03/06/18 – 04/06/18 – Teulada/Moraira
Every year we remind ourselves of the actual date we got together.. it always makes us laugh as you think after all this time we would remember! We met at our mutual friend Max’s birthday party in London on 3rd June, but her actual birthday is on the 2nd June, which is the reason for our confusion. I can’t believe it’s been 13 years! We’ve done so many exciting things together, our current adventure being one of them. This year, I wasn’t quite sure what gift could actually top this. Then I came across a beautiful villa on AirB&B in Teulada owned by the lovely Wiebke (Vicky). It didn’t quite feel right staying a night away from the Moho given we’d only been away 5 weeks, but I thought what the heck, it’s too nice not to. It would be extra special as Marley could be off his lead and hang out with us by the pool (something you can’t do at campsites).
So off we hopped into the van, and just a 20 minute journey South we arrived at the VERY hilly Tealuda. The poor old Moho didn’t half struggle going up to affluent hillside estate. We arrived at about 11am as I’d confirmed on AirB&B, but on arrival, no answer at the door. We got chatting to an English passer-by who told us lots of nice things about the area whilst she fussed over Marley. Shortly after, Wiebke opened the huge gate, and looked confused to see us looking at her. She explained in a very laid back way that the former people still hadn’t left, and actually were currently at the beach. She has no idea when they would be checking out and said that her understanding was that I was to liaise directly with her to agree an arrival time rather that AirB&B. We were quite gutted to say the least, especially as we’d not washed that morning thinking we would be able to have an extra long luxurious shower once there. When you’re wild camping, you have to ration water as we can only hold 120 litres, so we flit between having cat baths (flannel wash) and the occasional shower. By shower I mean, turn shower hose on and cover yourself in a thin layer of water, stop water, lather up and scrub, then shower the excess off… this is all whilst contained in a ‘beam me up Scotty” sized cubicle. You can imagine the disappointment hey… and of all days to smell on, our anniversary should not have been the one! I’m sure if we had told Wiebke she would have offered us a shower, but being typically English we didn’t mention it.
Wiebke is such a vivacious, super friendly and kind character, we couldn’t stay disappointed for long. She invited us in to look around the terrace and the swimming pool (that would be all ours soon), and made us a coffee in her own part of the villa upstairs. We met her cute grandson who was drawing and her very friendly daughter who were currently staying with her. She has excellent English, and told us that she is half Moroccan and half German. On seeing Marley’s eyes popping out of his head to give chase, Wiebke quickly ushered her cat to another room. Thank Christ for that, who knows what will happen when he catches up with one. Wiebke gave us a lot of information about the local area, we swapped numbers so that she could tell us when the other guests had left and off we went on our bikes with Marley to find some where for a special lunch.
We took a steep ride up the hill, which was a killer but good to do some exercise and it felt as though we were only half way to Moaira when we got a call from the Moho tracking company in the UK saying that our alarm had gone off and had moved. When we looked at the coordinates, it’s destination showed it was approximately 50 metres from where we had left it. Trying not to panic, we thought of the possible reasons for this, perhaps a mistake had been made, or maybe it had rolled down the hill or maybe it had been stolen. It would be hard for it to roll down the hill as it was parked heading towards an incline. Fortunately, Wiebke was at home and was able to immediately replied reassuring us that it was still in the same position. God knows what will happen if it does get stolen at some point, as this tracking comparing seem useless!
Off we popped again on our bikes. We arrived at beautiful little beach cove called El Portet where lots of people were bathing. You could see the mountains in the distance and the pretty little town with a handful of restaurants around it. We decided to continue up another hill, stop at the Mirador before heading further to Moaira. Just as we secured our bikes, it started raining, but not enough to bother us. The beach town is relatively touristy but it would definitely be a nice place to stay for a few days. We both agreed that we much preferred it to Javier. There was a traditional wedding happening at the time, but we didn’t wait to see the bride and groom as we were too hungry (so romantic) but we did stop to appreciate the beautiful flowers set up for the special occasion. There were so many nice looking restaurants, but in the end we went to El Nido. Our lunch was my anniversary gift from Dan, so not wanting to let anyone down, he treated himself big style too. He had the mixed tapas and I had garlic soup to start. When it actually came out, I could see there was meat in it too!!!! Why!! Surely this should be listed as garlic soup con carne. I explained to the waiter who kindly suggested tomato soup, which given there wasn’t much other option, I accepted with a smile. Dan let me nibble on his tortilla in the meantime! We demolished our shared veggie paella which was very tasty whilst drinking a delish bottle of sauvignon vino. Marley was very happy chilling and the sun had come back out…the food was great, service great company great, scenery great…happy days.
Shortly after Wiebke messaged to say our accommodation was ready, we had a slightly tipsy ride back to the villa, and Dan and I had a bit of a race up the steep hill. We had to sit down after to recover for a while. We arrived back all nice and sweaty at 3.30pm, and I had to brave the 40 degree heat in the Moho in order to pack an overnight bag…eeeew! As soon as I could, I jumped straight in the pool and then straddled the flamingo, which was obviously necessary! We spent the rest of the day sunbathing and playing with Marley. The terrace itself and the views surrounding is are absolutely stunning, it was a shame we couldn’t stay longer.
We headed off the following day after saying our goodbyes to Wiebke and her daughter, not before sharing some funny stories and having a laugh.
