A trip was long overdue, so we decided to go north, up the coast, and stay in some new (to us) aires, both inland and on the coast - hopefully with some good weather.
TOTAL TOUR STATISTICS
- Distance travelled 792km
- Travelling time 14hrs 41min
- Amount of fuel 76.32 litres
- Cost of fuel €83.95
- Average fuel consumption 9.54 l/100km (29.6mpg)
- Nights away 22
- Nights in free aires 6
- Nights in paid aires 7 at a cost of €90.70
- Nights in campsites 7 at a cost of €108
- Nights in overnight parking 2
- Days on electric hook-up 12
- Starter batteries bought 1
- Kilometres walked 158
Saturday 01/02/2020 Home to Torrevieja
N37°57'26.5'' W000°42'17.2'' Paid aire on crushed stone with 74 spaces, €9, service point electric (€4), showers, toilets, sinks, WiFi, washer/dryer.
14km in 20min
Our motorhome "Cervantes" is in storage at Camper Park La Ribera, and has been since the start of September, thus has not turned a wheel for 5 months.
When we came to start it - nothing - a flat starter battery, I presumed because it had been stood for so long.
The very helpful maintenance man at the campsite brought his 4x4 next to us and gave us a jump start with his jump leads to get us on our way.
The solar panels had successfully charged the 2 leisure batteries, but either failed to charge the starter battery, or it had trickle charged it, but the battery was losing its charge at a faster rate.
We drove around for an hour to put a decent charge into the battery, then parked at home to prepare the motorhome for our trip.
We filled Cervantes with food, clothes, and electrical stuff, then came the moment of truth - would it start!!
I turned the key with my fingers crossed, and breathed a sigh of relief when it caught first time - just as it always had!
Our plan was to go north up the coast towards Valencia, and see where it took us.
We had read in Campercontact about an aire in Torrevieja, just up the road from us, so decided to give it a visit to see what it was like.
The approach was a bit surreal, but we got there in the end.
The aire was quite full, but we got one of the last places - great value at a basic €9, then an extra €4 for electric. Facilities were good with showers, toilets, vending machine, washer/dryers, coffee machine, service point and WiFi.
Sunday 02/02/2020 Torrevieja to Restaurant Onvi
N38°27'25.4'' W000°21'39.9'' Aire in car park of restaurant on crushed stone with 5 spaces, €7, toilet, shower, electric (long lead needed), lift grids for services.
95km in 1hr 37min
We took the N332 northbound today to stop at somewhere we had not been before.
Restaurant Onvi is right on the N332, and the car park where we stayed is at the back of the restaurant.
The restaurant is German-owned, and the food is very much orientated towards Germans, with lots of sausages and sauerkraut.
The facilities were basic with toilets and one shower (in the ladies toilet), and electric socket, and access to water. Waste was disposed of by lifting grids in the car park. We didn't use any of these, as we were full and empty of everything.
Monday 03/02/2020 Restaurant Onvi to Bellús
N38°56'27.0'' W000°28'49.6'' Paid aire on grass/sand with 40+ spaces, €2 including service point, electric, barbecue area, benches and tables.
113km in 1hr 40min
We ventured inland a bit today to stay in Bellús aire, in the shadow of a huge concrete dam wall, holding back the water in the reservoir behind it.
The setting was excellent, with a good service point, an outdoor barbecue area with tables and benches, and a tranquil, picturesque view from every pitch.
Workmen were trying to remove all the debris that had collected, but the walk by the river to town was still excellent, despite all the work going on.
Bellús was a proper working town with a couple of restaurants and some fascinating history in its streets.
Tuesday 04/02/2020 Bellús
After a very quiet night here, we decided on a bike ride this morning - there is a marked route into the nearest town of Xàtiva that follows the river.
Returning along the river, we saw 3 vans wildcamping on a bit of waste ground - they could have continued for another kilometre and been on the aire!!
It was another sunny day, so we made the most of the weather outside Cervantes.
Wednesday 05/02/2020 Bellús to Km Zero
N38°56'17.5'' W000°09'11.0'' Paid aire on concrete with 26 spaces, €13.50 including electric, service point, toilets, showers, and WiFi.
