16 Oct 2010 - Granadella

David and Rosemary invited us to join them for one of our favourite walks – Granadella beach. We were also joined by Alastair and Nakita, the son and girlfriend of one of their neighbours.

We were surprised to find so many Spanish hunters in the area, and were soon aware of the sound of nearby shooting. We passed a couple of them on the main path, and they warned us not to walk on Saturdays or Sundays as that was the day's that they went shooting. Damn nerve!

We ignored the warning, though David did blow his whistle every few minutes. I am not sure whether it attracted the attention of the hunters, but it nearly deafened me. He really does enjoy any opportunity to blow his whistle.

Going over the ridge is not Jan’s favourite part of the walk, but it does provide wonderful views of the coast.


Thanks to Alastair for this unusual photo of the four of us together.


Once over the ridge we saw, and heard, no more of the hunters. We soon arrived at the end of the ridge and this beautiful view of Granadella beach

The beach was busy, and the café’s all open. Nakita, Alastair and Rosemary all opted for an ice cream. Jan and I resisted the temptation as we have been on a diet for three weeks. An ice cream is about the same number of calories as a glass of wine. And if we have to give up our evening glass of wine we are not going to undo the benefit by having an ice cream. Sad or what?

As we neared the end of our walk we met a Dutch chap with an abandoned dog. Apparently someone has released five dogs and just drove off, possibly one of the hunters we had seen earlier. The poor animals were all terrified and obviously starved and ill treated. He had called the local police who attended to check if the dogs had a chip and if not would take them to the local pound. It’s so cruel to abandon these poor animals who then become a real nuisance as they roam the roads in search of food to survive.

11 Oct 2010 - Javea

We met at Javea for our first Monday Club autumn walk, the same one we had done for the last of the spring walks. Despite a thunder storm on Saturday, and a weather forecast of possible rain, the morning was clear and sunny. And we were even able to sit to put our boots on, which even “super fit Peter” took advantage of!

Normally the sea is calm and smooth at Javea, so we were surprised to find Atlantic style waves breaking on the rocks. Apparently the forecast storms were out at sea. We had never seen the seas like this, but Pat confirmed that it was not that unusual.

We could have avoided this part of the walk, but felt that it added an extra challenge. It was not at all dangerous, but it was necessary to time it carefully to avoid the larger waves. I was trying to get some good photographs, forgot to time it, and got wet for my lack of attention.

We had a short break to enjoy the sight and sound of the crashing waves, before climbing uphill to continue our walk

Although we have walked here a few times, I can never remember the correct name of the next area. I think it might be Tosca. It is a well signposted nature reserve, with lovely views back to Javea and Montgo behind.

Our “banana stop” was at Sardine Bay. We have visited here before, and some of the group have had a swim. Today the sea was much too rough to consider a swim, and the area completely deserted.

was a bit chilly to stop for too long, and we were soon off again

Our lunch stop was Mar Azul. It is a lovely little sheltered bay, and despite the stone covered beach very popular. Mind there is a large car park, and that may explain why. Today was no exception, there was plenty to watch as we ate our picnic lunch. Although dogs are not allowed on the beach there were two who were having a great time running into the water and being swept back by the large waves.

Normally we return along the rocks around the bay, but Pat decided against that route today due to the waves breaking on the rocks. So we returned the way we had come. As we reached the road there is a picnic spot, where we had a short break to talk about coming walks.

Pat keeps a record of all our Monday Club walks, and used it to check which ones we had not done for some time. For the past year the road to Castells has been closed for repair. It is now open again and that allows us to revisit a range of favourite walks.

This walk normally starts with a long walk along the beach, and ends with a long walk along the road back to Javea. Today we had parked the cars to avoid both, so it was a short and easy walk back.

There is something about the sound of crashing waves, and we had a short sit to look and listen before driving back to Javea for our end of walk drink.

As always we ended the walk with a drink overlooking the beach at Javea. The local police had closed the beach, and we enjoyed watching the sea break over the wall and drench unwary walkers.

This was an excellent start to our new walking season. After a long and very hot summer the weather today was sunny but with a cool breeze – ideal weather for walking.

David's Photos

David has sent me some nice photographs of the walk, but they arrived too late for the blog. There are some nice ones of the group and well worth adding.

Next Walk

Our next walk will be Lleus to Pinos.

Meet at Lleus church at the usual time of 10am.

2 Oct 2010 - Isbert Dam

The temperatures are still pretty high, and we have not been doing much walking lately. We have missed our weekly walks, but we wanted an easy one to get started again. The walk starts from Tormos, a small village just a few miles from Parcent. It was lovely to be back walking again, and Jan was showing off her new haversack.

We were surprised to find these stacks of boxes at the side of the track, as the oranges seemed to be very green. There were no sign of pickers as we passed, but when we returned four hours later quite a few of the boxes were full.

We soon reached the tunnel which leads to the dam. The tunnel was part of the railway line which was built to transport building materials to build the dam.

The tunnel is much darker than it appears in this photo, and a torch is recommended. On the other hand it is quite high and wide, and after quite a short distance you can see the exit.

