To Alicante and .............

The winds have died completely, so much so that we have motored on flat seas for the last two days.  At some points the sea was so calm it turned almost oily looking.  The scenery though was fantastic; huge sea cliffs, giant sea caves and small calas. There was still snow on the hills behind the coast adding to the views.

Leaving Denia

Calm seas

Sailed past lovely cliffs

Altea marina from the old town area

View of Altea from the sea

Our first stop was at Altea,  I had a walking trip based around here with my ex-colleagues last year so it was good to see the place again.  This years walking trip is also going to be based in Altea so we managed a sneaky peak at the hotel and Carole got us a guided tour of the facilities - all good too.

Church at the top of the hill

After Altea it was a short hop to Alicante itself, again flat seas and sometimes a little misty, making the fishing boats was saw seem to float in thin air.  All very atmospheric.

Passing between islands

Benidorm rock

Great coastline

Slight mist developed

Approaching our final destination - Alicante!

The port staff at Alicante were their usual helpful staff and one remembered us from the last time we were here 18 months ago with our old boat.

We got ourselves settled into the new berth and took stock.

Have to admit to feeling somewhat deflated; we've got so used to travelling each day and exploring new places that it felt strange to know that we’d be keeping the boat here for a while.

Fortunately, we met up with some sailing friends Martyn and Jane who have their boat in Alicante at the moment. We went to the “cheapest Chinese restaurant in the world” followed by a local Flamenco night in a small bar.  Great fun and it chased the blues away.

Flamenco night in a local bar

It’s taken both of us a few days to get used to the idea of not travelling on.  Neither of us can wait to start the next trip.