With our treasured camera back in our hot little hands, and leaving the warming glow of the Dordogne in its wake, we set off down south. With a day lost waiting for our camera, we needed to bomb it down to the south of Spain to catch up with mates for El Noche De San Juan. But not without seeing 3 countries in one day! (ahhh, you got to love Europe!)

First stop the lovely hilltop country of Andorra.

Known for being set in the Pyrenees, for big ski resorts, and more importantly as a place where the French buy Bordeaux, where Spanish buy Jamon and where Italians buy Dolce & Gabanna; Andorra is a duty free/tax free hotspot. The drive there was spectacular with winding, curving roads snaking up the sheer cliffs of the Pyrenees like a tightly wound spring. For Kam and I this was the first time we had crossed a border on land in our own vehicle. We were nervous about what would happen; would our car get searched? Would we get asked hundreds of questions? And, more importantly, would we get a stamp in our passport?? Fortunately (and unfortunately), the answers to all of these questions were “No”. Our first experience of crossing into another country via land was sadly too easy and a bit of an anti-climax. We knew the boarders were relaxed since the EU, but even we were surprised.

Andorra was a totally weird place; very superficial, manufactured and materialistic. Each building was either a 40 story ski chalet, a brand label shop, a liquor store or a electronics store, in some cases all of the above. At first I thought it was going to be brilliant; do some duty free electrical shopping, get some clothes and then buy up big on cheap liquor. Well, with the exception of the liquor, this wasn’t the case. I think since the EU has opened up, Andorra has somewhat lost its place as a duty free hub, with prices only being about 5% cheaper than across the border. We did our grocery shop (which did include a 1L bottle of Absolut for only €6), struggled through the crazy streets, the crazy traffic, and the lack of sat nav coverage, to leave Andorra for country #3 for the day – Espagna!!

Not getting too far from the border we found a wonderfully picturesque campsite in the Pyrenees. We experienced a wonderful evening eating our dinner and we watching paragliders jump of the nearest mountain land, quite literally, next to our tent. Tomorrow would be another driving day, so an early night, and an ice cold shower (much to Kam’s absolute delight! Hehehe!), and we would be ready to hit Barcelona.

I had such fond memories of Barcelona, and Kam had vague ones (Contiki has a lot to answer for). We both visited Barcelona in 1998 during our gap year, but while I did it with a couple of mates after studying Gaudi at school, Kam did Barcelona with a bus full of drunken Aussies on a Contiki tour. Ironically we ended up staying at the exact same campsite that Kam’s Contiki tour stayed back in ’98. With limited time we set out to do as much as we could in as little time as possible, this included La Ramblas, Tapas bars and a brew pub, and lots and lots of walking. Lack of time meant that I didn’t get to fully replicate my love for Barcelona a second time. Funnily enough our speedy stopover in Barcelona was still longer than Kam spent in Barcelona for Contiki!

South again, and the weather started getting warm and we naturally gravitated toward the coast. A great idea except that all of Spain was doing the same! “El Noche De San Juan” (The Night of St John) is a national holiday and the eve of this is a massive party which takes place on beaches all around Spain. The problem with hugging the coast that day was that all of Spain was heading towards a beach to celebrate, that meant that all coastal roads were completely clogged with tourists and party-goers. We ended up throwing our romantic idea of following the coast, for the much more sensible and timely (yes, yes and boring), motorway option.

We arrived to Almeria, caught up with our mates Seb and Dorren and quickly got into the festival swing of things. We didn’t know much about the Noche De San Juan, but we knew that it involved booze and beach – so we just had to be there!!

Doreen used to live in Almeria so we would be spending our time with a bunch of Almerians, some Lebanese mates of Seb’s from Paris, and us Aussies, nice! The night started early at 7pm (very early for Spain), with Kam and I setting up waiting for others to arrive. As we waited, we soon were introduced as to what the party was all about. In its simplest form it is a massive party on the beach, but in reality it is much more. All beaches are completely jam packed full of people, each group cooking up on their BBQ’s, drinking esky-loads of cervezas and vinos, listening to music and having loads of fun. But what was with all the furniture and piles of textbooks?

As it got later a massive pyramid of wood started rising taller than sea of people, it was now understood that this would be a bonfire, and a massive one at that. “El Noche de San Juan” marks the longest day of the year, and we found out it involves 3 main elements; fire, water and partying – best combination ever!