48km in 1hr 1min
We'd been stationary for 2 days, so it was another cross-everything morning to see if Cervantes would start.
It caught first time again, so once again we breathed a sigh of relief, and set off for another aire, just off the N332, called Km Zero.
I don't know why it's so called, because the N332 is a very long road, and this is definitely not the start.
We arrived mid-morning, after taking the wrong turn to get here - see approach video below!
After parking up (we always need ramps at the front due to the nose-down stance of Cervantes) we decided on a walk to the town of L'Aqueria de la Comtessa.
We walked around the whole of the small town, and found one bar (open) and a couple of shops (all closed)
There appeared to be many houses, but no amenities for any of them - it was obviously a drive to get to any shops or restaurants - a strange place!
Thursday 06/02/2020 Km Zero to Camping Santa Marta
N39°10'40.3'' W000°14'38.3'' ACSI campsite on hardened sand with 30+ spaces, €16 including water and electric on pitch, showers, toilets, service point.
43km in 49min
We set off early this morning for the coastal town of Cullera, and were soon on the N332, running alongside the AP7/E15 motorway. There were a few diversions near Cullera where the N332 was being re-routed, and a new flyover being built.
As we were driving through the town we were impressed by the busy streets full of shops and shoppers - at last somewhere open!
The campsite was almost empty, but motorhomes had their own dedicated area, each with its own water and electric, so it didn't feel too remote.
The reception was very helpful, giving us leaflets, maps and guides of Cullera town and the surrounding hills, of which they were justifiably proud.
So it was on with the walking shoes, and we were off into Cullera to find the route they were taking.
We found the road they were going up - 3km uphill to the meteorological station at the top with multiple hairpin bends and a gradient of 21% at the finish line.
Friday 07/02/2020 Camping Santa Marta
There is so much to see and do here, we decided to stay another day.
We are on ACSI rate here, even though we don't have a card!
We bought the new 2020 ACSI book at a 2 day motorhome feria in Torre Pacheco in January, but when we took the cellophane off a week later - disaster - there were two books in as usual, but they were both book 2. There should have been a book 1 and a book 2. This mattered because the ID card to show to campsites is in book 1, along with details of all the campsites in Spain.
However, I had the previous 5 ID cards, and an e-mail from ACSI in the Netherlands saying a book 1 was in the post on it's way to us.
This was accepted at reception, so it's only €16 a day including electric - a real bargain.
Today we decided to walk up to the castle, so we walked to Cullera and found the old town, and from there found the zig-zag road with the stations of the cross, which led up to the church and the castle.
We walked a total of 14km today, so were glad to get back to Cervantes for some food and rest.
Saturday 08/02/2020 Camping Santa Marta
Still lots to do in Cullera, so we're still here.
Today is a walk to the lighthouse further up the coast to the north of us.
It was an excellent walk, along the beach where possible, then on the coast road to the lighthouse.
There is a wide promenade that runs for kms just behind the beach, which we have been up and down a few times. It is lined with bars and restaurants, none of which are open at this time of year, thus the promenade is virtually empty - just the odd runner.
Sunday 09/02/2020 Camping Santa Marta
We're still here, and there's still lots to do.
Glyn had identified a wildlife sanctuary to the south of us which sounded like a good place to visit.
It was at least 8km away, so we got the bikes off the back and set off along the promenade.
It was packed with what seemed like every person in Cullera - you could hardly walk for people, children and dogs, so we had to go very slowly on the bikes.
A few of the bars had also opened, but they were full to capacity.
We turned right off the beach to the bridge over the river, and found a nice little cafe that was not too busy serving excellent coffee, so that was us sorted.
Cullera has an excellent network of cycle paths, so the journey to the wetlands (L'Estany de Cullera) was very easy and incident-free.
The lake itself was a bit of a let-down as regards bird watching - just many cormorants sat on the moored boats, due to the time of year no doubt - I'm sure it will come to life in the spring.
Monday 10/02/2020 Camping Santa Marta
We had not had a menu del dia for quite a while, so decided to find one in the centre of Cullera.
