Cartagena & Valencia, Spain Part 7

Cartagena and Valencia road trip: two nights in Cartagena and three days in Valencia made for a memorable final leg of our five weeks in Spain. Between Cartagena’s Roman history, Valencia’s atmospheric Old City and the distinctive culinary treasures of both, these two cities became unexpected highlights of our self-tailored* journey.

Ode to my Travel Agent

When I call this Cartagena and Valencia road trip self-tailored*, of course I mean Roy-tailored. As my inestimable travel agent, he makes sure to consult, confer and so on. But if we’re being honest, he’s in the driver’s seat… this time both literally and figuratively. Does that work for someone as bossy as me? Oh, yes. If anything goes wrong – as it rarely does – he knows that he is to blame and will be energetically motivated to fix it.

All this leaves me as a blogger free to explore the meaning of life, to reflect on the mind-expanding benefits of travel, and to seek out the next gin and tonic on this Spain road trip itinerary.

Cartagena and Valencia road trip; Spain road trip itinerary
Quenching our thirst in Cartagena – okay, it’s with beer – but you get the idea.

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Málaga and Nerja Road Trip: Gibraltar, Tapas and Friends

This Malaga and Nerja road trip post is Part 6 of my Spain road trip series – it started back here in Part 1 Barcelona – and I have just one more to go, Part 7!

We did this Málaga and Nerja road trip – with detours to Gibraltar and Torrox – two months before I fractured my left arm. Writing about it, however, has become a six-week sentence involving sickening self-pity, a thermoplastic wrist splint and painfully slow searches through old and semi-defunct hard drives.

I did eventually find some photographs from our 2009 visit to Nerja, as you will soon see.

Slowed down by a fractured ulna

(How did it happen? I slipped on our stairs at home and came down hard on my left arm. Verdict: fractured distal ulna into the wrist joint. Sentence: 6 weeks in a splint. For my final post on The House that Roy and Verne built, click here. You will even find a photo of the miscreant staircase.)

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Fabulous Cádiz & Tarifa: Spain Road Trip Part 5

2 NIGHTS IN CADIZ, 25-27 May

Cadiz & Tarifa: more than a breath of fresh air: Cádiz will blow you away; girt by sea (like Australia); dragging Roy out to catch the sunset; the heavenly Jesú, and the real meaning of well-equipped accommodation; a bitter reflection on Zara; lunch in La Viña; La Caleta beach at sunrise; walking/jogging Cádiz Old City; Roy’s key sleep goals; to market, to market; the Oyster Bitch; ode to Old Brown Sherry; El Faro de Cádiz; on to Tarifa

Kicking off our five days in Cadiz & Tarifa, two nights in Cádiz proved to be more than a breath of fresh air. You simply can’t escape the wind. If not literally blown away by the ferocious gales, you’ll be blown away by its wonderful ambience. That’s because Cádiz, with its gently decaying edifices, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe and has a fascinating mix of historical and cultural influences.

Cadiz & Tarifa; Cadiz foreshore
Avenída Duque de Najéra, Cádiz

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Córdoba & Seville: Spain Road Trip Part 4

Córdoba and Seville road trip; one night in Córdoba; bleh B&B, perfect parking; Córdoba’s magnificent Mosque-Cathedral; 8th-century hypo-style mosque hall; 17th-century Renaissance cathedral; flamenco at El Pañuelo; running Córdoba: the irresistible Rïo Guadalquivir, the Puente Romana bridge and the romantic Roman Gate; a whole lot of bull on the way to Seville; perillous parking, delightful digs; el scorchio temperatures but Spanish brain freeze; Seville Cathedral and Reál Alcázar, closed on Sundays; trotting the Guadalquivir… again; El Burladero, Christina’s Bistro, Bar Alfalfa; what’s with the girly drinks, Roy?; Next up: Cadiz and Tarifa!

Plaza de España Seville
Plaza España, Seville – unmissable on any Córdoba and Seville road trip or Seville itinerary

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Madrid, Toledo & El Santo Reserve: Spain Road Trip Part 3

Madrid and Toledo itinerary; breakdown on a godforsaken highway; traditional English breakfast near Albacete; based in Pozuelo for Madrid and Toledo itinerary; wobbly bits and wrinkly knees at Museo Prado; G&T culture big in Spain; Zara closed! – gran sorrow on the Gran Via; triple hat-shop saga: in pursuit of a pointy Panama; birthday lunch on Plaza Mayor; day trip to Toledo; cobbled alleys, knights and swords in shiny Toledo steel; traditional menú del día in historic centre of Toledo; indescribably stunning El Santo Reserve, an exclusive reserve near Madrid; on to Córdoba!

As part of our Madrid and Toledo itinerary, we had planned to drive to Madrid so as to be in the capital for Roy’s birthday. Thank goodness Hertz was reasonably on the ball, and we didn’t end up spending his big day day sweltering on a dark desert highway.

Getting to Madrid by car … eventually!

Have you ever broken down on a remote highway? Were you far away from home, driving a rental car in a foreign country? Well, for us this was a first.

