https://goo.gl/maps/5FexyTg7m4Q2
38°51'25.6"N 0°30'10.9"W
We had planned our next hop around Valencia so wanted to leave shortly after sunrise. In true style we were ready early so decided to leave earlier, we have headlights, after all. Except, having crept around quietly emptying our tanks and packing up while the other campers slept, as we drove out I could see one of our headlights wasn't working. We decided to go on as the inboard light was still OK and it was already fairly light; we would have to repair at the next stop.
We worked our way through the town traffic and then found the handbrake warning light kept coming on - for no apparent reason. We pulled off as soon as we could to check the brakes weren't binding but it seemed to just be the sensor malfunctioning, the handbrake was definitely disengaged. An eventful start indeed!
We had to be content viewing the sunrise on the move today and it wasn't long before it was baking down on us.
The roads were quite busy and once we were around Valencia we stopped for a break and some coffee at a services overlooking the abundant orange orchards, it's very agricultural in the interior. It also seems to be picking season now - so many orchards are half-picked, and the oranges are abundant on the trees. We need to buy some on our next grocery shop, but interestingly, there seems to be no roadside stalls here, like you would expect in South Africa.
We kept climbing into the interior and had some stunning views of the valley below.
Our destination for the night is a municipal campsite in El Palomar, quite a rural location. We were surprised to find around 20 motor-homes here, it seems particularly popular among Dutch travellers. It is only 5 Euro a day and includes free use of the washing machine and dryer which is quite unusual and has caused quite a bit of bickering, great fun to watch. Luckily, we managed to get our washing in the machine quite quickly; South African resourcefulness :-)
I also did some repairs to Bokkie. I read up on replacing the headlamps which I knew was a pig of job as you have to remove the wheel and side body panel to get access to the fitting. I read one article that said if you had the long arms of a gibbon and were double jointed you could get at it if you worked blind. Jackpot! I managed to change it and was quite chuffed. (Toni: does that mean Andrew has gibbon like qualities?)
We waited until we thought the village would have awakened from siesta and took a walk only to find everything still very closed. Interestingly, the village of Palomar, with a current population of around 600, was founded in 1280. Although the economic activity of the current people is basically industrial, the village depended in past centuries on farming (olive trees, wheat and vegetables), livestock and the resources from the mountain (wood, charcoal, ice-trade). The medieval village streets are very quaint and narrow, and beautifully maintained.
After our village stroll, we continued on the road through the outlying farmland. We found it very peaceful, with a lovely smoky smell to the air, as the farmers are now burning the pruning cuttings.
We picked some almonds from a tree next to the road and had them with our sun-downers. We will decide tonight what our next move is.
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