Our aim is not to make our caches too difficult but we would like you to have to work a little for your reward so don’t expect much information.
Happy Caching!!
Our plan was to do a few local caches whilst here this weekend but there are so few in this beautiful place we used to call “Home” we decided to create a new one. Our friends here will help to maintain it if necessary but we are often here ourselves also.
This is a small cache holding the logbook, a pencil and just a few smaller items along with a Geocoin which we picked up on this trip to celebrate a certain “Special” Birthday of one of our team members.
From the cache site you get a good view down the rugged Costa Brava coast.
Remember – Leave nothing but footprints – Take nothing but photo’s and memories.
For full details of this cache please visit Geocaching.com
Happy Caching!!
The view over the Campo de Tiro.
The cache overlooks the Campo de Tiro but is not near it although you do have to pass by it, so take care if it is being used. Head towards the Sanctuary and follow the signs for the Campo de Tiro. If you want a long trek then park near the Campo and make your way up the track but you can drive up there and park, then walk to the cache. Don’t attempt to drive up the track in the wet or if it has been raining. There are a couple of short, rough spots but you can easily make it in a car, we used our Mondeo. Enjoy the views all round looking towards the Sierra de Callosa, San Bartolome, the Vega Baja, Algorfa, La Mata and Torrevieja. You also get to see beautiful sunsets from up here. After findind the cache you can extend your walk round to the geodesic point and get even more views. The track is well used by mountain bikers if you prefer to bike it – over from Algorfa then drop down the steep track. The best approach to the cache is from Benejuzar, turning by the Vetanario center. Wear sensible footwear and remember to take water. Picnic tables are to be found near the sanctuary and cafes/bars in Benejuzar. There is a pencil in cache but it is always wise to take your own pen/pencil just in case.
Remember – Leave nothing but footprints – Take nothing but photo’s and memories.
See full details of the cache at Geocaching.com
We just couldn’t resist this one. Nicky is not on the picture as she was the one with the camera and I am the one holding something I shouldn’t be low down as with all the mud on our shoes I was not risking the climb to the top. Maybe next time in better weather!!
It took a while and I don’t really know what we did to deserve this one but who is complaining. The previous souvenir awarded was for being at the Spanish Mega Event on 10-10-2010 which was part of a worldwide attempt to break the record for getting the most people out geocaching on the same day and it was a great success with the record smashed. I guess the new one was just for us accidentally being in Nordrhein-Westfalen at the right time, and we will most certainly be back, we love that area of Germany.
We did eventually find out what was happening. We knew there were mud baths around here but silly us thought that they would be inside buildings and that you would have to pay to use them. Not at all, it’s all totally free and if you can bring yourself to jump into this stinking grey concoction of slime, salt and God only knows what else then good for you!! Personally I was not even going to risk the end of my little finger. The therapeutic values of mud and clay have been known for many centuries, the Chinese used mud baths for healing inflammations and other Indian and South American cultures found it to relieve rheumatic diseases. Cultures as far back as the second century had used mud and clay remedies to heal the body thanks to the calcium, magnesium, silica, iron and potassium in the mud. Due to the particular climatic conditions, the many hours of sunshine and the high salinity of the waters within the salt flats of the Mar Menor, this area has become a real player in the health world because of the healing properties attributed to the sludge through its sand and very fine silt and clay. We have often commented between ourselves that you do not very often see Spanish people being pushed around in weelchairs, and if you ever see someone zipping up the high street in an electic wheelchair then they are most likely an English tourist. Well now we know why we don’t see them around much, they all live together at Lo Pagan. This particular evening was like the Indianapolis 500 for wheelchairs. As soon as the sun lost most of its heat, they appeared at the end of the paved walkway in a heat haze of electromagnetic radiation, revving their commutators until their armatures hurt. Like they were waiting for the starting flag to fall, then they were off, Murray Walker should have been here to commentate as they sped along the path until they got to a quiet area and then jumped out of their charriots and ran to the edge of the path, clambered down over the rocks and then plunged into the mud neck high. Boy this stuff must be good.
