Today was a big day for little PG, our lovable pooch who just loves to explore. We took him to the sandy beaches and hidden caves of Olhas de Agua in Portugal and he just loved it!
He ran around in the sand, avoided the waves and even made some new friends along the way. He even managed to climb the stairs to see the great view from the lookout!
It was a perfect day out and we’re already planning our next adventure with PG. He’s such a happy little dog and we just can’t imagine life without him.
Isn’t it always the way – just when you think you have everything sorted, everything changes! That’s been the week I’ve had. It all started a week ago…
I like to think of myself as a creature of habit. I have my own little routines and I’m happy the way things are. Take the evenings for example. 9.30pm out for a little prebed walk followed by a piece of ham and a few biscuits before a snooze. Well last Sunday 9.30 arrived but the walk didn’t! 9.45 then 10 o’clock. I kept asking when we were going but all I was told was I needed to wait. Why I wondered. I looked at the clock but it only said 9 o’clock but my belly said 10! Then Dad explained. The clocks had all been changed on Saturday night ready for the winter. Noone told me and I hadn’t changed my clock! So first change of the week!
Time for a snack yet?
As October changes to November, winter starts to arrive. I’m not that keen on Halloween. We always watch scary films and then they expect me to go for a walk in the dark! Yeah right! It’s the nearest tree and I’m done! This year was a bit different too because Dads were going to go into Peniscola for an hour to watch a TERRORific parade. I decided to stop at home because you can’t have a fiesta in Spain without fireworks and I hate them! That was a good choice because the parade was full of them to chase the evil spirits away! I prefer a sleep on a comfy bed.
A terrorific parade!
The first of November is a national holiday here (like in most Roman Catholic countries). El día del muertes or Day of the dead is a big celebration when everyone visits the graves of their ancestors to celebrate their lives. It should be cold – I remember going in the snow in Hungary – but this year it was 31C! And the town was packed! Well when in Rome… so we joined in the celebration with an ice cream from the local shop!
Yummy batido with ice cream!
From the second of November it was all change again! The weather was cold, dark and we had a storm warning with 3m waves and 80kmh wind! All the tourists had left and everything, and I do mean everything, had closed for the season. The hotels, our favourite cafes and restaurants and even the local supermarket! What a change I thought as I remembered the crowds of people on the beach just a few days before.
We had planned to have a few quiet days because of the bad weather but, surprise again, it was calm, warm and sunny when we woke up! Dad had found a nature reserve nearby that is advertised as being dog friendly. Now that’s more like it, I thought, so we jumped in the car and were soon on our way.
The Ebro river delta is about 30 minutes from Peniscola and we were soon turning off the motorway to reach the reserve. This is a huge wetlands area, the second biggest in Europe and is home to over 400 different types of birds. Dad said we could stop at some of the observation spots if I promised to be quiet.
First view of the Ebro wetlands
The road was very narrow – just big enough for our car and was risen up above the wetlands which stretched for miles on either side of us. The flooded fields were filled with what looked like tall green grass but Dad said that it was rice! Apparently rice doesn’t need to grow in water but it doesn’t hurt it and the flooded fields stop weeds from growing and the rice from getting pests. It’s a huge industry here and they grow over 425,000 tonnes a year!
This is where the rice for dinner comes from
Dad makes my dog food for me using meat, vegetables, pumpkin and, yep, rice. So how many dinners will all that rice make me? Let’s see … One 1 kilo bag makes 4 days of food for me. There’s 1000kg in a tonne so 425,000 tonnes makes …. too much for me to eat!
After a while we reach one of the observation platforms and I promise to be quiet so I can go and see the birds. I see a few small ones nearby and think they look interesting but then I spot something pink a bit farther away. Then I see more and more pink. Wow, I think look at all those flamingos! Now we have flamingos living near us back in Seville but not this many. Dad says let’s play a game and count how many there are. One, two, three, four, five, six…. That’s as high as I can count because I’m only six but there are so many I can’t imagine how many. In fact Dad says there are so many that the last time they were able to count them was in 2017 and there were 2700 pairs of flamingos! Apparently this is the only place in Catalonia where they breed so who knows how many there are now!
Look at all those flamingos
We decide to finish our visit with a trip to the beach, just a little bit farther away. Oh! I think as we arrive at the massive car park, it’s sand …. again! Don’t worry, Dad says we won’t get stuck, it’s been prepared to drive on!
No we didn’t get stuck this time!
The beach itself is wide and long, so long that I can’t see the end of it. The small waves splash onto the beach and I’m allowed off my leash! Yeah so much to explore. I sniff, dig and run all while avoiding the waves! What a lucky dog I am!
So I’ve not written much for the last week because I’ve been resting my paws from all the walking around. I’m sure all this exercise isn’t good for you, especially when you’ve only got little legs. When we get home I’m definitely going to have a rest! If Dad says it’s time for a walk in the olives, I’m going to pretend to be asleep!
The other day we all decided that we would havae a nice, quiet relaxing day. A little trip to the dog beach and then a snooze. Vinaros is another town about 20 minutes from here and it has two dog beaches to explore. Yay! Off we set in the car and we were soon at the first beach.
Vinaros Dog Beach – Mark I
Hmm disappointment! There are miles of lovely sandy spots along this coast and the local council decided that us doggy visitors only deserve a really rocky beach. Dad said it was worse than Brighton beach and he should know as he comes from there! The pebbles were large and, well, pebbly and it was difficult to walk on. The sea got deep really quickly as well. As it’s October there were only a few other doggy friends there but noone was impressed. Not even a rubbish bin to put used poop bags! Yuk!
