Day 13 – to the Monoliths of Chequilla

Friday 17th September

This was a day with a rare early start, at 7 am. It’s still dark here until 7.15 am. A quick getaway and a backtrack of 60 km to Teruel to get the part fitted for the van, to correct the AdBlue system. It’s a relatively small Volkswagen specialist, shared with Audi, and the staff were really accommodating. The waiting area was just a chair in the showroom, and the dog had as much fuss made of him as the newly arrived Audis. I finished Luke Cassidy’s Iron Annie, which was a pleasant diversion, but the job was done in just over a hour. I’d arrived at 8.30, and the staff made no secret that with mine being the only vehicle in, the weekend started as soon as it was finished. And, as a bonus, it was cheaper than the quote..

Then back to the Sierra de Albarracin, after lunch at Orihuela del Tremedal, and then over one National Park to the west, to Alto Tajo. I was parked up at the viewing point for the Monoliths, hundred foot tall weathered knobs of sandstone, for lunch. Though as I said to a guy in the bar a few nights ago, that I’ve researched the backside out of the areas I’ll visit, this was a surprise, and a pleasant one. A stone’s throw away are the contrasting white houses of the small village of Chequilla, which despite its sign saying ‘Bar’, has nothing.

The storms have blown through and we are left with fine days at present, maximum about 20C here at 1100 metres, and a minimum of 8-10C. Perfect weather though for the bothersome diptera, the common blow fly. I’ve resorted even to trousers, while in camp, as they irritate extremely. They return to their various homes when the temperature drops below about 15C.

We walked the Monoliths after lunch, and I gave the van a sweep. A converted Sprinter arrived just before dark. The owner was a young Spanish guy on route to a mountain running event. His 4×4 Sprinter was 5,000 kilometres old only (worth more than 75K I’d say, and hard to get hold of). We proudly showed to each other, as perhaps in much younger days.. Considering what he’d spent on the van, his interior was basic. Though almost complete, he had just one leisure battery, a very high bed to store bikes under, a sink with shelves, but he cooked outside on a separate stove.

A double winner in the evening for my personal van life. Chicken Madras with recipe and spices from ‘The Spicery’ and the first game of the Premiership season. I do enjoy the Friday night rugby, and better still, it’s an hour later here.