It was cool and very pleasant in the tunnel, and by contrast seemed much hotter when we come into the sunshine again.


Just after the tunnel we came in view of the impressive dry river bed leading to the cleft in the hills where the dam is built.


The dam is something of a folly. The river bed is very porous and the water runs below ground. I am sure that it quickly fills when there is heavy rain, but has always been completely dry when we have visited.


There is always plenty of shade near the dam, and today was no exception. There are also plenty of flat rocks to sit on. Much of the walk is without shade, so this was very welcome.


This is a circular walk, and the path back to Tormos follows a shady road for about half of the journey. The second half is completely without shade, so a cool beer in the Cooperativea was very welcome.

20 Sep 2010 - Monday Club BBQ

We have not had any rain for at least six weeks, it was saving itself for the Monday Club BBQ arranged by Wendy and John. The morning had started overcast, then light rain and it was pouring down by the time we arrived at 4pm. It had been planned to sit outside, so all the chairs and tables had to be moved indoors.

John had to move the BBQ through the house onto the front naya, and he was soon busy cooking for the 14 of us. Despite the weather and the change in arrangements he did us proud.

Not only did Wendy have to deal with the weather, and the change in seating and table arrangements, but she also had to manage it all with a broken arm. Just a week ago she had fallen whilst on holiday, resulting in a lot of time spent in Valencia and Denia hospitals. She was very brave, and insisted that it hardly hurt at all!

At the end of our last Monday Club walk in May, Wendy invited the group to a BBQ at her house just before the start of the autumn walks. It was the last time we had all met, and we were really looking forward to seeing everyone again and hearing all the news of their summer activities.

Bob and Janet share a joke, but Barry seems a bit uncertain about the whole thing

Jan and Janet make the best of “ladies first” to get the pick of the large amount of food on offer.


Despite the weather we all had a great time. Good company, good food, lots of drink and no shortage of chat. Well done and thanks for an excellent BBQ to Wendy and John.

Next Walk

The first walk of the autumn season will be on Monday 11 October . Meet in the Masymas car park in Javea at 1000. The walk will be similar to our last walk in May. Pat did tell me the details, but that was after I had knocked back quite a few glasses of wine so I am doing quite well to remember the date and place.

11 Sep 2010 - Fontiles

From the bottom of our road there is a lovely view down the Jalon valley towards Orba. At first sight what appears to be a road running up the side of a hill catches they eye.

However it is in fact the wall of the nearby leper hospital at Fontiles. It was built in the early 1900s and is today mainly a training school for doctors and nurses who will work overseas. I understand that they still have a few patients suffering from the disease, however it is now used primarily as a sanatorium for elderly folks.

There is a large car park just outside Fontilles, unfortunately is it for the cemetery! We have parked there a number of times, and it has always been closed. Which is a pity because it is very Spanish and would be interesting to walk around.

There are no restrictions on entry to Fontilles, and no signs other than a white board with a red cross and the legend Fontilles Sanatorium. We have been told that visitors are welcome, in order to allay any worries associated with the subject of leprosy.

The first sight of Fontilles is a surprise, as it covers such a large area, in such a lovely setting and has the most impressive and interesting looking buildings. And of course the wall.

This large and imposing wall runs along the hills surrounding Fontilles. We have been told that it was built to ease the fears of the surrounding villages, rather than to keep the patients inside. To see this large wall running through such a beautiful area reminded me of our first sight of the Berlin Wall. It seemed so out of place and intrusive.

The first building you pass is the administration building. From a distance it is very impressive, but as you get nearer you can see that it is badly in need of a little maintenance. The staff are very friendly, speak English and have a supply of leaflets explaining the history and present use of the hospital.

There are extensive walks around the community, and again no restrictions that we could see. Being a warm morning there were groups of patients in wheel chairs taking advantage of the lovely weather.

There are a number of shaded areas with seating arrangements and religious statues. It has a wonderful peaceful feeling about the whole place, not at all depressing as so many modern hospitals can be.

We saw a number of these stone seats. Very attractive, but not at all comfortable.

At the centre of the whole complex is the very Spanish church. Each time we have visited it has always been open to the public. As Spain is such a religious country we had expected that this would be normal, but in fact we have only found them open during a service.

Not a very clear photo of the church. It was very dark and cool inside, and this was the best that my camera could do. It is very large inside, but also very gives the impression of being very simple and basic.

There is of course the usual brightly painted statues to lighten the gloom.

Just outside the church is this lovely little grotto, my favourite spot.

It is a short walk back to the main square….

…….and the statue of the founder of the colony

Our final visit was to the café, which was surprisingly busy. And being Spanish, surprisingly noisy. It seemed so strange given the peace and quiet of the area, to hear what sounded like a loud meeting, but proved to be just three men sitting and having a chat.

As we sat at the bar we heard one of the patients call out “Juanita”. Looking up we saw this large wild boar ambling past. All the patients seemed to know her, and she seemed quite unconcerned. Normally these animals avoid humans, and we have only spotted them twice, and each time they ran off immediately they saw us.