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23rd February 2018 Hiking - Walking: Circuit of Lo Pagon Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: Distance Covered: 8.60 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Friday 23rd February – walk ***** Circuit of Lo Pagon – sunny – 8.60 miles, 5 hours out :) Not a bad night at our spot by the beach at the Puerto de San Pedro del Pinatar, only a little clanking of the chain against the nearby metal flag-pole, not as bad as last time but I easily cured it by wedging a piece of wood against the post! Another sunny, still day but chilly only 8 degrees when we woke! A bit of a lazy start but after packing a picnic we set off on another walk at 11.25. For a change we walked the other way along the beach towards Torrevieja which is thick with sea weed and hairy balls! Then turning inland across dunes and rough scrubland you come out on the road out by the avocet lagoons but also saw Flamingos, Stilts, Godwits and shell ducks. We met and had a good chat with an English couple who are out here trying to find a property to retire to. They had set out from their hotel to do a similar walk and asked the way. On reaching a t – junction we turned left towards Lo Pagan - a long straight road following a litter filled dyke but the wildlife like it with Moorhens oddly perched high in the tall reeds, waders feeding and loads of little olive birds flitting about, probably Willow Warblers. We started out with 2 jumpers on but when we reached sheltered Lo Pagan, which is a lovely little resort, we had to take them off as it was really warm. We passed lots of people out enjoying the sun and a drink in the many bars. We walked along the prom to where I windsurfed from last year. We couldn’t have parekd there this year as there are road works! We then walked back along the freshly raked beach with the Mer Menor like a mill pool and four flamingos right in the town etang - absolutely stunning:) On reaching the other windmill, the Molino de Quintin there is a long straight block paved path/cycle track out to the other windmill which follows the Mar Menor windsurfing speedcourse and what a top spot it is to sail, if only there was a NE wind, sadly it’s not looking promising for at least a week! This is a popular route for tourists and locals alike, walkers,cyclists,joggers,fisherman all out in the sunshine, there is even a lagoon called Muds Baths Banos de Lodo where you can cover yourself in mud then bake in the sun, not quite warm enough today but there were a couple of takers! We sat and had our picnic at the end of the paved road where once upon a time camper parked but the luckily the road is now closed to vehicles. There is a fish trap here with a long line of floats designed to catch windsurfers out as you don’t always notice them until it’s too late, weed fin required. Sandwich finished and with a breeze coming its jumpers back on as we carry on to the second mill. Then it’s out to the end overlooking the ugly La Manga for our chocolate bar – we passed the English couple at this point and pointed out they were about half way. They already looked exhausted and had stopped for coffee at the Marina already!! Then the final push along the beach back. We were knackered by the time we reached the van after being out 5 hours covering 8.6 miles! So, an easy day tomorrow, we need a shop as running low of supplies and with no wind will probably move away from the Mar Menor :( Photo Gallery Here Saturday 24th February – travel. Relax and short walk – started with light rain but sun soon came out:) More noise last night at our spot by the beach at Puerto de San Pedro del Pinatar with music from the nearby Flamingo bar and people talking in the carpark but it didn’t disturb us much. Woke to another chilly morning, cloudy with even some light drizzle, local radio said there might even be snow down to 500m! With no wind apart from really strong in the wrong direction on Thursday its time to move on. Followed the lovely huge Mar Menor for a while passed a couple of big Saturday markets which we had to detour but eventually found the free motorway to Cartagena where we saw a massive modern silver sailing ship in the harbour and Roman ruins last time! We know where the Lidl is so stocked up, it was busy but we got through the checkout fine, Mag even managed to get a cash refund on a LED light we got for the van that didn’t work! We drove along the waterfront and were tempted to stop but carried on. Once out of the city the quiet countryside here is lovely, barren brown/red hills with large orchards of white and pink blossom – on many trees the green leaves are coming, so more advanced than last year! I think we took a route closer to the sea this time heading towards Mazarron ending up at the picturesque seaside town of Bolnueve with a large carpark full of campervans opposite a super sandy beach but the best bit were the huge sandstone cliffs weathered into amazing shapes. We just had to stop for the photo opportunity but certainly not to park up with the white elephant’s! We did have a nice chat with another English couple in a little van who had had nearly as many adventures as us! Our map shows a white scenic road along the sea but it didn’t look suitable for our van so didn’t risk it. We went inland a bit looking for the next turning left to see if we could get to the other end of the coast road. We came to a sign to Canada de Gallego which was pretty remote and looked promising. Then we came to a large tomato processing plant and a large area of the biggest plastic sheeted greenhouses we have seen stretching up the hill side! Then as we approached the deserted beach, Playa Cobaticas, it turned into a dirt road with several campers parked along the shore, perfect:) We found a nice level pitch just metres from the sea with nice mountain views to the left and massive greenhouses behind us! We had a treat for a late lunch as I managed to find some prawns with 30% off in Lidl, delicious they were too:) We could see the town with the sandstone feature just down the coast and the dirt road definitely goes there as several mountain bikes passed us from that direction. There were several cars, mainly local fisherman continuing along the track but we were fine here and hope to walk that way tomorrow as it is supposed to be a nice day. After a read/doze we went for a mile walk to the right past more greenhouses with loads of campers, mainly German, parked up in a little encampment definitely not for us. Back for Mags favourite Floopy Zebra cakes from Lidl just a posh stripey chocolate donut really but very yummy then later we had filled pasta with the sound of the sea gently rolling up the shingle beach:) |
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