Glen Clova and Montrose - Day 3

In the morning we drove to the lower car park in Clova and started walking up to Loch Brandy. It was cloudy and quite wet when we started.

After about an hour we got to Loch Brandy, and the weather hadn't got any better. We decided not to walk any higher so turned back.

We drove to Montrose on the coast and checked in for two nights to South Links caravan site, the weather was much better here.

After setting up and showering we walked into town. We wandered up the high street then went to Tesco where we bought a couple of pizzas for dinner.

We had a couple of drinks at the George Hotel and Sharky's, then went back to the van. We had the pizzas for dinner, cooked in our new sauté pan.

Glen Clova and Montrose - Day 2

After a comfortable night and breakfast we headed further up the glen. The first car park we found had toilets but they were closed for the season.

We carried on up to the head of Glen Doll where there's a car park, ranger station and toilets that were open. We went in to speak to the ranger, he was extremely knowledgeable and helpful.

We had decided to do a walk from here, so first headed up through the forest.

After about an hour we emerged into Corrie Fee, which was very impressive.

We had been told to look out for Peregrine Falcons, but didn't see any. At the back of the corrie we climbed steeply up past the waterfall to the Cairngorm Plateau.

We then went on to the summit of Mayer (928m). The summit was in the clear and we had good views all around.

After this we then headed east, first down then up to the summit of Dreish (947m). It was windy and rainy at this summit, so no views.

As we descended on Kilbo path it got better, we stopped for a bite to eat at a stream crossing.

We arrived back at about 4pm. We chatted with the ranger again, and he said it was fine to camp in the car park, so we did.

We had tuna pasta for dinner. It was rainy overnight, and the oystercatchers at the river were noisy!

Glen Clova and Montrose - Day 1

We left home about midday, and headed north up the M90. We briefly stopped in Dundee, but it was raining a bit, and all the construction going on at Discovery Point didn't tempt us to stay long.

We carried on to Forfar where we parked in a car park and had our lunch. We then walked around the shops for a bit, it's quite an attractive town.

At about 4 we left and drove in to Glen Clova, stopping at a car park by the river where we decided to wild camp for the night.

We didn't go out much as it was raining. For dinner we had chilli and rice.

Andalucia - Day 22 - Nerja

We packed up and left the apartment in the morning. The flight home wasn't till 4pm so we drove down to Nerja first for a walk.

We first went to the promenade at Balcón de Europa, with good coastal views.

We then went down to the beach for a walk.

We went back into the centre of town, had our lunch and an ice cream, then made our way back to the car. We had a look in the church in the main square.

We drove to Malaga airport and dropped off the car without a problem.

The flight was on time, and in Glagow we caught the airport bus, train to Haymarket and bus home, arriving about 9pm.

Andalucia - Day 21 - Three Villages

It was raining heavily today, but we decided to do the local Three Villages walk, using umbrellas borrowed from the house.

First we walked through our own village to the church in the main square. We tried to climb the tower but the door at the top was locked.

 
Then we walked down to Archez, a tiny village hidden in the valley below. The path went down past fincas, growing grapes, olives, avocados and almonds.

We reached Archez and had a walk round, seeing its Moorish minaret and an old public laundry area.

Then we had bit of trouble following the walk instructions up out the village - we think they were out of date. We tried to get up a path next to an old mill but it didn't go anywhere.

However eventually we found the road up to the next village, Canillas De Albaida. It was raining extremely heavily at this point, so we went straight in for lunch into Bar Cerezo.

We had mixed tapas (anchovies, mackerel, prawns, cheese, olives and ham), pork fillet and chips, ham croquettes​ and prawn salad, washed down with a few beers. To finish we had sweet Cómpeta wine. We stayed there till the rain stopped, then walked back down to see the Roman bridge over the stream.

When the clouds cleared a bit we could see up to the higher mountains, and were surprised to see they had a covering of snow.
 

We then walked up to the top of the village, visiting its cemetery on the way.

Then we took the same path back to Cómpeta we'd used before. We passed a couple of captive ostriches on the way.

After our big lunch out we didn't need much dinner in the evening.

Andalucia - Day 20 - Ruta Botanica

It was cooler today, cloudy and a chilly wind. We drove north to Alcaucin, then a further 5k to the Alcazar Area Recreativo.

This had many picnic and barbecue areas, obviously well used in season though it was quiet today.

We walked the Ruta Botanica, which was fairly short but had good views of the mountains above and the valley below. Unfortunately we didn't see any ibex or other goats.

We later had lunch at a viewpoint in the car, then drove down to a reservoir that we had seen, Embalse de la Viñuela. We went for a short walk round the water side.

We had good views of La Maroma, the highest peak in the natural park, with its top covered in cloud.

After this we drove back to Cómpeta, stopping to look at a cemetery in Sayalonga on the way.

Dinner was beefburger, sauté potatoes, onions and peas.

Andalucia - Day 19 - Chillar Gorge

Today we were walking the Chillar Gorge, which starts just outside Nerja. We drove there, finding out we had to park about half a mile away.

The gorge walk uses paths at first beside the river Chillar.

Then as we went further upstream there were more and more places where we had to walk in the river itself.

We passed a waterfall.

At times the sides of the gorge were completely vertical, and we could touch both sides at once.

At other times we had to clamber up small waterfalls and clumps of rock.

Eventually we reached the path junction where we had our lunch.

To make it a circular walk we ascended a path up out of the gorge to reach an acequia, or water channel, and started walking along this. At times it was in fairly poor condition, and we were walking along a foot wide wall above a steep drop!

About a third of the way back, we came across a red sign saying "Sin Salida" (no exit) so we had to divert. Fortunately there was a path uphill at that point, so we took it, ascending about an extra 150m.

Then along a ridge and descending back to the end of the acequia.

Then descending steeply further back down to the gorge. This extra bit made it a tiring day.

We went home, later having dinner of roast vegetables.

Andalucia - Day 18 - El Fuerte and Caves of Nerja

This morning we went to climb the mountain El Fuerte. First we drove to Frigiliana and parked in the main street.

The walk started in the narrow village streets, then up various steps and paths past houses to a viewpoint.

We then went down a bit to a water tank and mill, then started to go steeply up through pine trees.

 As we got higher the views just got better. We'd started quite early to avoid the hottest part of the day, but it was still tough going.

Eventually we got to the trig point at the top (1005m) where the views were magnificent.

To get back down we simply retraced our steps. We passed a limekiln and a couple of donkeys on the way.

As we approached Frigiliana we had good views of it.

Once we got down we bought a welcome ice cream. We drove to the Caves of Nerja and bought a ticket.

It was timed for 3pm so we had time to pop to the supermarket in Nerja for provisions. We then went round the cave, which was impressive with all its stalagmites, stalactites and other rock formations.

We went home and watched the England Scotland rugby match over a few beers.

In the evening we went out, first walking to a bar with great views of the sunset over the village.

Then we went to a restaurant where we had hummus, fried aubergine with honey and roasted vegetables with rice.