There was not much open - maybe we were looking in the wrong places, but we eventually found an excellent restaurant that gave us a brilliant menu - we always seem to find a good place to eat!
Back at Cervantes we did some housekeeping and planned our next move.
There is an ancient Ermita (an isolated chapel) built into the cliffs above us, with a path leading up to it from the top of the campsite, so an exploration of it was long overdue.
The climb was a bit rocky in parts, but on the whole it was fine. The Ermita was half brick structure, half cave, and was very inaccessible - it must have been a lonely retreat.
Needless to say, the views were stunning from up there - the campsite is just visible in the foreground of this picture.
It was due at 18:47 tonight, so we were on the promenade at 6.30pm (along with quite a few other people) and sure enough, in a clear sky, the full moon rose out of the water - magical.
Tuesday 11/02/2020 Camping Santa Marta to Area Camping Dunes.
N38°58'10.7'' W000°08'39.8'' Paid aire on crushed stone with 30+ spaces, €10 including shower, toilet, sinks. Electric €3.50
42km in 58min
It was time to leave here, and having had mains electric for the whole time, we were expecting no problems.
As I got into the driving seat and turned the key - nothing, just a click!!
I thought the battery was OK, having charged it and having previously started the engine with it.
This prolonged stay in the campsite was a test to see if it was truly OK, and it had failed. It clearly cannot hold a charge, and it is losing power more quickly than either the solar panel or the mains electric can put into it.
So - call recovery and get another battery fitted (it is after all 7 years old and done 80,000 km, so it has served us well) or try and source one ourselves?
By pure chance - who would have thought it? - the motorhome next to us was driven by a gent from Jersey who was a marine electrical engineer, and knew electrics inside out.
He also had some heavy duty jump leads and knew how to use them, so soon had the starter battery hooked up to one of the leisure batteries, and we had a running engine!
What a gent (I now have some heavy duty jump leads!) who I owe such a lot to - thank you very much.
I must have had a premonition of this, because I had noticed a "Fiat Professional" garage on our way to Km Zero aire, so it was back to them to get a new battery fitted.
Moll Motors of Gandia is enormous with many, many different franchises - Hyundai, Jeep, Maxda, Suzuki, etc, etc. It took me 15 minutes to find the Fiat Professional service desk and get a new battery ordered.
I expected to have to come back tomorrow, but after I rejected their first battery (physically too small, and not powerful enough), they got me a direct replacement and fitted it within 3 hours.
€10 per night with shower and toilet was a good price. Electric was €3.50 per day, which we had, but only for an hour, because they were fitting a new electric box today.
Again, nothing was open, but we were quite happy eating in Cervantes - much more fun!
Wednesday 12/02/2020 Area Camping Dunes to Camping Coll Vert
N39°23'47.9'' W000°20'00.1'' ACSI campsite on fine gravel with 40+ spaces, €14 including electric, showers, toilets, pool, barbecue, service point, shop.
70km in 1hr 35min
We had been wanting to visit the Albufera area south of Valencia, where all the rice fields are, for some time, so we found an ACSI site not far from it.
We drove up the CV502 coast road to it (yes - Cervantes fired up first turn!) with some fine views of the sea and beaches to Camping Coll Vert, and it's excellent receptionist.
The sun is shining, so it's back to Cervantes to enjoy it and catch up on some reading.
Thursday 13/02/2020 Camping Coll Vert
Being this close to Valencia, we thought it would be criminal not to visit.
There is a bus stop right outside the gates of the campsite and the 25 bus is very frequent - it takes you to the heart of the city from 7am to 10pm.
The inside was superb - very impressive, and the view from the top of the bell tower was equally stunning.
We had visited Valencia's market, Mercat Central, on a previous trip long ago, but we find food markets fascinating so we called in to see what it was like now. The array of food and drink was amazing. There were lots of stalls selling tapas and small tasters of food on slices of baguette (much better value than Madrid or Barcelona, I might add) and you could have sat down to eat at some of them, but it was really busy, and Glyn is not good at eating and drinking standing up! So we decided to find somewhere for lunch.
