The Parties In Hell

The weather and temperatures during our stay in Spain have exceeded our expectations, we came loaded with jumpers and jeans, but the only things we needed were t-shirts, shorts and the odd fleece for those cool evenings. But, when it rains, it rains! Black clouds stacked on black clouds that make the daytime feel like night, deep rumbling thunder that make the walls shake and lightning that goes on forever across the dark sky. All this accompanied with torrential downpours. We had a couple of days of these storms, during which it's all quite cosy sat in the MoHo, except that it's no good trying to watch TV, talk or sleep because the sound of the rain hammering on the roof of the van makes it impossible. 

The big decision in these circumstances though, is when is it safe to take Oscar out for a walk, well our judgement was almost pretty sound, but as we headed back from his afternoon sniff and dig session on the beach, we had to run back to the campsite to make sure we didn't get caught out. Alison and Oscar went back to the van and I thought I'd nip into the toilets. Within seconds as I came out of the building the main road through the site had turned into a river, and as I stood and pondered if I might be stuck in the loos overnight I was joined by a German and an Irish man also just leaving the building (there has to be a joke here somewhere but I can't think of a punchline). The German guy then starts reminiscing from his youth about a torrential downpour and a flooded river with caravans, cars and houses floating down. I was just pleased it was a childhood memory and not an apocalyptic vision of the night to come. I made it back to the van and the following day normal service had resumed with gorgeous sunshine, soggy coats and shoes out to dry and shorts and t-shirts back in service. 

Camping Bonterra Resort in Benicassim has been a great place to stay, for our first extended MoHo adventure in Europe. It's quite a large site, but the hedges and trees make the pitches private and also I imagine provide some shade in the summer months. Everywhere is clean, tidy and well maintained. There are lots of activities organised by the site, coach trips to Valencia, Tai Chi on the beach, Spanish lessons for beginners/advanced, aquarobics and much more. I would love to do the Valencia trip but, as much as the site and area is pretty well geared up for dogs, unfortunately they are not allowed on coaches or buses, so we had to console ourselves with cocktail making, which is really just about having a couple of free drinks and happy hour in the bar.  

The Spanish love a good festival and Halloween didn't disappoint with lots of families descending on the site for a weekend of festivities. It was a bit like Halloween in the UK but on steroids. As night time arrived the little (and some big) ghouls came out, BBQs were lit and music and dancing started. It was great to be part of it. The celebrations finished after All Saints day and gradually as the families departed the site was handed back over to the retirees and the usual more sedate atmosphere resumed.

I'm not sure that there are any 'lifers' on camp, but there are definitely a lot of 'long termers'. There is a bit of a sense of an international community with many people returning year after year or even multiple times throughout the year. A lot of the Brits do a 90 day stint in Spring before returning home and consulting their Schengen calculator to check the earliest date they can return for the Autumn sunshine. Although I definitely would return to this site, as a junior retiree I'm not quite sure I'm at the stage (yet) where I want to come back repeatedly to the same spot, there are so many other places we want to explore in Marleen the MoHo. But as the Schengen zone extends next year to include Croatia and others, it feels as though it is becoming more challenging to do everything we want to do within the Schengin restrictions.  

One of the regular visitors to the site, who has dogs, suggested that we should look into getting Oscar a pet passport. Since leaving the EU you can no longer get a pet passport in the UK for travel in Europe, we now have to buy a Animal Health Certificate which can vary widely in price. At our local vet it costs £200 for every EU trip. The benefit of a pet passport obtained in the EU is that once you have it you just need to make sure that the dog's rabies jab is updated in the EU every 3 years. So off to the vet we went. The thing about Oscar is that if it's small, soft and furry it's fair game. As we were sitting waiting to see the vet, a cat just sauntered through the waiting room. I think you'd best describe what happened next as bedlam. Oscar shot up, I grabbed his lead, he was like a cartoon dog, his legs working like crazy but his paws couldn't get a grip on the slippery floor. He was barking and whining, the cat hissing, the vet and her assistant running in saying don't worry the cat likes dogs, I'm saying yes but it's not the bloody dog I'm worried about! The cat removed itself and the commotion died down. The positive outcome was that Oscar was far too distracted to object to his rabies injection, which even though he'd had in the UK and is probably exactly the same vaccine, has to be administered by an EU vet to obtain the passport. With everything done and passport in hand we headed towards the door, but I can honestly say it's the first time I've ever known Oscar reluctant to leave a vets as he tried to sniff out the whereabouts of the missing cat. 

Benicassim is a lovely town, it was established as a resort and became known as the Valencian Biarritz when wealthy families from Valencia and Castellon built summer residences or villas along the coast in the late 18th and early 19th century's. Many of the villas still exist today, standing beautifully in their own grounds alongside today's less stylish coastal apartment buildings. There is a walk called Ruta de Las Villas which guides you past the Villas which are grouped into three areas known as Celestial, Limbo and Infierno or Hell. The latter area was notorious for the 'scandalous' parties that took place in the Villas. The campsite is a short walk away from the 5 beaches that make up the bay, and the incredible 6 km promenade and boardwalk that runs alongside. They are well set up with cycle paths and there is a traffic free cycle/walking path (via verde) that uses a disused railway line, connecting Benicassim to Oropessa, the next town along the coast. This path passes along the back of the campsite and there are some stunning views of the Benicassim Bay as you head along this path. 

So how have we got on with the MoHo? Well I've loved it and it's certainly less eventful when it's not moving anywhere! It's lovely and comfortable and we've pretty much got everything we need with us. Best tip received so far from a seasoned traveller - put wine bottle corks under your windscreen wipers, this breaks the contact between the rubber blades and the windscreen and prevents the rubber going hard in the heat of the sun. I'm not sure, it just sounds like an excuse to open a bottle of wine to me! The location has been great for all of us including Oscar. He was allowed on the beach from 1st November and we have walked miles admiring some stunning sunsets and enjoying some lovely beachside cafes/bars along the way. We have also had quite a few people approaching us and saying 'guapo' (handsome), as this is usually accompanied with a tickle behind the ears and a pat on the head, I assume its aimed at Oscar and not me.

Anyway we have a few days left before we start heading North to St Malo for our ferry back home. So route planning is in full swing, I hope it's less eventful than on the way here and that I remember to remove the wine bottle corks before we set off . Watch this space to find out! 

You can find out more about our trip and some additional photos here

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