Welcome to World Watcher, here we are planning to post photos and stories of our up and coming world tour following plans by my wife and myself to make a 'bucket list' and spend at least a year visiting all the places we have always wanted to go but never had the time or the money.
Watch the World Through Our Eyes
You could say we began our journey 6 years ago when we moved from our native home in the United Kingdom (Aylesbury) to our dream place in the sun on the Costa Blanca, Spain. Mind you the first year or two were far from a dream as we struggled to establish ourselves in a foreign country. I will tell you about a few of our experiences throughout this journey along with new experiences that come along over the ensueing months and years.
Our story really begins in Cabo Roig a beautiful coastal resort located on the Costa Blanca in Spain. It was always my dream to one day move to a sunnier country than my native England, being something of a sun worshipper, and when I met my wife some 7 years ago it turned out that she had always had similar dreams. Following an 'inspection trip' with one of the many Spanish property companies we jumped in with eyes closed and bought a house on the seafront which was some 3 times our proposed budget! A few months later we chose to move to our dream home to live although we kept our little maisonette in Aylesbury as a bolt hole should anything go wrong, in the meantime it was rented out to provide a little much needed income. In March 2003 we set off on our first adventure, by flying out to Alicante, while a friend drove a van with all our worldly possessions.
The dream of a life in the sun was somewhat tempered by some very poor weather, that greeted us, and the news that the UK was having some of its best weather in thirty years didn't help much. Come May the weather improved in Cabo Roig, and the expected sun was hotter than anticipated, our early financial worries were also eased by us both being offered a job by a local property agent, we were subsequently introduced to the Spanish property business and got involved in the rental side of the business which has provided us with a reasonable income right up to this day, when we find ourselves in a position to do some of the many other things that we have dreamt of over the years. A number of deaths in both our families has prodded us into action.
I won't go into a list right now of the places we will be visiting because apart from anything else we haven't actually made a definative list, we just have several places in mind. My wife has always wanted to go on a safari in Africa, and would like to stay in the Treetops Hotel in Kenya, we planned but never made our honeymoon in the Seychelles, so that we also be on our list. Without looking too far afield there are lots of places we would like to visit in Spain itself and also in our native UK, I have always wanted to stay in a pub on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland, and spend a day looking for the 'monster'. So this is our aim, to visit some new places, take pictures and tell the story here.
One of the higlights of our time in Spain was getting married here, which we did in Orihuela. Arranging the wedding was a challenge to say the least but that is a story for another day. Orihuela is an attractive and historic place, famous for its large number of churches, to get there we used to pass through San Miguel de Salinas and Bigastro, along the CV-95.
We have crossed a couple of items off our list in the last couple of years, these being a holiday in the Mecca of gambling, Las Vegas, and a week on a cruise ship, touring the Mediterranean Sea, stopping off at Barcelona, Monaco, Rome, Florence, Naples and Valencia.
In my youth I made many visits to Wendover Hills, a gang of us used to catch the train to Wendover and wander up to our favourite tree which is still there now and brings back many happy memories. We also used to go up to the monument on Coombe Hill and roll down the slopes there. I always remember being able to see Aylesbury in the distance, the only building really being visible was the ugly council office building (also still there unfortunately), which we always called "The Bison Building" as it had a huge sign on it saying "Bison", obviously the name of the builders.
When my mum first came to visit us in Spain, we took a trip to see the cave houses in Rojales, which turned out to be quite an interesting day. We stumbled upon the "shell house" which was the life's work of one resident, and he invited us in to look around, I believe it is no longer possible to go into the house. On a later trip we visitied the city of Elche with its amazing palm forest and historic monuments such as the Altamira Palace.
Our friends Allana and Arthur, who lived in Playa Flamenca, have recently returned permanently to the UK, we shall be visiting them next weekend in their caravan/mobile home in Eastbourne (hope it not too cold).
Many of my early holidays were spent in Swanage in Dorset and I have happy memories of this place. My first ever holiday without my parents was in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, I shall be writing more about Clacton later.
Gill and I have started to do some metal detecting in Spain and we have joined a metal detecting club which is part of the Adapt group in San Pedro del Pinatar. Our first session was on La Mata beach, which was pretty uneventful, although subsequent outings proved ore profitable.
Some of our places: Figueres - Villajoyosa - Crevillente - Benidorm (weather) - Calpe - Weston Turville - Campoverde - St Austell - Cala Bona - Polperro - Novelda - Torre de la Horadada - Zeniamar - Perranporth - Pilar de la Horadada - Los Gigantes - Warminster