Thursday, July 24, 2008
Spain- Day 7 (& 8)
Day 7
After the long walk yesterday, I thought an easier day might be in order, and decided to spend the time with the family...
Dad suggested an outing to a small island not far from the coast of Alicante- Tabarca. It can only be reached by boat (being an island and all!) so we set of for Santa Pola, a beach a short distance from Alicante.
We parked up and walked past the beach, which appears to be a lot quieter than La Mata. We reached the quay and boarded one of the ferries which leave every hour. It was pretty full, but me and Chloe stood outside, at the front, watching Tabarca get bigger and bigger and riding the waves. When we had nearly reached the island, a hatch inside the boat was opened up to allow people to descend to underwater viewing windows. Bread is then thrown out and loads of flat, silvery striped fish appear in a mad feeding frenzy. I have a video of this (complete with Spanish kids in the background), it has once again gone to the bottom of the page...
Tabarca Quay
Tabarca is a tiny island, with a small quay, beach with rows of sunbeds for hire, a tiny village with one main street, a few shops selling tourist tat, and a few cafes; the bottom part of the island ends in flat rocks where people had spread out towels to catch the sun, and the top part contains cliffs, a curious squat tower, ruined house and lighthouse.
Village 'Square'
We walked up the 'main street', and around the rocky headland, before rounding the coastline back to the beach. It was really hot, I could feel the sun burning my feet where the sandals left them bare; I applied suncream but the damage had already been done and I now have lovely red squares on the tops of both feet!
We had spanish omelette and chips, and then headed to the north part of Tabarca. There is a small shrine set into the rocks of the cliffs, which me and Dad scrambled down to.
Lighthouse From The Ruined House
That's all there was to Tabarca, but some folks go there for a holiday- god knows what they find to do for a few days, apart from sun bathing and the odd scuba diving! We had a little wait for the ferry back to Santa Pola, but managed to get an upstairs seat with a welcome breeze.
Coming In To Santa Pola
After the long walk yesterday, I thought an easier day might be in order, and decided to spend the time with the family...
Dad suggested an outing to a small island not far from the coast of Alicante- Tabarca. It can only be reached by boat (being an island and all!) so we set of for Santa Pola, a beach a short distance from Alicante.
We parked up and walked past the beach, which appears to be a lot quieter than La Mata. We reached the quay and boarded one of the ferries which leave every hour. It was pretty full, but me and Chloe stood outside, at the front, watching Tabarca get bigger and bigger and riding the waves. When we had nearly reached the island, a hatch inside the boat was opened up to allow people to descend to underwater viewing windows. Bread is then thrown out and loads of flat, silvery striped fish appear in a mad feeding frenzy. I have a video of this (complete with Spanish kids in the background), it has once again gone to the bottom of the page...
Tabarca QuayTabarca is a tiny island, with a small quay, beach with rows of sunbeds for hire, a tiny village with one main street, a few shops selling tourist tat, and a few cafes; the bottom part of the island ends in flat rocks where people had spread out towels to catch the sun, and the top part contains cliffs, a curious squat tower, ruined house and lighthouse.
Village 'Square'We walked up the 'main street', and around the rocky headland, before rounding the coastline back to the beach. It was really hot, I could feel the sun burning my feet where the sandals left them bare; I applied suncream but the damage had already been done and I now have lovely red squares on the tops of both feet!
We had spanish omelette and chips, and then headed to the north part of Tabarca. There is a small shrine set into the rocks of the cliffs, which me and Dad scrambled down to.
Lighthouse From The Ruined HouseThat's all there was to Tabarca, but some folks go there for a holiday- god knows what they find to do for a few days, apart from sun bathing and the odd scuba diving! We had a little wait for the ferry back to Santa Pola, but managed to get an upstairs seat with a welcome breeze.
Coming In To Santa PolaWe walked back along the beach to the car, letting the sea wash over our feet. The sand was red hot- talk about walking like a cat on a hot tin roof! I guess the Saharan sands would be even hotter! Doing the MdS barefoot may not be an option...
On the way home, Dad pulled into a layby by the pink tinged salt lakes, and we saw whole flocks of flamingos dipping their heads into the water. We must have actually walked a fair old way throughout the day, and felt fully justified in attacking the Chinese restaurant again that night!
Day 8
Departure day- and goodbyes. Not a lot to say really apart from the fact that after getting up at 2:45am Spanigh time I was well knackered! I did take this sunrise shot out of the plane window though...
Sunrise Over Spain
Sunrise Over SpainLabels: Santa Pola, Spain, Tabarca
