Parking Co-ordinates 38.18085, -0.8119
Well, that's another week gone by - we've been here for 16 days now and one very much seems to blend into the next, and on some of them, it has to be said, we haven't done very much at all! The pace here is very slow, there is often quite a lot of chatting to do almost every time you step outside your door. Therefore it's quite easy for the whole day to go by without you even noticing! However, we have managed to fit some activities in but not on Friday because that was the day that it rained from morning till night!
And the next day (Saturday) the insult was a very strong wind that managed to blow our little tent down, but after our day confined to quarters yesterday we were starting to suffer a bit from cabin fever so we very much felt the need to go out. The place we chose to visit was part of the mountain range that towers above the town of Callosa de Segura - namely the Sierra de Callosa, and from there our views were superb both back over the town and in an upwards direction where possibly only birds are meant to go!
We did try quite hard to traverse up the very steep slopes, and although we found several trails our footings were far from secure on the scree paths! Every route seemed to be at a 45 degree angle or more, and they all seemed so challenging that they were probably more suited to experienced hikers with climbing gear and people who wouldn't be afraid of heights! Therefore, in the end we satisfied ourselves with only a shortish walk that led us to a picnic spot where we could look out over huge swaths of the landscape below us.
Then when we'd finished scoffing our picnic we took the time to visit the Saint Roque Hermitage which stands high above the town and which dates back to 1579. The tale goes that it was built in honour of the patron saint of Callosa - Saint Roque who is said to have appeared on the very spot where the hermitage is built. But today we saw nothing of him 👻👻!
On Sunday the winds persisted so we decided to stay local and go for another walk in the Hondo Nature Reserve which is only about 2 miles away from where we're parked. However, what we hadn't banked on was the very sticky mud that had been left behind by Friday's heavy rain!
It seriously tried to suck off our trainers and by the time we were on our way home so much had adhered under our feet that we almost felt 10 feet tall, and I'd swear John thought he was taking part in a soccer match as he tried to kick some of it off!😂😂! However, we did have the privilage of spotting a few critters of the feathered variety along our way.
Monday turned out to be another lazy lozicky day but that was more than made up for on Tuesday when we joined the Rally Mountain Walk. Happily by now the weather had picked up as we ventured into the Sant Gaieta Mountain Park and climbed for about 3 miles to reach the saddle ridge of Alt de Sant Juri which stands at 2,618 feet.
The 'Hill' we climbed was the one on the right in the pic above and the summit allowed for 360 degree views over the surrounding land! In the pics below John has his back to one direction and me to the other!
And we didn't slack off on either Wednesday or Thursday either! On Wednesday we took our bikes out for a 25 mile trek through lemon groves and the irrigation canals that sit above the town of Albatera, and on Thursday it was back to have another go at the Callosa mountains! This time John had picked out a different route which started steeply but gently, but after only a few hundred yards we were offered an option to either continue on an upward but climbable trail or to follow the Via Ferrata!
Don't worry😱😱😱 that isn't John clinging on for dear life - but it does give you some idea of what was available if you had a death wish ⚰️☠️
We only climbed up for a very short way but as you can see from the pics the 'ladder' would have taken us much higher very quickly if we'd been daft enough to try!
In the end we decided we were quite happy with the view from the bottom of the climb because even if we'd managed to get to the top I doubt very much that I'd have been brave enough to do the final crossing!
Therefore, we backtracked and followed the much safer but still trip strewn path partway around the base of the Callosa Sierra range, and when we'd done that we picnicked at another hermitage before descending back to the town of Callosa where John faced the challenge of wending his way through the myriad of narrow lanes and streets that were all one way. I'd swear we almost met ourselves coming back on more than one occasion, but as always my very trusty chauffeur finally managed to pop us out of the tightly packed maze and then we were soon homeward bound to do a bit more relaxing in the evening 🌞🌞🌞
It's possible to walk all the way round the Sierra de Callosa mountains but the distance is long and I'm not sure we're quite ready for that challenge yet!
Bye for now 😙😙
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PS. Just want to say a very big Thankyou to Sarah and the rest of our family for helping sort out our issues after our Burglary on our way here. You made me 😭😭😭 with happiness with the lovely pressies you sent to help replace what we'd lost. Love you all loads 😙😙😙😙😙
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