Ricote

Time for some relaxation me thinks now frivolities are over so we head for an unknown (to us) location in the hills above Murcia

Ricote nestles in one of several valleys in a stunning area that looks like a giant oasis

We are soon off walking a marked circular route up through the lemon groves that surround the aire and in to the hills above the village

Essential grove transport for the growers

An old wash house provides a rest early on in the climb

This little fella didn't budge an inch even when a passing car ran over him!

Dead before the event we think....

Some poor engine's final halt

The view down to the next town of Blanca

Convincing rockfall..

The stone here is very soft and there is much evidence of erosion

Back at base there is much commotion as these brightly coloured pigeons (painted by their owners) vie for the chance to mate with the recently released female

All in the name of sport!

Its market day close by and there's a guy selling grilled chicken in garlic & thyme with roast potatoes

Surely the tastiest lunchtime meal?

The weather while we are here is just sublime

Plenty of sunbathing to be done from getting up and walks done for a change in sensible temperatures

This one was up to the Castle above the village, very little left I'm afraid after all that erosion

The wear and tear leaves its interesting mark though

After a week we decide to head down the valley to Archena to another site we'd read about so stop outside Ricote for the 'hair washing/hoovering' regime with the genny going

No lekky at the site and really didn't want to disturb the tranquility back in the village

So quite bizarrely and after having spent just a few hours in Archena at the aire and doing some shopping we decide its not for us and then promptly drive back to our original location in Ricote as its just so perfect for us

More walking then for the next few days

The circular route is done again in reverse under very blue skies

That's us near the triangular roofed orange buildings

Nice lemons Nina!

The other tale....

So after just 15 months my French leisure batteries have decided to die on us...Merde!

Whilst at Ricote under sunny skies the batteries are filled via my solar panel arrangement during the day. Each morning we awake to find dead units and I spend the week tinkering around with fault diagnostics to try to find the cause

My fellow 'Tekky' travellers via WhatsApp dispense sound advice and the story unveils daily like some sad novel...

Basically the SP is that they've never really been wired up properly in conjunction with the solar arrangement for best working and the change to AGM batteries wasn't a wise move with the 'Lead acid' preferring charger.

So after some head scratching we decide to relocate to Casa Rudo not too far away and source new batteries to be delivered here from a UK company

Sounds costly but actually they are half the price of the ones here and delivered from Belgium for a sensible fee of £25.00, no brainer really....

Of course Rudy & Dorine's hospitality knows no limits and they squeeze us in right next to their abode whilst we await our delivery