Tuesday 16th November 2010

Got going earlier as we were leaving and with some expert guidance from Lynn and Sarah managed to get out of the pitch without demolishing any trees or hitting the car parked just where I was turning! Used the aire facilities at the campsite to dump the waste water and refresh the clean. Managed to give Bella a quick wash whilst this was happening before setting off. Left Pliva via its one way system (just ignored the weight restriction!) and rejoined the N332 which took us through some fabulous countryside, quite high up through the hills and the as you came round a bend there was the Med and a great coastline. We headed for Calpe, which looked very nice, but the directions were not accurate and as we reached the start of a narrow busy high street we decided to abort it and try Altea a further down the coast. This involved going from a “straight on” lane across the “Left only” lane and generally causing a little chaos as we maneuvered  around the junction to head back the way we had come.

As we came down the road from the hills entering Altea we saw several beautiful houses set in the trees on the hills. We found the campsite off the end of a promenade and just into Albir. The site was nearly full, mostly with dutch outfits, but we manged to fing a pitch we could fit on. The site has the feel of a dutch village as most of the people are here for the winter. After setting up and lunch we decided to have a walk and explore the area.  Altea is set around a lovely bay and is busy with modern expensive looking hotels. We didn’t realise we were only 5k from Benidorm! But as we walked around the promenade and reached the Albir end where the shops and cafes were, the English influence became more apparent with everything translated into English. We even found an Indian restaurant, our first in Spain! We had a walk up towards a nature park and the views of the hills behind as well as the coast, were lovely. Sarah spotted a couple of guys in wet suits swimming out of a ting rocky alcove with spear guns! Could be painful if swimmer two isn’t careful where his pointing his spear! Despite being so close to Benidorm, Altea seems very nice, we’re looking forward to exploring more tomorrow.