More Than a Bad Hair Day

No chance of Mr Fluffy's freshly laundered underpants being stolen today. Around 5am I awoke to the sight of Mr F, torch in hand, peering out the window asking if I'd heard a gurgling sound.

We were both a bit on edge as, earlier in the day, a van had been broken into while the occupants were on a walk on the beach. The thieves had used a screwdriver or something similar to crack open the door and had taken everything - this was in daylight with a couple sitting in the neighboring van. They had seen and heard nothing but a snoopy local had seen the event take place through his binoculars and called the police - but it was too late.

When the gurgling took  place Mr F thought someone was siphoning the petrol tank but alas, when he went to have a shower, the dreadful truth arose. Temperatures had been so low overnight that the automatic 'empty the water tank so it doesn't freeze' had been triggered and we were left with no water.

This constituted  DAY 3 of  'not washing the hair in a bid to wean myself off daily shampooing' (Mr F says it's bad for your hair). Now my double crown takes a little bit of work to calm it down on a good day but three days (!!) of non washing is too much. The peak on top of my head is not a good look especially with an oil slick either side. There will be no photographic evidence here.

spot the Dickie - with accompanying skinny street surrounded by water

Despite the thievery and lack of water the beaches near El Saler, south of Valencia, are lovely and the paella in the area is excellent. We drove to El Palmar for lunch and had a hairy drive through the small streets of the village. We recommend leaving the van at the car park before you enter the village as the streets are a little slim.

Monasterio de Santa Maria de la Valldigna

Happily we now have water and are parked up at Simat de la Valldigna surrounded by orange groves, with a 13th century monastery (haunted) up the road and mountains all around. I've just looked out the window and there's an amazing flock of birds, mainly white or black bodies with the underside of the wings in red or green or yellow - it almost looks like they're painted. G thinks they are painted pigeons - is that a thing??

 Heading further south tomorrow.