N 37.515839 W 1.398070 - CAMPER ÁREA TARAY, PUNTAS DE NEGRE

Left Los Alcázares this morning, the wind was still pretty strong and the weather forecast not good . Popped in on Ken & Carole for a goodbye coffee, we'll miss their company. We did like it at Los Alcázares, it's a great place to cycle but the weather wasn't kind to us and so there was no point staying longer only to be buffeted by the strong winds.

We haven't come far actually, about 130 km.

We originally were going to stop at Bolnuevo where the soil erosion cliffs are but when we got there the campsite appeared to be full and there are 'No Motorhome or Caravans' signs up so no free camping there then! Mike would have risked it but I didn't want to. We stayed at Bolnuevo for our lunch and then backtracked on our route for a bit. I'd found a camper park at Puntas de Calnegre. Actually, what I did (for those who are not camper owners) is use an app on my iPad called Camper Contact. I scrolled down the off-line map to find a camper parking and then I read the reviews (a bit like Trip Advisor).

I had no idea of where Puntas de Calnegre was only that someone said not to be put off by driving through not Plasticland but Netland! The route was narrow and very twisty and we disagreed with our SatNav on one occasion when we didn't like the look of the road we were being directed up .

We found what we thought could have been the place but you'd have thought that a different name and co-ordinates would have given us a clue wouldn't you! It was seeing all the campers parked up made me think it was right but, of course, it wasn't. There must have been around 40 campers, mostly Dutch and German, wild camping on wasteland by the sea. There wasn't a spare space to be had.

We figured we'd continue following SatNag and see where we ended up and if necessary we could go back to the 'wilders'.

Another 5 km or so of driving through little roads winding between huge polytunnels and we start winding downhill towards the sea and we have landed here at Taray Camper Park by the sea.

First impressions are favourable. The parking area is of gravel and sand with large, spacious, marked pitches. There is no electricity, water costs 1€ but the cost is 6€ per night. The young guy who owns/runs it comes round to collect his money, speaks three languages. The baker comes at 8:00 in the morning and another at 11:00. A man comes to sell gas on Thursdays and the owner/manager's wife will do your washing and return it next day for a small fee.

Apparently there is a small bar/restaurant around the corner. We haven't checked out the beach yet but do know that it is pebble.

We've had our dinner of roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, broccoli and gravy and are now mellowing nicely with a glass of amber nectar!

6€ per night, water 1€/100 litres