Southern spain

An inlet within the sea of plastic

South-eastern Spain

South-eastern Spain has a wide variety of landscapes. For the most part there is a relatively narrow band of flat land between the coast and the mountains. Along the south coast this flat land appears as a sea of plastic – growing plants year-round for Western Europe's population.

The coastal towns feature resort style development, all to a similar blueprint – palms, bars, and fancy paving, lighting and planting. These developments are very tourist orientated, featuring a multitude of languages.

As we turned north and inland the agriculture changed to orange trees, peaches and olives, interspersed with almost desert like landscapes. The mountains contain dramatic rock formations. We have crossed several rivers, but have yet to cross one that has water in it. Perhaps this changes when (if) it rains. The architecture within the rural villages lack the character of the moorish villages in south-west Spain and Portugal.

Within rural villages, women are almost totally absent – men dominating the cafes and bars. Amongst children football is the dominant sport. Their ability at a young age reflecting their devotion. Football fields are a mix of artificial turf and clay.

Temperatures are very pleasant at this time of year – consistently around 25 degrees.

Archena - thermal area southern Spain

Mosaic road

Thermal baths first established by the Romans with a modern renovation

High school boys battling out a 2-2 draw

Thermal pools hotel

Santa María de la Valldigna

Avoiding the oranges

Chapel planted amongst the oranges

Our wifi cafe

The monastary

A gateway to more oranges

Full of oranges

Ceiling in the monastary - built in 1297 and home to Pope Alexander V

View from the monastary

Ludo is a common pastime amongst Spain's elderly (tony got invited to take part!)

Tangier, Morocco

Typical inshore fishing boat

Modern Tangier

Cap Spartel - the most north western tip of Africa

Under reduced sail

Cantering up before the race

Hercules cave in the shape of Africa

Inside Hercules cave

Fish without chips

Spice

Doors add appeal to the medina

Tangine Poulet?

Football Morrocan style

Goalposts with modern Tangier beyond

Tangier lived up to all our expectations – both the good and the bad. The most lasting impression for me was the extent of poverty. Seeing thin young children hawking goods during school time and the constant appeals from beggars and lepers was heart rendering.

Tangier appears dominated by men. Cafes, sport and even some streets see men outnumber women by a ratio of approximately 50:1. The number of men standing around in the poorer part of the city doing nothing, was extraordinary. Efficiency is also lacking, many jobs that one person could have done required two.

The markets, aromas, colours, architecture, dust, noise and hustling will be an unforgettable experience. Market stalls predominantly sold fruit, vegetables, fish, fabrics, ceramics and tourist trinkets. Food was cheap and tasty – about NZ$4.00 for a meal.

The countryside was surprisingly green, lovely beaches, particularly on the Atlantic coast.

The history of Tangier is most interesting. Contrary to our belief the Arabic people were not the indigenous race. The Berbers were the tangata whenua, followed by the Phonecians, then in 45AD the Romans arrived, only to be ousted in 702AD by the Arabs. The Portuguese took the city in 1451 before giving it away as a dowry to the English (Charles 2nd) in 1662. The English did not last long, being defeated by Islamic forces in 1680. In the 20th century the city was under Spanish, French and English rule before Morocco's sovereignty in 1956.

As teachers it was interesting to witness the behaviour of students and the behaviour management techniques utilised by teachers. Naughty, almost out of control boys were creating havoc in a range of settings. On a class trip teachers dealt with this behaviour, somewhat ineffectually, by pulling their ears!

An improvement?

Portugal - Reflections

To borrow a sporting analogy, Portugal is a country of two halves. The northern portion has greater development, and appears richer. The southern portion is more rural (a horse and cart was seen doing work on one farm) and buildings are predominantly white. A strong islamic influence is evident within the southern architecture.

The people are mostly friendly, and younger people speak English, which made living easier for us.

The landscape is dominated by eucalyptus and wattle forests, gorgeous golden beaches (although the Atlantic is cold), and low mountains with clean rivers inland. Villages with narrow cobbled streets are very quaint. There are many impressive castles dating from Roman and Germanic wars through to Moorish and Crusaders conflict. The number of abandoned buildings was surprising, perhaps a result of declining population in some areas.

The highways are of very good quality, but are subject to tolls which are expensive. Other roads are of variable quality. They include a number of measures designed to reduce traffic speeds including traffic lights that change to red when you are exceeding the speed limit when entering villages (good idea) to potholes, judder bars and massive roundabouts (bad ideas).

Food highlights include tasty fish, fruit and vegetables. The supermarkets sell frozen fish the size of guitars. Oranges are about NZ $1.00 per kilogram Obtaining a good steak was impossible. Apart from fish, the Portuguese eat pork, chicken and turkey. As you can see food is in danger of becoming a preoccupation for us.

We had only one wet day in 4 weeks (unusual), however temperatures were not warm – ranging between 10 – 20 degrees. Marinas featured many yachts, as opposed to launches – testament to the strong winds that blew consistently.

Portugal is cheap to live in. With the exception of lamb and beef, everything appeared cheaper than New Zealand.

Barking dogs, particularly at night, were evident throughout Portugal and interfered with our sleep regularly. This was our only gripe apart from the lack of steak.

Favourite tourist attraction (man-made) – Knights Templar Castle, Tomar.

Favourite tourist attraction (natural) – Sagres (most south-western point of Europe)

Best Church – San Diago Cathedral

Best beach - Alvor

Best meal – Fish in Porto and steak and kidney pie in Alvor

Best City – Porto

Best Village - Silves

Best Aire – Penacova

Cost of Living analysis – Coffee 1.20 Euro per cup; Diesel 1.02 Euro/litre

Vandevelous Beach

Ready for the gybe

Whoops

Gibraltar

Outlook from our aire

Looking back towards Gibraltar and Spain

'What an earth is he doing?' Monkeys make themselves at home at the top of the rock.

On top of the rock, looking slightly tired, although we did have a few stops.

The rock from Spain

Looking out towards Africa

Looking east towards Spain.

Jezcar

A blue village

This lamb made us feel like home.