Dedicated to a wonderful Mother Jean Noble 31/5/1929 - 20/8/2007 - may we never take our mothers for granted. - Goodbye Mum
SPAIN PAGE 1 JANUARY 2008.
Few “tribes” have had an impact on the world more so than the Spanish. It's language is spoken in many countries, particularly South America, and increasingly in the USA. Spanish explorers are legendary. The paintings above are from Pablo Picasso This multi-talented artist was born on 25 October 1881 in Málaga, Spain to José Ruiz y Blasco and María Picasso y López. We are currently starting our cycling in his home town. Knowing little about this country, Lee and myself are here to learn... Plus tell “our” story about this land the way we see it... Warts 'n all.
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Monies in Aussie Dollars |
Monday 7th January 2008. Somewhere in Spain to Malaga southern Spain
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr. Min Max speed kph Max temp we recorded 15°C (No Stat's)
Driving through the night with only short “nap's” at the wheel (when it was stopped of course).. We covered 1,300+ Kilometres and arrived in Malaga at 10:45AM... We now had to find accommodation and somewhere to store our bikes, as we had no time to assemble them. Dog tired we had some luck, the first hotel we called in had a room and were willing to provide a storeroom to put our bike parts until we could assemble them.
We
then set about the task of finding Europcar and washing/vacuuming the
vehicle. We completed this bloody frustrating “duty” with
only minutes to spare... The car was returned and an “all
clear” issued to us. We are budget travellers with a VERY tiny
budget that is being whittled away faster than we want, despite ALL
our efforts. So we caught a bus back into the centre of this huge
city, rather than the easy option of a taxi. Armed with “tourist
maps” from our hotel we walked the one and a half hours from
the bus drop off point to our hotel. Seriously exhausted we went to
our room and fell into bed - it was about 7.00pm (19hrs). Catchya
Later...
Tuesday
8th January 2008. Malaga
southern Spain to Torremolinos
Approx. 19.63k's
Average Speed 10.31kph
Cycling time 1Hr. 54Min Max
speed 38kph Max temp we
recorded 17°C (No
Stat's)
Waking only briefly for a drink and an “orientating” look at our surroundings we quickly fell asleep again, awaking at 10:45AM. We were then to be given our next “shock”. Our intentions were to stay where we were – go to the tourist centre for free maps etc.. Do some shopping and buy one particular map recommended by another cyclist, Kenneth Fant of Sweden. Kenneth has been emailing us with excellent information based on his own cycling experience in the area.
I went down to reception at 11:30 to pay the extra day..... Sitting in the lounge, waiting were the next occupants of “our” room.. Dam!!! We were told we had 30 minutes to get out... Language difficulties have caused us this problem – nobody's fault (except perhaps ours for not recognising this). We vacated the room in record time then set about the task of assembling our bikes.... We moved all the parts into the street and placed them on our “tarps”.... when guess what? It started to rain!!!
Both
of us were still somewhat tired and our bikes needed a bit more than
just put back together. As most recumbent cyclists know, re assembly
– unless the disassembly was done with plenty of time available
– can mean some fine tuning. By about 3PM (15hrs) we finished
this task... the Hotel management took pictures and placed them on
their web site http://tinyurl.com/2dntyv
and we took pictures of them :-)
The
hotel manager, “Antonio” tried very hard, but in vain, to
find us another 1 star or even two star hotel. He suggested we cycle
10-15 or so k's to Torremolinos, where we were almost certain to find
something, as it was “winter” and many hotels had rooms
available. BTW for those wondering, there are NO campsites open.
The ride became a nightmare.. Road works COMPLETELY blocked ANY attempt to get there by “back roads”, we took the “freeway”. Ridding on the freeway hard shoulder,
the
noise and pollution became unbearable... Once we had crossed a (the)
river we knew we could get off ASAP and find a way without this
insanity. We spotted a pedestrian overpass and headed straight for
it.
Looking
at the madness bellow we both felt relieved we were off the thing..
Once
over we found (like almost everything here) it went “nowhere”
- not finished the other side.... After manhandling the bikes up a
steep embankment (you can just see on
the left of the above photo) we
found a road... In another half hour we were in Torremolinos. With
the help of a nice Welsh couple,
we
found a hotel willing to take our bikes... Here they are parked in
their room :-)
No
internet, but dinner and breakfast included... we collapsed into a
troubled sleep. The absolute fanatical pace of the last few days
taking it's toll.. From the third until the eighth of January, we
have travelled over 2,700 kilometres by train, car, bus, bike and
foot. We crammed everything except sleep into this adventure and
overcame every obstacle. WE are both truly exhausted....
Wednesday
9th January 2008. Torremolinos
Approx.
k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr. Min Max speed kph Max temp we
recorded 16°C
(No Stat's)
Remain
Torremolinos for three nights to recover and repair.
Thursday
10th January
2008. Torremolinos
Approx.
k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) Min Max speed kph Max temp
we recorded 17°C
(No Stat's)
Remain
Torremolinos
Friday
11th
January 2008. Torremolinos
Approx.
k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) Min Max speed kph Max temp
we recorded 19°C (No
Stat's)
Remain
Torremolinos
Saturday 12th January
2008. Torremolinos
Approx.
k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) Min Max speed kph Max temp
we recorded 20°C (No
Stat's)
Found a campsite open and moved there.... Will remain Torremolinos for bureaucratic reasons... We need to fix a few money problems.
Sunday
13th
January 2008. Torremolinos
Approx.
k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) Min Max speed kph Max temp
we recorded 12°C (No
Stat's)
Remain Torremolinos. Torrential rain, cool temperatures.
Monday
14th January 2008. Torremolinos
Approx.
k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) Min Max speed kph Max temp
we recorded 18°C
(No Stat's)
Remain Torremolinos
Tuesday
15th
January 2008. Torremolinos
Approx.
35.18k's Average
Speed 9.15kph
Cycling time
3Hr(s) 51Min Max
speed 39kph
Max temp we recorded
18°C
(Collective
Stat's from last few days
around Torremolinos)
Remain Torremolinos... We learned from the “long Term” inhabitants of the Caravan park, that stays over a week or more attract a substantial discount. There are NO discounts for tents??? The motorhomes and their powered sites are €10pn ($AUD17:20) and we are €18.90pn ($AUD32.50) – figure that one out – we cannot!
Wednesday
16th
January 2008. Torremolinos
Approx.
k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr(s) Min Max speed kph Max temp
we recorded 16°C
(No Stat's)
Remain Torremolinos...
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