We found a very nice side-street restaurant, just off the busy cathedral square (full of musicians playing and street artists performing) and had a very good menu del dia.
The bus dropped us right outside the campsite, where we were glad to collapse into Cervantes and chill.
Friday 14/02/2020 Camping Coll Vert to Area Hort de Soriano.
N39°04'11.2'' W000°24'33.6'' Free aire on grass/sand with 50+ spaces, service point, no electric.
71km in 1hr 22min
There is a bit of road noise from the adjacent CV500, but not enough to lose any sleep over, so we were up and ready to go by mid-morning.
In Campercontact we had found an isolated aire, just south of Alberic, which we thought we would take a look at.
Once we had left Alberic on the CV545, we were on some very narrow roads indeed. Luckily they were very quiet, so we didn't have to avoid oncoming traffic too often.
We eventually found the entrance - it was at the end of the road - a dead end.
The resident warden opened the gates for us and showed us where to park. The large building in the grounds was a classroom for the outdoor centre we were in, with parking for many, many vehicles.
The setting here is superb - you can't see another building anywhere, and the views are stunning.
We set off for a walk one one of the many marked footpaths, and discovered streams, ponds and fantastic hilltop views, and never saw another person - what a place!
When we got here there was a party of schoolchildren doing various activities in the grounds of the centre, and we were amazed to see a 52 seater coach come and pick them up at 4.30pm. I really don't know how he got that bus up some of these roads - I hope we don't meet him tomorrow morning!!
Saturday 15/02/2020 Area Hort de Soriano to Simat de la Valldigna
N39°02'28.5'' W000°18'27.1'' Free aire on sand with 20 spaces, service point (lift grids for services), no electric.
28km in 47min
We were away before 8am this morning without incident, which was good, on our way to the town of Simat de la Valldigna, 17km from Xeraco on the Valencian coast.
The aire was very easy to find, and had quite a few spaces left.
We were gobsmacked when we saw the inside of the church - there were no pews or furniture at all, just a bare floor, but the walls and ceilings were breathtaking - so much detail and so high up - how did they do it?
The monastery, built in 1298, had been partially restored when parts of the Gothic upper cloister had been returned after being plundered and displayed as trophies in an art collection in Madrid.
There is also a covered clothes-washing area supplied by the spring - now a tourist attraction.
Simat is a lovely town with many shops, bars and restaurants, all busy today because of the weekend.
Sunday 16/02/2020 Simat de la Valldigna
Today we are following one of the many walking routes supplied to us by the Tourist office yesterday - this one goes straight up the adjacent mountain to the road at the top, then follows the road down to the town.
Once on the top after 90 minutes climbing, we followed the road and stumbled across a restaurant, gearing up for Sunday lunch. What a stroke of luck! We sat outside with a drink and various tapas, admired the view and gave our feet a rest.
A total of 12.5km in 3 hours under our feet, we thought we deserved a beer and a sit-down for the rest of the day.
Monday 17/02/2020 Simat de la Valldigna
There is so much to see and do in and around this surprising town, and today we took another walking route following the river to the next town of Benifairó de la Valldigna, 2km away.
The map given to us by the Tourist Office brought all the buildings and features along the way to life - they certainly know how to promote their town
We walked back to Simat de la Valldigna and the restaurant just outside the church, where we had a menu del dia - excellent value and quality.
Another walk around the town, and some shopping later, we were back at Cervantes to sit outside in the glorious sunshine.
Tuesday 18/02/2020 Simat de la Valldigna to Xeraco Campers
N39°02'43.4'' W000°11'57.7'' Paid aire on gravel with 93 spaces, €17 including electric, water and WiFi, (on pitch) service point, showers, toilets, washer/dryers, pool.
17km in 28min
We were sorry to leave this excellent town this morning, but there is such a lot to see and do in this area, we felt we must do it justice.
It was a short 17km drive to the coastal town of Xeraco, and just inland slightly is Xeraco Campers.
The aire was very modern, with electric and water on every pitch, and a host of amenities including a pool, a dining room, a breakfast cafe for coffee and cakes - very well done, and very smart.