Rudely interrupting Roy’s carefully crafted Madrid and Toledo itinerary, the drive to Madrid was abruptly halted when the Skoda from Hertz broke down on the A-36. In the middle of nowhere. Within minutes, a traffic police vehicle arrived with a man who wanted to make sure we were okay and to put out half-a-dozen of those crucial cones.

ChatGPT kindly reconstructed the moment for us – stranded on a highway on the way to Madrid

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7 Days in Dénia, Costa Blanca: Spain Road Trip Part 2

7 days in Dénia on the Costa Blanca; why Dénia?; UNESCO City of Gastronomy; getting there, no thanks to Trevor the Twat; mostly about Wendy and a bit about Bob; the joys of jogging; smelly seagulls and civil servants at Dénia Castle; Els Magazinos market; grape-vine blight and toy factories; free vs paid museums; market bar vermut and tapas; mediocre menú del día; warding off scurvy at Origen; ode to aioli; Altea and Jávea; Jésus Pobre gastronomic and cultural market; pondering the plight of blight-benighted peasants; farewell to Wendy; on to Madrid!

Verne, Wendy and Roy at Café Opera, Altea

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7 Days in Barcelona: Spain Road Trip Part 1

7 Days in Barcelona; GPS Catch 22; Sant Adrià de Besòs apartment; cheap and easy trams and metro; cathedrals, churros and chocolate in the Old City; Sant Roy the Goody-Goody; no Gaudi at the history museum – nada!; Barceloneta beach and Port Vell; Roy the Spontaneous ascends Montjuic; La Sagrada Familia; Roy the Wanderer at Park Güell; solace at Bar Vell; menú del día at D’Ins; menu ouvrier flashback to 2019; pig’s feet and buttifara at Mussol; A Tale of Two Markets; Barceloneta Restaurant with the Gidlows; bitterly failed Zara expedition; pricey cocktails at speakeasy Paradiso; vermut with Jefferson; paella at Port Forum

How did anyone ever get anywhere without GPS? I remember the days of paper maps and I admit they weren’t pretty. But now it seems we need two or even three devices to help us do the job of a single paper map, albeit badly mis-folded and usually held upside down.

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Spain Road Trip 2026 – Prologue

Spain road trip; pictorial preview of Madrid, thanks to ChatGPT!; A Short History of Spain: Contiki 1982, Portugal/Spain 1989, 1990s Torrox and Nerja; three stages of travel; planning and plotting; learning Spanish; getting there; Hertz so good

So, this is our big trip for 2026 – a six-week-long Spain road trip! Last year, 2025, it was a cruise, Canada and the US: a Holland America cruise from Sydney to Vancouver, followed by 10 days in Vancouver and a road trip down the US west coast to California. (See here for my post on Lake Tahoe and work backwards to Vancouver, if you like.)

When I gave ChatGPT a photo of myself – hair newly waved – and asked it for a picture of me and my new iPhone in Madrid, this is what it came up with. Impressive, hey? I almost suggested we cancel our flights.

Spain road trip, Madrid
ChatGPT’s preview of me in Madrid, con mi iPhone neuvo

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New Year in Singapore: Double Luck for 2026

New Year in Singapore: why double luck?; flashback to September 2025 in Singapore; New Year’s Eve at One Farrer Hotel featuring Queen Forever, Direct from Down Under (like us!); high tea at the Tanglin Club; Din Tai Fung with the Campbells; Swiss Club with Geri; Sunday Brunch at Ritz-Carlton (of course); catch-up in Katong with the Usual Suspects; Year of the Fire Horse in Chinatown; A Short History of Roy Being Unimpressed; Brasserie Astoria, Empress Place, with Lynn

Why double luck? Because I got to celebrate the new year twice … both times in Singapore. Not only the traditional 1 January festivities with Roy, but also a solo trip where I auspiciously caught the tail-end of Chinese New Year. More specifically, the 2026 Chinese Fire Horse Year.

One of the most charming things about Singapore is the enthusiasm with which everyone celebrates everyone else’s festivals, from Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali and Vesak Day to Christmas, Good Friday and the Easter Bunny.

Steve, Verne, Roy and Ellie – NYE at One Farrer Hotel, Singapore

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Yallingup Getaway Part Two – 16-19 February 2026

Yallingup Getaway; poignant prologue: Roy’s Loan Ranger and my i-Phone PTSD; preview of Madrid 2026 with my new i-Phone Pro Max 17; massively motivated by méthode traditionelle; obsessed with Idée Fixe; wowed by wagyu on the barbie; wooed by Wise Wine, Eagle Bay; Miki’s Open Table in Margaret River town

Prologue: Down South without my phone

Have you ever spent four whole days without your phone? If you’re my age, probably not since the millennium. Well, it happened to me this very week. To shorten the story* a bit (I can see you glazing over already), while Roy and I were dropping off a flashy loan Ranger* at Titan Ford in Perth’s neighbouring port town of Fremantle on the way south to Margaret River, I managed to leave my i-Phone 14 on a ledge in the ladies’ restroom.

  • Sorry, I find myself incapable of shortening the story… especially as I have this pic of Roy posing with the gaudily golden-hued Wildtrak that was parked in front of our house (top right) while Titan Ford awaited a steering-related part for Roy’s Mustang.
Roy with Goldilocks, the loan Ranger from Titan Ford, looking like our local drug dealer

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