Post It from Bonterra Park, Benicasim, Castellon, Spain 30th May 2013

We arrived at this site on Tuesday 28^th May after a saying goodbye to our Spanish friends in Los Alcazares before we started the 16 night journey north to Calais and our ferry.

We had our first hic up of the holiday as we drove; it was our integrated gas alarm which has been constantly switched on since leaving home on 14^th April. It activated for no apparent reason twice during the journey. The first time as we approached a toll station on the AP7 in Murcia and a few hours later as a HGV passed us on the A7 in Valencia. It has been on ever since with no activation at all so I am wondering if it is something to do with our very full garage, where the sensor workings are fitted or just the fact we were driving. We had no gas on at all and I ensured all the taps were turned off tightly before setting off. Tomorrow we set off again so will see what that brings.

The area between Valencia and Barcelona is one of the very few areas along the Mediterranean coast of Spain that we have never visited in our previous quest to find a place to live, se we were looking forward to visiting here. Benicasim appeared a lovely small seaside resort with an upmarket feel to it. When we strolled the promenade we saw there were many beautiful Villas dating back to the late 1800’s where the rich and famous from Valencia and Castellon de la Plana took refuge by the sea. There was a historical route along the prom giving an insight to some of these homes and their original owners. The small town also had a good high street with many shops and places to eat and all within easy walking distance from the camp site.

Bonterra Park was a beautiful site with lots of shade from well-established trees, including some very old and large pine trees. The site was welcoming, clean and had all the facilities one would expect. The plots were a little smaller than we had become accustomed to but were nicely situated and apart from a small amount of road noise from the close by N340 and the odd train it was a very peaceful location. Even our favourite supermarket, Mercadona, was directly opposite the entrance.

The only thing that I was disappointed with was that there was no drinking water on the pitches or near to them, plenty of non-drinking water but to get water for our kettle etc. we had to go to the toilet blocks where there was a water point outside. We saw a similar point in the town being used by a Spanish lady to fill her large canister to take home and perhaps all the water in the area is ‘Non Potable’ except for these points? Also the electricity is from a shared box and I was lucky as it required a 2 pin plug or else I would not have been able to connect my wandering lead myself when it came to cook outdoors. The staff connected us initially and they will disconnect us when we leave.

We certainly enjoyed our short stay, even though the weather was not too good with some heavy rain in on both evenings so far and plenty of cloud the first 2 days. Hopefully we shall take today’s sun with us tomorrow to Vilanova i la Geltru, in Catalonia just south of Barcelona.

Regards, Roy