Fire: The fire was meant to represent the light of the day, and this festival provided fire in the plethora of BBQs on the beach, the amazing fireworks display and the massive bonfires stretching down the length of the beach. We saw one of the best fireworks displays I have seen, and we couldn’t have got a better position. If anyone has ever seen fireworks that skim across water before, then I’m sure you will join me in saying “AMAZING”! The bonfires were set up as a form of cleansing. People use this time of year to do their annual spring cleaning, getting rid of anything that was no longer required and burning them at El Noche. This included, but was not limited to, beds, cupboards, dressers, and for students just finishing another year at school, it was certainly time to sacrifice their text books to the flames (luckily there were no dog kennels though Rowls!).

Water: The other cleansing aspect of this festival was that at the stroke of midnight everyone on the beach went in for a midnight swim. This was supposed to wash your impurities away and also it was said to improve beauty and long life. There is nothing like 300,000 people all running into the water in the middle of the night at the exact same time. The fact that we were all drunk as skunks, didn’t really matter.

Partying: Spaniards know how to party, their life revolves around it. I think because of the extreme heat of the day, they really come alive at night. After midnight, everyone was shirtless dancing on the beach as impromptu DJ’s popped out of nowhere, massive carparks were transformed into massive stages where bands played early into the morning. We even witnesses the most amazing 8 year old singing flamenco with a voice much older than his age! Around 4am with an impromptu bar set up in the carpark in front of Seb and Doreen’s campervan we reignited a game made famous in Adelaide the day before Seb’s wedding, “Slapfest”. For those involved in the last Slapfest, you will be pleased to know that this was just as well received, however we are all glad Linda wasn’t there!

The Spanish hospitality is amazing. At about 5am and feeling a little worse for wear, we were so thankful for a bed (yep, no camping mattress, an actual bed!). Doreen’s friends had given us a bed at their place. We didn’t realise until the next morning that it was actually their own bed!!!). Other friends even gave up their whole apartment for Seb and Doreen to stay. Absolutely amazing and lesson for us to learn about what good hospitality really is!

The next day was very lazy but we managed to somehow drag ourselves out of bed and get into an amazing seafood lunch (Spanish style) down at the wharf with all the swarthy locals. Kam fitted right in with her bung toe which she fractured earlier that morning (completely sober!!) limping her way round the wharf she looked just like one of the locals (just needed an eye patch!).

For dinner we were properly introduced to a meal that is synonymous with Spain, Tapas. Now, I thought I liked tapas before I went to Almeria, but now, I am absolutely in love with them! Originally as a way to protect your beer from flies entering your drink, the humble slice of bread has transformed into meat balls, Jamon, seafood and other amazing delicacies. Each area does them a little differently, however Almeria is easily the best. Buy a drink get a tapa for free and you get to choose any tapa you would like off their extensive list. For me I thought this is great, but how expensive are the drinks, and how small are the tapas?? I was blown away with both, €2 for a beer, or wine, and the tapa were monstrous compared to what we receive back in Aus! Our night was spent tapa hopping, trying all the local delicacies and laughing it up on the streets of Almeria. It wasn’t until we walked out of a nightclub that we realised it was 5am, time for bed, even though the entire city was awake and partying.

Day 3 and we were all heading north to see more of Andalucia’s beautiful coast. We headed for a lunch of Paella on the beautiful shores of Cabo de Gato. We had to pre-ordered this lunch the day before, and as we eagerly waited for the main dish to arrive, it was hard not to pinch yourself as you looked out to the beautiful blue water and around to the bright white houses nestled in the cliffs. The food and the scenery were so exotic! After feeding our face, and drinking some more Tinot Verano, it was well and truly siesta time!

That night a treat had been organised, we would head to Mojacar to stay in a beautiful Pension on the side of the Pueblo. With views sweeping down to magic beaches we settled into sumptuous Mamabels Pension and enjoyed a last dinner with the Paris crew on the terrace which gave 180 degree view to the beach far below. We were treated to some of the most amazing Spanish food, all hand made by Mammabel herself. It was a fitting end to three amazing days down south. After dinner the Jazz bar round the corner beckoned. A few smoky scotch’s later, Seb and I were the last up and, as we sat and drank beers in a cave looking down into the town, we again saw 5am for the 3^rd night in a row

The Paris crew left before we woke the next day, and the 4 of us (5 including Busta the dog) headed down the mountain to Mojacar beach. More like Ibiza than any beach that I have ever been to, there were parties setting up at lunchtime that would end until 7am tomorrow. It was great to relax with some drinks and seafood on the beach, and a customary swim was well received. It was here that we would end our great time in Almeria, with amazing hospitality, great friends, lots of laughs and an experience of Noche De San Juan that Kam and I will remember forever.

Only 4 days ago we were wondering if it was worth it to bomb our way down from France to the south of Spain in 48 hours. We were very happy to say that it certainly was!!