Near the Andorra-Spain border, Pyrenees in the background
16th- 17th September
Riding through Encamp in Andorra we rode past a KTM dealer, so I went in and he had a chain for my bike, winner! I needed a grinder to fit it, as it was too long, and my chain didn't have a joining link, but at Moto Retro Yamaha further down the road at Julia de Loria they had it all. The guy in the workshop couldn't speak a word of English, but between us we got the chain fitted, and he also showed me a memo from Yamaha about a problem with some XT660's, where a key on a shaft in the engine breaks, and a gear comes loose, so he had a look at that, ours were all good. I bought a headlight bulb off him as well, all up it cost me 14.5 Euro, just over
Riding through Encamp in Andorra we rode past a KTM dealer, so I went in and he had a chain for my bike, winner! I needed a grinder to fit it, as it was too long, and my chain didn't have a joining link, but at Moto Retro Yamaha further down the road at Julia de Loria they had it all. The guy in the workshop couldn't speak a word of English, but between us we got the chain fitted, and he also showed me a memo from Yamaha about a problem with some XT660's, where a key on a shaft in the engine breaks, and a gear comes loose, so he had a look at that, ours were all good. I bought a headlight bulb off him as well, all up it cost me 14.5 Euro, just over
Tower up on a hill, don't know what it's called
20AUD, really cheap, and the guy knows his stuff. I highly recommend this guy if anyone needed anything in this area. From there we crossed into Spain, we were waved through at the border, but plenty of cars were being searched for taking out more than their allotted amounts of grog and smokes. It looked like the searches were pretty thorough, cars with all doors and boots open, one had the door trims out. I wanted to get out of the mountains, away from the storms that build up every afternoon, so we headed for the coast following the Ebre River between two mountain ranges, and storms were building up on each side of us. We managed to stay dry, and went down the coast to St Carles, where we got a campsite on the beach for 20 Euro, with power. (we needed to charge our Sennas, and cameras.) Dinner was a cooked chook, fresh bread, and salad from the supermarket, along with some of our Andorran scotch.A storm blew up during the night, but we only caught the edge of it, and the tent was dry in the morning. It wasn't a big ride down to Alicante next day, along good roads, but it was hot, around 32 deg, according to the digital signs that were in the towns we went through. The country reminded me of Mount Isa by the sea, dry, dusty, and stoney, but with big mountains in the background. We found the apartment OK, and were soon checked in to our home for the next 2 weeks.
Alicante Marina
18th Sept - 1st October
The next two weeks were time to catch up on lots of things that needed doing, including maintenance. I serviced the bikes, and put some rubber from a an old bicycle tube into the cush drive on my bike, much better now. The parking area was underground, and dark, but I found a hidden area behind the generator shed where I could work on them out of sight. We washed everything, and unpacked everything, to work out what we didn't need, as the bikes are carrying too much weight. We had to buy water, as the the tap water isn't suitable for drinking, and leaves a scum on top of your tea. We had contacted Steve and Sonia on the net, an English
The next two weeks were time to catch up on lots of things that needed doing, including maintenance. I serviced the bikes, and put some rubber from a an old bicycle tube into the cush drive on my bike, much better now. The parking area was underground, and dark, but I found a hidden area behind the generator shed where I could work on them out of sight. We washed everything, and unpacked everything, to work out what we didn't need, as the bikes are carrying too much weight. We had to buy water, as the the tap water isn't suitable for drinking, and leaves a scum on top of your tea. We had contacted Steve and Sonia on the net, an English
Lyn with an archer at the castle
couple now living in Benitachell north of Alicante, so we rode up and met them for lunch at a great little beachside restaurant, made a good day. We rode up to Altea via Benidorm (Britain by the Sea), a few days later and met them again to see the Moors and Christians parade, a great night, and a spectacle well worth seeing. These parades happen in towns all over Spain, and they put a lot of effort into the floats and costumes, and there is usually fireworks as well. Typically they party on till early hours of the morning. We lasted till around 1.00 am, then retired to our tent at the campsite, as it was a couple of hours ride back to Alicante. The next morning, we went inland, the long way back to the unit, via Guadalest, in the mountains behind Altea. More terrific roads through the hills, and we stopped at a motorcycle museum on the way, all the bikes have been beautifully restored. We also visited the harbour at Alicante, they are the starting point for the Volvo round the world yacht race this year, and most of the boats and crews were there preparing for the start. There is a museum on the race there also, going back to when it was called the Whitbread round the world race.
