Link to Jan and Paul in Spain 2018 Blog

We have started a new blog for 2018 and you can find it by clicking on the link below

https://leniston2018.blogspot.com.es/

We have also done a Review of the Year on video on YouTube which you can find here

https://youtu.be/L7dLu-xQ79Y

29 December 2017 – Snowing in Rothbuy

Our first week in Rothbury was surprisingly mild, but this morning we woke up to heavy snow and a winter wonderland

The children, and their dad, could not wait to get out and play

Chloe, and Michelle, were not so sure that they wanted any part of it

Fortunately the “old folk” were excluded from the snow ball fights

A final group photo and then back to the house to dry off and warm up

After lunch the snow had stopped and we talked Georgia into walking down to the park

We did not make this snowman, but we told Georgia we would pretend that we did

She really wanted to build her own snowman, but she also wanted us to help her

We managed to talk her into building one at home when Jack could help her

The park play area was covered in snow and even Georgia agreed to give it a miss

Instead we walked over the bridge to feed the birds

We always take some bread with us to the park, she never gets tired of feeding the ducks

We had to promise a visit to the sweet shop to get her away from the park

Rothbury is a very pretty little town, and even more so with a covering of snow

We all enjoyed our afternoon walk, but were now happy to return home for tea

25 December 2017 – Christmas in Rothbury

With three young children in the house, Christmas morning always starts early

We were all on duty by 6am still dressed in our pyjamas

By 7am we were back in bed recovering

Jack got a scooter for Christmas, and Georgia a bike, so despite the heavy rain we were out before lunch

Chloe did not have anything to ride on, but was quite happy to have her dad playing with her in the park in the rain

After a large Christmas Dinner most of the adults were back in bed for an afternoon nap

But Jan was quite happy to play balloons with Chloe

After an enjoyable child, food and drink filled Christmas Day, it was nice to get out on our own on Boxing Day for a six mile circular walk.

14 December 2017 – Lliber to Senija

12 of us for the last walk before the Christmas Break

Despite a weather forecast of 24c, it was cool enough for some to wear a jacket as we started the walk from Lliber

Not even the steep climb out of the village persuaded them to remove a layer

Although the climb did get the circulation going

It is a year since I got a satnav to record our walks and I still have mixed feelings about it

Nick is a great advocate for them, and a constant source of encouragement and advice

However I still find it more of a problem than a useful navigation tool

I know the walks quite well, so I do not want to have to use the satnav all of the time

I was hoping that I could use it to confirm location and direction, similar to a cairn

It should be possible to do so by using waypoints

You record them on the satnav where you would like a cairn

However when I tried to use them they were in the wrong place, or the wrong sequence

I may be the problem and just need more experience at using the satnav

However Nick thinks it may be a faulty satnav

Not sure I can be bothered to send it back for checking, but will have to decide before the guarantee runs out at Christmas

Being a smaller group we moved faster

We arrived at The Cross just after 12 noon, but everyone was happy to have an early lunch

On the way back to Lliber we met a Spanish lady taking her new pup for a walk

Despite the faster pace we did not arrive back in Lliber until 3pm, which was the normal time.

We had a drink in the square, wine not coffee to celebrate our last walk before Christmas

We had planned to bring a small portion of Stollen cake for all of the group to have with lunch, but were unable to get to Calpe to buy some.   Alijke offered to get the cake as we could not do so.

She brought a large box with about twice as many portions as necessary – but they were all gone by the time we left the bar

Excellent walk and a very good end of our 2017 Walking Season.

Stats

Distance – 11.5 km

Time – 5 hours

Ascent – 350 metres

9 December 2017 – Thursday Explorers Christmas Meal

Twenty of us got together for lunch at Restaurante Castellvi in Alcalali for our Christmas meal.   Thanks to David Eaton for the excellent photographs.   Thanks to everyone else for their company at the meal, and during our weekly walks during 2017.  Good company, good food and an excellent way to round off the year.   Hope to enjoy many more walks together in 2018.