Drive Along the Coast

We decided to go for a drive as Rob says he was tired of walking and went north along the coast. The first town we came to was Oropesa which was just in the next bay and although it looked very nice it was very windy.

We decided to carry on driving further and see what was further on as we didn't fancy sitting on a windy beach!

We drove for a while and then we came to a small pond near some apartments and did a bit of birdwatching. Not sure what type of bird this is but I had a go at photographing them. There were some very small young ones as well but they moved too fast for me to photograph.

A bit further on from the birds the road stopped at this small place right next to the beach.
We stopped here for a while and had some lunch.

We had passed a few large apartment blocks on the way here which can be seen in the background.
The huge expanse of sand was empty, there were a few houses here in a couple of streets and the usual Bar/Restaurant but there was hardly anyone about.

We then drove back towards Benicassim and stopped at a town known as Marina D'Or which is an area that has been developed over the last few years. It consists of huge apartment blocks, a number of hotels and an Amusement park which doesn't look as if it has ever been opened.

This is a quote from the Mail Online written last year, about this place which I found quite interesting.

'This is the Marina d'Or 'Holiday City' in Oropesa del Mar, north of Valencia on Spain's Mediterranean coast, which was to be one of the biggest high-density real estate projects of the country's boom.

But now, with the financial crisis having all but broken Spain, most of the complex's homes and shops stand empty. Meanwhile, its developer has collapsed under the weight of its debts.'

It does look a bit like a ghost town but maybe in the summer it becomes more lively.

We parked up for a while in the centre and came across this garden which we walked around. There were lots of different birds and a water feature running through the middle.

Rob found this Cadillac very interesting.

These birds were in a cage in the centre of the park.

The fish in the water were really huge and that is a turtle sitting on the rock.

On the way back to Benicassim we took a different route and found a Marina for Rob to wander round.

Oropesa from the road on our way back.

Benicassim in the distance.