Adventures With Harvey

Sunshine, Cerveza and Churros con chocolat!

Or perhaps the title could be Malaga, Marbella and Morocco – there’s quite a lot to report since our last update so grab yourself a cuppa and buckle in for the ride!

After Steve and Kelly headed back home we had to hang about in Sevilla because the much-needed laptop was yet to be delivered… so there was more exploring of Sevilla and surrounds to be done. The main remaining item of interest was Itálica, an ancient Roman town built around 200BC about 7km from the current centre of Sevilla. Many towns in this part of the world were built or inhabited by the Romans and often the remains are little more than an old pile of rocks to the untrained eye, however most Roman ruins don’t contain a remarkably well preserved 25000 seat amphitheatre! What a magnificent edifice, just enormous with many tunnels, walkways and underground areas for gladiators, wild animals etc. Not to say that the other ruins at Itálica weren’t interesting (in fact the 2000 year old mosaics were something else!), it’s just that when you see something like the amphitheatre your mouth hangs open quite a lot!

Our next stop was Malaga which is quite a large town on the Mediterranean coast with a decent sized port. Unlike Benidorm which caters pretty much exclusively to British tourists, this city was full of locals going about their business, but it’s obviously also right up there as a tourist destination. Harvey’s parking spot was around 7km from the centre of town and the distance in between was entirely beachfront which made for some most enjoyable exploring by bike. Firstly, your author went for some solo reconnaissance including a ride/walk to the top of the Alcazaba (hilltop castle/fort) which provided magnificent views across the city, port, and coastline further to the south, then reconnoitred the cathedral, port area etc before returning to collect his travelling companion to show her all the happenings!

In the harbour was by far the largest super-yacht your humble correspondent has ever seen. Often in Auckland harbour or loitering in the Bay of Islands over summer, some rather enormous vessels can be found, but this one was easily twice as large as anything else I’d ever seen. Of course, being curious one must ask Google who owns such a fine vessel and on this occasion the answer is one Ernesto Bertaralli the Swiss pharmaceutical magnate, famous down under for funding the Alinghi Americas Cup team that infamously poached our best sailors then uplifted the trophy from Team NZ in 2005. Children, don’t sell drugs, your life outcomes will be poor. Yeah right!

Just down the coast from Malaga is the town of Torremolinos where we found the most amazing place to park – right over the road from a sandy beach, lovely and quiet, and for the princely sum of €2/night paid to a couple of self-appointed parking attendants (which is actually quite common in this part of the world and no-one seems to be too bothered). From there it was a short bike ride into town or down to the adjacent beach of Benalmádina – again, just a beautiful spot with lots of beach-front eateries and other goings on including an impressive marina with vessels parked right in front of people’s apartments. The highlight of Torremolinos was finding a particular pub – yes, we’re talking about an Irish pub called The All Blacks. No kidding, that’s what it was called, right there and beckoning me in. At the adjacent leaner I could hear a few Irish accents and, when Anita popped over the road to take my photo, they were keen to be included and, so of course, we made friends. These lads were from the town of Dungarven which we had passed through back in December, and were on a boys weekend… with which your author was able to tag along and enjoy some excellent company, even better craic, and create some awesome memories!

Eating out in this part of the world is very cost effective, the record low for una cerveza grande por favor (one large beer please) at a pub so far is €1.80 (NZ$3) with tapas usually being around €4 each – all of which means a drink or two each, 3-4 tapas to share (which is plenty for a light meal for 2) will set you back less than €20 (NZ33.50). We still eat in Harvey for most meals however it’s nice to enjoy some affordable hospitality as part of our travels.

I think Anita’s favourite food is churros con chocolat which are delicious fried long donuts of yumminess sprinkled with sugar – they come with a cup of hot chocolate so thick your spoon would stand up, perfect for dipping and sipping! It’s best to find a shop that serves locals, that way they come wrapped up in newsprint like fish & chips back home.

Marbella was supposed to be the playground of the rich and famous however either our intel was out-of-date or we didn’t explore the right part of town. Undoubtedly another beautiful beach with a wide boulevard for cycling or walking and plenty of dining options – certainly some beautiful houses and hotels however it didn’t appear to be much more affluent than other beachside towns we’ve visited. As always we spent some time wandering around the old centre, popping into a few shops and checking the place out, a really pretty little town for sure. Without question the highlight of the visit was meeting Jacqueline, Hendrik and their little motorhome Frankie with whom we became acquainted after parking beside them at our Marbella parking spot. They were only a year or two older than our youngsters however, like us, were living in their motorhome and exploring Europe – a couple of drinks morphed into them joining us for dinner in Harvey where we exchanged stories of motorhome adventures and tribulations long into the night. What a treat guys, we hope to see you again one day!

