October 9th.
The first stop after leaving la Gaviota was the supermarket and petrol station in St Pere Pescador.
After the price in France (and at home!) the €1.339 per litre seemed like a massive saving. It was around 25p a litre cheaper than home. Having the Halifax Clarity app on my phone means within minutes I can see the UK cost of spending in Euros.
Then we were off to AP7 and towards Barcelona. The overhead signs, in English, warned of scammers claiming that vehicles had a problem, and saying not to stop. Comforting to know this is being taken seriously, and not the urban myth that is claimed in different forums.
The traffic around Barcelona was very heavy and lane discipline and driving ability seemed to drop to an all time low!
Once free of it we thought of stopping for lunch. It was gone 1pm when we pulled into the motorway aire at El Área de Servicio Penedès, along with around 8 other motorhomes and loads of trucks. I recognised it from a couple of years ago.
Here we had lunch that we had bought earlier, and I went to do battle with the coffee machines in the services. I eventually won I think. At least we got two coffees! I later found I had paid for three!!!
The journey to Benicarló was pretty simple.
The sea appearing close by after Tarragona and then the Ebro Delta. On arrival at Camping Alegría del Mar, we checked in.
Dopey me had mislaid my ACSI Card. I had had it in Bourges at the site there! The receptionist saw I had made the booking through the ACSI site (members only booking I assume!) and so she didn't mind. I had paid €13 deposit on booking with ACSI and so when we leave we'd pay up. This time I wouldn't drive straight out.......
Once on pitch we connected the electricity. Here you get 4kw/h per day included in the overnight tariff. It's metered and you pay around 45c per kw/h if you go over.
The site is a mixture of tourers (like us) staying a short time, or many that look like permanent residents in static caravans or simply old campers and caravans. Not just British but others from Germany and Netherlands.
The last time we were here with my Oldham Athletic t-shirt on, we got talking to two Man's who lived there permanently. One City, one United. They ran regular trips to Benidorm to stock up on British goods....
We checked out the beach and the health and safety nightmare that are the eroded steps down to it.
A short walk for Reggie before retiring for our tea. Included in the overnight cost are a free drink for everyone in your party. For us two. So we went over to the restaurant for a drink. We ate there the last time we stayed here back in 2022, but not this time.
Friday started very pleasantly and we had a lazy start, then later a walk along the beach, Platja de la Mar Xica, intending to get to Benicarló. We gave up when we got to the end of the beach by the marina as there was nothing there! Other than the new "inundation" road that's not yet on the Google Map for the area, there's not much to see. A river, Riu Sec, comes down from the mountains into the sea, and the new road looks to save a huge loop to get around. The wind was still blowing a gale and the sea was crashing into the beach.
That evening it was forecast rain. Heavy rain. We spent a little packing everything from outside the van away. The rear leg on the awning fell off! It's held on by one small bracket and one small screw. This had loosened and whilst Claire took the entire weight of the awning I had to get it back in place and then tighten up the single Philips head screw! I had to do a similar job on the front leg back in March! There surely must be a better way of securing the leg to the awning's front rail.
The forecast rain came. It pee'd down. It pee'd down all night and into the morning when we came to leave. With all the "blue jobs" done, cassette and waste water emptied, we would be around 70kgs lighter! I paid up and was pleasantly surprised that we had used only 40c of electricity over our allowance. In total I had to pay a final payment of €30. In total €43 for two nights.
Once we were on the flooded roads, in a downpour, we stopped in a Lidl. The 12th October is a bank holiday for Spanish National Day. We wanted to make sure that we had provisions in the van for our first few days in the apartment in Alcossebre.
With only 33kms to go from the campsite to the apartment and over 5 hours to spend before check-in we would normally have parked up. Basked in the sun, walked along the beach and had lunch etc.
We still did that apart from bask in the sun. It was lashing down in Benicarló at Lidl. It was lashing down all the way to Peñiscola where we intended to walk and bask in the sunshine! In the end we parked up along the Platja de Peñiscola and sat in the van until the rain stopped. It was around two hours before that happened.
I had a nap as the night before I hadn't slept very well. When the rain stopped Claire took Reggie for a walk and I followed with the Nikon and took a few photos....
Before we set off it started to spit again.
This however wasn't going to stop me filling the fuel again at the very cheap station on the way from the beach side to the N340.
The bonÀrea station had diesel at €1.229 and AdBlue at €0.419 a litre! It would be rude to refuse their kind offer! So I didn't, even in the pouring rain! At that price diesel was around 35p a litre cheaper than Rip-Off Britain! The AdBlue worked out at 36p UK a litre. At UK service stations it's more like 4 times that!
We arrived at the apartment's reception around 4.45pm. Checked in.
It cost €7 a night for Reggie. Plus €30 for services, electricity and cleaning. He got a doggy bag but not as good as before when he got two food bowls that we still use now.
It was still pouring down with thunder and lightning forecast all night and until late Sunday!
The TV news is showing flooding all along the coast from Tarragona down to Alicante and further south. People with no water in parts of Murcia.... ?
