Chasing Storms

When we arrived at our next destination, Tarifa, Storm Leonardo was  slowing moving ahead of us and Storm Marta was brewing behind us. Yup I can name all the storms!

Tarifa is a haven for all wind sports – it is where the Med meets the Atlantic and is located at the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula with the African continent just 9 miles across the Strait of Gibraltar. You can imagine that it is windy at the best of times but during this weather system it was crazy. Sand swept high everywhere and flooding throughout the board walks.
Tarifa in winter is not appealing – it looks tired and unkept and there is dog poo everywhere you walk and when the weather is wet and windy it seemed even more miserable.

The apartment we had booked for 12 days with Rio, Hamish and family did not live up to expectations, it felt damp and cramped – the photos didn’t match the reality.

So, after only 3 nights we made the decision to cut our losses and move on. We felt we’d made the best of our time exploring the old town and managed a long beach walk during the odd sunny spell but we were dodging the storms and Storm Marta caused some considerable damage in the town during our stay making things appear worse.

We decided to head further east along the coast close to where Rio and Hamish are settling later this year so Bob and I could get a feel for where they will be calling home. We would also get to join them in property searching.

They are moving to the Sotogrande an area very popular for expats from all around the world. Property prices in the last few years have gone up significantly which is making it difficult for Hamish and Rio to find the place that fits their requirements as they are few and far between or priced above their budget. Whilst we were here Hamish planned to sound out a few places.

This time the penthouse apartment we rented was much more spacious and luxurious with stunning views of the sea and surrounding mountains. It was a mile and half uphill from the nearest beach but this wasn’t an issue for us.

We filled our days together with lots of outings – several visits to some Roman Baths paddling in the warmish sulphurous water, an exciting scramble down a canyon, a visit to the Old historic town of Casares nestled at the top of a mountain with lots of white painted houses along the narrow streets, a castle ruin where we saw eagles and/or vultures swooping and circling above, several beaches for Bob to metal detect and viewing of 4/5 properties. One of which was a contender but needed some serious renovation.
It was a delight to spend this time with them and with the weather slowly changing for the better it lifted our mood. At least we had sunshine albeit still very windy. We were getting the tail winds from Storm Nils and Oriana whose worst effects were destroying areas of Northern Spain and Southern France.

We were sad to say goodbye to the family but it was time to move on and start the slow journey home – we did get one whole day of warm sunshine together, where we sat on the beach and managed to eat all our meals outside – our supper at the colourful Sotogrande marina – if only we’d had a week of this! Nonetheless, lots of memories made – Bear and I racking up his miles together for his sponsored run or Rio and I squatting together everyday last thing at night to meet the WALX squat challenge for February, board games, maths lessons, watching metal detecting videos on Grandads iPad and of course Nely and George who were inseparable.