After leaving the campsite this morning, we returned to the nature reserve, this time armed with camera and binoculars. We’d seen a sign yesterday saying there were Gall de Canyar in the area and as they looked so unusual, we decided to go on the hunt.
The first one we spotted didn’t look very blue, and we were a bit unsure, but then I picked one up with the binoculars, and it definitely was the bird we were looking for.
So comical! A big, blue, ungainly body with long legs and giant red feet! The British name for it is a Western Swamp Hen.
Drove towards the nearest Lidl which was in the ‘once you get in, you can’t get out’ resort of Benicarló, then parked up by the sea for lunch.
We could see the hilltop peninsula of Peniscola in the distance and I suggested we could have a walk around it. Although only a couple of miles away, it took us all afternoon to get there though.🙄
We’d seen cheap diesel on the way in, but couldn’t then re-find it on the way out. Life without data meant that we probably used up the difference in euros driving round in circles.
We’d also got the problem of a split wiper blade, and as we’d not seen anywhere that might supply such things, Guy asked the helpful lady at the petrol station, who directed us to the nearest tyre place.
They could get them for us – maybe ten minutes? About an hour later, Guy went to tell them we’d return manyana …probably a far more realistic guesstimate of delivery time anyway. But no, it’s nearly here. A van speeds into the forecourt with a nice set of the wrong blades. The chap we’d being dealing with then jumped in his car and fetched the right ones, which was brilliant, but the afternoon was gone! €52 euros seemed a bit steep to me, but food, wine and diesel are cheap, so we can’t have everything.
Got to Peniscola and managed to park at the back of the port. Such a lovely old fortified town, we can’t work out why Guy has no recollection of our last visit 5 years ago. Even when we had a quick walk in, it was ‘Nope, haven’t been here before!’ it’s a good job I write this drivel to stand as evidence when we have our goldfish moments!