2 May

I woke at just after 8 but decided I could last a little longer and was finally up about 9. I had breakfast outside on the verandah with the Thomas’s, including real vegemite on real toast. The washing, which Jean ad kindly done the night before was nearly, but not fully dry, so Jean ironed the shirts which were then not only dry to wear but pressed. After I showered I too was washed, pressed and dressed.
At this stage Barry and Jean took me to for a drive around Roquetas De Mar. Now I had an idea of what the geography of the area was like, it made sense. There is a long drive along the waterfront and an equally long promenade and beach. There were many people already out on the beach and they included families, groups and individuals. Unlike the US beaches, there were no organised jogging groups or sports groups playing.
We then went through the town of Roquetas De Mar. There is the old town, now about two to four hundred metres from the beach, the new developments between the old town and the beach, the redevelopments in the old town and the new developments on the land side of the old town, including a very large shopping centre. While driving around, Barry had told me there was an Opel dealer in the town, so we dropped in there. No-one could help us at the time so we went along, had a coffee, and then went back. By this time the spare parts manager was back and he was able to me, but didn’t have the parts I wanted. These could be ordered and in by Wednesday, he proudly proclaimed in English. I ordered the parts and Barry will post them on. They are for the Barina, but I can’t get the parts in Australia.
We then went back to the beach and went for a walk along to the south. Here we saw many people walking along and one group of girls in a pedal-powered car. When I went to take a photo, they all posed before rushing back on their way to, well along the beach I suppose. At this stage Barry had a call and we had to return to the flat to meet the owner and the letting agent. After greetings all around, we headed out again to a Chinese restaurant (in Spain) for the celebration on Jean’s birthday. All the guests were members of the Tappas Club, a group of expatriates who meet on a regular basis. There were about twenty in all, and I met them but like an Australian barbecue, the group segregated into a male and female table. During the dinner, which lasted just over two hours, there was much hilarity and levity and the receiving of a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
After the dinner, two members headed to the outdoor room of the restaurant to fight to the death in a game of Scrabble. While everyone else watched, the two fought it out with deadly earnest (no, sorry, he’s still hosting late night TV in Melbourne) until finally Dave won and was presented with a printed and laminated certificate.
After the battle to the death had concluded and the bloodlust was satisfied, everyone drifted off. Jean Barry and I returned to the unit and had a cup of tea, I brought my washing in and Jean brought theirs in, we had a cup of tea and we chatted. After a bit of work tidying up family tree entries, I checked my email (reservation confirmed for the end of May, envy of travel from another – so I know at least one person is reading the emails and blogs), sent one out and then did some discussion about my plans. I will have to leave here tomorrow morning in order to travel to Andorra tomorrow, go into France and cross the highest bridge in the world (when I come to it) at Millau, then head over to Italy and travel south to meet up with an ex-school colleague somewhere in the south on the sixth.
I burned the photos of today as large and small images for Barry, then burned my small photos so far for Barry and Jean onto a DVD. After, we watched some of these as we chatted about their content, people and the world in general. Although we did not solve ALL the world’s problems, we had an enjoyable time until we had some supper and then headed off to bed. After writing up, I was off to sleep by 12:30.