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.