Chips and rice Ian, chips and rice.

If you are a fan of the TV series Benidorm, you’ll understand the title of this blog.. If not - you’d best go watch! Having parked up after the long drive from Santander, we needed something to eat locally, so headed off to the nearest road lined with restaurants. What we found was a Chinese restaurant packed with people and a menu costing 9 Euro for three courses including wine. Our general rule is if it is busy, it’s probably good, so in we went. Of course we ordered chips and rice, plus a few other dishes. It was just what we needed, tasty food and a bottle of wine. We went to bed happy and slept like logs.

To anyone who isn’t used to van life, waking up in a car park probably sounds awful, but it really isn’t. Once the blinds are shut you could be anywhere, and opening Agy's door to see a new location is always exciting, this one was no different. Benidorm has incredible mountains surrounding it and yes, looking towards town is like looking at skyscraper city, the other direction is stunning.

Checking into our campsite next door we found our pitch, unloaded Lexi and went to fill up with water. Having filled the tank up we spent at most 5 minutes setting up the pitch, chairs and table out, grass mat out, ramps mounted (to get us level), electric connected and bucket under the waste water drain. Then headed up to the club house for a beer and late Sunday lunch.

Next morning, as I went to fill the kettle up, I couldn't understand why we hadn’t got any water! Now, you’d think after all this time we would get this right, but no! Maybe it’s because we were tired but when filling up the water tank, despite remembering to close the tank tap and return the frost valve to the closed position we forgot the boiler drain.. we have removed the boiler to fit a diesel heater, but the drain is still there. Agy had gently drained out all the water we had stocked up on. So a bit of weight lifting later - Ian had trotted up and down to the tap with the water bottle  to ensure we had enough water for a few days.

We were finally ready to start our holiday. The temperature was high and the sea breeze calling. The seafront is about 15 mins walk away, but we always find ourselves walking much more on holiday, and enjoy stretching our legs after a few days of travel. It’s busy, but nothing like the madness of summer. 

You’ll be pleased to know we have not, and will not succumb to the most popular form of transportation with tourists locally. The ability to walk perfectly well even as a young person is no reason to miss out according to many Brits!

Despite being embarrassed by the number of fit youngsters hiring scooters, one thing I loved about the beach was its accessible beach area. With its boarded access path and large area suitable for those with a disability needing sturdy even flooring, or wheelchair access, this looked perfect. Something we should be striving for  at home too. I’m going to lobby our local council when I am home!