Since the whole concept of Adventures with Harvey was locked and loaded, your author and his lovely travelling companion have been debating whether Morocco would be on the agenda. We discovered early on that, due to insurance restrictions, we wouldn’t be able to take Harvey however with North Africa being only a short ferry or aeroplane ride away, a parking up of our wheels and visit there has been a frequent moot for debate. In the end, and mainly because Anita had been there before, it was decided that your author would make a solo day-trip by ferry, the best of a number of options being from Tarifa to Tangiers. So with e-bike charged and ready, your rather excited correspondent boarded the 9am ferry for the short 90 minute sailing to Morocco. The day’s first objective was to ride the 15km or so out to Cap Spartel where there is a hill & lighthouse with panoramic views over the Straights of Gibraltar in one direction around to the Atlantic coast of Morocco in the other. It was a much longer/steeper ride than anticipated and took far too much juice out of the bike battery so early in the day however to stand on the north-western tip of the African continent was one special treat and made the exertion (and nursing my bike battery for the rest of the day) worth it by any measure! Cycling back into Tangiers was an assault on the senses and reminded me a little (although not nearly so bad) of the traffic chaos I’d previously witnessed on visits to other large African cities, in particular Cairo and Kampala. The difference this time is I was on a bicycle rather than being driven and believe me, you certainly have to keep your wits about you when riding through these large roundabouts and other intersections where road rules seem nominal at best!

The remainder of the day was spent exploring the town, in particular the Medina (huge marketplace/bazaar), Phoenician Tombs on the hilltop looking back towards Spain, and also the Kasbah (yet another name for a hilltop fort/palace). These days it is a museum dedicated to an early Muslim scholar and pilgrim, Ibn Battuta, who travelled (mainly walking) more than 100,000km visiting pretty much all of the known world over 30 years in between leaving Tangiers and returning. Your humble correspondent arrived back to Anita and Harvey late in the evening rather worn out but having had the most amazing day! I am happy to report that Anita also had a most enjoyable day exploring Tarifa, wandering the lanes, exploring churches, watching kite surfers and sampling local tapas. Mainly the Travelling Woodies roll together but occasionally we split tacks and explore in different directions – in these evenings we exchange photos and stories and it makes a nice change to have a small amount of time as a solo traveller and not always in each other’s pockets.

The annual rainfall in parts of southern Spain is around 220mm per year. Auckland and Northland have had several days recently where that total has been exceeded so it looks like we chose a good summer to be away from New Zealand! Although it is mid-winter here, the weather is pretty much as we expected, fine and sunny almost every day however often with a cool breeze and chilly top temperatures around 14-17deg. Lovely in the sun and out of the wind but it can also be bitingly cold if the wind is strong and the sun is hidden. Today I sit here at our Aire (the name for a dedicated motorhome parking place in France or Spain, they’re called Stellplatz in Germany) the sun is shining brightly and my t-shirt has just been discarded!!

They say that the town of Cadiz may be the oldest permanently occupied city in Europe, dating back at least to the Phoenicians some 3000 years ago. A walking tour is often part of our exploring, they’re an interesting and cost effective way to learn the history of a town, see a few CBD landmarks, and generally get a good feel for a new place. On this tour there were only 6 of us plus the guide and again, it was lovely to join our new friends Tracy and Della for tapas and refreshments following the tour. These ladies reminded us a lot of our neighbours back home in Russell – they were originally from Bristol but decided a few years ago to leave conventional life behind and travel, setting up a house & pet sitting business. These days they’re retired and living in the hills not far from Malaga and again, it was such a pleasure to meet such interesting new people and hear their stories.

Just across the harbour from Cadiz is another beautiful little beach-front settlement called El Puerto de Santa Maria. We stayed a couple of nights along with a few other motorhomes right at the end of the beach and, on Sunday, wandered along the waterfront to choose somewhere for a long Spanish lunch. It was just so enjoyable to spend an afternoon soaking up the warm Spanish sun partaking in delicious Spanish food & wine and watching the world go by with my favourite person in the whole world!!!

So with that we shall bid you farewell and hope that our New Zealand friends & family haven’t yet grown webbed feet. We’re continuing to have the best ever time – thanks for keeping us company, as always it has been our pleasure to bring you the latest instalment of Adventures With Harvey 😊

a long Sunday afternoon lunch - hello again from Spain :-)

2000 year old mosaics, this place is called Italica and is just on the outskirts of Sevilla

the amphitheatre at Italica

outside the amphitheatre - showing all the tunnels and alleyways

although they were a bit mangier looking than NZ sheep, it was nice to be held up them on our bikes to remind us of home

Alcabaza de Malaga, a very impressive fortress

a little toy belonging to Ernesto Bertarelli - by far the biggest superyacht I've ever seen!

view from near the top of the Alcazaba

near our motorhome park on the beach at Malaga

the Malaga waterfront

this exploring is thirsty work!

Anita found her place in the sun

churros con chocolat in newsprint paper just like fish & chips at home

our parking spot for 3 nights at Torremolinos

sandcastle on the beach

taking this photo aroused the attention of some Irish lads at the next leaner...

... who became new friends of course :-)

marina at Benalmadina

we made friends with a couple of Dutch youngsters - meet Jacqueline, Hendrik and their motorhome Frankie

alleyways at Marbella

little courtyards and nooks like this everywhere you look

fountain at Marbella

the Marbella waterfront

ideal for exploring by bike

on the ferry, leaving Tarifa bound for Tangiers, Morocco!

my bike has an advertised battery range over 100km, I've never got more than about 70km out of it, however it was so steep riding up to Cap Spartel that this was the remaining battery after only 15km!