It was the wrong time of year to see anything of note, so we carried on to the town of Xeraco.
All the shops and restaurants seemed to be lining the main roads, the connecting roads given over to housing.
We didn't find any offering a menu del dia at all, so just had a coffee and toast before heading back to Cervantes.
Wednesday 19/02/2020 Xeraco Campers
Today we are walking the other way - towards the coast and the area of Xeraco beach.
Again, there was not much open due to the time of year, and most of the blocks of flats looked to be holiday homes and rental flats. There seemed to be a lot of renovations going on to the outside balconies - the salty air must corrode the concrete more than normal.
The beach and front line houses all showed signs of damage caused by the recent storm - some of the gardens of the houses were full of sand brought in by the raging wind and sea - the price to pay for a house on the beach with a sea view.
We struggled to find anything open, so it was back to Cervantes and the amenities at Xeraco Campers.
There are some enormous motorhomes here - the sort with a smart car in the boot - in some unfeasibly narrow, short spaces - it would have been interesting to see them manoeuvring.
I usually do an approach video to every place we stop at, but on this occasion the camera didn't record (now swapped for a new camera)
Thursday 20/02/2020 Xeraco Campers to Alcoi overnight parking.
N38°41'13.0'' W000°29'42.9'' Free overnight parking on hardened sand, no services, next to Via Verde (long distance walking and cycling path)
81km in 1hr 20min
We have passed Alcoi as we have driven past on the A7 motorway many, many times, but have never actually visited it.
We thought it was about time to put that right, so headed for an overnight parking spot, next to a "Via Verde" or green road - usually an old railway track, now used for walking or cycling.
It was through Alcoi and out the other side when we eventually found it, and were pleased to see 2 Dutch vans, complete with bikes, already here.
We had a good walk around and found a nice restaurant for lunch, luckily not too busy, because there seemed to be an awful lot of people in town today.
Back at Cervantes for a spot of people watching - this Via Verde is very well used by people of all ages.
Friday 21/02/2020 Alcoi overnight parking.
Today we have a bike ride planned, so we were off relatively early, hoping to find somewhere along the way to have something to eat.
Again, people walking and cycling were using the Via Verde to the maximum today, so we had to have our wits about us to avoid all the people.
Our ride of 18km in 2 hours took us high above the town of Alcoi, and eventually over the A7 motorway into the hills beyond.
A quick ride up the cliff in front of Cervantes gave me a view of the bridge we crossed earlier - I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw 2 people hanging over the edge on ropes!!
Saturday 22/02/2020 Alcoi to San Juan aire
N38°22'38.2'' W000°24'46.5'' Paid aire on block paving with 41 spaces, €13.20 including electric, showers, toilets, service point, water.
The weather was still nice today, so we thought a stop at an excellent aire, just outside Alicante, would fit the bill.
We had been once when it first opened, and applauded its facilities and operation - they really know what motorhomers want.
We got there at 10.15am and had to wait until 11.30am before a space became available.
Because we had been before, our details were already in the computer, so we were parked up relatively quickly.
The promenade here is long and wide, and has all sorts of people on it - walkers, cyclists, runners, roller bladers, hover boards, skateboards, prams (dogs and babies), and any other forms of movement you can think of.
There are beach-side restaurants all along the promenade, open from early morning, going into lunch and dinner - a fantastic setting with an uninterrupted sea view. Of course we took advantage of this for breakfast.
Later on a menu del dia a couple of streets back from the sea meant we didn't have to cook today in Cervantes - saves on the washing up!
Sunday 23/02/2020 San Juan aire to Home
We're back home after an eventful trip, with some excellent places stayed, and some brilliant views seen.
I hope the battery is now OK, although one problem now is that the fridge no longer runs off the engine when the engine is running - it stays running on gas.
This is a consequence of changing the starter battery, so needs to be investigated and rectified. I don't know if this is something simple that needs re-setting, or whether it's going to cost us an arm and a leg - time will tell!
All in all a fantastic short break, with some places we will definitely be going back to.
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