Post It from Area Narejos, Los Alcazares, Murcia, Spain. Tuesday 13th October, 2015.

I have not posted a story since 6^th September so I shall just give you all a brief update as to where we have been since then. Because the main purpose of this holiday was to catch up with friends we have done this in bucket fulls and not only those who live here in Spain but also some who holiday here and some campers who we have met in previous years. We spent 23 nights at Camping Lo Monte in Pilar de la Horadada. 2 nights here so Sharon could get her hair cut at a hairdresser she is very familiar with and then 9 nights at Camping Los Madriles at Isla Plana a little further south in the Bay of Mazarron. We then returned to Los Alcazares for our final 6 nights before heading towards home.

We have had many friends visit us and also we have been taken out and about, which was really good for us. Then our close Spanish friends offered us one of their cars and I eventually took them up on their kind offer so we were able to see their children on an evening more often. It also gave us a chance to shop a little further afield and take our camping friends, Pauline and John who had come to catch up with us, around the Mar Menor area where we once lived.

All in all it was a very hectic time and far different from all our previous tours but we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and I am sure our friends have too. Counting up, we have met up with over 40 people we knew previously during our 40 nights here and have met many new campers. What a lot of conversations!

Joan and Alan, a couple of close friends who live here, found this camping ground for us by chance when they were out cycling one day. The location was familiar to us as the location of the old Saturday Market when we lived here more than 3 years ago but it had only just opened as what can be best described as a ‘Camper Stop’ on 1^st September 2015. We became their 21^st guests when we first stopped and we were alone for the first night then had a Dutch and a German motorhome join us for our second night. As it is new I shall give all the techy stuff at the end for those Club members who may want to know more about this new facility.

The first two nights let Sharon not only get her hair cut but we managed to meet up with a lot of people in such a short time and cycled probably 30 miles in the 2 days taking advantage of the almost empty out of season promenade. Whilst cycling on the prom is not strictly legal the Police turn a blind eye out of the main holiday season and almost everyone does it, particularly the Spanish. It felt so good to be riding once again along the shores of the Mar Menor in our favourite place as well as visiting many old haunts. We were lucky enough to be here to see the Spanish Military photographic exhibition in the town hall. Since we had last been here there had also been placed in the old part of the town many historical black & white photographs of the town dating back to 1915 when it was mainly a Military Base and the Mar Menor was used to launch their flying boats. I believe Franco was once posted here as well.

The Murcia, San Javier airport is situated close to the camper stop and whilst we were used to hearing the sounds of the military trainer jets practicing their landings and commercial planes from years gone by it is a whole different thing when you are actually camping close to the run way and flight path, depending on the wind direction. It was a good thing there were no night flights or I think we would not have coped with the noise of the trainer jets in particular. A brief air display on Caldero Day by their equivalent of the Red Arrows who are based here was much appreciated.

We did enjoy the excellent new restaurant situated right on the edge of the campsite which happened to be owned by the same company and this also provided us with free Wi-Fi. The meals we took there were really good and at a very reasonable price too.

Our second visit to the camper stop for our final 6 nights on the coast was to allow us to say good bye to friends and also to attend the National Holiday on 12^th October, which is called ‘Caldero Day’ locally and celebrated in big style. I was told the name came from the meal Christopher Columbus ate on the evening before he set sail to discover the Americas. Los Alcazares town hall grant the public the right to cook on the beach on National Day via a licence and you get many social groups, as well as just friends and families, booking a place along the beach and having one huge fiesta with plenty of food, drink and music.

We have attended a number of such days and we would not have missed the opportunity to do so once again since we were here. We walked along the prom looking at all the different groups enjoying themselves. Many were cooking Caldero, Paella or meat on the BBQ. The smells were mouth-watering. One man was keen to explain his Paella, with lots of shell fish on the top, was a Tarragona speciality.  It also gave me a chance to catch up with many of my sailing friends who attend as a large gathering on the beach with one of their dinghies as well as partaking in some tapas at a beach side bar. The whole atmosphere was great and it made for a very enjoyable day.

The promenade is what we loved most about Los Alcazares and this camper stop is a 2 minute cycle ride from it at its northern end. You can then follow the 5 miles of wide paved walkway which hugs the curving shoreline to where the old military base was located at the southern end. Passing along the way there are many places to stop and drink or snack and even have a proper meal if you so choose. With each turn of the shoreline it brings new sights whilst all the time straight across the Mar Menor you can see the thin strip of land separating it from the Mediterranean Sea with its tower blocks of apartments known as La Managa. All along the inner shore line you have many traditional Spanish resorts which become a haven for Spanish holiday makers in July and August. There are many British and Irish people owning property here that are well catered for so you have no problem finding everything you may need.

As you would expect from having Europe’s largest lagoon on your doorstep water activities are in abundance and the closest beach to the camper stop is where you can find the kite surfers every day of the year. Unfortunately you can also find some wild camping close by in the adjacent park and friends told us there had been up to 90 campers at one point in the park.

The techy bits then: This new place is called ‘Area Narejos’ after the actual name of the area it is situated in. GPS taken from my iPhone is N 37º 45’ 47” W 0º 49’ 51” www.areanarejos.com  tel: 0034 968 076 185. It is a large and clean tarmacked area with 88 marked out pitches, some shade framing and 2 shower blocks with large disabled facilities. The reception is manned from 0900 to 2100 each day and after that the gates are locked. Guests can obtain a key to a small gate to enable pedestrian/cycle access outside these times. It is open all year and whilst it is clearly aimed at motorhomes I did ask and was told caravans were also welcome. The down side is you cannot put any pegs into the ground at all. The facilities, being new, were spotlessly clean but I did feel
that the owner had not really done their research properly as there were a number of things not available at the time of our visit. Such as no hot water in any of the sinks, despite the showers having an excellent hot water supply. There were no laundry sinks at all but they had installed 3 washing machines and tumble driers which were also used by the restaurant. The electric system, albeit new, was not the blue plug European standard and instead it had new 2 pin plugs which surprised me greatly. I could not ascertain the amperage but I am pretty sure it was at least 10 amps if not 16. Some of the individual plug sockets within a group of 4 were actually reverse polarity as well. I did mention all these things to the very helpful, if inexperienced, reception staff who all spoke very good English. There were a few other very minor points we would have preferred there to have been and some had been addressed in our short time away as the reception staff has asked me to make a list of everything that we felt was lacking before we left the first time.

Prices were good and varied by pitch size from 48m² at 12€ a night to 120m² at 24€ in low season. These were heavily discounted for stays of more than 3 nights and the longer your stay the bigger the discount. The smaller size 6x8m pitch was ample size for our needs, given the nature of our visit, and we paid 10.50€ at the discounted rate. For stays of over 180 nights this rate reduced to 6.90€. You have to add 3€ a night for electricity if wanted but all other facilities were included except the washing machines which were cheap at 3€ a go. There was even a free car washing facility.

Whilst it would not be for us generally, because of the tarmac and the noise of the planes, it was great for us to actually be in Los Alcazares again and all types of shops were with walking distance. We would certainly use it again when visiting. We head back north on Saturday but plan a number of new stops along the way so you may get some additional ‘Post It stories’ internet connection permitting.

Regards, Roy