Time to relax and give Monty a break :)

A Welcome Break -Pinoso-El Tranquilo

We headed off towards the E15 and then the A7 and intended to go into the Repsol garage at Villena, which was only about 5 miles out of our way-the closest LPG garage. There were road works coming up to the slip road and the entrance had been changed so sadly, we missed it. We could not see a place to turn off and go back so headed on for our destination on the A31 through Sax with the castle on the hill, then on to the CV83 to our campsite.

 

El Tranquilo Entrance

We had a lovely welcome from the owner, and we could basically choose our pitch and then let her know where we were. Very large gravel pitches-as they quarry marble here it looks as if the whole area is using marble chippings-even the lane to the site has the same stones.

Our pitch

 There are small poplar trees dividing the plots and helping as a wind break, excellent electric points, pool (freezing in winter!) good showers, toilets and washing machines.

ladies area

showers

Pool area

 There is a restaurant which is open to food ordered by 4pm and the bar is also open. No children allowed here so it is very quiet and peaceful with wonderful views of the hills all around.

All the staff very approachable and friendly, always willing to do anything to help or make the stay pleasant. They were helpful when we were waiting for a parcel to arrive from UK and kept if for us to collect. They have a mini- bus that goes to town 3 times a week.

However, our whole stay was spoiled when I paid the final invoice. I had booked originally for 30 days, which gives a 25% discount-but I said I may need to extend that. After the first 5 days I said I would like to extend by 4 days. When I came to pay the final invoice, I was charged for a 4 day stay rather than a 34 day stay (with a discount of 25%). I found this very sad as I understand it is a business, but repeat business is always good and it just seems disappointing that our extension was dealt as a separate booking. I checked it with the owners to see if it was a genuine mistake, but they said that was correct ☹  I had read previously of a client that had to leave earlier than expected and he had written he was not able to get any money back-so it seems on this one thing-the owners do put business before customers-a shame I think.

View from our pitch

We were looking forward to this break as we are here for a month so Monty is happy as we can set up everything and enjoy the space! The site is secure with a fence all round and a big gate that gets closed and locked at 10.30pm. We had the VR tent set up, the bicycles outside, Mike the Bike off the back and ready to go-table and chairs out-everything looking good. Weather sunny and warm.

Another view from our pitch

What we notice here is that in the evening it gets dark about 6.30pm. By 8pm all the lights are out in the motor homes/caravans, apart from ours! We had noticed it on some of the other sites too so spoke to one of the guys that came to look round our RV-and he said they always go to bed about 8pm and don’t get up until about 9am in the morning! What’s the hurry? You have all day to do what you want. Our days seem very full as it is and we like to go outside late in the evening and look at the sky-it is pitch black as you are so far away from any other lights, and there are so many stars you can see that normally do not show-it is fascinating to look at them.

 

Pinoso Church

Pinoso is a nice town with lots of ex pats living there and several cafes and restaurants run by English people and quite a few people speaking English. The local people were all very friendly and made a good effort to understand our badly spoken Spanish-sometimes with a bit of French thrown in 😉

We enjoyed several walking trips into the hills and up to the National Park. You can actually drive up there, but we walked from the camp and ended up doing 27000 steps which is about 16.5 kilometres on one occasion. Lovely area though and apart from having to go past a lot of houses with manic dogs that bark and throw themselves at the fence as you go past-it is quite relaxing.

Map of the park

On the walk

We have had a tremendous amount of gale force winds this last week-really strong gusts blowing. Luckily our VR tent is very secure and we have large boulders on the awning mat and all the chairs and table are inside the tent. Monty is up on the levelling legs and you know when you wake up at 6am and decide it is too early to get up and so doze back to sleep? I always get crazy dreams and I had one that when I woke up-I was expecting the In-Flight Meals Service as I thought I was in a plane flying through turbulence, but it was the wind here rocking the RV about. I could have done with a nice hot omelette in bed 😉

It is interesting on the scooter too and Steve is an excellent wind break. It is still not so much fun though as it is much colder in the wind and the gusts can be frightening. Of course for Steve it is nothing as he has ridden his motor bike all across the Hook of Holland almost sideways to the road as the winds were so strong!

 

Sticker given to Steve by Marcus-although Steve needs no encouragment !

We were told repeatedly that this was an unusual November and generally it is a lot warmer and very little wind. We are looking forward to moving South, in the hope it will be warmer 😊