From England to South Africa

Since July, we have been staying in Flamborough at Daneswood Caravan site but now we are on the move once more enjoying a new adventure. However, this time, we have left our caravan behind and jumped on a plane to South Africa. We have swapped the wet, rainy and dull weather for the sweltering heat of South Africa, the temperature has been close to 40 degrees for the last few days.
We stayed in Johannesburg for the first couple of days and then travelled the 3 hours down to Ladysmith. We drove along the straight roads of the Free State that seemed to go on forever and were certainly pleased we had air-conditioning in the car.

When we reached Van Reenens Pass it became very dark with thunderstorms all around us but I wasn't able to get a photograph of the lightning that was terrific to watch.

We eventually arrived in Ladysmith where I had lived for 19 years and we had left 17 years ago, although it doesn't seem that long ago now we are back.  It has been nice to drive around the streets and see the places that I was familiar with all those years ago but as always happens there have been some changes. However, I will always have a soft spot for Ladysmith and the surrounding areas.

Coming into Ladysmith.

You know you are in Africa when the cows just cross the road in front of the car!!

Rob's old workshop, it looks a lot neater than when he was there!!!

Santa Pola

Leaving Calpe

We still had another 2 weeks in Spain before heading back to the UK so we travelled a bit further down the coast.
Benidorm was only half an hour away from Calpe but we didn't fancy it with it's high rise buildings. When we had a visit there it was also very windy and we didn't like the campsites that we had a look at although the beaches looked nice.                                                                                                          

Benidorm on a hot and windy day.

One of the tallest buildings in Benidorm

                                               
We had travelled down as far as Alicante and liked the look of that area better so we
are now staying in Santa Pola just south of Alicante, on a campsite called Camping Bahia. It is a large site that has been built on a hillside so it is in terraces but luckily the pitches are level, all are shaded with shade-cloth. We have a nice large pitch right at the back so we get some lovely breezes although unfortunately we don't have much of a view.

Entrance to Camping Bahia

There is a swimming pool here and all the usual amenities. We haven't met any other English here, it seems to be mainly Spanish and as the school holidays have already started (they started on around the 20th June and the kids go back at the beginning of September) there are quite a few children about.
The beach is about 15 minutes drive through the town, with plenty of shops and supermarkets nearby. There is a lovely Marina area with plenty of places to eat.

 

We have been on the beach a number times and even had a swim in the sea a few times, the sea is really warm but it still manages to cool us down.

Rob actually swam for the first time in years

Rob playing his pipes whenever he can, that is him at the end of the breakwater.













We drove along the coast a short way towards Alicante and came across this rocky area which was different from the sandy beaches of Santa Pola.

On another day we had a drive down the coast, and we drove through Torrevieja.

Then we ended up at San Javier which where Murcia Airport is, I had been here a couple of times before so I was able to show Rob where the beach area was and we went for a walk along the promenade. There were loads of kite surfers there so I took a number of photos of them.

  

And just to show we were at the airport!