Lyn with Jose and his wife in Granada.
2nd Oct
With everything all packed up again, we headed off to Granada, about 360 kms away, mostly via the main road. While it was quite scenic, it looks like most of the country has lost all its topsoil, leaving rocky gravel, with not much growing. It did get greener the further west we went, where they have more rainfall. In fact, as we got closer to Granada, there was a storm brewing, so we booked into the Ibis Budget hotel, and got unloaded just as the storm hit, and it started hailing. We had been contacted by Jose on the HU community, and he and his wife picked us up and took us out for a really nice italian meal, thanks guys, it was a great night.
With everything all packed up again, we headed off to Granada, about 360 kms away, mostly via the main road. While it was quite scenic, it looks like most of the country has lost all its topsoil, leaving rocky gravel, with not much growing. It did get greener the further west we went, where they have more rainfall. In fact, as we got closer to Granada, there was a storm brewing, so we booked into the Ibis Budget hotel, and got unloaded just as the storm hit, and it started hailing. We had been contacted by Jose on the HU community, and he and his wife picked us up and took us out for a really nice italian meal, thanks guys, it was a great night.
Granada to Velez-Malag
3rd Oct
We took backroads down to Velez-Malag, along some great riding roads, good surface, lots of hairpins, great views, the full package. There was some highway riding to Malaga, Marbella, then Estepona. The price of fuel is around 1.42 Euro, about $2.04 AUD, much cheaper than the UK, around $2.80 AUD. The weather was building up again, so a stop at Maccas to use their Wi Fi for some local accommodation, and found an apartment cheaper than a hotel room. We had no food with us, but as it is a tourist area, we had fish and chips served by an english waitress at a cafe that had mostly english people in it. Little Britain!
We took backroads down to Velez-Malag, along some great riding roads, good surface, lots of hairpins, great views, the full package. There was some highway riding to Malaga, Marbella, then Estepona. The price of fuel is around 1.42 Euro, about $2.04 AUD, much cheaper than the UK, around $2.80 AUD. The weather was building up again, so a stop at Maccas to use their Wi Fi for some local accommodation, and found an apartment cheaper than a hotel room. We had no food with us, but as it is a tourist area, we had fish and chips served by an english waitress at a cafe that had mostly english people in it. Little Britain!
White hillside village
The Rock of Gibralta from Algeciras
Restored canon facing the straits of Gibralta. That's Africa in the background
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Olive trees
4th Oct
Headed off along the coast to Gibralta, we wanted a look at this iconic British rock before we crossed into Morocco. As Gibralta is part of Britain, we had to do the passport thing to cross the border, ride across the airstrip, (the border is closed if there is a plane landing or taking off), and into the city, before we rode up the rock. In Maccas, (we needed wi fi), we met some other travellers, a couple in a motorhome, and others on bikes, and shared a coffee. We had intended to take the cable car up to the top, but got lost again, and ended up riding the bikes up the road to the top. We were blessed with good weather, so had terrific views as the sun burnt off the morning mist. Up on the rock, there is a cave big enough to hold a concert in, tunnels that go back hundreds of years, and of course, monkeys. They prey on tourists, stealing whatever they can from their hands as they get off they cable car, always expecting food. As we came up the road, we arrived at a different place, so were left alone, although we did get a guard to look after the bikes while we did some sightseeing. After spending the morning in Gibralta, we crossed back into Spain, and headed down to Tarifa, where we intended to catch the ferry across to Morocco. More great roads through the mountains to Tarifa, and we found a campground to set up the tent. There we met Peter and Joe from Atlas Adventure Tours, on their 39th
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Joe, Lyn and Peter from Atlas Overland Tours at Tarifa
trip to Morocco. Over a pizza and some liquid refreshment, Peter passed on a lot of invaluable info on Morocco, also suggesting we leave from Algeciras, not Tarifa, and go to Tangier Med, not Tangier, as the new terminal at Tangier Med is still free from the touts that hound travellers going through the old port at Tangier. It is well laid out, and things normally go a lot smoother, so we took his advise and decided to head back to Algeciras the next morning. The weather held, no rain overnight, and we slept fairly well, by now quite comfortable in the tent.
