Saturday 14 January 2017

Tavernes to Benidorm - 57 miles

We had hoped that, despite being pitched next to a tall hedge, we would have had some early morning sun but it came up a little too late and so it was cool when we got up. Nevertheless another lovely morning and once the routine was completed we departed, delayed a short while by a Frenchie blocking the exit whilst he dumped his tanks – not his fault, just a poorly located drain i.e. in the gateway!

Paused outside to see if there was any response to our request for campsite info on the MotorhomeFun forum, which there was so we had something to go on. Our plan was to drive down to Benidorm and try to get onto the same campsite as other Funsters; unfortunately the main one does not accept dogs so we'd asked for alternative suggestions.

Although we'd got Nellie set up we gave TomTom a chance for a change and as usual he got it spot on. Just driving out through the town we spotted a couple we kept running into last year, Karen and Alan, who it appears were on the site we had just left although we had failed to spot them. They'd seen our van as we came in but hadn't made the connection. Obviously we stopped off for a chat for 15 mins before heading off; small world?

Lot of hilltop castles along the coast

Not being very far to Benidorm we avoided the autopista and instead kept to the N332 which more or less connects all the towns along the Costa Blanca and beyond. This means of course driving through them but it's far more interesting than just blatting along a motorway, and we're in no rush. In a reasonable time we started to notice the scenery becoming more and more touristy as we entered the outskirts of Benidorm.

Now being honest this is not the sort of place we would normally visit, but if you don't try it for yourself it's wrong to criticise and we did have a reason, i.e. to visit friends. As Villasol was not available to us, we tried the next suggested site, El Raco, just a short distance away. In fact there were several large campsites, all looking the same and all looking very busy. El Raco had just 5 pitches left out of over 700 – and none of them were particularly good, three in full shade, one in part shade although reasonably placed and one in full sun but right at the back of the site and next to a road. We chose the part shade and had to reverse along the access road as there was no way to turn and even then it was a very tight fit, but of course there were plenty of helpers!

We got settled in and enjoyed a very late lunch before having a quick explore – it's not very dog-friendly. The sun appeared round the tree for a couple of hours late afternoon but a strong cold wind from the north came up and chased us inside. Nevertheless we'll be okay and we've booked in for 4 nights - at €24.50 p.n. plus electric it's not cheap but this is a very popular area and we do have lots of extras. Plenty of Brits about and we've spotted a couple of Funster signs although we don't know them (yet!)

Obviously we're going to have a much better look around including at least one afternoon to visit the town itself, which is about 1km stroll away. We'll report back in due course!