we depart from la font de la figuera – very aware that this is the last stage of TDE2012 with Andrew and JC driving together, but more on that later.


the blue line takes us, yet again, from hilltop to hilltop. one thing we’re sure of is: today we will end up at 0 metres – sea level.

heading towards Alicante we take a wrong turn (since the smartphone had already overheated again and was temporarily cooling) and headed down from our 900metres towards jijona. jijona is the home of 1880 turron and delicious jijconeca ice cream. so this is not too wrong a place to go 🙂

the lower we get the more arid the landscape gets. nothing seems to be growing out here anymore.

finally, after some hours drive we finally get to the outskirts of Alicante.

driving through muxtamiel, we go into incognito-mode, since a part of the Spanish-side of our family lives here… and we don’t want to stop, yet, but want to make it to our end-point slightly north of Alicante.


and then, as if in trance, without much ceremony, we suddenly enter the zone we both know by heart, every road, every house, see the sea and then … we park, 300 meters from the beach, just in front of the entrance of our apartment-building.

We made it. the first leg of TDE2012 is over!
2034 kms.
we only used 99kWh of energy, roughly converted: 9 litres of fuel.

what a trip! we unload the TWIKE and head to our apartment where we as a family have been staying once or twice a year for the last six years. before, for 11 years, our family apartment was slightly further south in torrevieja but I really like playa san juan since, here, there are only Spaniards and no foreigners’ excesses. (go to benidorm for example to get an idea of what I’m talking about!)
we start airing the apartment and getting it ready (it isn’t rented out to anyone during the year) and then head to the bar/restaurant just below the building and say hello to everyone. just 15 mins later a first family member pops up, greets us and wants to know how our trip went… “good” was our answer and nothing more. (where to start?)
we then go shopping with the TWIKE and arouse much interest – more than two dozen people wait outside the place we shop our first few things, just to see us depart…
thank you for following us until now! – more on TDE2012 and where JC is heading from here shortly in an own post.

Congratulations guys! Well done. I love reading your stuff 🙂
Just great, we followed your trip every evening!