Now I have a bottle, I have an adaptor, I have a hose but the nut that connects to the van supply I bought is the wrong size. It had to be didn't it...?
I took the bus into Fuengirola this morning. Despite the very windy start to the day, there was not a cloud in the sky, sure, it wasn't beach weather, but it was touching 17degrees. Probably 17 degrees warmer than it is in the UK.
Parallel to the beach is the N7 highway. It's a very very busy dual carriage way with cars and trucks pelting up and down at full whack. To get onto the highway you have to stop and wait for a gap, then go for it. I can't help thinking the planners got it wrong. Quite a lot of the towns and village are situated on the mountain side of the highway, to get to the beach, you have to cross it, to get to the next village, you have to walk on the hard shoulder. Believe me, it's not a pedestrian friendly road.
While there are pedestrian bridges from time to time, it still is a ball ache to get from the mountain side of the highway to the beach side. Because it is busy and I suspected that the traffic in Fuengirola would be heavy, I decided to take the bus. I crossed to the beach side to catch it. They are quite frequent, every 30 minutes in the week. And a bargain, 1.52 euro, not only for the journey into town but also the a white knuckle fairground ride to boot.
The driver was laughing and joking, chatting to passengers, taking fares as he pulled out into the main highway, dodging cars doing at least 70mph. By the time I got to Fuengirola I was thinking it would have been a good idea to drive myself. At least I would have had some control over my life rather than in the hands of laughing boy the psyco bus driver. I have taken some hairy bus rides in my time. In India, Nepal, the coast road of Vietnam, but this is up there with the hairiest.
The journey to Fuengirola was about 25 minutes. My intention was to find a large store called AKI which is apparently the equivalent of our B and Q. I was told they were bound to have what I needed. I knew where it was but when the bus stopped in town I decided that, rather than walk back to the retail park by the motorway, I'd have a look around for a hardware store in town.You never know, I may get the opportunity to do the second half of the two Ronnie's sketch.
Within only a five minute walk I found what I was looking for, unfortunately the very helpful lady didn't have what I was looking for but, pointed me in the direction of a store she thought could help. She even drew me a map. Having tracked the store down, I tried to explain to the young Spanish girl, in broken Spanglish what I was looking for. She tracked down the parts. A couple of bolts, a length of high pressure hose and a couple of jubilee clips. Once on the counter we set about building the connector. It was finished in no time and very nice it looked too. The price, only 6 euros. I was quite chuffed with myself. Gas mission accomplished. Or so I thought!
Having satisfied the reason for the journey I set about on a wander through town. This is the first time I've been here. Unlike quite a few of the 'costa' towns, it's a nice mix between the old and the new. Some beautiful architecture. I had a coffee at a little bar then a walk on the beach. The day was turning out quite nice and gone was the wind from further up the coast.
Fuengirola, in ancient times known as Suel and then Suhayl, is a large town and municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located on the central coast of the province and integrated into the region of the Costa del Sol and the Commonwealth of Municipalities of the Costa del Sol Occidental.
It is a major tourist resort, with more than 8 km of beaches and a mediaeval Moorish fortress. In common with much of this coast, it has been the subject of considerable urban development.
The area has a subtropical Mediterranean climate, with annual average temperatures of 18°C and average summer temperatures of over 30°C
As I came to the end of the promenade I turned back towards the town and headed to the retail park. Now I'm here, I might as well have a look around.
The whole Mirramar retail park was a bit like Meadow Hall. Despite the heavy traffic in town and it being four days to Christmas, there were a lot less people than I expected. It wasn't like Meadow Hall which resembles trying to stroke a cat backwards at the best of times. After a wander I decided to head back to town and make my to the bus station for the white knuckle ride back to Cabopino.
The journey back wasn't nearly as hairy, maybe because the driver was paying attention to his driving rather than entertaining his passengers. Off the bus I took the short walk to the site. Tim the chap who tried to help yesterday shouted to enquire if I'd got what I went for. All sorted I cheered, Christmas dinner is back on.
Oh no it isn't. The nut that should connect to the vans gas system is the wrong size. I'll have to take the white knuckle ride once again tomorrow morning and get the right one. At least we are going in the right direction.....
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