This is the Gold Coast on steroids! We stayed at La Duquesa Marina after leaving Ceuta . Poms everywhere even though it is not the high or even shoulder season. Pommie watching at their favourite watering holes is a bit of sport. They are all crazy on holiday! It’s quite built up here and touristy but somehow not too spoiled. A local film company made a B Grade series episode at the end of our berth one night which was fun to watch. A thunderstorm delayed our departure for a day but we eventually moved on up to Marbella. It turned out they could not accommodate our width so we missed out on a meal with Serge but did see him briefly before we got moved on up to Bajadilla Marina. It’s a quick walk back to Marbella and we liked it here except for the fact that they put us by a rock wall that got a bit close in some stormy weather. One day we thought about looking at some electric scooters that had been on our minds since we walked all over the Rock of Gibraltar! The rental place in Marbella had a couple that had just come in that they were willing to sell on. We got them for a good bit less than we had been expecting to pay and a sturdier make than we had been looking at as they were designed for rental. They’re great fun and certainly zoom around! 25 klm/h and a range of up to 80klm depending on weight and terrain etc. Not a good idea after anything more than half a bottle of wine though……the tourist strip in Marbella is very Gold Coast but just a few blocks away is the old Medina with cute little twisty streets and squares.
We hired a car and drove in to Ronda. A very old and interesting town (one of the oldest in Spain) about an hour and a half inland. There is the oldest and biggest bull ring here. Quite famous and touristy but we enjoyed it.
This part of the coast caught the tail end of ‘sort of hurricane’ Leslie that dumped all over Portugal and northern Spain and we bounced around a fair bit. As soon as we could we left for Benalmadena where they left us on the fuel dock for the night while they argued about where to put us. The interesting and annoying thing about all these marinas (bar only a few) is that you can’t book ahead or even call them. If the phone number is correct then they don’t seem to care about answering, or replying to emails. You just turn up on the fuel dock or reception dock and hope for the best. From here we flew to the UK to meet my brother and go to Yorkshire to scatter my Mother’s ashes.