We left Navajas and bypassed Valencia on the A7.. We did this last year so some bits looked familiar - especially all the orange trees.
Heading south we decided to be a bit different and took the A35 towards Albacete . We actually came back from the south this way last year, but it looks different going the other way.
We had noticed a terrible bank of pollution across the horizon, and my coughing became more frequent.   We soon realised that this was mostly smoke. The farmers were pruning their olives and fruit trees and burning all the trimmings. There were fires everywhere, and because there was no wind the smoke was lying in a thick layer. It also looked very dry everywhere, so perhaps the air hadn't been 'washed' for a while!
We eventually reached the point where the new link motorway was being built last year (we saw one man and a wheelbarrow actually working!) and guess what?   It still isn't finished!!  All the big lorries have to come off and wind through La Font de la Figuera and then under the new flyover which has been finished and back on the old road again. One lorry had actually shed its load and there were cartons everywhere.
We decided to carry on the N344 which was a lovely newly resurfaced empty road through rolling agricultural land - mostly fruit trees and olives.   Luckily there was no burning here.
We wanted to stop for lunch but there was nowhere to stop - not a sign of a layby or anything.
At Jumilla the lovely new A33 dual carriage way began and we made swift progress down towards Murcia.
As we approached we could again see layers of pollution and smoke.
We got onto the A7 and finally stopped at a deserted retail park near a Repsol garage. There were big showrooms and office blocks, all shut up and deserted, on both sides of the Autovia - signs of the recession no doubt?
We got back on the A7 and guess what? - about 2 miles further on, a picnic stopping place!
It soon became clear that all the junction numbers had been changed and even those in the 2016 ACSI book were wrong! Luckily we could tell from the map where we should turn off and found Camping Playa de Mazarron without problems.
This is a big campsite with many northern Europeans staying for at least 3 months.
We had not booked and we were very lucky to have the choice of the last 3 pitches!
We soon got settled and went for a lovely walk on the beach, with the sun just starting to tint the sky pink further down the coast. This site has direct access onto the long Bolnuevo beach.