Not much fun on the pebbles!
There was a little viewpoint just a few minutes walk away and that was nice. It’s called a Bufador in spanish and it means a blowhole in the rock where the water splashes up when it’s rough. We spotted the hole but luckily it was a calm day so no buff-ing today!
View from the Bufador
Back in the carand off to find the second beach. The SatNav said it was just along the coast and after following a narrow road right next to the sea, we found it. Much nicer than the last place. The Platja de Aguiadolivas was another pebbly beach but much easier to walk on with lovely crystal clear water and much shallower. I liked it! It was quiet and apart from one other German family with their pooch it was only us.
A nice spot to relax
The Sat Nav said we needed to drive across the beach to reach the road back home. It looked a bit stony for our little car but we could see tyre tracks passing in front of us and, apart from a very small sign saying soft road surface, everything seemed fine. We stopped and looked at the way ahead for a while deciding if we should go or not. Finally we chose yes and off we went. Wow what an adventure driving on a beach, the sea on one side and a pond on the other! This is fun I thought as we trundled across the pebbles. Oh! Why are we stopping Dad? Is it because we are stuck? Oops! We all get out and look around the car and yes the front wheel has sunk in the sand we are are, well, stuck!
Well and truly stuck!
After a lot of big words that I don’t understand (luckily), we all start to try and dig the stuck wheel out! We use our old Hungarian number plate which is still in the boot after we changed the car to Spanish, Dad goes off to look for old palm branches to put under the wheel and I did with my paws!
After about half and hour we are still stuck so Dad decides to ring the rescue service. They understood the problem and found where we were and said the rescue van would be about 20 minutes. Great I think, time for a bit more exploring on the beach and even a snooze when we get back.
More exploring!
The breakdown truck arrives. It’s big! No problem the driver says as he backs down onto the beach and unhooks the tow wire. Dad fixes it to the towing ring on the car and we’re ready to go. The truck driver pulls the wire tight. Soon be on the move again I think and ….. the wire breaks as the rescue truck sinks into the sand too! Duh! More time to explore I think. What an exciting day!
Rescue at last!
After another hour a second tow truck arrives who now needs to rescue the first truck and us! He seems to know that it’s not a good idea to drive onto the beach so he stops on the road. Out comes another tow cable and eventually the first truck is free. The two drivers stand looking at our car, trying to decide what to do. By this time there is quite an audience watching the excitement. I suggest we sell tickets!
The truck drivers decide to connect two long wires together and then drag us off the beach. After lots of complaining and huffing the wires are connected. Ooops! Guess what! They aren’t long enough! Are we ever going to get home I ask myself!
Will we ever get home?
Luckily the nice German man is still on the beach and he offers an extra towing strap to connect eveything together. Dad hooks the wire onto the towing ring and the wire goes tight. Finally we are moving! Slowly but surely we slide along the beach until we reach the car park. Rescue time 5 minutes – total time on the beach 3 hours!
Moral of the story and our little trip to the dog beach – don’t believe the SatNav and if it looks too stony, then it probably is! Let’s go home now Dad – but the long way back please!
With Spain being a peninsula, most of it is surrounded by the sea. Now I’m not a water dog – I’ve only got short legs so even a little wave scares me and I’m not to keen on the salt because it gets in my fur and is really sticky – but I do like the beach. It’s full of interesting smells and things to snuffle around in so when Dad says beachtime, I’m happy.
Beach time
Like I said there are miles of coast to explore and in fact the Mediterranean side has 1670km on it’s own – so I’m more than happy! It runs all the way from the French boarder in the north to Portugal in the south so hundreds of beaches to explore! Right? No wrong!
The problem with Spanish beaches is that me and my furry friends are not allowed on many of them. Some allow us in the winter but who wants to go swimming then? All summer when it’s hot and sunny, we are not allowed anywhere near.
The problem is that beaches are considered a bit of a cash cow by local towns. If you have a nice sandy beach then tourists will come. If you let dogs visit too, who wants to sit in a pile of do do? Now I can undertand that but it’s not our fault if a lazy human can’t clean up what we all do naturally and that’s given us a bad name. Let me says there are lots of humans who do the right thing and it’s the few that give everyone a bad name – ain’t that always the case!
However it’s not all bad news because finally local towns are realising that we have poochie pounds to spend too and if we are happy, then so are our humans and that means more money! Some places are more dog friendly than others and that just depends on the district. Luckily, here near Peniscola, there are lots of beaches especially for us where we can spend a fun day with our humans and meet other doggy friends. We have already discovered a great beach in the next town, Benicarlo, just a few minutes away. It has a lovely sandy beach and water to drink and showers to get rid of that nasty salt. I loved it there and even though it is October, there are still lots of people sunbathing with their furry friends.
Lots of fun places so closeby!
The next town, a bit further away, Vinaros has three dog beaches! How lucky are they!
However, watch out for Alcanar! What a disappointment that was! A lovely promenade with big sandy beaches but doggy friends are not allowed! Anywhere! Too fancy for their own good if you ask me! And they had better watch out because dog friendly tourism is the next big thing. Why should we be left at home when everyone else is having fun!
A Dog's Travel Adventures in Spain (and other places too!) 