Getting close to the Verdon river

Visiting pervious places has us reminiscing over our past year…
How we began this journey and how much we have discovered along the way.
Back in Buis-les- Baronnies feels welcoming. I recall the tentative beginnings into our new adventures and Buis- les-Baronnies worked so well for us last year.
Back to Baume Rousse, Staint Léger, Staint Julien and this time more days in the Les Dentelles de Montmirail.

Checking out Buis-Les-Baronnies

The latter with a lovely spot by the vineyards to rest for the night.
Chaîne du Clapis has some lovely 2-3 pitched routes but some of the single routes felt wildly graded.
The village of Beaumes-de-Venise  is a delight for the vine enthusiast.

Robin on the Via Ferrara St Julian 

We are fast approaching the end of April….
A couple of London friends are heading to Verdon for the first time.
Pilar and Julian have a weeks holiday and are hoping for a warm climate and some challenging climbs.
A chance for Robin to flex his climbing muscle and enjoy some more difficult routes.

Looking down the Verdon Gorge

May sneaks up on us and we head to the Verdon gorge to meet up with Pilar and Julian, though the weather is a little chilly even with a dusting of snow on the hills.
The boys work out which routes they are itching to do while Pilar and I go exploring the many works around the gorge.

Checking out the view with Pilar at Mont Chiran observatory

Our walks take us to parts of the gorge that are previously undiscovered by past trips to Verdon and I enjoy seeing it from a different perspective.
The week flies by and soon its goodbye to our friends, I'm sure they'll be back to Verdon....

Les Chauvets walk

Robin finds a few more partners to climb the more difficult routes and we climb a few fun routes together. Its a happy balance and life in Verdon fills us with peace and tranquility.

Julian coming up Tout Coeur

A week of climbing done!

Its now been over a year since we packed up and left our jobs and hit the road... There has been a learning curve but now I think we're both calmer more relaxed people.
We still have our moments and wouldn't be human without them, perhaps we're coping with them better.

Me and Robin sharing our memories

Siurana

So it's a sad farewell to Spain as this part of the adventure is over as we drive into the South of France. I'm sure we will be back again in the late Autumn months and will definitely head back to Siurana and El Chorro.
We didn't know what to expect from our winter climbing in Spain but it safe to say it has exceeded both our expectations.
Apparently Spain had a particularly rainy season and we still managed many days of great climbing and a few sunny rest days.
We couldn't have asked for anything better!

Moritz is happy to be out rock climbing

 Now back in France it's time to try out the Languedoc - Roussillon region that we have yet to explore.
We start in Orgon and find a spot by the lake to camp, with the campsite yet to open for he season it shouldn't be a problem.

It's a small lake with the rock surrounding it making it easy to find where the climbing is. Our first day and it's back to slabs for some warm ups... we discover that some of the bolts are more spaced apart than in Spain.
A few days of climbing and the rain sets in for a couple of days... time to head to the patisserie for some rainy day cake ( France has its perks!)
There's a couple more days of climbing before we we decide to check out Seynes.

Seynes is a rural village that has limestone cliffs in the background some of which are streaked with a rouge colour.
Our first day climbing while walking to the crag we are befriended by a golden Labrador. He walks up to the crag with and spend the entire day with us walking back to the village in the early evening. Such a warm welcome I'm a little disappointed that he isn't there the next day.

Me climbing in Siurana

Beautiful sunsets at the beach

Chalk bag fun! Moritz and Charlie

Morning stroll on the beach, Tarifa

Weeks fly by in El Chorro the climbing scene has climbers from all over Europe  all here for the Spanish weather and great climbing.
Amongst the thunderstorms are many days of good climbing but our bodies are in need of a rest.
We hear about Tarifa near Gibraltar a Mecca for kite surfers but also a beauty spot on the Atlantic coast.

Beautiful and wild beach of Tarifa

I'm all for being by the beach and exploring new places.
Tarifa doesn't disappoint, long sandy beach, wavy Atlantic and fresh sea breeze. No wonder it's a kite surfers and wind surfers winter spot.
Even with some grey clouds the temperature is still warmer than some of our nights in El Chorro.

A cold day in El Chorro

 True to form Robin researchers a climbing crag in the area.. So much for taking a break!

Stunning views in El Chorro

Just before Christmas we have an issue with Stan our van. An auxiliary belt snaps and we lose the power steering.
Our break down service tows Stan to Alicante.
Good news is all repairs are under warranty bad news is it's on a Friday and it will take a few days to get the parts and repair.
We get put up in a hotel and a hire car, after months of living in Stan we both feel like we're cheating a bit.. But this is out of our control and it does coincide with some stormy weather, we watch torrents of water wash down the streets.

We are both happy  to get Stan back and with good weather the climbing can resume.

Now with a Christmas Day climb on Peñon Ifach and a few more around the  Benidorm area it's time to say goodbye and drive to Murcia.

A few days are spent climbing and with the new year upon us we decide to treat ourselves in Los Baños thermal pools and a night in the most relaxed campsite run by a British man.

Rest bite over it's to the lovely Natural Park Sierra Espuña.

All the climbing take about 1 hour to walking through the pine forest.

Another activity we've been looking forward to is skiing in the Sierra Nevada  national park just outside Granada.

This will blow the budget a bit but we've been doing well and most weeks been well under our €200.

It's a fun day skiing but a chilly night spent in Stan in Sierra Nevada national park.

After the coldest night thus so far we're off for warmer environment of El Chorro. 

