Well, after the demands of the Transatlantic crossing we were looking forward to some time lazing in the sun on our boat - some chance!
Steve and Elise came to stay on the boat 30/3/19 for the week, just in time for the weather to change and for it to start raining so we did some of the tourist stuff in town before the weather perked up enough to go sailing We had a four day mini cruise taking in Tabarca island, Santa Pola and El Campello before heading back to Alicante. The weather did improve but the water was still cold and the wind chilly. With much foresight and common sense Steve and Elise packed wetsuits into their hand luggage, so they managed a few swimming and snorkelling trips from the boat, including a snorkel safari around a small rocky point just next to El Campello. Much too cold for me - I was very happy to hold the towels and be the official photographer.
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| Ready for a quick dip |
Steve posing on Tabarca Island
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| On watch after a good swim |
Ready for the snorkel safari.
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| On the Snorkelling route near El Campello |
Made It
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| Still wearing our oilies! |
When Steve and Elise left we hired car for week so that we could get some walking in and Carole could play tennis with a friend from Cumbria who has a place about 40km from Alicante. Great tennis. The walks were some I'd done on the boys walking trip last year - bit cooler this time though!
We even went to the Benidorm Palace for its Variety Show - something of a legend in the area, and it was great fun.
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| A few good days walking done |
We walked to Granadella, too good for Carole not to have a swim.
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| Medieval market in Villa Joyosa - met up with Alan and Pauline from Lady Hawk |
A medieval fair in the UK is all Knights and Damsels, here its very Moorish - which I suppose is right as the Iberian peninsular was control by the Moors at the time.
Strange "live" Miner statue amongst the moorish stuff
The colour changing entrance to the Benidorm Palace - no photos allowed inside!
Jen and Kyri, with friends Rich and Kel, came out for the Easter weekend. They stayed in an AirBnB in the city centre. But, boy, did the rain come back with a vengeance, It hammered it down every day they were in Alicante. Alicante apparently got off lightly; in towns a little way up the coast, cars were floating away in the flooding. Even most of the Easter Week religious festivals and parades were cancelled.
Despite the weather we had a great time though, lots of great food and the boat even turned into a disco for one night (maybe a leeetle toooo much wine...).
The one religious parade that went ahead from the Alicante Cathedral
Penitants wearing traditional headwear, dating from the 1530's.
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| Drinkies and nibbles on the boat |
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| Oh, those glasses |
After a few days to recover we sorted the boat out to go sailing, even got a diver to clean the hull. What a difference that made to boat speed.
We then sauntered along the coast for a few days waiting for a decent weather window to cross over to ibiza. Carole managed to get some swimming in on the way along the coast.
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| Water warming up nicely now - no wet suit needed |
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| Eeh, that hat - on the way back from a swim - still in swim towel! |
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| The cliffs along this coast are just lovely |
At Denia the wind picked up and I made a hash of parking the boat right in front of witnesses, who, it turned out, were from Windermere and knew loads of people we did. Boats are great levellers and it doesn't matter how much experience you have there's always plenty of opportunities to make yourself look like an idiot, No harm done though and a nice few days in the harbour. One day we hired electric bikes to tour around the countryside, what a laugh, we had a hoot.
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| Green cycle routes from Denia town through orange orchards |
We left from Denia to go to Ibiza, a little further north up the coast than normal and so we made landfall in Cala Tarida this time. Another of Ibiza's amazingly pretty calas. The weather was a little awkward and couldn't make its mind top which way to blow and we ended up moving anchorages a few times to remain sheltered.
First sight of Ibiza
Cala Tarida
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| Always have great sunsets at sea |
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This little chappie had a rest with us for a few minutes |
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| Bacon butties on the bbq for breakfast - and our 36th wedding anniversary as well |
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| Our boat at anchor |
We then arranged to go into a marina in Ibiza town to see the sights and meet up with a sailing friend. We rarely go into marinas in Ibiza due to the cost but we were earlier in the season than normal, the cost was still high €80/night but not the completely ridiculous prices (€200/night) that they charge in the high season.
Whilst we were there we heard that a friend of our's, Jane Leeson, had died after a tough battle with cancer. We've known Jane for over 25 years and she's been a good friend in the village, so we decided to sail back to Alicante and get a flight back in time for go to the funeral. Glad we were able to make it back in time. The weather forecast meant that we had to cross back to the mainland the day after we heard but then we had time to wander along the coast back to Alicante, we even managed a decent walk from Altea harbour.
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| Fasionable anti sea sickness glasses! |
Looking back towards Altea harbour
The Penon Ifrach in the distance.
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| Very misty crossing back along the mainland |
Fabulous trees in El Campello
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| Back safely in Alicante in time to put the boat to bed and head back to England |
