Day thirty one

The storm has finally arrived and I awake to heavy rain, thunder and lightening. It does not look like there is any hope of a lull in it today and even the next days do not look too good.

I have a lidl croissant for breakfast, a 'cafe con leche' would be nice but that will have to wait till the rain eases up a bit. I reluctantly opt for a rest day, which may be for the best. 

The tent has held up well so far and everything remains dry inside. 

A bit later: (correction: As I leave the tent I discover two leaks in the corners. One has soaked my bum bag containing money, passport and other documents, which are all wet. All the pages of my passport have stuck together and while having a 'cafe con leche' in the campsite bar I prise them apart and hope they will dry. My passport is critical for entry into campsites in Spain as that is all they are interested in. They never ask for my Covid pass, unlike in France where the reverse was true. 

I have rubber over-shoes with me, which are really handy in this sort of weather as I only have the beach shoes, which I ride in and my flip-flops, so keeping my beach shoes dry is important.

Time to contemplate the madness of this journey ... 😂

Yesterday I spent some time looking at the various options I had for routes to Valencia. Google maps showed a route to Vinaros that only climbed to an elevation of 390m, unlike the 1600m Maps.me suggested. Also the N340 seems to take a more sensible route and my last campsite neighbours said that road was relatively flat, which makes sense to me so hopefully tomorrow the weather will improve enough for me to try that.

I bought a super compact cool bag this morning at the campsite store for 5 euros. Perfect for storing ice cubes and meats over night when it's hot. I can also use it as a safe place for storing critical items that might get wet during rain.

Meanwhile my money and passport have been saved and are all almost dry.

Later in the afternoon ... It stops raining and the weather improves, though it may just be locally overhead. Storm clouds are still present but it's sunny again. Things soon dry and I am able to charge everything including my rear light that died yesterday. I can also wash a few things. I think this is my fourth rest day so having completed four weeks it was due. The advantage here is that when it does stop raining it is so warm everything dries quickly, thankfully.

So it turned out nice after all that ...

Early evening I cycle along the seafront into nearby Cambrils in search of a seafood restaurant. I am determined to have seafood this evening despite being tempted by American hotdogs along the way! Being Spain almost all the restaurants are closed and the one I choose does not open till 20:00. I have two hours to wait and use the time to explore the town. It is a lively place and has a slightly up market feel and restaurant prices suggest that too. The harbour is full of expensive yachts, cats., and motorboats and it is clearly a very popular place. The last hour I spend on the harbour pier watching the sun setting over the mountains that I will have to negotiate tomorrow. I go back to my chosen restaurant and have a seafood soup with prawns and monkfish and some tapas.

Another fairground merry-go-round, lights ablaze and in full swing. The cycle path that took me to the restaurant, away from the sun and the one I followed for much of yesterday.