There’s quite a few campsites in Peñiscola (pronounced Pen yis co la haha, it’s not a rude flavoured coke drink 😂) they’re all rammed with motorhomes and caravans, and we just didn’t fancy staying on one. We’d rather “wild camp” if possible.
We got a recommendation off someone for a little place near the sea, it looked fab, so off we went. We drove passed a lot of the sites en route and they didn’t look very appealing. The little spot where we found was perfect. Right by the sea, protected from the wind and very quiet. There were a few motorhomes and campers there but everyone had found their own piece of paradise without being squashed up next to someone else. Most of us wave to each other on the road, but once you find your ideal parking spot the last thing you want is anyone parking next to you haha. I was looking forward to spending 2 days here.
As I’ve said previously I’m now watching Game of Thrones on DVD. I’m currently on series 6, and Daenerys, Mother of Dragon’s, is currently in Meereen. “Meereen” is the old part of Peñiscola, and we could see it from where we were parked!
It was a lovely warm sunny morning when we arrived, so we decided to make the most of the weather and sit outside in our chairs and read our books. After a while I said to Kev “I can’t believe how warm it is”, I was in my t shirt and shorts, trying to get a tan. “Feel my arms” I said, wanting him to feel how warm they were. “Can you feel it?” I asked. ” Feel what? The flab? Yes, they’re still chubby” he cheekily replied 🤨.
We had lunch, which was fowl. I bought a packet soup from Lidl. It said “chicken with rice” on the packet. Kev asked if it was the dirty dish water from the breakfast pots! I tore some bread up into it to soak up most of the liquid, and put plenty of salt and pepper in. Don’t buy Lidl packet soups 😣.
It was a 40 minute walk into the town from where we were parked, but it was along the coastline. Perfect, we could get our steps in whilst enjoying the views.
The new part of Peñiscola is ok, just a normal town. It did have a great little cheap cafe that we tried the apple pie and a local pastry called Pastissets (like a small buttery Cornish pastie filled with various sweet delights) we had an orange filled one. It was only €3.75 for coffee and 2 pastries. so much cheaper than France.
The old town, near the castle was delightful. Quaint, cobbled and tiled streets that weaved their way up towards the castle on the hill. The views from the top were gorgeous. Blue/green sea, palm trees and mountains in the distance.
Dotted around the old town were signs giving details of films and programmes that had been filmed here. It was a fantastic setting, you could see why it had been chosen for GoT. (Series 6 episode 1).
Whilst I was taking photos of the castle Kev goes up to the door and stands facing outwards shouting “my name is Daenerys Stormborn, of House Targaryen, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons”. I took a photo, walked off and left him 😂. He’s not right in his head. I always said men never grow up, they just get older lol. You can just see him in the distance stood at the door 🙄.
We walked around for 3 hours then walked back. We wanted photos in the dark but come 4.30pm it got cold. We managed to get a nice one of “Meereen” on the way back though. It was twinkling in the distance. What we didn’t realise was we could see it from the rear window in the motorhome too 😁.
We had a quiet nights sleep and woke to the sound of the waves. I got up early to see the sunrise over the sea on the horizon. Oh my, what a sight! I was sat on the sofa, with a cup of coffee, just watching the sun peer over the blue sea, and could feel the heat on my face ☺. I had to nip out and capture the moment.
It was so warm, we packed up some sandwiches and headed to the National Park to walk up into the hills. We climbed higher and higher and the views got better and better.
As we started to walk back down we’d spotted 2 small beaches and decided that one of them was going to be our lunch spot. As we got closer, we spotted a guy stood naked on the beach! We’ve seen a lot of people sunbathing naked whilst in Spain but we didn’t want to see one whilst eating our lunch…awkward 😖! The guy must have seen us as we noticed he’d disappeared by the time we got to the beach, so we sat down and took out our sandwiches. As I gazed out to sea I just saw him stand up on the rocks and spread his towel out, before quickly laying down again. The photo below was our lunch stop beach. The arrow is where the guy was trying to hide 😉.
Thankfully we couldn’t see him now haha. As we got up to leave I thought I’d zoom in with the camera and see if I could spot his “lunch box” 😉🤣😜. I couldn’t see anything in particular so just clicked the camera and then looked to see what I’d captured…..this was it.
