After a slow start to our final day in Peyregudes, we finally got going to begin our journey to the North Coast of Spain where we got to relax on the beach for 6 nights with Ricky and Brie (who were making their way around by public transport as Dora is only made for 2). We first stopped off in Biarritz at a surf camp called ‘Friends of Aloha’, which was kindly recommended to us by Eric, one of the pro downhill skateboarders from Sweden. We arrived to find a group of very chilled surfers in a very busy campsite. Patrick (the owner) met us and kindly put us up for the night and made us feel like family. Biarritz is a popular surf spot, however, we only saw it at high tide which resulted in a massive shore break and unsurfable waves. This didn’t bother Bud and Ricky who took this opportunity to try and drown themselves in the crushing waves while body surfing.
We left the next morning and met up with Brie and Ricky in Gorliz. Gorliz is a tiny beach town 20 Km from the industrial Bilbao. The region between Bilbao, San Sebastian and Vitoria Gasteizis is known as Basque Country and therefore our few simple Spanish phrases which we had learnt were not useful at all as they only speak the Basque language. In fact Basque people are on a mission to become independent from Spain. Gorliz, a fairly new town, is situated next door to an older town called Plentzia. They are basically the same town, but Plentzia has the traditional narrow Spanish streets and old buildings, wheras Gorliz just looks slightly more modern. The beach was beautiful, the sea was warm, the exaggerated tides made good body surfing waves at high tide but most of the time the sea was like a giant lake and most people lay on the beach tanning topless. Our stay in Gorliz was eventful despite the continuous rain and wind which didn’t stop us from exploring, doing all our clothes washing (took 2 days to dry) and swimming in the sea. One of the highlights of the area was the hospital which was situated on the beach with a balcony overlooking the sea. Such a good place to be sick.
Our next stop along the coast was directed to the west in the region of Cantabria (where they do speak Spanish) at a beach town called Noja. We arrived in the pouring rain and drove around looking for a campsite but everything was full. We eventually found a small campsite across the road from the beach and after trying to communicate our needs with the owner in a mixture of Pictionary, sign language, broken Spanish and charades, we set up camp in the rain. Ricky and Brie met up with us later and we decided to go out for a Spanish Paella. We chose a restaurant where English was spoken, however once we had sat down, the Waitress stated that Paella is a lunch time meal which you eat before your afternoon siesta and we will not find any fresh Paella in the evening…..so we ate tacos and fajitas instead.
Noja has the most stunning crystal blue sea with little Islands scattered all over bay. The people on the beach appear to be professional tanners who tactfully shift their positions to maximise the effects of the sun like some type of lizard (my friend Natalie would fit in well). The rain finally cleared for the first time since we had been in Spain and we got to spend 2 full days in the Spanish sunlight on an amazing beach. Our 2 full days at Noja were spent very traditionally. We would start the day with an early morning run along the coast, breakfast at camp and the rest of the morning on the beach with the professional tanners. Lunch is a big event which must be eaten with a glass of Sangria and followed by an afternoon siesta (Everything closes and the whole town empties between 12h00 and 17h00). The afternoons were spent exploring the islands, snorkeling and looking for rocks to jump off. We would end the day with an early dinner and then head to the beach to watch the sunset with a topped up glass of Sangria.
It was a really good few days spent relaxing in the partly sunny, partly rainy Spain. Our final morning was spent looking for Buds wedding ring in the ocean, which he lost while rock jumping. Luckily the ring was found and we were able to continue our journey happily married, due to the very clear Atlantic Ocean, Bud’s hawk-like eyes and Ricky’s whale-like lungs. We then took a slow drive along the coastal cliffs of Spain, stopped for lunch in Mundaka which appeared to be a massive lake (apparently another popular surf spot in winter) and back into France.