Returning south again past Alicante but away from the coast, we had decided to go stay at a campsite within walking distance of Parque Natural El Hondo, a place we had been to before and was good for a number of birds. Arriving at Marjal Costa Blanca near Crevillente was a shock, we knew beforehand that it was large but there were about 1,500 pitches, it was like a small town! The pitch areas were all large, plenty of space for our motorhome and awning with enough left over to park a car, if we had one. Facilities were excellent with underfloor heating in the modern shower blocks, bar, restaurant, live entertainment, gym, swimming pools and well stocked shop. As we discovered very quickly, all the necessary facilities to keep you on site and supply your every need, because here you needed a car to go anywhere.
On our first day at the site a voice announced he had an awning the same make as ours, and about 1 minute later we were chatting to Phil Wilks who neither of us had seen for 25 years and who lived in Cleobury! He knew both our families and my son was in the same class as his son, also his brother Richard was best man at my first wedding – small world! This was the start of several afternoons together, catching up with news from our old hometown and updating our memories of friends we all knew.
The location of the campsite was close to a busy Autovia with a small access road alongside and a bridge to cross over it. There is only so much lazing around we can cope with, so not to be beaten we walked into a small village not too far away; but it was Sunday and we found it virtually empty with nothing much there. Another day we walked to revisit the nature park, wearing long sleeves and trousers because we remembered the mosquitoes last time. Not only did we not see or hear any, thankfully, but it was also to windy and distinctly chilly. The pools were mainly empty, a few purple gallinule patrolled the reed margins with little grebe, coot and mallard and the last large pool had distant flamingos feeding, nice but very disappointing compared to our previous visit. On our way out however, all was forgiven as we saw our first ever bluethroat scurrying around feeding on a short scrubby and wet marginal area. About the side of a large robin, the male has an iridescent blue throat area with chestnut and white but it was too far away to take a photo; it is nevertheless consigned to memory.
Determined to make the most of the area, we decided to take Bessie out for a spin and disappeared off the beaten track to visit a church on Novelda situated high up on a hill.
The Santa Maria Magdalena was inspired by Gaudí and is the most beautiful church I’ve ever visited. The exterior was simply amazing, constructed in honey coloured, irregular pieces of stone, each window had a honeycomb of tiling filling the window spaces, edged in narrow bricks defining their shapes, and ceramic tiles added extra detail to the building. The pillars along the outside were built alternately straight and twisting, on the western end were three archways, each with carved stone blocks above the vaulted brick entrance also had elaborate ceramic tiling depicting various religious scenes. Two ornately built, slender towers stretched up towards the sky on the corners of the church while a lower cylindrical domed tower stood at the eastern end with detailed windows and statues below. Zoom in on the photo to get the real details.
Inside the church was not as detailed but had pastel coloured walls with paintings down each side and a high arched ceiling. What was remarkable was the huge solid, pink granite columns supporting an archway of the same stone, above which was a very different church organ with twelve pipes and three white teardrop shapes of what looked like polished white marble. Behind this, the simple windows were half plain and half deep pink which glowed with the sunlight behind, lighting the interior with a rosy glow.
After 10 days at an excellent campsite in the worst location, we called it a day and as my son Richard was flying out to see us, we decided to return to Jávea where the electricity was included in the price. The nights had been cold and he would be sleeping in the awning so we borrowed an oil heater which could be left on over night.
While we waited for him to arrive, we played Boules on site again, but also we had a wonderful opportunity to try Bowls which is so different. Friends Ken and Maureen both play at home, so five more of us decided to learn something new and travelled to a venue with them for the afternoon. We played on a ‘rink’; instead of grass its played on green outdoor carpet or matting. The woods are ‘weighted’ and have a bias so they do not go in a straight line, they are as heavy but much bigger than the metal Boules. After a lunch of excellent fish in crispy batter with chips, we had 4 hours of fun. Ken was an excellent and patient teacher watching our different techniques and helping us to improve, gradually we could make the woods end up roughly where we aimed for. Split into two teams we had a proper game which was really good fun, the afternoon just whizzed by and we all had an excellent time.
When Richard arrived a few days later we had a walk up the hills to the lighthouse and along the top with the old disused windmills now devoid of sails, admired the view of nearly 180° from the sea to the mountains with the valley floor filled with orange trees and the town of Jávea right in front of us.
Using his hire car we went up into the hills to see the almond blossom which varies from white through to pink and smells delightful. All around the area are vast swathes of pink which show up well as the blossom comes out before the leaves, it looks so delicate against the strong dark tree trunks.
Heading to Parcent again we enjoyed a beer on Trevor and Irene’s terrace before all going for a traditional paella in the village.
The village is a Mecca for cyclists who come from many countries to practice timed trials up the mountains. Richard returned the following day for walking and solitude, to climb part of a mountain and camp in his tent to watch the stars, peaceful and surprisingly warm.
After his return to Alicante Airport, we also left Jávea for a second time, and another round of goodbyes to our friends who we will be seeing here again in a year’s time.
Our motorhome adventures 