Two hours of Wednesday morning was spent watching the washing dry, yes, it’s a tough life.
In the heat of midday, we cycled across to the promenade and turned right into town. There’s not a lot of the old town remaining, most of it has been modernised, but I found a very nicely painted wall; there should be more murals on walls in the world, they make a stroll round town feel more like an art gallery wander.
The pathway to the end of the Playa Arenal Boll was too steep and narrow for our bikes, so we set off on foot to the top and got a fabulous view back over the beach and the Peñón de Ifach. Calpe has a nice feel to it, I think we’ll enjoy our long break chilling out here; in fact I feel like we’re already on holiday.
On Thursday, to burn off a full English breakfast, we cycled to the other end of the beach and locked up our bikes at the start of the footpath which would take us to the top of Peñón de Ifach. Stupidly we were both wearing flip-flops, but we puffed our way up to various stunning viewpoints. Halfway up there is a dark tunnel and we struggled through to the far end on the slippery rocks, which have been polished to a shine by very many boots in the past. After that the path really narrowed and there was now no rope to hang on to. Our footwear, as the sign had said at the beginning, was definitely inadequate, so we staggered back through the tunnel and returned to our bikes. Rodney The Mountain Man was disappointed and plotted another attempt on Peñón de Ifach on Friday.
We had a little mooch around Playa La Fossa Levante, Calpe’s other beach and we stopped for an essential cold drink before cycling back to the campsite. Afternoon recovery was spent on the beach and even I waded into the chilly Mediterranean water. The sea is so shallow here that there are nice ‘warm patches’, well we had to cool off after cooking our bodies on the beach. A hair-wash, frock up and cocktails by the beach came next; yes Rosie, I know I should never drink before dinner. We shared an enormous glass of Sex On The Beach, well not really a glass, it was a jug, and I was tiddly in no time. It took a lot of effort to walk round to the Everest Nepali Indian Restaurant. I managed to not fall asleep at the table and we enjoyed a very tasty meal before I very quickly fell asleep back in Eileen.
After visiting ‘Everest’ the night before, Rodney was inspired for his climb up Peñón de Ifach. He left me at 9:30am and was back before midday. I would not have believed, that in such a short time, he could cycle there, hike up the long path, through the slippery tunnel, climb to the top of the peak and be back home so soon, if he hadn’t brought back photos to prove it!! I was mighty impressed. All I did was a load of washing, cleaned shoes, cleaned the toilet, sent emails and all that time stayed indoors while the campsite hedges were being sprayed with something. Apparently the top part of the climb really was a scramble, involving a bit of mountaineering. There were ropes in some sections and they were definitely needed, plus he says he was on all fours in a few spots. To add to the fun of it all, he got dive-bombed by nesting seagulls and one of them even pooed on him, but only managed to hit the rucksack. I’m glad I didn’t go along.
Time for the beach, me thinks. Rodney is fascinated by the number of fellow campers who head down to the beach each day dragging a trolley full of ‘stuff’. They take huge sun-loungers, umbrellas, towels, drinks, food for the day, and goodness knows what else. I’ve threatened to buy Rodney a trolley for his birthday, so he can carry lots more ‘stuff’ to Freshwater Beach on summer Saturdays, but luckily, we have nowhere to store one in Eileen for now.
So then we stayed another day, and another day, and then one more day. We lazed on the beach, lazed by the pool, ate meals out at local restaurants, read books, sewed, cycled, dawdled round the Saturday market, ambled around the Marina and basically ran out of anything to write in the blog. We felt like we were on a real holiday. We just couldn’t seem to get back on the road.