The first stop after leaving la Gaviota was the supermarket and petrol station in St Pere Pescador.
After the price in France (and at home!) the €1.339 per litre seemed like a massive saving. It was around 25p a litre cheaper than home. Having the Halifax Clarity app on my phone means within minutes I can see the UK cost of spending in Euros.
Then we were off to AP7 and towards Barcelona. The overhead signs, in English, warned of scammers claiming that vehicles had a problem, and saying not to stop. Comforting to know this is being taken seriously, and not the urban myth that is claimed in different forums.
The traffic around Barcelona was very heavy and lane discipline and driving ability seemed to drop to an all time low!
Once free of it we thought of stopping for lunch. It was gone 1pm when we pulled into the motorway aire at El Área de Servicio Penedès, along with around 8 other motorhomes and loads of trucks. I recognised it from a couple of years ago.
Here we had lunch that we had bought earlier, and I went to do battle with the coffee machines in the services. I eventually won I think. At least we got two coffees! I later found I had paid for three!!!
The journey to Benicarló was pretty simple.
The sea appearing close by after Tarragona and then the Ebro Delta. On arrival at Camping Alegría del Mar, we checked in.
Dopey me had mislaid my ACSI Card. I had had it in Bourges at the site there! The receptionist saw I had made the booking through the ACSI site (members only booking I assume!) and so she didn't mind. I had paid €13 deposit on booking with ACSI and so when we leave we'd pay up. This time I wouldn't drive straight out.......
Once on pitch we connected the electricity. Here you get 4kw/h per day included in the overnight tariff. It's metered and you pay around 45c per kw/h if you go over.
The site is a mixture of tourers (like us) staying a short time, or many that look like permanent residents in static caravans or simply old campers and caravans. Not just British but others from Germany and Netherlands.
The last time we were here with my Oldham Athletic t-shirt on, we got talking to two Man's who lived there permanently. One City, one United. They ran regular trips to Benidorm to stock up on British goods....
We checked out the beach and the health and safety nightmare that are the eroded steps down to it.
A short walk for Reggie before retiring for our tea. Included in the overnight cost are a free drink for everyone in your party. For us two. So we went over to the restaurant for a drink. We ate there the last time we stayed here back in 2022, but not this time.
Friday started very pleasantly and we had a lazy start, then later a walk along the beach, Platja de la Mar Xica, intending to get to Benicarló. We gave up when we got to the end of the beach by the marina as there was nothing there! Other than the new "inundation" road that's not yet on the Google Map for the area, there's not much to see. A river, Riu Sec, comes down from the mountains into the sea, and the new road looks to save a huge loop to get around. The wind was still blowing a gale and the sea was crashing into the beach.
That evening it was forecast rain. Heavy rain. We spent a little packing everything from outside the van away. The rear leg on the awning fell off! It's held on by one small bracket and one small screw. This had loosened and whilst Claire took the entire weight of the awning I had to get it back in place and then tighten up the single Philips head screw! I had to do a similar job on the front leg back in March! There surely must be a better way of securing the leg to the awning's front rail.
The forecast rain came. It pee'd down. It pee'd down all night and into the morning when we came to leave. With all the "blue jobs" done, cassette and waste water emptied, we would be around 70kgs lighter! I paid up and was pleasantly surprised that we had used only 40c of electricity over our allowance. In total I had to pay a final payment of €30. In total €43 for two nights.
Once we were on the flooded roads, in a downpour, we stopped in a Lidl. The 12th October is a bank holiday for Spanish National Day. We wanted to make sure that we had provisions in the van for our first few days in the apartment in Alcossebre.
With only 33kms to go from the campsite to the apartment and over 5 hours to spend before check-in we would normally have parked up. Basked in the sun, walked along the beach and had lunch etc.
We still did that apart from bask in the sun. It was lashing down in Benicarló at Lidl. It was lashing down all the way to Peñiscola where we intended to walk and bask in the sunshine! In the end we parked up along the Platja de Peñiscola and sat in the van until the rain stopped. It was around two hours before that happened.
I had a nap as the night before I hadn't slept very well. When the rain stopped Claire took Reggie for a walk and I followed with the Nikon and took a few photos....
This however wasn't going to stop me filling the fuel again at the very cheap station on the way from the beach side to the N340.
The bonÀrea station had diesel at €1.229 and AdBlue at €0.419 a litre! It would be rude to refuse their kind offer! So I didn't, even in the pouring rain! At that price diesel was around 35p a litre cheaper than Rip-Off Britain! The AdBlue worked out at 36p UK a litre. At UK service stations it's more like 4 times that!
We arrived at the apartment's reception around 4.45pm. Checked in.
It cost €7 a night for Reggie. Plus €30 for services, electricity and cleaning. He got a doggy bag but not as good as before when he got two food bowls that we still use now.
It was still pouring down with thunder and lightning forecast all night and until late Sunday!
The TV news is showing flooding all along the coast from Tarragona down to Alicante and further south. People with no water in parts of Murcia.... ?