He must have been watching me, watching him 🤣🤣.
We were shattered and ready to sit and read in the sun again so we headed back. The road we came along had a few ‘switchbacks’. It made the journey longer but it was either that or scramble up the side of the mountain. Well Kev decided to scramble!! There was no way I was going to.
This is what I walked on….
This is what Kev climbed up!
Apparently he’d timed how long he’d been waiting for me, whilst taking the longer route. It was only 4 minutes. In my view not worth the risk of falling.
We managed to get back in time to sit in the sun for an hour and a half before it got cool again. A Spanish guy drove passed us, read our sign on the side of our motorhome, then gave us a thumbs up 👍 and said “You have a good life”. Yes we do. We love our nomadic life.
After 2 days in one spot, the following morning we were ready to move on. We found out that a fellow motorhome couple, someone we follow on Facebook, was staying near us so we popped over to visit them. Karen and Miles (The Motoroamers) were very welcoming and friendly. It’s great to meet like minded people. Hopefully we’ll catch up with them further into our trip.
Our next port of call was in Castéllon. We stayed on a free aire that had free WiFi, a toilet, free services and a pot washing area. Wow you may think? No, it was like a supermarket car park! There wasn’t much distance between the vans. It’s saving grace was it was opposite the beach, had a great cycle path and an exercise park nearby. Why did we come here? Bloody football that’s why! 😔
On day 2 we decided to walk into Benicassim, the next resort along the coast. It was a great walk as it was a flat promenade the whole way, that hugged the edge of the beach. It was really warm. The Valencian coast is renowned for its warm climate the whole year round, and you can see lots of orange groves dotted alongside the road. We ate lunch overlooking a bay with turquoise water, then headed back to Castéllon.
By the time we got back we’d walked 27,000 steps, which equated to 12 miles! We had a lie in the following morning, 7.50am we woke up. Our bodies obviously needed the rest.
We needed to head to Valencia, as Kev had a game of football planned for the Friday night. There was no way we were parking in the centre so we found somewhere a 15 minute walk from the ground. It was huge car park at the side of a busy 4 lane road. It didnt feel safe to stay overnight, so at 11.30pm we drove on to a quiet place an hour away, which was at the side of a beach.
It had forecast cloudy so we decided not to head straight there, we found a free aire in a place called Moncofar, within close proximity to a pebbled beach and small town. This would be fine to pass a few hours on. We didn’t expect much but the aire was huge, with ample parking for extra large motorhomes. We set off out to see what the beach area was like. As we started walking I saw a children’s playground. “Fancy a go on the see saw” I asked him, knowing I was now much lighter than him (This hasn’t always been the case). He knew what I meant and said “No need to, you may be lighter than me, but you’re still an ugly, horrible bitch!” He then cracks out laughing. “Oh so we’re playing the nasty game now are we?” I asked. “No, we’re playing the ‘being truthful’ game” he quips 😂. We play various games. The ‘lying game’ is usually when he tells me something is not far away, when I’m fed up of walking, and ends up being 3 miles away, and it’s also the only time he tells me he loves me! 🤔😉🤣
Moncofar didn’t have much to offer except the beautiful colour of Meditterranean sea lapping against the pebbled beach. The place was deserted. All the houses had their shutters down and the streets were empty.
After leaving Valencia we ended up parking further down the coast at a place called Punta Negra. We arrived at 12.45am and thankfully there was only 1 other motorhome there. This was our view when we woke up 😀
Another deserted coastal town. We walked around the bay, fighting not to get blown over the sea wall as it was so windy.
Our next stop was Gandia. We couldn’t get in the area so stayed at the side in a car park. It was Saturday night and music from a nearby building was blasting out until 2.30am! Great. We managed to get in the area the following morning and stayed for the night. Monday morning is weigh in day. If I lose at least 1lb this week we’re going to Gandia port and having the menu del dia, that has been recommended to us. Valencian paella, bread, steak and chips, profriteroles and a drink…all for €12! Wish us luck on the scales 😋😋
Full-Time Travellers 