Almerimar – What to do whilst waiting

Here we are in the same position as we were just a couple of weeks ago in Gibraltar the winds are consistently strong easterlies, 25+ knots on the nose would not make a pleasant journey especially as we really need to make 100 miles minimum on our next journey so we a good weather window.

So what are we doing to pass the time, sleeping is high on our list but we have managed to get out and about both walking and on our bikes.  There is Nature Reserve about ½ mile away which makes a nice walk but it is a bit open to the wind which makes it a bit of battle and the lake is so large that we could see the flamingos but actually they were just dots in the distance!

There is also a lovely bike ride along the seafront on a purpose built cycle path which is great when the wind is behind you but not so good when you going into the wind, we were pedalling in 1^st & 2^nd gear just to make progress downhill!

Miles of cycle path

The wind across the bay has been pretty wild over the last of days and every morning we are desperate to download some new weather to try to plan our departure.

The easterlies making a blustery beach 

We also had a nice walk in the surrounding mountains, Chris & Tony from Giselle have hired a car and kindly took us out for a walk, we all left the coast lovely and warm but once we were up the mountain it was pretty chilly but amazing views on all the plastic greenhouse which spread for miles around this area – they seems to grow everything from Aubergine to Peppers to Tomatoes at a huge scale! Gives all you gardeners something to aspire to.

The white covering before reaching the sea is all sheets of plastic

We have been joined by some parakeets which seem to live on the buildings behind the boat and we have really enjoyed seeing (& hearing) them flying around.

Ring necked parakeets

There are lots of live aboard boaties in the marina which is always nice both for a chat and to have a nosey at their boats.  There is also a lovely Whitbread racing boat which we have been admiring.

The Whitbread round the world race started 38 years ago and have now changed to the Volvo round the world race.  The Whitbread Heritage boat which is in the marina took part in the Volvo Legends Regatta in Alicante in 2011 and is the longest serving yacht.  The boat was originally called GB2 and was skippers by Chay Blyth with an original crew of paratroopers and the boat has raced 5 times  - 1973/1974, 77/78, 81/82, 85/86, 89/90.  For those of you who are fans of eighties pop music you might also want to know that the boat used in the Duran Duran video for Rio is Simon Le Bons boat, Drum which also raced in the Whitbread race.

Although we stayed in Almerimar a bit longer that expected we have quite enjoyed our stay.