The mud from the Mar Menor:
The particular climatic conditions with many hours of sunshine and warm waters with high salinity have created around the north end of the lake many areas where centuries of mineral of deposits have created a slugde which has become famous for its therapeutic values. The latest analysis by the University of Murcia (1995 study) found that these sediments contain a high percentage of calcium, magnesium, potassium, fluorine, chlorine and sulphates much higher than would normally be expected in waters of this salinity. Moreover, the particle size of the silt and sludge in this area is very fine which increases the absorbtion and therefore the healing properties attributed to the sludge. The pH is between 7.12 and 8.45 and its use is highly recommended for many types of skin conditions such as abscesses, ulcers, boils, sores, acne and boils. A layer of mud applied to the skin absorbs all the toxins of the peripheral system tissue and eliminates toxic nodes in the dermis, acting as a skin blotter. The high power of mud is also appropriate as an anti-inflammatory in cases of rheumatism, arthritis, gout and for rehabilitation after a bone fracture. At least that’s what I read somewhere 
As some of you may know we have been out and about lately Geocaching. Out we go into the mid-day heat and climb mountains, scramble through forests and along rocky tracks just to find a Tupperware box with a few odds and ends inside and sign the visitors book. Why? Because it’s fun and you get to see some great scenery into the bargain. What is Geocaching? It’s like a global game of hide & seek. All over the world there are people hiding caches at this very moment and then they will release the coordinates onto the internet so that people with GPS devices can go out and search for them. Where do you look for the coordinates? Try http://www.geocaching.com and then do a search for places near you, there are bound to be some close by. We started off on a couple close to us to get the idea and then continued to go looking for caches close to places we like to go so we could do a search en-route. So far we have found eleven and seen some great places we would otherwise have missed, and pretty soon we will also start to place caches for others to find.
I will create a page on our website all about Geocaching soon where you can go and see what it’s all about and then hopefully we can set caches of our own for guests to go searching for. First timers can borrow all the equipment from us and we will give guidance and even BIG clues to a test cache nearby so you can try something easy for starters not too far away from Molino Charrara. Then when you finally go out on your own into the valley to do one on your own we’ll send you off with a map and a packed lunch and if you have a successful day there will be a bottle of wine waiting for you when you get back.
If you are interested talk to us, we can do you a good package to get you started.
Yes I know it has been a long time since I last put fingers on keys and wrote something here but I have been a trifle busy. We all went over to England for the wedding of Nickys Brother which took up a week of our time. We also spent a couple of days up in Girona visiting friends and had the alternator pack up on us so we had to wave goodbye to 400 Euros getting that fixed and I finally arranged to have my cherished Proton car lifted up and carried away on the back of a Grua which brought a tear to my eyes.
Our friends then came back down here with us and for the last few days over Easter the car park has been a building site while we get the new office built in the garden. The shell is now completed but we still have to put in windows, install electricity, internet & the computer network and splash a bit of paint about here and there. And fill a few holes. And a door handle. And lock. And a few other tweaks here and there, like lights. In fact there is a hell of a lot left to do to make it perfect but on the whole we can do that as we go along, the main priority is to get the office out of our living room as soon as possible.
Half way through the job we even had guests come walking down the drive asking if we had a room for the night – God only knows how they found us. We had even taken the final sign post down from in the street nearby to give it a re-paint which made it even more difficult to pinpoint us. We also gave a quick re-re-vamp to the already re-vamped twin room with the water feature to make it even better and, oh yes, I spent an hour locked in the bathroom because the door handle came off in my hand. Now I have to repair the door handle and the window. It’s all work!!
Well there you go. Eight days on the road almost living out of the cab and am I glad to be back. The weather was crap, the delays were long, the nights were cold, the snow was deep, the rain was heavy but the van ran great – Despite over 5000km with a nail through the rear tyre. In the end everything got done pretty much on time and I got back here only half a day late. Now I need to unload the rest of our own stuff from the van then check over all the brakes and do a general once over of all the workings and old faithful will be ready to roll again when next called on to do so. Hopefully not too quickly though, doing the whole trip on my own from down here was a bit of a killer.
Well the time has come to carry out a few transport jobs that I have allowed to build up over the last few months because of our own house move. Tuesday I will leave here in “Old Faithful” which if you have been following us since up in Catalunya you will recall we have renamed “Florentinus Maria” in honour of our dear friend who died suddenly last year. With any luck Tuesday night I will arrive at a friends house in Tamariu and spend the night there before loading up and then sneaking into my old car (which is sort of semi-dumped) for an exercise bike (don’t ask) which is going up to Tamworth. I have given myself plenty of time to get to Boulogne and then hope to cross to Dover & collect in Didcot on Thursday and maybe even carry on to Hereford to collect there. If I miss Thursday then that will happen Friday morning before carrying on up to Nottingham – Maybe via a delivery in Tamworth, or maybe Leicester, or both. Both of those have to be fitted in somewhere but I am not yet sure where. Saturday I need to be collecting in Bingley and then Sunday in Peterborough on the way back down to Dover. Two drops then in Begur and Calonge in Catalunya and also a collection in Tamariu. Also, depending on how brave I feel, I could pop over into our old garden and grab the goldfish, you may remember that due to travel times etc when we moved home he had to stay behind and wait for us in the comfort of his very own fountain. Quick pop in to Lloret to get some stuff out of my other van (which will find its way down here in due course) then also another delivery in Alicante and some goods to stay in store awaiting a Murcia delivery at the end of next month. So that is my next week in a nutshell, sleepless nights in a van, cold rainy, snowy days and nothing but 107.7 traffic FM on the radio. Oh happy days.