Bouncing back beyond bountiful Barcelona … err to Montserrat

Porto – Ah, you have been truly wonderful. Last day in Porto. Last walk around the tiny streets. Last climb down the, uneven, misshapen and wonderfully rickety city stairs. A lad walks past with a very apt print on his shirt, “Porto-It’s got hills”; that it does, that it does. Within Porto and across the …

Barcelona to Porto – Harry Potter

Barcelona will be our spring board or base camp over the next few weeks. A day here, Porto for five days, three days in Barcelona then 10 days in Switzerland, 4 days in Barcelona again then home to Australia. Camping – Rain 5:30am we heard the first drops of rain on the tent roof. It …

Last Ride -Gear- Barcelona

Panniers What’s in all those packs? I have been asked this so many times and I did intend to do a breakdown of our equipment list from the beginning of the trip…but I didn’t. So, here is the full-ish list. Firstly, we are using Ortlieb Panniers. They have seen 13 countries, rough and smooth conditions, …

Sand and surf

Tarragona Tarragona, a large industrial town with major ports and active industry. It’s so good to see all the manufacturing and industry throughout all of Spain, each small town appearing to have its own factory/plant. Everything from raw materials to finished articles, ceramics, cars and all sorts of things are produced. Employment and financial security …

Delta-Dawn (well, actually about 10:30)

Delta – from La Rapita to L’Ampolla What’s a Delta? I didn’t know either. Not an Australian singer or a country song. In this case the Delta is an area of flat land that is farmed using flood irrigation. Open aqueducts, gates, rushing water and healthy new growth surround us. For me, the interesting aspect …

Madrid to Toledo to Valencia

Madrid Wandering into Madrid, we found the May Day public holiday in full swing. Luckily, this was a tourist day for us. Our whole focus was to chill out, wander around and see the sites. The park in the middle of the city was absolutely chock-a-block with people relaxing, families eating, playing games and making …

Basque-Northern Delight, San Sebastian

San Juan to San Pedro A friend once told me, when travelling and someone gives you advice on a must-do direction, “always choose the YES option”. Yesterday’s climb included a stop half way up at a rest area and church. This was shortly after a brief police interaction, but that is another story. A local …

Destination – Basque Country – Spain

San Sebastian Sitting upon a hill top, gazing towards Miramar Palace in San Sabastian. Basque country, not Spain; or so we are told (it is Spain really, just don’t tell the Basque people I said that). Views one direction towards the Pyrenees Mountains. The other direction takes in a small bay and harbour to die …