Neither Robin or I have been to El Chorro before and are pleased to see lakes, forests of pine trees and lost of limestone rock.

This is apparently where all the Brits come for the winter climbing so not surprising seeing van after van with british plates.

It's a no wonder there are so many british here the climbing is top quality and lots in various grades. I finally feel a small improvement in my climbing…. it's only taken about 9 months!  

Weeks fly by in El Chorro as we get into the sport climbing training mode, going back to areas to advance improvement (some more successful than others).
The weather still hits us with periods of rain but that's the beauty of van life, we can sit out the rainy days at the beaches of nearby Malaga and return for those sunny days.

Spain has been experiencing a particularly rainy period this has us snatching at the fine ones when we can.
It makes it a little difficult to plan some of the trad routes or longer approaches, a lot more days are spent in Sella and Guadalest sport climbing.

Climbing at Serra Gelda

When we do get a break in the weather patterns Robin and I do two routes at Serra Gelda national. Traditional sandstone sea cliff climbing nearby the beaches of Benidorm.
Both routes use the same bottom pitches which are a little scrappy with some loose rock but the upper pitches are worth it, tough sandstone with lots of pockets and super friction plus a beautiful day out by the sea.

Robin on the Serra Gelda sandstone.

Our first route in the Citadel sector did have me climbing the upper corner crack in gusty winds but on our return we made sure to check the wind direction and speed.

Getting a little high from a bit of trad climbing we make our way inland again to Puig Campana and try route Diedros Magicos.
With an early start for the hour walk in we are the first on our route and Robin makes short work of the all the pitches.
With beautiful views of the surrounding countryside and out to sea in the distance makes our route a worth while day out.

Early morning light on Puig Campana.

Calpe was an area we didn't really explore so we drive back for a route in the Penon d'Iflach national park classic line 'via Costa Blanca' on a glorious sunny day.
Parking by the harbor means we can get a early start and be the first on our route. This pays off and though there are other teams around us no one is on our route which means we can take our time on the challenge ahead.

Robin tackling the pitch 5 of Costa Blanca

Looking out to sea and the circling sea gulls makes this a beautiful places to climb. Robin pushes hard on the more difficult pitches and really digs deep on the 6c pitch.
We feel the sense of accomplishment topping out and are greeted by a curious, hungry cat at the top he happily eats some of my sandwich.

Climbing at Penon de Ifach Calpe

Another week in Chulilla goes by and the nights are getting very chilly.

We have a great spot for the night between some olive trees.

There is no campsite in Chulilla and most of the van life climbers use the main car park in the village.

Mid November has a super moon and I feel lucky to be in a place to witness it glowing in all its glory.

My birthday comes at the weekend so we spend it in Calpe staying a very nice but extremely busy campsite and walking in the Peñón de Ifach national park.

After months in the van its small pleasure that I miss… Having a shower whenever I like and this campsite has some pretty good ones.

Now we are in Costa Blanca hoping to spend a good portion of the winter months around this area.

We have been to the Costa Blanca in total of  3 pervious trips during Easter bank holidays.

Sella, Guadalest and places south of Alicante. Van life will give us an opportunity to revisit familiar places and discover new.

After testing out Calpe we drive to Guadalest which is a pretty tourist village in the hills past Benidorm.

The forecast is a little iffy but Guadalest has virtually no approach, easy to make a dash back to Stan if needed.

It turns out that it's hard to predict the weather around this time of year because it's so changeable.

Guadalest's newer routes have some sharp rough limestone and some really lovely routes, most are named making finding them a piece of cake.

We meet another van life couple Rob and Tess and share stories of places we've been to finding we've been in some of the same location at the similar timing.

 It's nice to share our experiences with liked mind people.

They will also be around Southern Spain for a few months, hopefully we'll bump into them again.

Walking in La Pedriza national park (photo by Julian)

After a few days spent chilling out at the beach I feel refreshed .

On the weekend we have some climbing friends to meet up with in La Pedriza national park nearby Madrid.

Despite knowing the weather forecast is for lower temperatures and rain we make the 5 hour drive.

It's unfortunate for our friends who only have the weekend.

Pilar walking in the rain (photo by Julian)

They all agree that it's nice to escape the city.

La Pedriza is a stunning  with lovely pine trees and autumn colours of the deciduous trees, plus the jagged shape of granite rock.

There is Pilar, Caroline, Richard and Julian from London plus David and his partner Lily who live in Madrid.

Saturday is a washout so we go to catch up and have a tapas lunch.

Sunday's weather is perdition is much better and a plan is hatched for multi- pitched trad route.

Robin and Caroline walking to the climb.

Pilar and Julian both are nursing injuries and decide on a long walk .

We split into two groups, I decide to join Pilar and Julian on the walk.

The temperature overnight is barely 2 degrees and Sunday turns out to be a bright and very crisp day with chilly winds.

Great day for a walk but not so warm for the climbers.

Pilar and Julian

After saying our farewells Robin and I decide to move on also due to the freezing temperatures in La Pedriza we're not going to get any climbing here, but it's definitely on our radar.

Heading further south and about 40 minutes from Valencia is Chulilla. A pretty little village of white houses surrounded by walls of limestone as far as the eye can see.

Robin Checking out routes

Chulilla's Limestone

There is masses of routes mostly 6b upwards in different sections around the Chulilla area.
All within about a 20min walk, routes closer to the car parking are rather polished but you just need to walk a little further for the best routes.

The Oasis area