got up early to see the sunrise here. Pretty magical.